e-Audio, 16:01:47
Narrated By: Tamika Katon-Donegal
Release Date: August 18, 2026
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: August 14-16, 2026
Stand-alone (?)
Source: I received a copy of this ALC from the publisher and Libro FM. I also received a hardcover of this from the publisher. (This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Racism, Grief, Violence, Death
For Readers of: 2sLGBTQ+, Action, Audio, Contemporary, Fantasy, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Mystery, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Romance, Witches, YALegendborn meets The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in this captivating contemporary fantasy debut about a teen whose newly awakened magical abilities send her searching for answers at an elite boarding school that has a mysterious connection to her family’s history.
Harper grew up loving her grandma Gigi’s stories about pretty brown girls with magic from the stars, but they were just that—stories…until Gigi’s sudden death awakens a dangerous power building beneath Harper’s skin. Desperate for answers, Harper finds herself drawn to an elite boarding school in the Appalachian Mountains.
A school that Gigi herself attended, and one rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of witches past.
Harper arrives at Black Mountain Academy determined to learn about her burgeoning power, even if that means dealing with Kai, her grumpy ex-best friend now hellbent on getting her to leave campus, and his cousin, Lucas, who won’t let her forget the almost-kiss from last summer. But Black Mountain Academy was built on secrets, and the deeper Harper digs, the more sinister rot she finds lurking beneath.
When Harper unearths a chilling local legend about the gruesome death of twelve witches on campus, she feels an uncanny connection to the women. But someone doesn’t want her exposing the school’s dark past, and when it becomes clear they’ll kill to stop her, Harper has to decide whether to leave her history behind or risk everything for the truth of her own identity.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was so good! It took me a minute to get into, but once I did, I couldn’t stop listening. There is some of everything in this book, its a fantasy that has a mystery, that has the zodiac represented, and more. Definitely wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
So the thing that stood out the most to me about this was the magic or fantasy part. I loved it. I still don’t understand everything about it, but I did love it. The zodiac was the part that I got confused on. It was told during a time where there was a lot going on and it was a lot of info. She went through all of them and said their powers, all the while she was tearing up that lady house lol And I don’t understand what it had to do with the overall. But I could see why it was important for her. If the sole purpose was to show what she could do, I wish there was more. Especially with the thought of a war coming.
The characters were what annoyed me the most. The love interest? Lordt he annoyed me. I wanted to smack him. And I knew what was going to happen as soon as he was acting an ass. And he wasn’t just nice nasty, he was legit just nasty and I was annoyed. And then there was her, she was mad at the world for not saying who or what she was, but she didn’t want to talk to her mama at all? What was she trying to keep from her? She was lucky her grandma was still around enough. This whole situation was a hot mess lol
I do wish it had been a little more heavily edited tho. This audio was 16 hours long lol We were just finding out who she was at like Part 3. That’s when I really got into it. But I did feel a bit iffy before then. It was still good tho. I just don’t want to say give it some time or not to get discouraged because I hate when people tell me that lol
I hope there is more to this story coming tho because that ending? Definitely had me all types of crazy. I hadn’t even figured out what was actually happening right then. And the plot twist had me gagged! It was expected, but it was still crazy to have it confirmed lol Especially with the way things were going. Ugh I can’t say anymore without spoiling it, so please, just go pick it up and let me know what you think so we can talk about it LOL
Overall, I give this
