Curse of Thorns

by Michelle Areaux

My whole world changed when I stepped inside Shadow Legacy Academy.

I came here searching for the truth-- to find the answers that would finally help me understand who and what I am. As a descendant from a powerful line of witches and supernaturals, my powers still haven't emerged-- making my family wonder if my strange quirks are all I'll ever have. However, no one at my new school seems happy about my presence and I can't seem to tell who is my friend and who is my enemy.

Then there’s Anson-- the quiet and reclusive werewolf that doesn't seem to want anything to do with other supernaturals at the academy. There’s something about him that draws me to him, that makes me want to uncover all the mysteries he hides beneath.

When students at the academy go missing, I quickly discover those around me are keeping their own secrets, whispering their deceitful lies into my ears. I know that I have to find out the truth about what is happening around me-- even if it spells death for us all. Danger lurks around every corner and death lingers in the air. Secrets are uncovered, and questions answered, but I'm not entirely sure I'm prepared to face the truths that they bring.

Genres: Fantasy, Ebooks, Wolves, Academia, Young Adult

219 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 2, 2023

About the author

Michelle Areaux is a wife, mother, and seventh grade Language Arts teacher.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Kentucky and a Master’s degree in Literacy from Asbury University.

Reviews

[pohrer_reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never read a worse written book in my life. There isn't a single page in this book without a spelling error and I'm convinced this was written by a third grader. There were even times character names were spelled wrong. How?
There were two good things about this novel. One, the idea of the novel was good, although it was almost an exact replication of the TV show Wednesday. Two, it was short.
The execution of this book was horrendous. The characters were described weirdly and didn't make sense. It felt like the author was a robot trying to write human characters. The first ten pages of the book tell you exactly what is going to happen, and then the rest of the book is leading to events and presenting them like shocking moments. Also, nothing in this book made sense and nothing was described in a way to explain why things or people were the way they were. For example, things were kept secret and they insisted it was the way things were, but it was extremely stupid because it put people in harm and there was no reason for any of it. It felt like the author was trying to create intrigue, but didn't know how, so they just threw shit in it for no rhyme or reason. It feels like no one read this book before publication because there isn't a single part of this book that makes a lick of sense, and it is downright bad.

[Megan Alburger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

At first I liked this book, but I started to get frustrated with the bad Grammer, typos, and missed words. It made it hard to know what exactly was going on. There were some issues with the tense going in a few different directions that bothered me as well. 

I decided to stick with the book since it was so short and was extremely disappointed by the ending. It was very lackluster. 

[Solos Mechalis · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst book I read of this year. There is potential to the storyline but execution was so poor. As soon as you start the book, you are thrown into Farrah's world fast and without any parachute. Once you get yourself acclimated to the paranormal world, boy ( Ason, MML) enters the book , they hardly have 2 interactions and apparently they have full relationship. Whole book I felt like I was missing parts of the books and story didn't make any sense and I was left to join the pieces. The back and forth gave me whiplash so I decided to dnf at 75% .

[Kamila · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst stuff your kindle book I have read to date. How do you write a book and have a spelling error on the first page? Especially if your author page claims that you are a seventh grade elementary school teacher. Also this is petty but I cannot handle a character being named Kindle.

[Annie Fontaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Très prévisible, ça me fait penser à la série Fate : wynx saga sur Netflix.

[Elizabeth]

I'm not able to leave a star rating because I'm DNF'ing. I had been looking forward to the story because the premise/summary sounds like a fun read.

Besides the author's slightly rude message when I got sick and my ARC pile fell behind - the message wasn't in regards to being ill, it was because I did a placeholder review stating it was behind and I would update as soon as it was read (the review wasn't actually posted live anywhere) and they informed me that it wasn't an appropriate review to leave for a first book of a series, that Amazon would not accept it (I hadn’t submitted the placeholder to Amazon, nor would I have). I did reply, explaining it was a placeholder and not an actual review, that Amazon didn't have a review - radio silence. Well, that made the book less appealing.

I finally decided that the story still deserved a chance. It still drew my interest, and that was why I had wanted to ARC.

I made it 12% of the way because there was so much back-and-forth. It was both in moodswings and in past/present tense. The prologue had been somewhat promising, if not confusing - but the writing just didn't work for me.

