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Blackbriar Academy #1
The Trials of Blackbriar Academy
I shouldn’t be here, and everyone knows it.
Blackbriar Academy is an enchanted school on a magical island, and everyone wants in. It’s a home away from home for the most advanced mages in the world—and only the absolute best of the best are given an invitation.
By some freak accident, I managed to get one.
If I pass the trials, I get to stay. With nowhere else to go, Blackbriar is my one shot at having a real life, and I won’t let anyone take this from me.
But there’s a catch.
It turns out the people on this island are being trained to hunt the darkness—basically, they’re being trained to hunt me.
To survive, I have to hide what I am. As a half-mage, I shouldn't have any magic at all. And yet, my natural abilities are almost impossibly powerful—and incredibly illegal. Over history, magic like mine has corrupted the souls of those who were born with it. They’ve all gone dark—razing towns and murdering hundreds of thousands throughout history.
All but me, and I have no idea why.
As the trials get more and more challenging, it’s clear I’m being hunted. If I’m caught… I die.
At Blackbriar Academy, nothing is ever as it seems... but I have nowhere else to go.
Nothing, and no one, will stand in my way.
The Trials of Blackbriar Academy is a full-length novel with a powerfully magical heroine, a riveting storyline, and an alternative relationship dynamic that supports our badass heroine's right to choose more than one man. Get ready for a breathtaking story, soulmate romance, lip-biting love scenes, mind-blowing magic, one kickass heroine, four gorgeous men, lots of toned muscles, fights to the death, and edge-of-your-seat action. This is a heart-pounding story filled with an academy fantasy romance unlike anything you’ve read before.
Buckle in for heart-pounding action, breathtaking magic, deadly assassins, four drop-dead gorgeous leading men, lots of toned muscles, and most importantly—a young woman’s journey of justice, self-discovery, and freedom.
READ THE WHOLE SERIES
The Blackbriar Academy: a riveting and addictive academy fantasy romance series.
Book 1: The Trials of Blackbriar Academy
Book 2: The Shadows of Blackbriar Academy
Book 3: The Hex of Blackbriar Academy (Aug 2019)
Book 4: The Blood Oath of Blackbriar Academy (Sept 2019)
Book 5: The Battle for Blackbriar Academy (Oct 2019)
Publisher’s Note: The Blackbriar Academy saga is a reverse harem series with explicit scenes and is meant for mature readers who enjoy spellbinding stories with a few very steamy, fan-your-face moments in their fantasy fiction.
Blackbriar Academy is an enchanted school on a magical island, and everyone wants in. It’s a home away from home for the most advanced mages in the world—and only the absolute best of the best are given an invitation.
By some freak accident, I managed to get one.
If I pass the trials, I get to stay. With nowhere else to go, Blackbriar is my one shot at having a real life, and I won’t let anyone take this from me.
But there’s a catch.
It turns out the people on this island are being trained to hunt the darkness—basically, they’re being trained to hunt me.
To survive, I have to hide what I am. As a half-mage, I shouldn't have any magic at all. And yet, my natural abilities are almost impossibly powerful—and incredibly illegal. Over history, magic like mine has corrupted the souls of those who were born with it. They’ve all gone dark—razing towns and murdering hundreds of thousands throughout history.
All but me, and I have no idea why.
As the trials get more and more challenging, it’s clear I’m being hunted. If I’m caught… I die.
At Blackbriar Academy, nothing is ever as it seems... but I have nowhere else to go.
Nothing, and no one, will stand in my way.
The Trials of Blackbriar Academy is a full-length novel with a powerfully magical heroine, a riveting storyline, and an alternative relationship dynamic that supports our badass heroine's right to choose more than one man. Get ready for a breathtaking story, soulmate romance, lip-biting love scenes, mind-blowing magic, one kickass heroine, four gorgeous men, lots of toned muscles, fights to the death, and edge-of-your-seat action. This is a heart-pounding story filled with an academy fantasy romance unlike anything you’ve read before.
Buckle in for heart-pounding action, breathtaking magic, deadly assassins, four drop-dead gorgeous leading men, lots of toned muscles, and most importantly—a young woman’s journey of justice, self-discovery, and freedom.
READ THE WHOLE SERIES
The Blackbriar Academy: a riveting and addictive academy fantasy romance series.
Book 1: The Trials of Blackbriar Academy
Book 2: The Shadows of Blackbriar Academy
Book 3: The Hex of Blackbriar Academy (Aug 2019)
Book 4: The Blood Oath of Blackbriar Academy (Sept 2019)
Book 5: The Battle for Blackbriar Academy (Oct 2019)
Publisher’s Note: The Blackbriar Academy saga is a reverse harem series with explicit scenes and is meant for mature readers who enjoy spellbinding stories with a few very steamy, fan-your-face moments in their fantasy fiction.
Audible Audio
First published May 31, 2019
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About the author
Olivia Ash
36 books196 followersBadass heroines. Sexy leading men. Steamy romance. And, of course, heart-pounding adventure filled with magic, whimsey, humor, and justice.
Olivia Ash spends her time dreaming up the perfect men to challenge, love, and protect her strong heroines (who actually don’t need protecting at all).
Reviews are the best way to show Olivia that you care about her stories and want other people to discover them. If you enjoyed any of her novels, please consider leaving a review here on Amazon. Every review helps her and she appreciates the time you take to write them.
Olivia Ash spends her time dreaming up the perfect men to challenge, love, and protect her strong heroines (who actually don’t need protecting at all).
Reviews are the best way to show Olivia that you care about her stories and want other people to discover them. If you enjoyed any of her novels, please consider leaving a review here on Amazon. Every review helps her and she appreciates the time you take to write them.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 217 reviews
June 10, 2019
It's like Harry Potter, but with reverse harem and a girl as the main character.
Read
June 10, 2019Rating: Undecided yet
I am quite confused about this book. I was totally engrossed in the story while reading it but in the end, I did not really enjoy it.
It took me a couple of chapters to get into it but once Wren reached the Academy, I pretty much read the book in one sitting. It has everything to be entertaining: action, magic, romance, a bit of adventure. The thing is, while I was completely pulled in the story, I did not connect with either the plot or the characters. And I cannot exactly pinpoint why.
Overall, a nice read that does the job for a nice read and pass the time but with a pretty bland after taste. Not my favorite by the author.
I am quite confused about this book. I was totally engrossed in the story while reading it but in the end, I did not really enjoy it.
It took me a couple of chapters to get into it but once Wren reached the Academy, I pretty much read the book in one sitting. It has everything to be entertaining: action, magic, romance, a bit of adventure. The thing is, while I was completely pulled in the story, I did not connect with either the plot or the characters. And I cannot exactly pinpoint why.
Overall, a nice read that does the job for a nice read and pass the time but with a pretty bland after taste. Not my favorite by the author.
July 13, 2019
2.5-3 stars. So yea.. usually I'm all about some Olivia Ash books her heroines usually hook me pretty quick. This book was no different when it came to the heroine herself. Sassy, funny, a little self depreciating, sarcastic and a tad rebellious Wren is a typical Olivia Ash heroine. Unfortunately, the story itself isn't one of my favorites by this author. I felt lie Wren was the only rounded character in the whole book.. and honestly she is almost a curve shy of round herself having some real 2D moments. All the other characters not only popped in abruptly throughout the story but there really wasn't any relationship building.. it was insta everything. Insta friendship, Insta lust, Insta crush, Insta dislike, Insta Anger.. yea you get my drift. There was no relationship development between Wren and her guys hardly. I'm actually finding it hard to believe that the headmaster is even in on this.... because there isn't any relationship development its giving me slightly creeper vibes. Although I liked Wren ok, I'm not all that sure why everyone else is liking her, especially like right out the gate with all the Instas.. It just really weakens the whole story when everything is oh so conveniently falling into place so fast..
Wren, has been living with forest trolls for years now after being kidnapped at a young age. Finally attempting her escape after making her own wand.. since magic casters can only cast magic with a conduit of some sort, her attempts at freedom are almost crushed brutally by the trolls. Sneaking away, knowing that she will probably be found again she walks up on a very dangerous creature and "accidentally" casts magic without her wand. Now terrified that she will become evil because of her mistake she is surprised when a guy from a Magical Institute shows up with an invitation to join their school. Using this as her only means of escape from the trolls she decides to join in order to find out answers about her "mistake." Not everything is as it seems at this school though and in order to attend she must pass certain trials. The trials are tough physically, mentally and emotionally. She develops fast friends, crushes, and confounded relationships with those around her and develops suspicions about the teacher doing the inviting but nothing can prepare her for the truth about herself and her family. As evil comes calling to use her gifts Olivia must rely on her true relationships as well as her own morals to pass the test.
All in all the story wasn't really bad.. there are definitely some twists and turns in there. The biggest weakness the start of this series has is the character and relationship development which has time to improve as the series continues. We just didn't get much starting off. I also feel like the blurb was a little misleading.. Not entirely misleading but it painted a different picture than the actual book did when it comes to "the darkness" and all that. I'm not feeling the harem really at this point. I might give book 2 a try to see if the author can pull it off but as of right this second i'm still on the fence a little.
