I don't think I've ever been "triggered" by a book before, but the early parts of this one brought on a few minor anxiety attacks. Think Matilda meets A Series of Unfortunate Events with a dash of Carrie and then turn it up to eleven and that's the level of bullying, parental neglect, emotional and mental abuse, and horrible adult figures you get in the 8th-grade section of this novel. My middle school experience wasn't anything nearly as bad as this--since it's clearly exaggerated for effect--but the basic premise--adults won't listen to the kids, adults actively turn against the kids based on the word of others, fellow kids are awful--was very familiar. 
 Once I got past that, it was a very interesting and enjoyable story about the clash and cooperation of magic and technology, and I enjoyed the grown-up version of the protagonists quite a bit.