I had wanted to stop at 5%, but I hoped I could either not pay attention that slip-ups happen sometimes. But, the characters were also "fake smiling" and then seemingly genuinely happy (one example)? There was a lot of explaining and telling, while in the character's thoughts, that seemed exaggerated - and, again, very back-and-forth on moods. This was only 12% in and all in the first chapter.

[Katie Anders · Rating 1 out of 5]

poorly written

This book was so poorly written and in desperate need of editing. There are grammar mistakes, misspellings, wrong word choices etc. The word “mom” is missing example: “my said” The author kept mixing up the characters Kindle and Stella. The story is obviously inspired by The tv show Wednesday, with a bit of Harry Potter, ie: History of magic class and learning to levitate feathers in charms class, also she is a Haliwell witch and has a great aunt Piper Haliwell… that is straight from the show Charmed. The author teaches middle school and it reads like one of her students wrote this.

[Kamilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Embarrassingly bad

This was the worst crap I've ever read. (Only exception would be if it was written by someone younger than 10 years old, then it would be fairly decent). I can't believe someone would actually publish this...
I won't believe someone has actually written this, it has to be AI? The whole thing just felt like a copy and paste of popular tropes and scenarios. And then there was spelling mistakes on every page, verb tense issues, plot errors, wrong words and names used etc. It's not even good as a first draft.

[Brittney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have stoped reading this book by chapter 5, but since I’ve never not finished a book, I kept going.

It was a mistake

This quite possibly is the worst book I’ve ever read

One of the reviews for this book describes it as having been written by a third grader and I couldn’t agree more.

At every turn of a page, it’s one grammatical error after the next… how… how do you misspell a characters name 3 different ways in the span of 5 pages….

It’s like the author made a list of plot points or anecdotes to include and then just rattled them off arbitrarily throughout the book. No explanation, no background build up. The reader has no understanding of how the concepts or feelings come about. Things happen in this story that are just not justified or explained. It leaves the reader confused.

In the beginning of the book the FMC gets advice from another female character, which to the reader feels thoughtful and helpful. But just 2 chapters later the FMC is calling this female character mean and now she’s a rude bully!!???? But once again, no explanation or justification.

The concept of “he’s mean to you cause he likes you” shows up of course, when Ason?, Asson?, Anson? Approaches our FMC and her roommate Candi, and gets angry with Candi for telling Farrah about the cursed forest or something…. Because she’s new to the school. They exchange about 3 lines where the author felt the need to have Farrah “stand up” for herself in the way only children can. So of course, Candi’s opinion of this exchange is that he’s “obviously” into Farrah. THIS IS CHILDISH!!

There is one scene in this book that is virtually identical to a scene from Harry Potter. No original thoughts here…

One chapter includes a History of Magic class, in which the professor explains the story behind the cursed forest. Dont worry, only a few chapters after this our FMC apparently didn’t retain any of the information from class cause she is constantly asking her friends questions that were already answered by the professor. We spend a lot of time in this book talking about things we’ve already learned but in a variety of different ways and from different people, but, you guessed it, it’s not really an explanation as much as it is just repeating the same things over and over again in a slightly different way.

This leads me to my next complaint. Why, why is Farrah so confused…. Things are explained to her ALL THE TIME, constantly and yet still she has questions.

Let’s also talk about this “Halliwell” witches component. I will venture to say that if you’ve picked up this book, there is a good chance you have previously delved into this world/genre before and the name Halliwell, isn’t new to you. With that being said, why didn’t the author use that as a connecting thread throughout this book? This anecdote gives the reader some explanation about the FMC background and abilities, but we have to infer that because other than the mention of her aunt, one would know nothing else about her background. Halliwell is an obvious reference, either use it or come up with another name.

This book consists of elements from Harry Potter, Charmed, Wednesday and other books/tv shows in this genre, and it’s all so obvious, which supports my feelings that there were no original thoughts here when this book was written.

[Megan Reddix · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of very few books that I have not finished. To not finish a book is not a light decision for me. I honestly believe that every book deserves a chance, and I gave Curse of Thorns a pretty hardy chance by reading exactly half of it. There a lot of things to tackle here.

Immediately Curse of Thorns felt like the Netflix series Wednesday. It isn’t exactly the same, but the overall story felt too similar for comfort. It just doesn’t feel original, at all.