Wren, has been living with forest trolls for years now after being kidnapped at a young age. Finally attempting her escape after making her own wand.. since magic casters can only cast magic with a conduit of some sort, her attempts at freedom are almost crushed brutally by the trolls. Sneaking away, knowing that she will probably be found again she walks up on a very dangerous creature and "accidentally" casts magic without her wand. Now terrified that she will become evil because of her mistake she is surprised when a guy from a Magical Institute shows up with an invitation to join their school. Using this as her only means of escape from the trolls she decides to join in order to find out answers about her "mistake." Not everything is as it seems at this school though and in order to attend she must pass certain trials. The trials are tough physically, mentally and emotionally. She develops fast friends, crushes, and confounded relationships with those around her and develops suspicions about the teacher doing the inviting but nothing can prepare her for the truth about herself and her family. As evil comes calling to use her gifts Olivia must rely on her true relationships as well as her own morals to pass the test.
All in all the story wasn't really bad.. there are definitely some twists and turns in there. The biggest weakness the start of this series has is the character and relationship development which has time to improve as the series continues. We just didn't get much starting off. I also feel like the blurb was a little misleading.. Not entirely misleading but it painted a different picture than the actual book did when it comes to "the darkness" and all that. I'm not feeling the harem really at this point. I might give book 2 a try to see if the author can pull it off but as of right this second i'm still on the fence a little.
June 18, 2019
This book felt underdeveloped and rushed. I actually have no sense of how much time passed in the story due to all the jumps and lack of detail, and it felt like easy plot devices were used to move the story forward without any explanation or integration into the story. Ton of tell rather than show - such as the FMC's friendship developed with Savannah. She could just tell she was good and they would be friends. Why? I have no idea who Savannah is outside multiple descriptions of her eyes and just general goodness. It's like the author has seen readers bitching about the lack of female friendships in Rh, so she decided she needed to have one without any idea of how to make the friend important to the story or how to show the development of a non-romantic relationship.
I also didn't believe the harem at all; it felt poorly set up and executed. I also feel like some important observations were never made though they should have been. The book overall was really short and I think the lack of plot development and actually showing character growth was a huge problem. Moreover, the trials felt far too easy. What even was the point of having a mentor? She didn't need the things they worked on hardly at all in those trials. Mentoring was focused purely on fight training despite the emphasis on multiple strengths in the trials. The whole plot thread again felt poorly thought out and lacked clean integration into the rest of the plot. Overall, I was disappointed. I may still give the next one a shot though, since it is KU and I hope the author will address some of these problems next time.
I also didn't believe the harem at all; it felt poorly set up and executed. I also feel like some important observations were never made though they should have been. The book overall was really short and I think the lack of plot development and actually showing character growth was a huge problem. Moreover, the trials felt far too easy. What even was the point of having a mentor? She didn't need the things they worked on hardly at all in those trials. Mentoring was focused purely on fight training despite the emphasis on multiple strengths in the trials. The whole plot thread again felt poorly thought out and lacked clean integration into the rest of the plot. Overall, I was disappointed. I may still give the next one a shot though, since it is KU and I hope the author will address some of these problems next time.
December 14, 2019
Meh...that really didn't make much sense. It started out good and interesting and pretty original. So I was excited and wanted the heroine to show her badass ass kicking skills
But once she ended up at the academy most of the time I was preoccupied with rolling my eyes. Nothings made sense and really all reactions and interactions with those people were ridiculous and totally illogical.
Their thoughts and actions didn't made sense. The heroine comes to the academy after being kidnapped by trolls and living with them FOR 6 YEARS while they treated her like dirt.
So you would assume when you're rescued after such a terrible and traumatic event, the first thing you would do when you are safe in sound in a real castle with a real bed and bathroom and food after you lived FOR 6 FREAKING YEARS in a forest in the worst condition is to enjoy those things and be happy and have new hope for your life.
But the heroine doesn't really care for those things. She just takes everything in stride ...nothing to see here...meh nothing special..... That really bugged me. She was not excited to bath and sleep in a real bed and eat real food after 6 years being a hostage?????? Come on that is not a realistic reaction. What does she do instead? Ah yeah right, she drones on and on about how sexy and hot and cute and muscular and pretty and perfect the men around her are. I had to be careful to not let my eyes fall out with all the eye rolling I was doing.
I mean girl, you just survived a truly traumatic experiences so why the hell is the only thing you can think about how you want to jump them all and do naughty things to them???
And all characters just came to her and bam they were bff or bam they are enemys for life or bam they kiss. It was ridiculous.
I think the author just gone the easiest way and didn't really want to bother with explanations so everyone liked or loved or hated her instantly without such tiring stuff like reasons and purpose.
Also the stereotyping of the guys in this book was really lame. I know that reverse harems have this stereotypes and every guy of the harem is a different type and I'm ok with this but here it was put to an extrem. Each guy had only one way how he was and how he reacted and stayed in this one dimensional way. She got the funny guy who flirted right away with her and wanted to marry her right away and loves her right away and can't stay serious bla bla. Then she had the bad boy who don't trust her and wants her gone right away and spends most of his days with glowering and glaring and sneering and being rude and harsh and bla bla bla. Then of cause there have to be a professor of adult person who is forbidden and is also in love right away and kiss her after like 2 short conversation (in this case he is not just a professor but the headmaster...ehm ok).
I was surprised that the nerd type was missing in this whole set up. But surprise surprise ....some chapters later of cause in the library one nerd coming right up. Cute and nerdy glasses in check and cute innocent hotness in check he walks right up and right away knows the dark secret of the heroine and agrees to help her break the rules and doing some B&E. Yep makes totally sense...not.
I did not believe one thing in this book and was pretty annoyed.
But once she ended up at the academy most of the time I was preoccupied with rolling my eyes. Nothings made sense and really all reactions and interactions with those people were ridiculous and totally illogical.
Their thoughts and actions didn't made sense. The heroine comes to the academy after being kidnapped by trolls and living with them FOR 6 YEARS while they treated her like dirt.
So you would assume when you're rescued after such a terrible and traumatic event, the first thing you would do when you are safe in sound in a real castle with a real bed and bathroom and food after you lived FOR 6 FREAKING YEARS in a forest in the worst condition is to enjoy those things and be happy and have new hope for your life.
But the heroine doesn't really care for those things. She just takes everything in stride ...nothing to see here...meh nothing special..... That really bugged me. She was not excited to bath and sleep in a real bed and eat real food after 6 years being a hostage?????? Come on that is not a realistic reaction. What does she do instead? Ah yeah right, she drones on and on about how sexy and hot and cute and muscular and pretty and perfect the men around her are. I had to be careful to not let my eyes fall out with all the eye rolling I was doing.
I mean girl, you just survived a truly traumatic experiences so why the hell is the only thing you can think about how you want to jump them all and do naughty things to them???
And all characters just came to her and bam they were bff or bam they are enemys for life or bam they kiss. It was ridiculous.
I think the author just gone the easiest way and didn't really want to bother with explanations so everyone liked or loved or hated her instantly without such tiring stuff like reasons and purpose.
Also the stereotyping of the guys in this book was really lame. I know that reverse harems have this stereotypes and every guy of the harem is a different type and I'm ok with this but here it was put to an extrem. Each guy had only one way how he was and how he reacted and stayed in this one dimensional way. She got the funny guy who flirted right away with her and wanted to marry her right away and loves her right away and can't stay serious bla bla. Then she had the bad boy who don't trust her and wants her gone right away and spends most of his days with glowering and glaring and sneering and being rude and harsh and bla bla bla. Then of cause there have to be a professor of adult person who is forbidden and is also in love right away and kiss her after like 2 short conversation (in this case he is not just a professor but the headmaster...ehm ok).
I was surprised that the nerd type was missing in this whole set up. But surprise surprise ....some chapters later of cause in the library one nerd coming right up. Cute and nerdy glasses in check and cute innocent hotness in check he walks right up and right away knows the dark secret of the heroine and agrees to help her break the rules and doing some B&E. Yep makes totally sense...not.
I did not believe one thing in this book and was pretty annoyed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2023
Read this because it was tagged as an RH and was free through the audible plus program. I can see how the series might become an RH, but this installment didn't have a lot of RH on page time. But I did enjoy the academy and magic aspects of this one.
Rep: white polyamorous cis female MC, various white side characters.
CWs: Physical abuse, slavery, injury/injury detail, violence, sexual content. Moderate: Death, gun violence, medical content, sexual harassment.
Rep: white polyamorous cis female MC, various white side characters.
CWs: Physical abuse, slavery, injury/injury detail, violence, sexual content. Moderate: Death, gun violence, medical content, sexual harassment.
dnf-shelf
March 6, 2022DNF. I couldn’t with this book. Tell me how a girl who’s experienced being beaten within inches of her life for 5 YEARS, traumatized and belittled can just assimilate back into “tehehe He’S Got sUcH a gReAt ASs , I wanna grind on him “ within a day of achieving her freedom from a tribe of trolls? Not to mention that she was taken away at 15 and magically knows a bit too much with getting along with 20+ year olds. She communicated with clunky broken language creatures for years… what? Somehow she can reach the borders of the human world but couldn’t walk into it and be like “someone please help me” for 5 years? If you want to write a fluff book, go for it but don’t add all this stuff if you can’t string together something close to believable and leave it riddled with plot holes.
Insta love, insta BFFs, guys are cringy. Take The Magicians + Harry Potter + Zodiac Academy and that’s pretty much where all the inspiration comes from for this book. Hard Nope for me. Also fun drinking game? Take a shot for every time the word “conduit” is used, you’ll be hospitalized before chapter 2.
