Ruinous Ends

The Souls of Blackwood Academy #2

by I.V. Marie

The Decennial is over, but for the students of Blackwood Academy, the fight for the afterlife has just begun.

The infamous school was hiding more secrets—and lies—than any of the Decennial’s participants could have imagined. And there’s still so much that remains buried beneath its ancient foundations. Now the future of the academy, and all the souls within it, rests in the hands of six former pupils:
The charmer and the golden boy . . .
The traitor and the girl desperate to save her . . .
The Chosen One and the one who would choose her over and over again . . .

Any of them could be the hero the afterlife needs . . . or the villain who will destroy it for good. Because the truth is, Blackwood’s biggest secret has yet to come to light—and when it does, it will shake the institution to its core.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romantasy, Dark Academia, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Young Adult Fantasy

480 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 14, 2026

About the author

I.V. Marie is the instant New York Times, USA Today and Indie Bestselling author of Immortal Consequences. She was born and raised in Miami to a Peruvian mother and Chilean father, where she acquired a penchant for afternoon cafecitos and developed an all-consuming obsession with books. Her writing ambitions began behind her grandparents’ computer, where she spent her childhood crafting spooky and fantastical short stories. When she is not writing, you can find her rock climbing or watching atmospheric Youtube videos with her dog, Mr. Darcy.

Reviews

[ellie]

don’t mind me, just waiting for wrenaugust to come home to me.

[Becky (sirensongreads)]

I have never needed a sequel so fast.
I need to know what happens next.

[Val ୨୧]

Preread: If anyone was woken up by screaming this morning i apologise that was me because i GOT AN ARC. AHRIFHIWJDNEHFIEUFHDNWIEUFHDNS I GOT AN ARC. YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME ? I GOT AN ARC OF RUINOUS ENDS EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


Prerelease: WRENAUGUST MY BABIES COME HOMEEEEE COME HOMEEEEEE

[hater ★]

🧍‍♀️

[angela]

I don’t know what this book is called, I don’t know what the cover looks like, I don’t even know what the plot is. But I’m seated in an Ayo Edebiri way.

[Liana Gold]

And I'm back at Blackwood Academy where more secrets and lies are hidden within its walls and 6 students (in the afterlife) will either become villains or the heroes.

This is one of the most gorgeous covers I've seen, I'm beyond grateful to receive an early copy. Immortal Consequences was a total hit, great concept, great execution, appropriate for anyone in any age group (yes even 12+!). Check out my review of book 1 if you're interested in starting this duology!


Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's Books/Delacorte Press and the author, I.V Marie for the early copy.

Publication date: July 14, 2026

[ava.]

|🪻| pre~release |🤍|

OMG THAT COVER IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!! I CANT WAIT

[Suirene]

August is my new standard for men.
Are we ready for yearning August?

[clicktojointhemafia]

pls let wren live 🙏 also that guy who kept stalking irene— HEAR ME OUT

p.s. that is one sexy title

[Saranya [returning soon]]

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆~
₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

OMGGG!!! THIS COVER IS DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS 😍 ✨️

August,
Come home to me 🥺

[Toriఌ (hiatus)]

Coming out July 14

[Keysha]

STUNNING COVER

[Noi (in & out)]

Give it here

[Chrisa]

I NEED THIS RIGHT NOW

[Helen Nguyen]

I NEED THIS BOOK LIKE IVE NEVER NEEDED ANYTHING BEFORE

[Lexi]

(01/10/26) Holy Crap!!! WE NOW HAVE A COVER & A RELEASE DATE?!?! I AM OFFICIALLY UNWELL!!! 😩😩😩!!!
(11/06/25) WE HAVE A TITLE AND A DESCRIPTION!!! AND YES!!! I AM FREAKING OUT OVER IT!!! 🤭🤭🤭!!!