There are numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout. This includes characters’ names. One character has been referred to as Ason, Asson, and Anson. I think his name is supposed to be Ason, but how is the reader supposed to know that if the spelling changes so frequently? Another error occurs on page 39 reading exactly as, “Stomping over to my desk, I slam Chromebookmy chromebook onto the desk with a reverberating crash, and take a deep breath.” These are just a couple examples of the immature writing styles and errors that can be found throughout the book.

There are so many inconsistencies throughout the story, as well. The tense changes from present to past within one sentence while talking about one event. There is also really random switches from the author storytelling and the main character’s stream of consciousness. Character relationships are confusing and inconsistent in an extremely unrealistic way; in a way that was obviously not intentional. This also applies to the story’s timeline. There is absolutely no way of knowing how much time has passed.

Finally, the main character, herself, is extremely frustrating. She is written, I think, in a way that is supposed to be melancholy and nonchalant with a deep-seeded desire to be accepted, however, she comes across as overtly selfish and attention-seeking. On page 83 Farrah responds to en emergency alarm at the academy with, “Great, just what I needed, something else to go wrong.” How self-absorbed does a person need to be to worry about how an emergency alarm is going to affect her image rather than the well-being of the students. I would have even accepted a fear for her own safety, but instead she is upset about how people are going to perceive her. Maybe that’s what drives her to feel so inclined to suddenly save the whole school when just moments before she didn’t even want to be at the Shadow Legacy Academy.

I do not recommend Curse of Thorns or any other part of the Shadow Legacy Academy series. For a publish novel, it is extremely immature with many errors, inconsistencies, and poor storytelling.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading book one of the Curse of the Shadows series, and I'm blown away! This paranormal academy read has amazing world-building, fascinating characters, and a fast-paced storyline that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The world created in this book is incredibly detailed and imaginative. The author's ability to paint vivid scenes made it easy for me to immerse myself in the story. Every aspect felt thoughtfully crafted, from the magical elements to the intricate politics and intrigue.

The characters in this series are a standout. They're well-developed, and diverse and brought a refreshing depth to the story. I found myself emotionally invested in their journeys, rooting for them, and eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen next.

The plot is filled with twists and unexpected turns that kept me guessing and hooked until the very end. The blend of magic, Fae, danger, death, and political machinations created a thrilling atmosphere that added layers of excitement and suspense. The passion between the characters ignited, further intensifying the story.

Overall, this book exceeded my expectations. It's a captivating start to the series, and I can't wait to continue reading. If you enjoy paranormal academy stories with intricate world-building, compelling characters, and plenty of surprises, I highly recommend reading this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Brooke Iliff · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the story itself has the potential to be good, the writing was so awful it was actually jarring to read. Words are spelled incorrectly (sighong, and scones instead of sconces come to mind), characters are referred to interchangeably (Kindle and Stella), the wrong homophones are used constantly (hews instead of hues, etc), words are missing from sentences (particularly the word mom for some reason?). The dialogue is awkward and doesn't sound like any normal person talking. Sentences are redundant and filled with random large words that don't fit the rest of the vocab. There are so many inconsistencies (like the beginning, they drive through Charleston to Mount Pleasant to get to the school, then leave the school by driving through Charleston into Mount Pleasant, and somehow both a first year and second year student, and joins in the middle of the year and somehow also at the beginning??) And the whole flow is just uncomfortable, pacing is off, character emotions are bipolar and poorly developed, the whole thing is so rushed and underdeveloped. Plus the Charmed ripoff is a little meh.

Overall, if the writing were better and the story actually developed properly, there's some promise, but this was hands down the most painful book I've ever read outside an English lit class...

And also what the heck is a Dark Magic Witch? Why can't it just be a Dark Witch? Witches do magic....it's just...ugh.

[Isabella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich kann mich den anderen Rezensionen leider nur anschließen. Die Geschichte an sich fand ich interessant und hat mich auch angesprochen. Aber die vielen Rechtschreibfehler haben es mir wirklich sehr schwer gemacht, das Buch zu lesen. Am schlimmsten fand ich die Schreibweise des Hauptcharakters. Dieser hatte locker drei verschiedene Schreibweisen sodass ich auch nach Beenden des Buches immer noch nicht weiß, wie er genau heißt. Heißt er nun Ason, Asson oder Anson? Auch wenn es um die Mutter geht, wird die nie gesagt. Statt das dort my mom oder ähnliches steht, steht dort nur my und geht dann normal im Satz weiter. Auch war für meinen Geschmack die Geschichte einfach viel zu schnell. Klar, auf 200 Seiten muss für ein Buch was zu Ende erzählt wird viel passieren. Aber dann doch lieber die doppelte Seitenanzahl aber dafür ein wirklich ausgeschriebenes Buch, bei dem man sich nicht wundert wie das auf einmal alles passiert ist, weil im Kapitel davor noch alles anders war. Mir hat es leider so wenig gefallen, dass ich den weiteren Band definitiv nicht lesen werden.