Insta love, insta BFFs, guys are cringy. Take The Magicians + Harry Potter + Zodiac Academy and that’s pretty much where all the inspiration comes from for this book. Hard Nope for me. Also fun drinking game? Take a shot for every time the word “conduit” is used, you’ll be hospitalized before chapter 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2021
The story was intriguing enough that I was almost tempted to give the second book a chance. However, the writing needs a lot of work. A good copy editor can do wonders for this book. I can see myself giving this author another chance after a few years to see if she improved her craft.
June 11, 2019
Good but...
The book started off really good but just over halfway through I started to struggle. I got through to the end but if I never hear the phrase "my magic reacts to them" or some sort of variation on it one more time it would still be too soon! I get trying to describe a situation but when it's repeated every few pages it just distracts me from the story. After the fifth time I've got it down to a T on how she and her magic felt around them! This was the start of me feeling disconnected from Wren.
Around 65% or so the interactions between characters started to make me cringe and it felt hollow. Maybe it's me but it just didn't feel believable. I also feel conflicted about the bad guy(s) being too obvious. I knew it was going to come to a head, it was just a case of when and how. When it did, the fight scene felt, I don't know, cheesy? Predictable? Unsatisfying?
Anyways... I still give it 3 stars because I even though it was a little anticlimactic I enjoyed the world building, it felt Harry Potter-ish except with a sexy headmaster. Would probably read book 2 but I'd wait for a few reviews to come out to see if I'd enjoy it. If it still flows the same as book 1 I'd probably give up on series.
The book started off really good but just over halfway through I started to struggle. I got through to the end but if I never hear the phrase "my magic reacts to them" or some sort of variation on it one more time it would still be too soon! I get trying to describe a situation but when it's repeated every few pages it just distracts me from the story. After the fifth time I've got it down to a T on how she and her magic felt around them! This was the start of me feeling disconnected from Wren.
Around 65% or so the interactions between characters started to make me cringe and it felt hollow. Maybe it's me but it just didn't feel believable. I also feel conflicted about the bad guy(s) being too obvious. I knew it was going to come to a head, it was just a case of when and how. When it did, the fight scene felt, I don't know, cheesy? Predictable? Unsatisfying?
Anyways... I still give it 3 stars because I even though it was a little anticlimactic I enjoyed the world building, it felt Harry Potter-ish except with a sexy headmaster. Would probably read book 2 but I'd wait for a few reviews to come out to see if I'd enjoy it. If it still flows the same as book 1 I'd probably give up on series.
June 22, 2019
So bad
Bad RH. so I dnf, got to about 74% and called it quits. This book had a storyline hard to like, it had a Harry potter feel with gnomes, fairies and trolls. There is the 4 different magic groups like Harry potter, magical school with trails, and even the picking of the wand. I'm very confused on the world building because we know she was living in Idaho but with trolls and she walks into a town with ppl but as she takes a rest she sees gnomes and fairies and even a stag with glowing antlers ( Harry potter-ish ) again, anyways yes she sees this and even spots a little family being stalked by a evil creature, so like can she only see this because she's a mage? Or does every human know the forest has these beings and they only stick to their town? There's another instant when they are speaking about some order and wren ask if they are like the illuminati? That was pretty much my breaking point, who says that in a book like this? Seriously? Moving on, with all this going on we can't forget this is a RH and it's so bad it's cringe worthy. There is and I mean no connection, spark, flame, ECT for these ppl to be romantically involved! Yes there are guys, yes she thinks they are cute but the way the book is written there is nothing leading you to or up to believing they are going to be romantically involved in anyway. The romance is dry if not none existent, there was actually times when they are just talking and our heroine gets wet or has heat pool between her legs for zero reasons at all, this author has no idea how to incorporate romance within this read, let alone a freaking RH of men. It comes off so freaking weird that you kinda wish you could unread that kinda stuff in this book, and I love me a sexy RH, this had my skin crawling. The times where they are training and the author writes ( we were training and you could feel the sexual tensions ) honestly lady what sexual tension? There is nothing of the sort, and just because you written so doesn't mean you actually have that going on in this book? Id skip this book for its confusing storyline and bad chemistry.
Bad RH. so I dnf, got to about 74% and called it quits. This book had a storyline hard to like, it had a Harry potter feel with gnomes, fairies and trolls. There is the 4 different magic groups like Harry potter, magical school with trails, and even the picking of the wand. I'm very confused on the world building because we know she was living in Idaho but with trolls and she walks into a town with ppl but as she takes a rest she sees gnomes and fairies and even a stag with glowing antlers ( Harry potter-ish ) again, anyways yes she sees this and even spots a little family being stalked by a evil creature, so like can she only see this because she's a mage? Or does every human know the forest has these beings and they only stick to their town? There's another instant when they are speaking about some order and wren ask if they are like the illuminati? That was pretty much my breaking point, who says that in a book like this? Seriously? Moving on, with all this going on we can't forget this is a RH and it's so bad it's cringe worthy. There is and I mean no connection, spark, flame, ECT for these ppl to be romantically involved! Yes there are guys, yes she thinks they are cute but the way the book is written there is nothing leading you to or up to believing they are going to be romantically involved in anyway. The romance is dry if not none existent, there was actually times when they are just talking and our heroine gets wet or has heat pool between her legs for zero reasons at all, this author has no idea how to incorporate romance within this read, let alone a freaking RH of men. It comes off so freaking weird that you kinda wish you could unread that kinda stuff in this book, and I love me a sexy RH, this had my skin crawling. The times where they are training and the author writes ( we were training and you could feel the sexual tensions ) honestly lady what sexual tension? There is nothing of the sort, and just because you written so doesn't mean you actually have that going on in this book? Id skip this book for its confusing storyline and bad chemistry.
January 23, 2021
This has a normal blueprint. Girl grows up in a bad situation. Girl gets invited to school. Girl meets a group of guys she is drawn to, and they to her. Maybe she has a friend who is a girl thrown sporadically in to mix things up. Girl has a secret amazing power she knows nothing or little about. Girl must go through trials or tests to stay in this amazing school. Etc.
If this is your first book like this, you will probably love it. If you're like me who has read this type of story over and over to the point that the characters feel like they can almost be interchangeable, this book might be a little boring. I didn't leave the book looking forward to reading more. I haven't crossed it off my list of course, the story isn't bad! But I am not going to drop my TBR to read the next book.
If this is your first book like this, you will probably love it. If you're like me who has read this type of story over and over to the point that the characters feel like they can almost be interchangeable, this book might be a little boring. I didn't leave the book looking forward to reading more. I haven't crossed it off my list of course, the story isn't bad! But I am not going to drop my TBR to read the next book.
April 15, 2021
Is just a boring insta-love. I just don't care.
Boring plot
Insta friend
Insta respect (One of her insta-guys look to her insta-best friend and knows she is loyal, she is powerful, she is good and she deserve to know everything about this bigger than us secret, at the beginning of the second book)
The MC barely know anyone but she acts like she does, and is flat like everything in this series, even the guys can all just trip and die for all i care.
Boring plot
Insta friend
Insta respect (One of her insta-guys look to her insta-best friend and knows she is loyal, she is powerful, she is good and she deserve to know everything about this bigger than us secret, at the beginning of the second book)
The MC barely know anyone but she acts like she does, and is flat like everything in this series, even the guys can all just trip and die for all i care.
February 15, 2021
Goddess, she giggles so much it's absolutely annoying.
February 22, 2023
I’m not even sure why I finished this. But let me tell you this book was trash. This is the second book to ruin the phrase “amber eyes” for me. Can we not? Pretty sure this book is what every pick me girl sees herself as-one girl who’s just effortlessly good at everything for no reason, she doesn’t struggle, and she has 4 guys fawning after her. She’s also incredibly horny. Like the entire time she’s just lusting after these men, and two of them are teachers. One of those two is the headmaster. Every time she was lusting after him I pictured Dumbledore 🤮
Some quotes for your reading pleasure:
“I close my eyes and swallow down the need to roll my eyes.”
“I have been told you were recently in contact with someone very dear to you recently.”
Some quotes for your reading pleasure:
“I close my eyes and swallow down the need to roll my eyes.”
“I have been told you were recently in contact with someone very dear to you recently.”
February 28, 2021
I have Audible and this book was part of my subscription, which is why I listened to it. Had I paid for this book, I would have returned it and gotten my money back.
I gave it 3 stars only because I liked it enough to finish it, though some of the story line was 1 star or less. Some of the story was totally ridiculous or didn't make sense. Here's where the spoilers come in.
Trolls are supposed to avoid people at all costs, but yet they kidnap Wren out of her bed at 14 and keep her as a prisoner for 6 years. Maybe this is explained in book 2, but it seems ridiculous and an unnecessary part of the book. I almost put it down.
She is "rescued" and taken to the academy, where she instantly has a physical, lustful reaction to 4 different men, one of whom is the headmaster
of the academy? Come on now. And of course all 4 of them are gorgeous. And they all lust after her too, because of course she is gorgeous. And she spends the rest of the book calling them "my men" and they all follow her around doing her bidding for the whole book. Sounds like the writer might need some therapy? Sounds like some terrible writing? Yes.
She then falls into bed with one of them, but the story plays out like she's had sex a bunch of times. She's lived with trolls, who all hate her guts, since she was 14, remember? Ridiculous I say.
Her father is supposedly dead, but then she finds out he's been held captive this whole time. Okay, fine. But then, he manages to get a letter to her. Really? He never managed it in all these years before. How is he magically able to do this only after she knows he's alive? Ridiculous.
It is then revealed that her father is being forced to find pieces of some meteorite that hit the earth that is supposedly magical, and of course she touched the meteorite when she was 6, so it fused in her and she's the last piece. That's gotta be the dumbest part. A meteorite? Come on. So ridiculous.
