Rating: 4⭐️

I’m pretty much done with certain tropes because I feel they’ve been overdone by authors recently in many genres. It’s the academy or trial settings or trials taking place in academia settings, throw in a romance, shifters , vampires and magic and you can probably find or name over 50 books that fit that category alone, maybe more if you consider series. 

But I adore Breene and while I am waiting for her next book (Magical Midlife series) to be released, I thought I’d give this one a try. 

The setup is compelling. A farm family that’s worn down by its losses of their mother and older brother, a broken father barely making it, with debts piling up and plenty of mouths to feed. 

We meet the oldest daughter, Wild, who’s really running the farm as her father is physically in a bad state and her siblings are much younger. Her mother is dead as is her oldest brother, Tommy, who left for an academy but was killed in a mysterious accident there.

Now that same academy is demanding that her younger brother attend and Wild is equally determined that they not lose any more children to a school they don’t know about. 

Of course, it’s never that simple. There’s plenty of secrets and things that have been hidden from her. 

I absolutely adore the character of Wild, a brave and intelligent young woman, determined to save her family from another loss.

The found family aspect of the academic life and group that’s formed isn’t anything new but still very interesting and entertaining. 

It’s the first book. She’s hiding her gender and lack of knowledge in a group of misfits. And the authors don’t seem to draw this out very far with a cliffhanger ending. 

It’s got a terrific main character, predictable elements and an entertaining plot. 

Recommended for those who love the authors and this type of storytelling. It’s a good read. 

Shadowspell Academy (6 book series)

The Culling Trials #1 through 3

Year of the Chameleon #4 through 6

Buy link 

 Book 1 of 6: Shadowspell Academy 

Blurb 

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

I had no idea how those words would change my life. Or how they’d changed my life already…

Until the day the most dangerous man I’ve ever met waltzed onto my farm and left us a death sentence.

In an invitation.

My younger brother has been chosen for the prestigious, secret magical school hidden within the folds of our mundane world. A place so dangerous, they don’t guarantee you’ll make it out alive.If he doesn’t go our entire family will be killed.

It’s the same invitation my older brother received three years ago—the same place he mysteriously died.

The academy has already killed one sibling. I’ll be damned if they take another.

 

Hijinks Ink Publishing

Publication date

April 9, 2019

Edition

1st

Language

‎English

Print length

238 pages

Book 1 of 6

Shadowspell Academy