[Adrianna Heaney-velu · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Curse of Thorns,” by Michelle Areaux

Okay, so, I didn’t like this book. The idea was good and all that but there were too many glaring issues I had. First, the headmaster or whatever the title is and Farrah act so surprised at the ceremony results even though they talked about how they suspected what she was. Second, there were inconsistencies, he tells her not to stare at the ghosts or they will notice but then says if you wave or scream at them, they won’t notice or look, like what?! Third (spoilers), it progressed so fast and felt disjoined because of it, she’s insecure because she has no power, then goes to a magic school, gets bullied, school is attacked, then she is confident and strong and goes to save the entire school without much thought or build up to it all. 1 out of 5 stars.

-Boarding School
-Magic
-Witches, Dragons, Fairies, Werewolves, Vampires, Shifters
-Found Family

Thank you for the free copy, Booksprout.

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️

The writing was not the best. There was a lot of bad grammar, misspellings and missing words, which is quite off putting.

There was not any world building. It read very much as in you just automatically knew what the world was like.

So the characters had so real depth to them. You do not get to know them at all. They are all thrown in together and that is it really.

The romance was very flat. You met the main love interest briefly and it appears they do not get on. Then the next minute they’re kissing and they love eachother. It is very confusing on how they got to that point.

There’s no real character or romance growth at all.

The ending fell very flat. It ended quite abruptly.

Overall, I can’t really highly rate this book. However it wasn’t the worst book I’ve read. I do think there’s potential to make this book so much more interesting. Therefore, 2 stars is my rating.

[Hayley Tomkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, it was fast paced and gave me Wednesday adams vibes to begin with but it just didn't do it for me. The story was okay and i liked the ideas behind it but it just didn't work for me.

The romance didn't really do it along with the other friendships formed they just seemed rushed and strange and like no we don't like you for no reason than the next minute actually we do like you.

Then the main event that the story was building towards was very rushed and the main event lasted about 3 pages and than our mc just blacked out and it jumped forward. Than the last couple of pages were a little cringy for my liking.

I also felt like there was a few consistency issues and spelling issues which I can usually look over but it just wasn't for me.

[Chapter Pumpkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay I know a lot of the review of this are about spelling errors and just bad editing almost like the book wasn't proofed before it was published. However, I did try to look past that at the overall story. While the character development wasn't really a thing and the world building felt a little rushed, I really think that the story wasn't an awful concept! It was a very quick read so it did feel like I didn't get to know any of the characters and things happened without the most descriptive explanation but it could have potential if it was revised a little more and had a tad more detail. It wasn't a great book, I'll admit to that, but I think it'd be a great little something to read that could then be turned into a 300+ page actual book!

[Gabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book from a stuff your kindle event and I was so excited. Unfortunately the writing felt truly confusing to me, the characters and plot had some very clear inconsistencies. The only girl that helped her was described as the bully out of nowhere, maybe it was a typo. She is told not to say her lineage bc her family is not very well liked, and then we learn her fam helped save the school. So I was like???? Also why would her mom not warn her of the forest? Why didn’t she tell her she would find out her powers at an event? Idk this was just not it. I also saw no chemistry with any character.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst book I have read. This needed to be proofread, and needs heavy editing.

Having read the blurb it leads you to think it is going to be a good read. I was so, so disappointed. Spelling of character names, the grammar, punctuation was wrong and I am not an expert or skilled with this.

The MC could not make up her mind about the supporting characters, who was actually being mean to her, who had what ability, what year they actually were in. First MC had a hard time leaving her friends behind and then later she didn't have that many to begin with...

I do not recommend at all. Such a pity because it could have been a good story.

