Cursed Shadows

Silvercrest Academy #3

by K.C. Kean

In life’s game, we’re all just trying to survive one move at a time. From Shadowmoor to the halls of Silvercrest Academy, I went from non-existent player to a powerful piece on the board.

My parents want to control me, the enemy wants to use me, and everyone else fears the power I hold.

Everyone except the Bishops - Creed, Zane, Eldon, and Brax. I’m their Queen and every move we make is to protect each other at all costs.

With new threats emerging from the shadows, I’m starting to wonder if my destiny was cursed before it even began. I’ve become a pawn and only time will tell if I’m headed for victory or defeat.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Why Choose, Magic, Paranormal, Dark Romance, Paranormal Romance

444 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2024

Reviews

[Kenzie Meendering · Rating 1 out of 5]

I intitally loved this series. The plot was relatively unique for a fantasy academic setting and Raven, the FMC, started off in the first book as a proactive, forward-thinking, independent character who I could absolutely root for. This book entirely deconstructed all of those feelings. Somehow, Raven has completely devolved as a character and is now co-dependent on her MMC counterparts (yet lacks the emotional intelligence to vocalize her feelings for them), becomes an absolute sh*t friend, and cares significantly more about sex than actually obtaining any answers regarding her current predicament or even learning more about her "super powerful, incredibly rare" magical abilities.

I found myself questioning why I was still wasting my time reading this book so many times throughout the story, yet decided to finish it due to the hope that MAYBE Raven would stop whining about her situation and actually take some initiative but apparently my hopes were too high, as she's pretty much complacent the entire book and makes the absolute bare minimum of efforts to better herself and her situation. Honestly, the amount of times that her men praise her for how "strong" and "resilient" she is had me rolling my eyes nearly every chapter.

The plot armor is strong with this one, the author writes at every turn about how "powerful" Raven supposedly is, but the lack of effort in training and progression of her magic (at least for anything non-instinctual) has me convinced that Raven and her men will only survive through the end of the series for no other reason besides the author simply writing it so and not in any part because these characters (and especially Raven) have done ANYTHING to earn or work towards a happily ever after.

[Spasticnontastic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels a little flat.

[Belle McLaren · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF ☹️

this series started off so well … strong / independent / likeable FMC … good story line …. but i couldn’t get past one of my pet hates : getting a character’s description wrong … all the way through book one the writer kept going on about the FMC’s brown eyes and then suddenly in book two she’s got blue eyes and nobody notices or says anything 🙄 … but i figured maybe there would be an explanation by book three of the weird eye colour change …but no joy …. then the faffing around and everyone at the academy (which is supposed to be training soldiers/ warriors) suddenly acting like useless puppets and doing nothing to defend themselves was the final straw for me …. am disappointed as i generally enjoy KC KEAN’s writing … and had initially thought this series could be her best series yet … as i really liked book one …. still there will be many readers who will love this series and not even notice the jarring use of “segway” and the irritating “unalive” ( seriously why?!) … just not me

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

KC Kean could publish a book full of her grocery orders and i would pay to read it. ok. She could write “Mikayla sucks ass” 6 billion times and publish that shit, and you know what? im still swiping my card.

Brax, Eldon, Creed and Zane are everything we all love just split into 4.. normally I dont pick favorites, but hell we all know i love a grumpy ass.. DADDY BRAX FOR THE DUB. big bonus is he turns into his gargoyle self mid sexy sesh, if ya know what i mean! he LITERALLY can hunt me whenever he wants. i am shaped like a pumpkin and cant run for shit, this means he would catch me in 4 steps approximately. but my terrible lung capacity and I will give it our best Usain Bolt.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.
binged hard
…………
Twinkle twinkle grumpy Brax,
daddy Zane can spank my ass.
Up above the world so high,
creed and edlon make me cry
twinkle twinkle KC Kean
TURNED ME INTO A SMUT READING MACHINEEEEE 🎤✨

[Rebecca M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t do it. Torture. I was contemplating forcing myself to finish but when I’m at 29% and the s** scenes can’t hold my attention anymore it’s bad. I devour smut like I down Starbucks Vanilla- sugar cookie lattes (sometimes 3 a day!) this book just doesn’t do it for me. Got through 1, no problem…2 it got a little sticky…but this…this was bad. Like makes me want to crawl into the pages of the book and beat the “protagonist” senseless for being so basic. Like girl…no. You don’t need a man or 4 to fight your battles, you can damn well do it yourself. You came from the “worst place in town” fucking act like it. Handle your shit, you aren’t a pampered little bitch who can’t fend for yourself. I would seriously throttle Raven if I could.

[Melinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hahaha. You can have the cliffhanger crown and the angsty filler book. I'm out.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

fucking cliffhanger 😫

[Jess McDaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

*insert screaming here*

I knew things were going to get rocky in this one, but it's intense at times! I haven't read a book with all the dynamics Silvercrest has, some are newer elements in pnr for me.

Raven has so many layers. She's constantly learning new things about her magic and some of them are pretty shocking. On top of that, there's all sorts of things happening at the academy. Twists like no other as well. I still can't wrap my head around some of them.

The ending. The. Ending. I think this is the worst cliffhanger I've read by this author. I CANNOT wait for the next one. I'm going to be anticiptating that release!!

[The_Book_Brat · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Reverse Harem
*Paranormal
*Multi-PoV
*Academy based
*Unique FMC
*divided family
*mixed powers
*established harem (4)
*mid/slow burn
*3/4
Twisty twisty!
Well this starts with a bang and ends in an explosion 😮
With the arrival of Erikel at Silvercrest they know it’s all going to go down hill and it certainly gets hairy 😖 first we find out who the Golden Warrior is and it doesn’t become any clearer where he allegiances lie 😒 it’s clear Erikel needs Raven and he’s willing to use whoever he can to make her do his dirty work 😣 then there’s the fact they’re trapped at the academy no-one in, no-one out! Raven and her men face a lot through this book but they’re determined not to sit back and watch their world crumble - they need to uncover what it is he’s here for 💪 when they overhear some things they realise all might not be as it seems and they need to act now more than ever….or will it be rash decisions that leads them into further danger and turmoil 😟 a good balance struck between the plot, the character emotions and then the steam 🌶️🔥

[ListenWithNic · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

Idk I’m still just not that intrigued 🤷🏻‍♀️ why do I keep going? Because I’m a sucker apparently 😂 next book isn’t out on Audible yet so I’ll have to pause till then. Full review at the end of series.

[Bam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do I keep doing this to myself?

[Scorcs Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cursed Shadows is book three in the Silvercrest Academy series by KC Kean

If you thought you got twists and turns in the last two books, get ready because a lot of information comes your way in this one and the mind games just keep on coming. I am totally here for this magical academy and why choose romance with such good spicy scenes.

A lot of discoveries come to light in this one. It was really awesome to see Raven continue to grow into her powers and really grow stronger while dealing with the villain trying to use her as a pawn in his incredibly reckless game and all for his selfish plans. No joke, he kind of reminds me of a mix between Voldemort and Thanos.

We also get more glimpses into Raven's four men as well as her friend Leila's powers and really see the dynamic grow between everyone because ultimately they are all trying to put all the puzzle pieces together while trying to survive. The spice, the little nicknames and swoon worthy moments will make you fall for Eldon, Creed, Brax and Zane. They truly are unique in their own ways and I love how they worship the ground Raven walks on while also letting her stand tall.

I have said it before and I will say it again, if you love why choose, you can never go wrong with a KC Kean series. She takes you for a ride with suspense and mystery every time, but also leaves you wanting more. Her spicy scenes are *chef's kiss* and always drool worthy. I can't wait for book four and I cannot recommend this series enough.

[Cierra McCauley (Cierra's Corner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m equal parts intrigued and frustrated!