[Ayeley 𐙚 ·˚]

Am I the only one seated for Irene?😔

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel of my dreams, the perfect continuation of the first book that I loved so much.

Finished this book a week ago and I am still just thinking about it. It was difficult to word how much I loved this and how many emotions this book made me feel. (Sorry not sorry IV for the crying selfie you got)

Definitely recommend a reread of the last 100 or so pages of Immortal Consequences before reading, if you, like me, struggle to remember details. Ruinous Ends starts off right in the thick of it and it’s absolutely worth the reread to get the full experience.

From this point on, some spoilers for Immortal Consequences!!!

Immortal Consequences ends with our characters split up. Normally I’m wary when this happens in books, because we then get a ton of new side characters that vanish. Thank god that wasn’t the case here; all of the side characters are important and well developed… and I cried over them a few times.

Irene wasn’t my favorite character in the first book, but her arc in this book was absolutely phenomenal. She truly grew so much as a character and I was routing for her so hard. I loved the others as well and their arcs, but hers stood out so much because of how much my opinion of her changed. I struggle to like the mean characters, but it was so clearly why she was how she was.

I was so happy with the ending. I felt each character got the ending that made the most sense for their arc. I sobbed for a solid hour but 10/10 was absolutely worth it.

I’m always nervous reading a sequel for a book I got a ton of copies for… now I will be getting the sequels to match all my copies. And I absolutely cannot wait to read Twisted Vows because I cannot handle never seeing any of these characters again. I also cannot wait to read anything else IV Marie writes!!!

[Isabel M]

WE GOT A TITLEEEEEEEE
✨
no title? no release date? no anything? *marks as want to read*

[Jess Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need this sequel like I need air 🥰🥰🥰

[myra ★]

i need this book like, yesterday

[Livvy 𝜗𝜚 {semi ia}]

🪻🖤 PRE RELEASE

AHHHHHHHHHH MY BABY IS FINALLY COMING TO ME 😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹🥹 ILYSM I.V. MARIE 😭😭😭 IM LITERALLY SOBBING IM SO EXITED NOBODY TALK TO ME THIS COVER IS TOO PRETTY IT HURTS

[katcxfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruinous Ends is the sequel to Immortal Consequences. This book starts right where the first one ended. To avoid any spoilers for the first book, this review will be vague.

I loved reading Immortal Consequences. I had received the ARC from the author, and I was so excited to read it. I loved it, and I gave the book 5 stars. Most recently, I haven't been enjoying YA books and have decided not to explore any new authors beyond the ones I've been reading.

Ruinous Ends is a dark academia fantasy with multiple POVs. The POVs are Wren, August, Emilio, Olivier, Masika, and Irene. I really enjoyed the multi-povs in the first book, but while reading this one, I found myself bored by certain povs and enjoying the others more. The issue with this is that the POVs I enjoyed the most felt shorter than the other POVs.

I enjoyed the storyline, and the pacing felt right. I did like returning to this world and being exposed to more of the magic and experiencing a different side of the world we already know. I did feel like the ending was anticlimactic. It felt very abrupt, and I don't know how to fully feel about it. I did not consume this book as quickly as I did the first until I got 60- 70%, and then I couldn't put it down.

Thank you, I.V Marie, for the ARC.

[Isabel M]

OH MY WORD THE COVER IS HEAVENLY
(ik my jokes are hilarious. I guess I should say the cover is to die for)

[Grace]

🕴< me standing (in disguise) outsie iv Marie's window as shes writing this to make sure
1. she doesn't kill off anyone too important
2. she doesn't slack off
3. wrenaugust, oliver/emelion are endgame
4. she hurrys the fuck up and releases this in say May instead of July or whatever bullshit date she came up with......

[samantha]

i have NEVER needed a book as much as i need this one bc wrenaugust but also yearning obsessed august will be my ENTIRE personality for the next few months so this is like a need

[Avery Tussing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guess who got her hands on the second one!!! Immortal Consequences will always be really special to me because it was one of the very first ARCs I ever received, and thus, I’ve gotten to watch I.V. Marie’s career take off, and I adore that.