[Jodi_xo✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5 ⭐️) The only reason I haven’t rated this book higher is because, while the story has a good premise, there’s a great lack of character development and the storyline itself feels very rushed. I think this book could have been amazing if a little more information had been included and a little more editing had been done. There are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, and what seems like missing words here and there. I think that this book would have been wonderful if it wasn’t missing so much. Given that it’s the first book in the series, I hope the rest include what is missing from this book.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this book was written by a 12 year old for 12 year olds. It is really only bad in the sense that there are a lot of spelling/ tense errors and sometimes the wrong character is mentioned (example: toward the end of book in the scene it said Kindle but was supposed to say Stella). Overall it is just not that deep, but if I was 12 I think I would’ve liked it. It is a quick read and everything happens with minimal amount of detail possible. I probs wont read the rest of the series but I also just feel like this book was written for kids who are learning how to read chapter books or something.

[Nicole Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novel packs a punch. It is fast paced and gives readers a ride to remember. Farrah Halliwell is a witch without any powers. She knows her mother is a powerful witch. Like her mother, she is hoping attending Shadow Legacy Academy will bring forth her magic. Farrah only gets horrifying nightmares. That can't be a power, right? Something is going on at the school. Students are going missing. They are walking right into a forest that they have been forbidden to go into due to the curse. Farrah knows that there is something else going on and feels like she can help solve this mystery.

This book takes a group of high school supernaturals trying to find a safe place to learn their craft. Shadow Legacy Academy used to be the place. Maybe Farrah can help make it a safe place again. This book is very fast paced. Readers definitely need to pay attention. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of characters. I enjoyed the storyline and hope to continue on this journey with the next book in the series.

[Marissa Atchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

At first I was not sure I was going to like this story. I found it because of a video on Tiktok, but I am glad to say I loved every minute of it. Farrah comes from a family of witches, and hasn’t come into her power yet. Or has she? Her mother sends her to Shadow Legacy Academy. The Academy’s forest has been curse for a very long time, and students have started to go missing. Farrah is the key to fixing it. I won’t give away much more, but know she is vital to saving the Academy.

[Happyscribe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm this is an entertaining read - I'm really loving these Academy stories - especially when you get all the paranormal twists and turns. That said very YA in my view as it was missing some of the more mature nuanced relationships. However, the blend of hot Fae, danger, death, supernaturals and power politics make it a thrilling read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[bookgirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very easy light YA Fantasy/romance/witchy short story. I downloaded this book for stuff your kindle day. Finished in one sitting. Very young adult, cheesy romance, fast pace book.

Spoiler :
A girl from a Family of witches starts a school for people with powers. She’s unsure if she has any magic at all. Things start getting weird. Students go missing. A wolf is a bully and then finds out he wants her. They work together and save the students from a dark witch.

[Tracy Schmieding]

I can not give any stars to this book I wanted so badly to like this book but after being about 37% through I had to stop. There were spelling errors and words missing on almost every page. Characters would get switched around for example the dragon shifter was named Stella and kindle was a feline shifter who was nice but then in another chapter she is friends with Stella and kindle is the bully..

[Kaybee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like a Harry Potter knock off

Has quite a few editing issues, including the male main character’s name is different in the blurb versus in the book. But also Ason, Anson, Asson is used while Anson is used in the blurb, words misspelled, and some other things. It felt like a rip off of Harry Potter with the live in magical castle, charms class, the forbidden forest etc. Not a fan.

[Gina · Rating 1 out of 5]

In short: just don’t.

Picked this up for stuff your kindle day based on others saying it was worth the read. To echo other reviews: grammatical and spelling errors were a huge distraction (including the love interest’s name changing 3 times on the same page), poorly written (the word “mom” was missing from more than 3 sentences that were referencing her…?), and underdeveloped.

The positive? It was incredibly short.

[Jessica Squires · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story just needs some editing

I very much enjoyed this storyline. The world building was great. There were a lot of grammar errors, such as 99% of the time the world mom was me, some words were misspelled or repeated over and a few parts where she used one character name at the beginning of a sentence but she ended it with she was talking to a different character so you had to pay attention. But despite these the story is worth reading.

[Kim Ouellette · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 Stars. The premise is ok, albeit familiar. The editing is absent. I wouldn’t consider myself overly critical about little issues with grammar and tense, heck, my grammar is so-so, but it is hard to overlook the blatant errors in this book. I’m pretty sure chunks of the story are even missing. I did get this book for free on the stuff your Kindle day, but I’d recommend saving your time for something else.