Well here we are left with another cliffhanger! At this point I’m equally excited for the story and frustrated with how chit is unfolding. Like what the heck. I love how much confidence raven has grown and how far she’s come. I love her men and how passionate and patient they are with her. I’m super annoyed with how raven is handling the whole Ari situation. Like wtf, you’ve left him there in that place with the unknown for too long just to play house, waiting on someone else to solve your problem. That’s super irritated me. Like free Ari, now. Also once again there is soooo much happening and unfolding and everytime we turn the page there’s a new ability or a new piece of information from left field. I’m super into it because I want to know what’s gonna happen but when I get out of the book to take a break I’m like what the heck. That just led us down a whole different rabbit hole of crap. I’m here! I need it! I’m ready for the next book!

[Carol Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

WTH

Why do author's insist on sluggishness ??? They drive readers insane by letting them get close to the books climax where the why's & what for's are revealed & then the book stops plus to add insult to injury we have to wait for the next book.
Cliff hanger that over this series just keeps on getting better , good guys get question marks over them bad guys well to be honest in not sure I know bad from good right now but I intend finding out when the last book finally gets here .
I didn't think this series was going to be so enjoyable definitely a slow burner .

[Serafina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s bad, so bad. You go through the same stupid cycle over and over again where they don’t solve anything and they mope and do dumb shit and then the last 5% of the book finally things kick up. But even when it does start to get interesting Raven doesn’t pop off with her magic like everyone wants her to. It’s so predictable and I’m bored. AND on top of the plot being 💩 the spice isn’t great. No butterfly feelings, characters are dull and weird. The magic hardly makes sense for example the gargoyle can read minds but Creed whose main power is mind control can’t? It’s giving sloppy and I don’t even care to finish the last book in this series. Totally trying to chase the feeling I got from the Blood Oath series by Morgan B. Lee. The zero character development just isn’t for me anymore. It’s a shame because I really wanted to love this.

[Soraya (Kenji's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am running through this series so fasts it's not even funny, I'm loving it but ngl I did skim through some pages because this was more slow paced than the others but the plot is so addicting and writing is so good and captivating my attention like nothing else. I'm glad I found this series, I love that for me🤭

[Poetry Drive · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 19%

Can’t take the writing style anymore. Just finish your scenes instead of making every scene fade to black and making us read about flashbacks on what happened.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with this series. Raven and her guys just keep getting better and better. The twists and turns don’t stop and the spice is so good🔥 This world KC has created is absolutely amazing. I’m so excited to see where the next book takes us!

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Augh! Too much dragging out story with little to no movement in plot or characters. Sadly I just want this to end. Bummer bc it was such a good start and so much potential.

[Dior Sanders · Rating 1 out of 5]

An Incredible Premise That Never Reached Its Potential

I’m going to review the series as a whole since I finished all four books.

After sitting on it for a few hours, I can confidently say that while I enjoyed parts of this series, I don’t think I’d recommend it, nor do I see myself rereading it.

This series had so much potential. The premise was compelling, the academy setting immediately caught my attention, and I was excited by the promise of unraveling a larger mystery surrounding Raven, her powers, and the political conflict between the realms. Unfortunately, I felt like the execution never lived up to the ideas it introduced.

My biggest criticism is that the series consistently prioritized introducing new mysteries over developing the ones it had already established. By the end of the fourth book, I still felt like I didn’t fully understand the world, the political conflict, or even the rules surrounding the magic system. That lack of clarity ultimately affected nearly every aspect of the story, from the pacing and world-building to the character development and emotional payoff.

*The Biggest Problem: Mystery Without Payoff*

I enjoy books that slowly reveal information. I don’t need every mystery solved immediately, and I actually appreciate stories that trust readers to piece things together over time.
The problem wasn’t that Shadow Crest Academy contained mysteries. The problem was that it continually introduced new ones without meaningfully resolving the previous questions.

By the end of Book 1, I was already concerned. While I didn’t expect every answer, I expected to have a stronger understanding of the world I was reading about. Instead, I still had very little grasp on the political landscape, the history of the realms, or how the magic system actually functioned.

By Book 2, I seriously considered DNFing the series because it felt like every answer simply created several more questions.