I believe I should preface this by saying, for the first time in my book-reading history, I feel the exact same way about the first book as I do the sequel. All of the things I really liked about the first one, I like just the same here, and all things I didn’t, still exist.

As I did with the first one, I’ll start with the characters. This is a character-driven story, and they are one of the big highlights of Isa’s writing. Now, six POVs can be great, and they can also be the biggest nightmare. I’ll be honest, I don’t like every single POV. Let me just get it out of the way: I hate Irene. I didn’t like her in the first book, once again not because she’s poorly written, but because she’s an insufferable human who wants me to feel bad for her when she is constantly the worst. Every single time Irene had a POV, I wanted to rip my hair out. Now, Wren and Masika, I’m mid on. They’re all right. Wren suffers from severe main character syndrome, and it is only piqued in the sequel. Masika is still a sweetie pie, and she had a lot more backstory in this one, which I appreciated. Isa apparently writes her boys more to my taste because August, Emilio, and Olivier are GREAT. August, similar to his counterpart Wren, sort of suffers from what I’m gonna pen as “yearning final boss for a mediocre woman and therefore has no personality.” Like, I think all August does is yearn. Which I’m not particularly going to complain about. Now Emilio is still the sweetest little morsel ever, and Olivier is still a chaotic angel; I adore them.

Romance-wise, this book is chock-full of romance! August and Wren are very yearny and angsty, and it was very fun; I loved the tension. But the highlight by FAR, and possibly the only thing that tips the sequel in a higher favor (once again, they feel extremely equal to me) is Emilio and Olivier getting an actual romance. In the first book, they had the very sliver of a romance plot. It almost felt like Isa was shy to commit to their romance, but thank goodness, she let them just be so adorable in this book. And finally, Masika and Catherine. They’re ok. I don’t really have much to say because they didn’t really exist much, but I enjoyed their inclusion nonetheless.

Plot-wise, I did struggle with a lot of the characters (the core six) being separated from one another in pairs, and not like in a big group. It made me dislike threads more than others. So when the POV shifted, I would get upset because I wanted to be with August/Wren or Emilio/Oliver/Masika wayyy more than just Irene being annoying by herself. This one was not as dark academia, prep school core, with trials and spells, and was more about concluding the story and big epic war aspects. I do think I.V. Marie managed to wrap up all of the plots and character stories in a loose bow--enough that she could revisit the world and characters, but without it feeling like a ton of cliffhangers. Which I thought was pretty masterful.

Overall, I still think it’s a good duology, especially for someone who maybe wants to get into the fantasy genre, as it’s not all that confusing, and I think anyone can see themselves in the characters. I’m curious and cautious about the prequel and can’t wait for everything I.V. Marie does in the future.

Thank you, Underlined for the gifted copy. I love you, Penguin Random House.

[Kenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75🌟 rounded up

*sigh* if you know me, you know I LOVED IC. IC is the whole reason I even started a NetGalley account and I loved it when I got to arc read it. So naturally I was so hyped for this one.

With such a solid debut, I feel like it’s hardly to truly do the sequel of IC justice. I had no idea what to expect, but I believe my anticipation was too high. I think I was also hoping for more of the dark academia presented in IC so strongly, but RE is not that. At very least, not to the same extent.

I didn’t necessarily like where this one decided to go with the story, but I suppose it kinda makes sense. “Kinda” because there were a few things that just didn’t seem to really add up to me. I didn’t really, truly, get invested until the 75%~ mark (which was another let down for me as I was immediately sucked into IC)

The romance, naturally, was a huge part of these books. Not plot wise, but you can tell the author was really leaning on these couples to make this duology better and what it is. I liked August and Wren, but purely because they were your academic rivals with yearning. I also felt like they fell back into their relationship entirely too fast in RE. It really takes away from that yearning the author is really trying to hammer home with August’s character. Emilio and Olivier were cute and I’m glad they were actually able to have their moment in this book. I didn’t much care for Masika and Catherine.