The writer needs some writing lessons. The story should at least be believable, even though it's a fantasy genre. That said, I liked it enough to finish it. The sex scenes are pretty 🔥. The story was decent, though quite ridiculous at times, if you hadn't gathered that already.
I gave it 3 stars only because I liked it enough to finish it, though some of the story line was 1 star or less. Some of the story was totally ridiculous or didn't make sense. Here's where the spoilers come in.
Trolls are supposed to avoid people at all costs, but yet they kidnap Wren out of her bed at 14 and keep her as a prisoner for 6 years. Maybe this is explained in book 2, but it seems ridiculous and an unnecessary part of the book. I almost put it down.
She is "rescued" and taken to the academy, where she instantly has a physical, lustful reaction to 4 different men, one of whom is the headmaster
of the academy? Come on now. And of course all 4 of them are gorgeous. And they all lust after her too, because of course she is gorgeous. And she spends the rest of the book calling them "my men" and they all follow her around doing her bidding for the whole book. Sounds like the writer might need some therapy? Sounds like some terrible writing? Yes.
She then falls into bed with one of them, but the story plays out like she's had sex a bunch of times. She's lived with trolls, who all hate her guts, since she was 14, remember? Ridiculous I say.
Her father is supposedly dead, but then she finds out he's been held captive this whole time. Okay, fine. But then, he manages to get a letter to her. Really? He never managed it in all these years before. How is he magically able to do this only after she knows he's alive? Ridiculous.
It is then revealed that her father is being forced to find pieces of some meteorite that hit the earth that is supposedly magical, and of course she touched the meteorite when she was 6, so it fused in her and she's the last piece. That's gotta be the dumbest part. A meteorite? Come on. So ridiculous.
The writer needs some writing lessons. The story should at least be believable, even though it's a fantasy genre. That said, I liked it enough to finish it. The sex scenes are pretty 🔥. The story was decent, though quite ridiculous at times, if you hadn't gathered that already.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2019
No chemistry or personalities
1) Yay, I finished the book. 2) I just did not like it. I hate giving bad reviews, but I've read enough RHs to know that it shouldn't be this hard to get a feel for any of the characters or the events.
This book had a storyline like Harry Potter with 4 different magic houses, gnomes, pixies, and trolls. You even have to pick a wand (sorry conduit) that feels right to you. You have to complete 4 trials to enter the school. (Goblet of Fire anyone) Um why? What is the incentive but besides becoming great and learning?
I didn't understand the world building. It referenced Idaho, but in the forest are trolls that kidnapped her at 14. She is so blasé about it and everyone reacts like yeah right, trolls aren't real. She just walked away an a$$ kicking at the beginning even if she was so strong to knock out a rock like troll. She doesn't seem dirty, disheveled, or scarred from the ordeal of being a slave for 6 years. Barely none of the guys even reacted to the knowledge but Milo. Oh and she was missing for 6 yrs but her aunt is out of town and doesn't come running when she here's she's been found??
The character development was so nonexistent. There was no chemistry other than physical attraction between the FMC and the guys. She thinks they are cute and one is seriously sexy (headmaster) , but the way the book is written there is nothing leading you to or up to believing they are going to be romantically involved at all. The one steamy scene was so completely random, it could only be described as giving into anger, attraction, and an adrenaline rush. She gets all hot and bothered for every little thing. She's clueless like I expected being 6yrs a slave, but is ready to jump 4 guys when she had little experience. She feels a magical attraction too. but is it one sided? Do the guys feel anything at all? Oh and the guys are flat and so 2D, absolutely no personalities. Ugh show, not just tell.make me believe in these characters and events.
1) Yay, I finished the book. 2) I just did not like it. I hate giving bad reviews, but I've read enough RHs to know that it shouldn't be this hard to get a feel for any of the characters or the events.
This book had a storyline like Harry Potter with 4 different magic houses, gnomes, pixies, and trolls. You even have to pick a wand (sorry conduit) that feels right to you. You have to complete 4 trials to enter the school. (Goblet of Fire anyone) Um why? What is the incentive but besides becoming great and learning?
I didn't understand the world building. It referenced Idaho, but in the forest are trolls that kidnapped her at 14. She is so blasé about it and everyone reacts like yeah right, trolls aren't real. She just walked away an a$$ kicking at the beginning even if she was so strong to knock out a rock like troll. She doesn't seem dirty, disheveled, or scarred from the ordeal of being a slave for 6 years. Barely none of the guys even reacted to the knowledge but Milo. Oh and she was missing for 6 yrs but her aunt is out of town and doesn't come running when she here's she's been found??
The character development was so nonexistent. There was no chemistry other than physical attraction between the FMC and the guys. She thinks they are cute and one is seriously sexy (headmaster) , but the way the book is written there is nothing leading you to or up to believing they are going to be romantically involved at all. The one steamy scene was so completely random, it could only be described as giving into anger, attraction, and an adrenaline rush. She gets all hot and bothered for every little thing. She's clueless like I expected being 6yrs a slave, but is ready to jump 4 guys when she had little experience. She feels a magical attraction too. but is it one sided? Do the guys feel anything at all? Oh and the guys are flat and so 2D, absolutely no personalities. Ugh show, not just tell.make me believe in these characters and events.
June 13, 2019
Normally I only give 1's if grammar is atrocious or if the novel is a complete disaster.
The grammar isn't atrocious, and the novel is not a complete disaster, but there are so many things wrong with this book that I had to give it 1 star. From the language not being unified (going from using modern terms and idioms to trying to form a mystic like language) to things "magically" appearing so that the plot can move forward. Many other things occur in the story that irritate me which led to me giving it 1 star.
The grammar isn't atrocious, and the novel is not a complete disaster, but there are so many things wrong with this book that I had to give it 1 star. From the language not being unified (going from using modern terms and idioms to trying to form a mystic like language) to things "magically" appearing so that the plot can move forward. Many other things occur in the story that irritate me which led to me giving it 1 star.
June 11, 2019
Cool adventure
I love adventure harems and this one does not disappoint.
Wren's childhood was happy until her mother died. Shortly after, her father disappears and then she's kidnapped by forest trolls.
Finally she has a chance to escape, a chance at a better future, but is she jumping from the frying pan into the fire?
Four men seem determined to protect her from danger and from herself. Will she listen to them?
And Gideon. Ugh. Love it!
I love adventure harems and this one does not disappoint.
Wren's childhood was happy until her mother died. Shortly after, her father disappears and then she's kidnapped by forest trolls.
Finally she has a chance to escape, a chance at a better future, but is she jumping from the frying pan into the fire?
Four men seem determined to protect her from danger and from herself. Will she listen to them?
And Gideon. Ugh. Love it!
February 8, 2021
Fun story
I read and listened to this book. It was fun and interesting getting to know more about each of the characters and I can't wait to learn more.
I read and listened to this book. It was fun and interesting getting to know more about each of the characters and I can't wait to learn more.
June 16, 2021
Really enjoyed this book! Can’t wait for more
June 1, 2019
Wow. I loved this first book in the new series by Olivia Ash. It has a great heroine and four fantastic love interests. It also has a great story. The world building is awesome. I can't wait to find out what is going to happen with Wren and her men in the rest of the books. I got to read this book as an advanced reader and my review is voluntary. Don't miss the chance to start this one at the beginning and read the books as they are released. I don't want to tell you the story as you need to read it for yourself.
February 3, 2023
Loved the trials hated the last 30%.
March 4, 2021
This book is like undercooked cookie. Pretty on outside, but terrible once you peel off the outer layer. It has problems upon problems plot wise, the execution is less than basic and there is zero chemistry in the story between characters or even events. The best explanation i can come up with is that author had a list of things she wanted to happen in this book, but lacked the finesse or talent to make that list in an actual story. So, lets take a look at some of those problems. If you don't want any spoilers, don't read anymore and know, that this book is not worth reading.
Main heroine was kidnapped by forest trolls at age 14 and was abused and beaten, kept as a slave and entertainment for the next 6 years, making our heroine aged 20 . From the very brief description of how her life was for those 6 years, reader can deduct that she couldn't practice magic, she is a virgin, she have very basic understanding of the world or creatures in it, she was constantly beaten by all of the trolls, who are described as bigger and stronger than any human being , she have experienced managing through the pain. Now, author obviously never had several ribs and arms and other bones broken at the same time, otherwise she would not tell reader how Wren with all those injuries managed to do hard physical work. Why I recounted the experience Wren had? Because author constantly forgot she had given this information. Being a virgin with zero sexual information, Wren is constantly aroused, is not shy or inexperienced and engaged in sex straight away without any pain or questions. She has no trauma or even guarded attitude towards people she meet. She immediately can detect who is villain despite not detecting it upon meeting him and was given no reason to start suspecting. She forms deep friendships in two sentences. While she is oblivious to some things in the world, she is well informed or even trained on others. So, in short, author described the heroine and then immediately forgot how or who she is supposed to be.
There is no development of any kind in this story. Reader is either just told facts or presented something as factual. Friendships don't develop- characters meet and are immediately friends just because. Soren hated Wren and made 180 to love without any logical explanation. Headmaster is going around kissing a student and nobody raises an eyebrow. Characters are as one dimensional as they come, there is no depth or development. Milo and Jessie was on board to braking school rules for Wren without any thought and just after meeting her. There is no reason or logic to any characters actions. Author needed them to do something, so they did and who cares about why they would do so or how to execute it properly.