Some of the biggest examples include:

* What exactly was happening with Raven’s father and brother?
* How did Raven’s parents know what abilities she would eventually possess?
* How does necromancy actually work?
* Why is resurrecting the dead considered illegal if Raven repeatedly does it with almost no meaningful consequences?
* Why does she suddenly lose the ability to resurrect people? What determines those limits?
* Why don’t we fully understand Raven’s shadow abilities until the final book?

None of these questions needed immediate answers. The issue is that many of them either received incomplete explanations or weren’t explored deeply enough to feel satisfying.

One example that perfectly illustrates this issue is Raven’s magically suppressed powers.

The story spends a significant amount of time establishing that Raven’s powers have been magically suppressed for her entire life. When her parents decide to remove that suppression, Raven is terrified. She begs for it not to happen, and the narrative presents it as though the procedure will be traumatic and life-changing.

Then the moment finally arrives.
The story cuts away.
Raven blacks out, wakes up back in bed, and appears to be relatively fine.

We never actually witness the procedure. We never learn why it was portrayed as so horrifying. We never see any significant physical or emotional consequences afterward. The event is built up as one of the most important moments in Raven’s life, only for the story to skip over it entirely.

That became a recurring pattern throughout the series. Major mysteries and major moments were consistently introduced, but the payoff rarely matched the buildup.

*Why Doesn’t Anyone Ever Research Anything?*

What made this even more frustrating was that the characters rarely seemed interested in finding answers. Raven constantly questions her powers, the monarchy, the realms, and her own family history. Yet at no point do we really see her actively researching those questions.

This world clearly has advanced magic, projectors, communication devices, and enough technology to suggest a functioning society. Are there no libraries? No historical archives? No scholars? No magical texts? No professors capable of answering basic questions?

Even Raven’s four love interests, who grew up in families closely connected to the monarchy, seem almost as uninformed as she is.

That made the world feel strangely empty. Instead of uncovering the history alongside the characters, I found myself wondering why the characters themselves seemed to know so little about the society they had lived in their entire lives.

*The Political Conflict Never Felt Fully Developed*

The war and political conflict were another source of confusion.

These students are being trained to become soldiers, yet the vast majority of them have almost no understanding of what they’re actually fighting for. That simply didn’t make sense to me. If you’re preparing an entire generation to fight in a war, why intentionally keep them ignorant about the conflict? The introduction of the Nightmares Guild only made this stranger.

We’re told they’re secretly protecting the realms and using their abilities to fight back against the monsters, but we rarely see that work in action. We don’t hear about previous missions, long-term operations, or the impact they’ve had on the war. They repeatedly worry that they don’t have enough people to fight, yet they refuse to educate the very people they’re training to become soldiers.

Eventually, everyone ends up fighting anyway.
The secrecy never felt justified.

Likewise, the conflict between the realms remains surprisingly vague. We’re told they aren’t on good terms, but we receive very little historical context explaining why, how those relationships deteriorated, or why merging the realms would supposedly solve everything.

*The Academy Setting Was Underutilized*

This may have been my biggest disappointment.

The academy setting had enormous potential, but it rarely felt like it contributed to the story. The students have endless questions about magic, history, politics, and their own abilities.

Yet somehow:

* Their classes rarely answer any of those questions.
* We almost never see them using information from class to solve problems.
* Their professors provide very little meaningful guidance.
* We rarely see them researching anything on campus.
* Magical training is surprisingly limited despite this supposedly being an elite academy.

Raven spends some time practicing her mirror magic, but beyond that, there is very little focus on actually mastering magic. For a series centered around a magical academy, the academy itself often felt like little more than the backdrop for the romance.

*The Characters Needed More Development*

I also struggled with the characterization.

Raven is introduced as someone hardened by her upbringing in Shadowmore. We’re told she doesn’t trust people, she’s endured tremendous hardship, and she has walls built around herself.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like the story reflected that characterization.

She becomes close to Layla almost immediately.
She opens up to the boys relatively quickly.
When they pressure her about why she refuses to use her magic, she tells them she’s void without much resistance.

