An overall entertaining read with some interesting ideas, but none that crystallize as a core strength.

Emily's life sucks. Good things she gets isekai'd into a medieval-ish Fantasy world over what is effectively a misunderstanding, and subsequently sent to the magic school Whitehall. There, she learns to use magic, while also getting in touch with a much less technologically and politically advanced society than she is used to - which sparks the idea of bringing concepts from her old world to her new world. Also, a necromancer is after her, but that plot ends up vastly less central than it seems at first.

To get this out of the way first: This book tries really, really hard NOT to be Harry Potter. At parts, it feels like this book was inspired by everything that bothered the author about Harry Potter, in fact. The world is much more Tolkien inspired, Whitehall is much more...old style than Hogwarts. Make of that what you will.

Most of the story consists of Emily actually attending classes, which to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed. So much in fact that the entire "main arc" with the Necromancer felt interruptive, like someone had spontaneously inserted a standard D&D campaign instead of the story. The character writing isn't the strong point either, it's not terrible, just...lacking. In fact, I have so many things to criticize about this book that I'm frankly surprised that I still liked it anyway. And that's because while none of its strengths really crystallized as a core strength, neither did any of the flaws. It's not a masterpiece, but it has a fun world to explore, and if you're looking for a casual read, that may be all that matters.