Timing of the book is off. If I understand it correctly, the whole book supposedly happens over 2 weeks. But there is no time order for reader to follow. There is no sense of how mutch time passes between events. Even the timing on small scale is off. For example an invisibility spell lasts two hours, characters under it witness things that all together could take around 30-40 minutes and barely manages to get back before spell dissolves. And this is a trend throughout the book.
The reverse harem part. All participants are introduced in rapid order, there is no guessing as Wrens magic and sexual response is an immediate indicator. There is zero chemistry a reader can feel, we are just fed the facts and are supposed to know them be correct. No development in relationships between participants in the harem - it just is. No discussion, not even a conversation.
World building is nonexistent.
Illogical reactions or events that don't make sense. Like villain to be able to rig the fifth trial and principal not even mentioning on how. Like the group discussing how safe Wren is because nobody can get to island without special invitation and next day sending her off the island for spa day without protection. Maybe small things, but when they are constantly happening, they are hard to ignore.
I could go on and on, but then I would have to go over every paragraph on every page and my review would be longer than the book itself. Summing all up, author did a pretty shitty job if making her list into book . Maybe a good editor could have helped some. I don't know. Anyway, I don't plan on reading the next book and don't recommend anyone to waste their time on this.
Main heroine was kidnapped by forest trolls at age 14 and was abused and beaten, kept as a slave and entertainment for the next 6 years, making our heroine aged 20 . From the very brief description of how her life was for those 6 years, reader can deduct that she couldn't practice magic, she is a virgin, she have very basic understanding of the world or creatures in it, she was constantly beaten by all of the trolls, who are described as bigger and stronger than any human being , she have experienced managing through the pain. Now, author obviously never had several ribs and arms and other bones broken at the same time, otherwise she would not tell reader how Wren with all those injuries managed to do hard physical work. Why I recounted the experience Wren had? Because author constantly forgot she had given this information. Being a virgin with zero sexual information, Wren is constantly aroused, is not shy or inexperienced and engaged in sex straight away without any pain or questions. She has no trauma or even guarded attitude towards people she meet. She immediately can detect who is villain despite not detecting it upon meeting him and was given no reason to start suspecting. She forms deep friendships in two sentences. While she is oblivious to some things in the world, she is well informed or even trained on others. So, in short, author described the heroine and then immediately forgot how or who she is supposed to be.
There is no development of any kind in this story. Reader is either just told facts or presented something as factual. Friendships don't develop- characters meet and are immediately friends just because. Soren hated Wren and made 180 to love without any logical explanation. Headmaster is going around kissing a student and nobody raises an eyebrow. Characters are as one dimensional as they come, there is no depth or development. Milo and Jessie was on board to braking school rules for Wren without any thought and just after meeting her. There is no reason or logic to any characters actions. Author needed them to do something, so they did and who cares about why they would do so or how to execute it properly.
Timing of the book is off. If I understand it correctly, the whole book supposedly happens over 2 weeks. But there is no time order for reader to follow. There is no sense of how mutch time passes between events. Even the timing on small scale is off. For example an invisibility spell lasts two hours, characters under it witness things that all together could take around 30-40 minutes and barely manages to get back before spell dissolves. And this is a trend throughout the book.
The reverse harem part. All participants are introduced in rapid order, there is no guessing as Wrens magic and sexual response is an immediate indicator. There is zero chemistry a reader can feel, we are just fed the facts and are supposed to know them be correct. No development in relationships between participants in the harem - it just is. No discussion, not even a conversation.
World building is nonexistent.
Illogical reactions or events that don't make sense. Like villain to be able to rig the fifth trial and principal not even mentioning on how. Like the group discussing how safe Wren is because nobody can get to island without special invitation and next day sending her off the island for spa day without protection. Maybe small things, but when they are constantly happening, they are hard to ignore.
I could go on and on, but then I would have to go over every paragraph on every page and my review would be longer than the book itself. Summing all up, author did a pretty shitty job if making her list into book . Maybe a good editor could have helped some. I don't know. Anyway, I don't plan on reading the next book and don't recommend anyone to waste their time on this.
November 14, 2021
2.5☆ A simple guilty pleasure suitable for those days where u just want a quick read that includes a fantasy school, the chosen one trope n several hot men.
It's enjoyable if u don't think too much about it and just want to read it to pass time. But if I were to think about this critically I'd say there's a couple things that really bothers me.
☆MILD SPOILERS AHEAD REGARDING THE TRIALS☆
(Will note the start n end of mild spoilers)
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>>>>>(Start of mild spoilers)<<<<<
Something about the 4 houses n the creatures representing them reminds me too much of Harry Potter. The trials also scream goblet of fire with the 4 houses introducing themselves like how the competing schools put on the introductory show/performance when they first arrive at Hogwarts. Then, there's a trial that involves a maze n another has killer mermaids, and then the thing that function almost like a portkey/portal that somehow led the MC straight to the antagonist... *narrow eyes*
>>>>>(End of mild spoilers)<<<<<
I know these are common tropes but there's so many similarities within 1 book that I can't not think of HP as I listen to the audiobook. I don't rmb feeling this way when I read Rainbow Rowell's Carry On, the school n the entire vibe of that world felt different even though we know the Simon Snow universe is based on HP.
It also bothers me that the author keep describing the 4 men as hot almost every single time they appear. It was super repetitive. N the MC thinks about having sex with them every time she lay her eyes on them. Almost like that's their sole purpose for existing, n their other character traits are secondary. It's kinda weird n makes me roll my eyes. I've read erotica n even those MC don't think solely about sex every.single.time. they meet the male lead. The sexual tension is supposed to build up naturally.
I also cannot for the life of me understand what they see in her. She is described by herself that ppl tend to dislike her n she has been living with trolls for 6 years. It makes no sense that she would stand out or appeal to men in an attractive way, especially compared to other girls in the same academy. Yet the men behave like she is either a goddess sent from heaven or a seductive succubus they can't resist. Maybe it's just me, but I need more convincing reasoning when 4 super hot men or the 4 hottest men in an academy fell for the lead character out of no where. Something other than her being the MC n the chosen one. Personally, I suspect their attraction has something to do with her unique magic n it might get explained somewhere down the series. But i think they need better reason than that, at least in this book.
The book is free if u have Audible membership. I enjoyed it when I listened to it but I don't think I like the characters or writing enough to continue the series. There's just a lot of better stuff in the same genre out there.
It's enjoyable if u don't think too much about it and just want to read it to pass time. But if I were to think about this critically I'd say there's a couple things that really bothers me.
☆MILD SPOILERS AHEAD REGARDING THE TRIALS☆
(Will note the start n end of mild spoilers)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
>>>>>(Start of mild spoilers)<<<<<
Something about the 4 houses n the creatures representing them reminds me too much of Harry Potter. The trials also scream goblet of fire with the 4 houses introducing themselves like how the competing schools put on the introductory show/performance when they first arrive at Hogwarts. Then, there's a trial that involves a maze n another has killer mermaids, and then the thing that function almost like a portkey/portal that somehow led the MC straight to the antagonist... *narrow eyes*
>>>>>(End of mild spoilers)<<<<<
I know these are common tropes but there's so many similarities within 1 book that I can't not think of HP as I listen to the audiobook. I don't rmb feeling this way when I read Rainbow Rowell's Carry On, the school n the entire vibe of that world felt different even though we know the Simon Snow universe is based on HP.
It also bothers me that the author keep describing the 4 men as hot almost every single time they appear. It was super repetitive. N the MC thinks about having sex with them every time she lay her eyes on them. Almost like that's their sole purpose for existing, n their other character traits are secondary. It's kinda weird n makes me roll my eyes. I've read erotica n even those MC don't think solely about sex every.single.time. they meet the male lead. The sexual tension is supposed to build up naturally.
I also cannot for the life of me understand what they see in her. She is described by herself that ppl tend to dislike her n she has been living with trolls for 6 years. It makes no sense that she would stand out or appeal to men in an attractive way, especially compared to other girls in the same academy. Yet the men behave like she is either a goddess sent from heaven or a seductive succubus they can't resist. Maybe it's just me, but I need more convincing reasoning when 4 super hot men or the 4 hottest men in an academy fell for the lead character out of no where. Something other than her being the MC n the chosen one. Personally, I suspect their attraction has something to do with her unique magic n it might get explained somewhere down the series. But i think they need better reason than that, at least in this book.
The book is free if u have Audible membership. I enjoyed it when I listened to it but I don't think I like the characters or writing enough to continue the series. There's just a lot of better stuff in the same genre out there.
February 5, 2022
DNF - quit at 48%
Authors, quit following trends, come up with your own unique ideas!
There are too many academy books out there that are way better than this, & there are a ton of academy books out there right now (for new books being released, I don't see much else), as that's the latest trend for Paranormal authors, I guess.