For someone who’s heavily implied to have experienced significant trauma, including hints that she may have survived sexual assault, she places an enormous amount of trust in four men she’s only recently met. She never seems particularly uncomfortable living as the only woman in an all-male household, despite everything we’re told about her past.

The disconnect between how Raven was described and how she behaved made her characterization feel inconsistent.

The male main characters also felt underdeveloped. For example, Brax is consistently portrayed as the grumpy one, but beyond believing his parents had died before being taken in by another family, we don’t really explore why he is the way he is.

We hear very little about the boys’ childhoods, their relationships with their families, or even their siblings until the very end of the series. I wanted far more emotional depth from all of them.

*The Romance Developed Physically Before It Developed Emotionally*

I actually enjoy a reverse harem dynamic.

I just don’t think the relationships were given enough emotional development. The physical intimacy escalated very quickly, but I never felt like the emotional intimacy kept pace with it. And oddly enough, despite entering what is clearly a polyamorous relationship, they never explicitly discuss what that relationship actually is. The “handbook” is constantly referenced and yet we never really learn what’s inside it. For a society that otherwise appears overwhelmingly monogamous, everyone also accepts the relationship with remarkably little resistance.

The only real backlash occurs after Raven’s intimate photos are secretly taken and distributed throughout the school without her consent. She’s briefly slut-shamed for it, but the incident is almost immediately forgotten and has virtually no lasting impact on either the story or the public’s perception of her.

*Too Much Spice, Not Enough Substance*

This may be my hottest take because I genuinely enjoy spicy books. The issue wasn’t that there were sex scenes. The issue was that there were too many of them relative to everything else the story needed to accomplish. It got to a point that by book 3 I was skipping a lot (if not all) of the scenes.

Time and time again, whenever the characters found themselves alone, they chose intimacy over conversation.

Instead of processing everything they’d learned…

Instead of researching…

Instead of investigating…

Instead of strategizing…

They had sex.

They’re in the middle of a war. People are dying. They have countless unanswered questions about the enemy, the monarchy, and Raven’s powers. Yet they spend surprisingly little time actively trying to solve those problems.

One of the male main characters possesses both mind magic and invisibility.

Why weren’t those abilities used for reconnaissance?
Why weren’t they spying on enemies?
Why weren’t they actively gathering intelligence?

The story had so many opportunities to develop both the characters and the plot, but many of those opportunities were instead replaced with another intimate scene.

*The Tone and Maturity Felt Inconsistent*

The characters are all around eighteen years old, and sometimes they absolutely feel that age. Other times, however, they feel strangely naive about the world they’ve supposedly grown up in.

I honestly think this story may have benefited from aging the characters up slightly.

The academy setting still could have worked, but the characters would have felt more believable if they entered the story with a stronger understanding of their own society and the political conflict surrounding them.

*Final Thoughts*

This series had every ingredient necessary to become one of my favorite academy fantasy romances. Instead, it felt like a collection of fantastic ideas that never received the development they deserved.

My biggest issues ultimately came down to:

* Weak world-building
* Too many unanswered questions
* Setup without satisfying payoff
* Underdeveloped characters
* Inconsistent pacing
* An underutilized academy setting
* Relationships that relied more on physical intimacy than emotional development

I didn’t hate this series. In fact, there were moments where I genuinely thought it was building toward something incredible. But after finishing all four books, I still felt like I didn’t truly understand the world, many of the characters, or the rules that governed the story.

For me, that ultimately made the series tolerable enough to finish, but not memorable enough to recommend or revisit.

[Leilani Noack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow book 3 is even more crazy! Getting all this new information about Raven and the school is so mind blowing. I need to know what happens now but man this book is so good.

[RedsBookReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Wow, this book is just amazing. It picks up right where book 2 left off and takes you on a wild journey from there. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see how this all works out - especially after that cliffhanger of an ending!