The main reason I didn’t give IC a 5🌟 was because of all of the POVs. I understand the reasoning behind it, but keeping track of six characters who are all in different places is a bit of a hassle. Especially when I don’t care for some of them. Any time we reached a development in the story with one character, we’d flip to another character and I’d forget what was happening with them both.

A quick talk about that ending. Without giving anything away, I’m conflicted. When the beginning of the end started (iykyk) I was like “oh I think I see where this is going, I like!” but right at the very end it lowkey made me mad. the epilogue being. I LOVE the concept, but the execution was poor in my opinion. The dialogue😬yeah. otherwise, I’m mostly *mostly* okay with that ending.

At the end of the day, my excitement for the sequel ended up making this a less enjoyable read. I would still recommend IC a 1000 times over, but I would be hesitant on this second book.


Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you do not remember the last hundred pages of book one… reread them. Trust me.

📚 Ruinous Ends by I. V. Marie
Series: The Souls of Blackwood Academy book two
Genre: YA dark academia romantasy
Vibes: fractured alliances, afterlife politics, redemption arcs, devastating payoff

The Decennial may be over, but Blackwood Academy is nowhere near finished with its students. Secrets are still buried beneath ancient foundations, and this sequel drops you straight back into chaos.

No easing in. No gentle recap. Just consequences.

What made this unforgettable:

🖤 Split character arcs that actually deepen the story
⚔️ Afterlife stakes that feel bigger and more personal
😭 Side characters who matter and absolutely wreck you
🔥 Redemption arc done so well it changed my entire opinion
✨ An ending that feels painful but right

Immortal Consequences left everyone scattered, and I was nervous about that. But every perspective here feels intentional. No throwaway characters. No filler. Everyone plays a role.

Irene especially stunned me. She was not my favorite in book one. Not even close. But her growth in this installment? Phenomenal. You understand her. You feel for her. You see exactly why she became who she was. Watching that unfold was one of the strongest parts of the book.

Each character gets an ending that fits their arc. Not necessarily the one you want. But the one that makes sense.

I sobbed. For a solid hour. And I would do it again.

If you love dark academia with morally complex characters, emotional devastation, and stakes that linger past the final page, this series deserves your time.

💬 Do you love when a sequel redeems a character you could not stand before?

#IVMarie #RuinousEnds #DelacortePress #DarkAcademia #YARomantasy

[Aniella Fields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank You Net Galley for giving me access to an e-arc for Ruinous Ends!

Currently, Ruinous Ends is one of my favorite reads of the year. Having already enjoyed the first book in the Immortal Consequences series, and being left on quite the cliffhanger, I was eagerly anticipating the sequel. It absolutely did not disappoint. In fact, I may have enjoyed Ruinous Ends even more than Immortal Consequences because of how successfully it builds on the first book and delivers such an emotionally packed story.
As a reader who tends to prefer strong, character-driven narratives over plot-heavy ones, I loved seeing growth from all six of the student protagonists. By the end, I found myself appreciating each of them, even when I was frustrated with some of their decisions, especially Irene. I also appreciated that the fantasy elements of this afterlife-based world remain easy to follow, even as the story expands and builds on the foundation laid in the first book.
I also have to mention the relationships. Wren and August have become one of my favorite couples. The yearning between them, and the lengths they go to in trying to save each other, made their relationship incredibly compelling to read. That said, I also couldn’t get enough of Olivier and Emilio, who were another special couple to follow throughout the story.
Overall, Ruinous Ends is a five-star read for me, and I highly recommend it and the Souls of Blackwood duology as a whole. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by I. V. Marie. I’m also eagerly awaiting the Wren and August novella coming this October!