What a waste of my time! This story just seems more like a rough draft than a completed book. There really isn't a world building, & I don't grant the excuse that the heroine is learning as she goes, because she's not learning anything new at all. This book needed a content editor to help the author circle the wagons & get the story under control. The main female character, Wren, is all over the place as a character, but I still don't know who she is, to form an attachment to the character, at the point I quit, I didn't like her at all & could care less what happens to her. The guys who I presume to be in her RH at some point, all evoke something from her magic but nothing from me. But like everything else in the book, to the 48%, nothing is explained. The guys don't become an important part to the story, since they are all introduced so fast with minimal information & all provoke the same lusty magic response in her. All that response to them just made her look like a hussy. I didn't even learn anything about the guys, except for Sorren is the one guy in the harem that she constantly butts heads with, who constantly has a problem with her for no reason. Just like all RH, there's that one @sshole in the group that makes no sense being added to the group dynamic other than to cause trouble for the heroine. I also didn't grasp that she'd been a captive since 14 with the Trolls, but comes out at 20 with no physical scars when they beat her so severely, no gaps in her education, not even being dirty & unkempt with clothes like rags, no emotional scarring that the reader can discern, one day fighting & killing Trolls to escape them, the next she's in the academy & flourishing, like she just came from High School. No questions that her knowledge of magic came from her dad who she hasn't seen since she was 14. I don't think anyone can learn a complicated craft of any kind, let alone magic by the time they are 14. I don't understand all the wasted opportunities to expand on the story & draw a reader into the book. The time frame in the book has no reference points either, so I don't know once she's at the academy, how long she's there, at times it feels like a matter of days, other times it feels like nearly a month.
So needless to say, I won't be continuing on with the series, and I'll avoid other books by this author.
At my age, life is to short & my time to important to force myself to read a book I'm not enjoying, especially when there are so many other books out there waiting to be read.
Authors, quit following trends, come up with your own unique ideas!
There are too many academy books out there that are way better than this, & there are a ton of academy books out there right now (for new books being released, I don't see much else), as that's the latest trend for Paranormal authors, I guess.
What a waste of my time! This story just seems more like a rough draft than a completed book. There really isn't a world building, & I don't grant the excuse that the heroine is learning as she goes, because she's not learning anything new at all. This book needed a content editor to help the author circle the wagons & get the story under control. The main female character, Wren, is all over the place as a character, but I still don't know who she is, to form an attachment to the character, at the point I quit, I didn't like her at all & could care less what happens to her. The guys who I presume to be in her RH at some point, all evoke something from her magic but nothing from me. But like everything else in the book, to the 48%, nothing is explained. The guys don't become an important part to the story, since they are all introduced so fast with minimal information & all provoke the same lusty magic response in her. All that response to them just made her look like a hussy. I didn't even learn anything about the guys, except for Sorren is the one guy in the harem that she constantly butts heads with, who constantly has a problem with her for no reason. Just like all RH, there's that one @sshole in the group that makes no sense being added to the group dynamic other than to cause trouble for the heroine. I also didn't grasp that she'd been a captive since 14 with the Trolls, but comes out at 20 with no physical scars when they beat her so severely, no gaps in her education, not even being dirty & unkempt with clothes like rags, no emotional scarring that the reader can discern, one day fighting & killing Trolls to escape them, the next she's in the academy & flourishing, like she just came from High School. No questions that her knowledge of magic came from her dad who she hasn't seen since she was 14. I don't think anyone can learn a complicated craft of any kind, let alone magic by the time they are 14. I don't understand all the wasted opportunities to expand on the story & draw a reader into the book. The time frame in the book has no reference points either, so I don't know once she's at the academy, how long she's there, at times it feels like a matter of days, other times it feels like nearly a month.
So needless to say, I won't be continuing on with the series, and I'll avoid other books by this author.
At my age, life is to short & my time to important to force myself to read a book I'm not enjoying, especially when there are so many other books out there waiting to be read.
January 12, 2023
It takes a lot for me to give a book less than a 4 star review because I genuinely enjoy almost any story. This however, only had two redeeming qualities and thus receives two stars to match: Jessie and the trolls.
Don’t get me wrong. The beginning was actually fairly well written and had my hopes high for what the rest of the book could be. Wren seemed to be a scrappy and traumatized heroine who would do whatever it took for self preservation. Excellent! We love a determined and powerful woman overcoming a traumatic past and struggling through obstacles! But that only lasted for perhaps two to three chapters. The real problem with the story and its writing begins as soon as she gets to the academy. At a time when characters should begin to be rounded and flushed out, everything grows lukewarm at best.
Wren is a terrible protagonist that is given forced wit and looks in place of grit and relatability. Her decisions and actions are rarely logical, let alone realistic. She is apparently drop dead gorgeous and immediately popular with everyone she meets despite having been a slave for the past 6 years. That is also an experience that would seep into every experience a person has, whether they want it to or not. Her relationships are weak and her motivations even worse. We never see a fault or a struggle, meaning there was no suspense and I was unable to root for her. Every relationship is meaningless and often lazy in the sense of them being instant relationships (instantly hated, instantly loved, instantly best friends). Even reuniting with her aunt— which could have been an excellent motivation for her—after the trials is never spoken of again. Instead, she goes on a freaking spa day at the end of the book?
The supporting characters are not much better with the exception of Jessie. The men of the harem are one dimensional tropes with nothing going for them. Soren stands as the enemies to lovers, Gideon as the hot-for-teacher, Milo as the hot nerd, and Jessie as the flirty-goofball-best-friend. They have no reason to utterly adore her and be loyal, yet they do. We never get more than a brief one off sentence about their past, if that. They don’t even have their own life outside of Wren. Every character seems to exist solely for Wren and only when Wren is around. We see none of their own problems and frustrations, hobbies, likes or dislikes. So either they don’t have motivations, the author was too lazy to think of any, or Wren just doesn’t care to find out.
Jessie only gets a small exception for the fact that Wren doesn’t immediately go into heat the first moment she meets him, so we get to see him be friendly and a little flirty before she wants to jump his bones too. He at least has the benefit of being her roommate and so we can assume there were conversations had between the two that could build a friendship or a rapport.
The same can not be said for Gideon. They meet twice with little to no communication before he kisses her. No thought for his job or reputation. Just wastes it all on this girl he doesn’t know. He isn’t the only one with this mentality. Savanna is immediately her best friend and ready to ride or die without any work on Wren’s part, and only ever appears for exposition or gossip.
Though the plot also left me wanting in a way that was loose, flimsy and created solely for the purpose to write subpar spicy scenes (unrealistic, especially for her starting as a virgin), I will instead air my final grievance about the world building itself. After reading the whole book, I know more about the trolls and their motivations and societal workings than I do about the mages. Do mages operate in a different world? A parallel plane? How does magic actually work? What do mages do after their academic endeavors? Are they a secret to humans? What was the point of Wren being half-human and half mage? Is there friction between species? It took until she was well established at the academy before we learn that there is at least some semblance of the United States in this world. That is perhaps the most redeeming quality of this whole book: a secret society of trolls living in Idaho.
Now /that/ is a unique plot point.
Everything in this book is a half baked idea that gets forgotten as the story goes. I nearly put this book down every step of the way, but I felt it would be hypocritical to write a review if I did not finish the book. Suffice to say, I will not be continuing the series.
Don’t get me wrong. The beginning was actually fairly well written and had my hopes high for what the rest of the book could be. Wren seemed to be a scrappy and traumatized heroine who would do whatever it took for self preservation. Excellent! We love a determined and powerful woman overcoming a traumatic past and struggling through obstacles! But that only lasted for perhaps two to three chapters. The real problem with the story and its writing begins as soon as she gets to the academy. At a time when characters should begin to be rounded and flushed out, everything grows lukewarm at best.
Wren is a terrible protagonist that is given forced wit and looks in place of grit and relatability. Her decisions and actions are rarely logical, let alone realistic. She is apparently drop dead gorgeous and immediately popular with everyone she meets despite having been a slave for the past 6 years. That is also an experience that would seep into every experience a person has, whether they want it to or not. Her relationships are weak and her motivations even worse. We never see a fault or a struggle, meaning there was no suspense and I was unable to root for her. Every relationship is meaningless and often lazy in the sense of them being instant relationships (instantly hated, instantly loved, instantly best friends). Even reuniting with her aunt— which could have been an excellent motivation for her—after the trials is never spoken of again. Instead, she goes on a freaking spa day at the end of the book?
The supporting characters are not much better with the exception of Jessie. The men of the harem are one dimensional tropes with nothing going for them. Soren stands as the enemies to lovers, Gideon as the hot-for-teacher, Milo as the hot nerd, and Jessie as the flirty-goofball-best-friend. They have no reason to utterly adore her and be loyal, yet they do. We never get more than a brief one off sentence about their past, if that. They don’t even have their own life outside of Wren. Every character seems to exist solely for Wren and only when Wren is around. We see none of their own problems and frustrations, hobbies, likes or dislikes. So either they don’t have motivations, the author was too lazy to think of any, or Wren just doesn’t care to find out.
Jessie only gets a small exception for the fact that Wren doesn’t immediately go into heat the first moment she meets him, so we get to see him be friendly and a little flirty before she wants to jump his bones too. He at least has the benefit of being her roommate and so we can assume there were conversations had between the two that could build a friendship or a rapport.
The same can not be said for Gideon. They meet twice with little to no communication before he kisses her. No thought for his job or reputation. Just wastes it all on this girl he doesn’t know. He isn’t the only one with this mentality. Savanna is immediately her best friend and ready to ride or die without any work on Wren’s part, and only ever appears for exposition or gossip.
Though the plot also left me wanting in a way that was loose, flimsy and created solely for the purpose to write subpar spicy scenes (unrealistic, especially for her starting as a virgin), I will instead air my final grievance about the world building itself. After reading the whole book, I know more about the trolls and their motivations and societal workings than I do about the mages. Do mages operate in a different world? A parallel plane? How does magic actually work? What do mages do after their academic endeavors? Are they a secret to humans? What was the point of Wren being half-human and half mage? Is there friction between species? It took until she was well established at the academy before we learn that there is at least some semblance of the United States in this world. That is perhaps the most redeeming quality of this whole book: a secret society of trolls living in Idaho.