[Jeanette Wolfe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book destroyed any respect I had for the main characters

I detest when authors put sexual encounters in incongruous scenarios of the action. A hunt and fight for their lives is the last point in time anyone with half a brain would be wanting to have sex. I was not turned on, and all I could do at that point is roll my eyes at how stupid the characters were to be distracted by a sexual encounter when they needed to be trying to stay alive. It. Is. STUPID. I don't want to read sex then. I want to see intelligence, savvy strategy, and courage, not idiots dropping their guard to get their rocks off -- it doesn't fit the scenario -- my inclination is to skip it. So, so NOT sexy or smart. All I can think is, really, REALLY?

I have to admit my enjoyment in this series is declining rapidly between the stupidity of the female character and the leaders. I mean, how and why do they even let the bad guys on the campus? With the miniscule explanation of this plot twist being entirely insufficient to cover the how or why the author made all of the characters look idiotic by allowing the fox to stay in the hen house an entire week (long enough to take over), I am beyond frustrated. I strongly recommend a better explanation through plot development because as it stands it's like she just threw spaghetti at the wall to see if it would stick with no explanation no discussion or development around the topic, just boom, they're here and they shouldn't be, we don't know how but this is where the plot's going. Suuuuuure, that's not problematic when I can find all kinds of reasons why it doesn't work with the plot. It's feels like she dropped it in out of nowhere and doesn't HAVE an explanation, i. e. didn't take the time to develop one to write in because the other wanted it to be this way but couldn't figure out how to explain it or think one up. Couldn't the monarchy or school admin figure out the villain was there for nefarious purposes and kick him off rather than letting him stay the week? Why not just outright kill him when they've got the enemy on hand with so few guards? If this realm is always fighting against its neighbors why did it take so long for them to mount an offensive against the captured school? Yeah, the fourth year students are frequently among the soldiers but surely they have the larger body of troops outside of the student body (or they don't have much of an army)? Wedging the sexual encounter in the middle of a hunt for their lives, killed any sense of respect I had for the female lead, much less the male leads, pretty much destroying it all with that scenario -- especially given how it ended. The jerk wouldn't have to worry about my delayed gratification ever again because he would never touch me ever again after that shit. You hear that author, respect gone. Stupid scene. So stupid, I was tempted to make this a dnf.

To make matters worse, all of the important threads are set aside so these idiots can get their freak on. So, it's not really believable when they finally get around to being worried about what happened to her familiar, Ari. In fact, it's comical that the author actually expects us to believe Raven gave a damn about anything other than f**king when it takes an entire week for her to get around to looking for somebody who's supposed to be one of the most important beings in her life? Basically we went from a series that had a strong plot with sex that feathered in and built the relationship between the characters, to a diminishing plot, diminishing character respect, and a storyline that spends all its time wedging sexual encounters in places just to have more sex at the expense of the plot that I actually enjoyed. To top it all off the overall tenor of the book is so dark, dismal, miserable, and hopeless I'm not sure I want to continue. What a disappointment.

[Sullivan Nae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came here to read the reviews because in thought I was being too critical, turns out I wasn’t.

I have been listening to this series on audible, my first gripe is the narrator’s obviously didn’t have a conversation about how to act out the MMC’s. In the first two books the female narrator made the men sound like Italian mobsters and the male narrator made the men sound like preppy radio hosts, they appeared to get it together for this third book.

Like many of the reviews I read, I was pulled in by the first book. It had a strong independent FMC who appeared like she would kick some butt. However, throughout the series, she became a pathetic nothing. Her ‘amazing powers’ are non existent, I expect they will make an appearance in the last book…. I won’t be waisting another credit on that one.

I get the need for a little bit of mystery to keep the reader guessing but honestly it was like the author wanted to put drama and mystery around every character in the book. Nothing was explained, conversations were choppy and annoying. When you thought a character was going to reveal a secret or part of the story, you are left guessing.

There is a school of magical people and the guy that takes over the school just strong arms his way in, no magic needed. When he does this, there is a room full of magical students and their parents who have strong magical abilities, however, not one of them lifted a finger to fight the dude that just walked in and declared the university his. Make this make sense!!

You also have university students who have been essentially held hostage and no one attempts to fight their way into the university to save their child? It’s just nonsensical to me.

Anywho, there was one pretty hot spicy scene in a change room in book two but that’s about it.

If you are still keen to give this one a go, perhaps wait till it’s in a second hand bookstore or free on kindle. I don’t feel it’s worth a credit or full price. Real harsh I know but I’m annoyed I wasted time and money on this series.

[I’m a Paula too… Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cursed Shadows book 3…

Again, at least a third of this is spicy time, and so I’m skimming through a lot of this book. It’s just not furthering the story and frankly, it gets boring.

Anyway, some things have definitely happened that may or may not change Raven’s mind about what’s happening. As other reviewers have noted, the cliffhanger leaves us with only Brax able to leave the Realm of Shadows, because he’s the only one who had to be resurrected. The other three have not experienced that yet. But the ruby has been found so let’s see what will happen to that next!

Genie might not be able to come back from this latest experience, and we’ve also discovered something new about Sebastian.

Again, a little too much spice and too little plot. On to the final book!

[Susana Flores]

Raven was practicing mimicking the powers of her lovers the bishops so she could fight back and protect herself. Her best friend's Leila father Fitch is working with the enemy Erikel and Erikel is a shapeshifter who passes as Burton, the director of the school is trying to find the ruby. He wants the ruby to take away the person's power to become more powerful. Braxton is looking for the gate of the Realm of Shadows where his parents are located. Raven and the bishops found poten ruby and Ari her familiar were fighting against familiars Erikel brought with some of his men. Something happened Raven's tight group got separated.

[Brie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is it .

Why does it always start out good in the first book of a trilogy and then go down hill

Why are you doing nothing but having sex

Save ari

Find out what Sebastian is up to

My god do something

How many times do we need to read about her getting boned - ok we get it. She likes sex. What about saving her friends and family. Any concern there …

No sex comes first

[Allia Reads (semi hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf around 12%
This was so boring and the plot was so flat and no world building at all.

[Sarah A · Rating 5 out of 5]

damn

When even the rereads are good, you know you’ve found either a good series or a good author or both! This author manages to do it time and time again!

[Kimberli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possible spoilers

This book has been frustrating for me. I feel like I'm losing interest because, while things are happening, it's moving so slowly that I find myself skimming. Here are some of my frustrations:

It takes a week for Raven to check on Ari. Supposedly, its difficult to be away from your familiar for long. But it takes a week for her to go look for him. He's been captured, and once again, she promises to save him and his pride. She promised the same thing in the last book and she's done nothing. Then, to top all the procrastinating off, they go back home after talking to Ari, and decide to use Creeds magic to forget all their problems for the day. I had to roll my eyes at this point in time because, of course, they would choose the selfish way of coping. They've done nothing to help Ari, nor themselves, but yes, using your magic to forget and have sex all day instead sounds like a great idea! Which brings me to the sex scenes. I'm all for some steamy scenes, but they aren't balanced in this book. The harem seems to not be able to focus on much more than sex. It doesn't matter if they should be working out or practicing magic or researching necromancy, etc...they always prioritize sex and delay everything else. I can see that happening occasionally, but for this group it seems like sex is more important than their lives.
The workout scenes with the guys are getting old too. It's mentioned over and over again in this series. We get it. She enjoys watching them work out. Now move on!
I also don't understand how this all powerful monarchy has no way of defending itself or its people. I get that they ignored what was happening in other realms. However, they are supposedly the strongest of the strong. Yet, nobody can do anything to Erikel. There are no other necromancers? I know they are rare, but I swear book 2 said there were others. Regardless, there is nobody with strong magic to defend the realm? We don't find out what Erikel's powers are until almost the end. However, rare as his magic is, I don't see how it makes him stronger than someone else. He requires his minions to do his dirty work. So why is everyone catering to him and doing what he wants? It doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, I know I'm complaining. I do like the story and want to know what happens next. I just want to see our MC's show some level of intelligence and self control. I feel like the story is dragging because we're learning lots about our villains, but very little is changing for our heroes.