Now /that/ is a unique plot point.
Everything in this book is a half baked idea that gets forgotten as the story goes. I nearly put this book down every step of the way, but I felt it would be hypocritical to write a review if I did not finish the book. Suffice to say, I will not be continuing the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2022
DNF at 23%
This was free on Audible and Kindle Unlimited, so I thought I’d give it a try. There are a lot of great books that you can read for free via either service, and I’ve found many to love that way, but this book definitely wasn’t one of them.
I thought I’d give The Trials of Blackbriar Academy a go because it sounded trashy in the fun way, and I like books that are set at magical institutions of learning. But, unfortunately, this story started off on a really awkward note and the author apparently didn’t know how to play any others. The singular note of this book played fell flat. *Ba-dum tss* 🥁 Believe it or not, that sorry call back to the little I remember about playing a musical instrument was actually less painful to read (or write) than the plot of this book.
The whole living as a slave to trolls for six (or something?) years situation was… weird. In general, and as a point to kick off a novel from. Really weird. And the context of being found via some sort of magic-detecting magical device of magic and the immediately gifted a free ride at the world’s most prestigious and competitive mage academy (university?) was just so out of the blue, even for a trashy urban romantasy series. Like, maybe that could’ve been workshopped another time, or five. Really starting this book in any other way would’ve been preferable. If you’re emotionally attached to the idea of the trolls maybe just save it for traumatic flashbacks that help to motivate the MC to kick ass and take names, so that she doesn’t lose her place at such an exclusive academy 🤷♀️ idk just something to consider. Honestly, anything would be an improvement.
Then there was the “Uh oh! The magic that only I can do without a conduit (that makes me automatically evil somehow hehe, and didn’t help me at all in my time living as a slave who was constantly tortured by LITERAL TROLLS but has just now shown up ((extremely conveniently hehe)) keeps acting up when I’m around certain extremely hot, incredibly buff guys. One of which is my hotty with a body roommate hehe! I wonder what that could mean? Hehe, hehe, etc.” Like, oh no, however will the reader figure this out before the characters do?
Hello, tis I, the reader who has figured it out before the characters have, because it’s incredibly obvious and this is not the first book like this that I’ve ever read.
It’s not just that Blackbriar Academy is a bit on the wrong side of bizarre, even though that certainly plays a big part in how I feel about it, but the writing itself was pretty poor. Simply put, the sentences were just alllllllll wrong. At one point I think I heard the word “sky” about four times in the span of two sentences. The same thing happened with the word “water” approximately one sentence later. That’s not just the fault of the author, apparently the editor doesn’t know what a synonym is either. I have no plans on finding out if that sort of nonsense continues on throughout the rest of the book, but I feel like it’s pretty safe to assume that it does.
Maybe someone who isn’t at all familiar with the current, super duper, mega obvious, overly popular tropes of the new adult fantasy romance genre would enjoy this, but as someone who has read better (and I mean, much better!), I just can’t force myself to sit through something this mediocre for the sake of reading something a little cheesy before I start another heavy series. This is the bad kind of cheese. And I’m dairy intolerant anyway.
I guess I might have to step away from the refrigerated section of the supermarket and look a little further upscale. Yes, I am talking about the all-elusive vegan deli.
So if you’re looking for me, little goodreads friends inside my phone, that is where I’ll be. Far, far away from this book 😔
This was free on Audible and Kindle Unlimited, so I thought I’d give it a try. There are a lot of great books that you can read for free via either service, and I’ve found many to love that way, but this book definitely wasn’t one of them.
I thought I’d give The Trials of Blackbriar Academy a go because it sounded trashy in the fun way, and I like books that are set at magical institutions of learning. But, unfortunately, this story started off on a really awkward note and the author apparently didn’t know how to play any others. The singular note of this book played fell flat. *Ba-dum tss* 🥁 Believe it or not, that sorry call back to the little I remember about playing a musical instrument was actually less painful to read (or write) than the plot of this book.
The whole living as a slave to trolls for six (or something?) years situation was… weird. In general, and as a point to kick off a novel from. Really weird. And the context of being found via some sort of magic-detecting magical device of magic and the immediately gifted a free ride at the world’s most prestigious and competitive mage academy (university?) was just so out of the blue, even for a trashy urban romantasy series. Like, maybe that could’ve been workshopped another time, or five. Really starting this book in any other way would’ve been preferable. If you’re emotionally attached to the idea of the trolls maybe just save it for traumatic flashbacks that help to motivate the MC to kick ass and take names, so that she doesn’t lose her place at such an exclusive academy 🤷♀️ idk just something to consider. Honestly, anything would be an improvement.
Then there was the “Uh oh! The magic that only I can do without a conduit (that makes me automatically evil somehow hehe, and didn’t help me at all in my time living as a slave who was constantly tortured by LITERAL TROLLS but has just now shown up ((extremely conveniently hehe)) keeps acting up when I’m around certain extremely hot, incredibly buff guys. One of which is my hotty with a body roommate hehe! I wonder what that could mean? Hehe, hehe, etc.” Like, oh no, however will the reader figure this out before the characters do?
Hello, tis I, the reader who has figured it out before the characters have, because it’s incredibly obvious and this is not the first book like this that I’ve ever read.
It’s not just that Blackbriar Academy is a bit on the wrong side of bizarre, even though that certainly plays a big part in how I feel about it, but the writing itself was pretty poor. Simply put, the sentences were just alllllllll wrong. At one point I think I heard the word “sky” about four times in the span of two sentences. The same thing happened with the word “water” approximately one sentence later. That’s not just the fault of the author, apparently the editor doesn’t know what a synonym is either. I have no plans on finding out if that sort of nonsense continues on throughout the rest of the book, but I feel like it’s pretty safe to assume that it does.
Maybe someone who isn’t at all familiar with the current, super duper, mega obvious, overly popular tropes of the new adult fantasy romance genre would enjoy this, but as someone who has read better (and I mean, much better!), I just can’t force myself to sit through something this mediocre for the sake of reading something a little cheesy before I start another heavy series. This is the bad kind of cheese. And I’m dairy intolerant anyway.
I guess I might have to step away from the refrigerated section of the supermarket and look a little further upscale. Yes, I am talking about the all-elusive vegan deli.
So if you’re looking for me, little goodreads friends inside my phone, that is where I’ll be. Far, far away from this book 😔
February 11, 2022
IM FREE IM FREE
I am SO glad to be finished this book, I had to put it on 1.75x speed because I was over it. Idek where to begin
Let's start with the writing style ☺️ it was god awful ❤️✨
The whole thing suffers from repetition throughout that sentences feel clunky and don't flow well together:
"Lighting my way as I slowly make my way to a new life."
"Take the opportunity to prank me, given the opportunity"
"Taking a seat at the base of the tree I watch as the moon struggles to push it's light through the trees"
"Recently been in contact with someone that you've spoken to recently"
"I wanna pull his mouth to mine and explore his mouth"
—To name a few. It's so easy to google a synonym for these words or to restructure your sentences so they aren't constantly like this.
It wasn't just the repetition I hated though, this story HEAVILY relies on telling instead of showing. "This place is so amazing" "everything is so magical" "it's unlike anything I've ever seen" blah blah blah. SHOW us how it's magical, what about it is so incredibly grand? I felt like the writer was trying to convince me but without having to put in the effort to convince.
The writing style in general is unpolished. I felt like I was reading through a 14 year olds fanfic who just learnt what swear words are and what porn is. This book is trying to sound mature by adding those two components but it's just cringey.
AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED HOW THIS IS JUST A HARRY POTTER RIP OFF BUT IF WISH DID IT—
She lost her parents at a young age. She was raised by trolls who made her their maid. She discovered her magic was unique. They have conduits (wands). She's summoned to a mysterious school. They have four houses. And that's only a few chapters in, it's honestly so pathetic. THEYRE NOT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT. THE PHOENIX???? THE FOOD APPEARING AFTER ORIENTATION??? NAH
LMFAO NOT HER FHOOSING A CONDUIT LIKE HARRY CHOOSING A WAND HAHAHAHA
"He's so hot and dreamy" "my magic is drawn to him" ughhh I already hate where this is going.
I did, in fact, hate where this was going. It's got that insta-love trope with not one but four people. Everyone was sexualised to the point that that felt like their only purpose? Oh this guy? He's the tall sexy brooding one. This one? The smart sexy one. It makes for poor characters that can't escape from their stereotypes.
Speaking of shitty characters let's segway into Wren. Her personality makes no sense at all. Lives alone in the woods with trolls but sexualises every man she sees? For someone so detached from the outside world you would think she would be a bit more naive or possibly even feral, and yet she acts like every other teenager around her, there's nothing about her personality that shows me she's lived with trolls her whole life in the woods with no friends. She's somehow well-socialized and takes to the academy nicely. She doesn't gawk over her room or sleeping in a comfortable bed for the first time in her life.
And she seems WELL acquainted with the male body somehow 🙄
ITs So EasY toBe wIth Him YOU HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR 5 SECONDS.
Arousal explodes through me at our hug and his erection pressed into my waist OVER A HUG?????
You can't even take this book seriously because the main protagonists is ALWAYS horny. Her dad is being held hostage and she's all like "MMF hope he hits me cuz he's so sexy and I'm SO hot for him" girl what—
And the sex scenes are so laughably bad, why even include them if you aren't going to make an effort?
I don't know how to explain this, but this book radiates "written by a man but if a woman did it" energy
So glad I never spent money on this cuz I'd be kicking myself 🙄
I am SO glad to be finished this book, I had to put it on 1.75x speed because I was over it. Idek where to begin
Let's start with the writing style ☺️ it was god awful ❤️✨
The whole thing suffers from repetition throughout that sentences feel clunky and don't flow well together:
"Lighting my way as I slowly make my way to a new life."
"Take the opportunity to prank me, given the opportunity"
"Taking a seat at the base of the tree I watch as the moon struggles to push it's light through the trees"
"Recently been in contact with someone that you've spoken to recently"
"I wanna pull his mouth to mine and explore his mouth"
—To name a few. It's so easy to google a synonym for these words or to restructure your sentences so they aren't constantly like this.
It wasn't just the repetition I hated though, this story HEAVILY relies on telling instead of showing. "This place is so amazing" "everything is so magical" "it's unlike anything I've ever seen" blah blah blah. SHOW us how it's magical, what about it is so incredibly grand? I felt like the writer was trying to convince me but without having to put in the effort to convince.
The writing style in general is unpolished. I felt like I was reading through a 14 year olds fanfic who just learnt what swear words are and what porn is. This book is trying to sound mature by adding those two components but it's just cringey.
AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED HOW THIS IS JUST A HARRY POTTER RIP OFF BUT IF WISH DID IT—
She lost her parents at a young age. She was raised by trolls who made her their maid. She discovered her magic was unique. They have conduits (wands). She's summoned to a mysterious school. They have four houses. And that's only a few chapters in, it's honestly so pathetic. THEYRE NOT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT. THE PHOENIX???? THE FOOD APPEARING AFTER ORIENTATION??? NAH
LMFAO NOT HER FHOOSING A CONDUIT LIKE HARRY CHOOSING A WAND HAHAHAHA
"He's so hot and dreamy" "my magic is drawn to him" ughhh I already hate where this is going.
I did, in fact, hate where this was going. It's got that insta-love trope with not one but four people. Everyone was sexualised to the point that that felt like their only purpose? Oh this guy? He's the tall sexy brooding one. This one? The smart sexy one. It makes for poor characters that can't escape from their stereotypes.
Speaking of shitty characters let's segway into Wren. Her personality makes no sense at all. Lives alone in the woods with trolls but sexualises every man she sees? For someone so detached from the outside world you would think she would be a bit more naive or possibly even feral, and yet she acts like every other teenager around her, there's nothing about her personality that shows me she's lived with trolls her whole life in the woods with no friends. She's somehow well-socialized and takes to the academy nicely. She doesn't gawk over her room or sleeping in a comfortable bed for the first time in her life.
And she seems WELL acquainted with the male body somehow 🙄
ITs So EasY toBe wIth Him YOU HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR 5 SECONDS.
Arousal explodes through me at our hug and his erection pressed into my waist OVER A HUG?????
You can't even take this book seriously because the main protagonists is ALWAYS horny. Her dad is being held hostage and she's all like "MMF hope he hits me cuz he's so sexy and I'm SO hot for him" girl what—
And the sex scenes are so laughably bad, why even include them if you aren't going to make an effort?
I don't know how to explain this, but this book radiates "written by a man but if a woman did it" energy
So glad I never spent money on this cuz I'd be kicking myself 🙄
March 25, 2021
Wren Blackwood is a half human/half mage young adult who was kidnapped and made a slave to a village of trolls when she was just 14. After years of abuse and torment, She manages to escape with the help of Deacon Lawrence. A professor and the elite mage academy, Blackbriar Academy. He offers her a chance to attend the academy and hone her skills as a mage. There’s something off about him, but she doesn’t have time to think it through. Now all she has to do is survive the trials as an initiate and become a bonafide student.
I loved this book. I especially loved Jesse Taylor, her roommate when she first gets to the academy. He has Dark hair, a sexy body and such a playful personality and is a master of illusions. His magic bring a coolness to hers and He’s definitely my favorite here. Of course, we meet the 3 other men who will most likely become her lovers, in addition to Jesse; Soren McCallister, tall, amber eyes. First Lieutenant of Blackbriar Academy Special Forces and a sexy hunk with not much patience, but his magic brings out the fire in hers; Milo Moreau, devastatingly handsome blonde with warm brown eyes who excels in alchemy and is quite bookish; and finally, Gideon Storm, headmaster of Blackbriar. He has the ability see into people’s soul. He has seen hers and knows she has a good heart.
A different twist here is that there wasn’t a “mean girl” at the academy. At least none that we met in this first book. There was, however, a mean guy. Anderson Stone, second year student. He does seem to have some nefarious interest in our girl, Wren. He has even stolen some of her energy without her knowledge. A big no no. In any event, the character development and world building are good. I felt like I could really envision the academy grounds and had a good feel for the thoughts and motivations of the characters, particularly Wren. We didn’t get much in the way of a backstory for her guys yet, but I’m sure we’ll get that as the story unfolds.
I do recommend this book. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.
I loved this book. I especially loved Jesse Taylor, her roommate when she first gets to the academy. He has Dark hair, a sexy body and such a playful personality and is a master of illusions. His magic bring a coolness to hers and He’s definitely my favorite here. Of course, we meet the 3 other men who will most likely become her lovers, in addition to Jesse; Soren McCallister, tall, amber eyes. First Lieutenant of Blackbriar Academy Special Forces and a sexy hunk with not much patience, but his magic brings out the fire in hers; Milo Moreau, devastatingly handsome blonde with warm brown eyes who excels in alchemy and is quite bookish; and finally, Gideon Storm, headmaster of Blackbriar. He has the ability see into people’s soul. He has seen hers and knows she has a good heart.
A different twist here is that there wasn’t a “mean girl” at the academy. At least none that we met in this first book. There was, however, a mean guy. Anderson Stone, second year student. He does seem to have some nefarious interest in our girl, Wren. He has even stolen some of her energy without her knowledge. A big no no. In any event, the character development and world building are good. I felt like I could really envision the academy grounds and had a good feel for the thoughts and motivations of the characters, particularly Wren. We didn’t get much in the way of a backstory for her guys yet, but I’m sure we’ll get that as the story unfolds.
I do recommend this book. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.
November 28, 2022
I still don’t know exactly how I feel about this book.
This is my first Olivia Ash read and I am still conflicted about it. I went back and forth throughout the entire read trying to determine if I was going to proceed with the next book in the series. I will say, at several points I was sure I’d read the next book. I mean it had me interested, but not invested. However, by the end I had made the choice to let this series go.
Here is a short overview of why:
1. The repetitive phrases such as ‘my men’, ‘my magic responds to these men’, ‘I was going to fight’, ‘I had to figure out why’, ‘I feel like I can tell this girl anything’ (this wouldn’t have phased me but it seemed these were consistently peppered throughout each chapter).
2. Reverse harem FMC version of Harry Potter in many aspects. J.K. Rowling certainly didn’t invent all of these magical concepts and I could’ve ignored the orphan whose guardian is now their Aunt after the death/disappearance of her parents, crossing a lake to get to the Academy via boat, the castle itself changing/disorienting people, and being sorted in the four houses but I grew tired when I got to two trials involving sinister mermaids and a moving maze.
3. The settings truly confused me. The FMC is escaping trolls and describing fairies and a stag with glowing antlers but is in Idaho. Then is transported via portal to the boat which will take her to the island that hosts the castle. I would’ve enjoyed if there had more world building. The Idaho part caught me off guard after being in a mythical/fantasy setting that was reminiscent to The Shannara Chronicles.
4. I wasn’t attached to any character. There wasn’t enough development to do so. The headmaster made me uncomfortable, the best friend felt like a walking red flag and I couldn’t think of Milo without seeing Milo from Atlantis based upon his description.
This book had so much potential and I can see many people enjoying this series but it just wasn’t for me. There were some great twists, just not enough to make me invested.
This is my first Olivia Ash read and I am still conflicted about it. I went back and forth throughout the entire read trying to determine if I was going to proceed with the next book in the series. I will say, at several points I was sure I’d read the next book. I mean it had me interested, but not invested. However, by the end I had made the choice to let this series go.
Here is a short overview of why:
1. The repetitive phrases such as ‘my men’, ‘my magic responds to these men’, ‘I was going to fight’, ‘I had to figure out why’, ‘I feel like I can tell this girl anything’ (this wouldn’t have phased me but it seemed these were consistently peppered throughout each chapter).
2. Reverse harem FMC version of Harry Potter in many aspects. J.K. Rowling certainly didn’t invent all of these magical concepts and I could’ve ignored the orphan whose guardian is now their Aunt after the death/disappearance of her parents, crossing a lake to get to the Academy via boat, the castle itself changing/disorienting people, and being sorted in the four houses but I grew tired when I got to two trials involving sinister mermaids and a moving maze.
3. The settings truly confused me. The FMC is escaping trolls and describing fairies and a stag with glowing antlers but is in Idaho. Then is transported via portal to the boat which will take her to the island that hosts the castle. I would’ve enjoyed if there had more world building. The Idaho part caught me off guard after being in a mythical/fantasy setting that was reminiscent to The Shannara Chronicles.
4. I wasn’t attached to any character. There wasn’t enough development to do so. The headmaster made me uncomfortable, the best friend felt like a walking red flag and I couldn’t think of Milo without seeing Milo from Atlantis based upon his description.
This book had so much potential and I can see many people enjoying this series but it just wasn’t for me. There were some great twists, just not enough to make me invested.
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