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Undercover Witch Academy #1

Undercover Witch Academy: First Year

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At the Undercover Witch Academy, I won't remain hidden for long.

As the first illusionist witch able to syphon magic from everything and everyone, I’m a little sought after. Hundreds of supernatural academies have offered me a place, but there’s only one I’ll attend. The Undercover Witch Academy. Why? Dracian Dread.

The male witch who killed my parents is already a top student at the academy, beloved by all. But, not for long. Soon, everyone will know who Dracian really is, and I’ll be the one to tell them.

When students start to lose their magic, all eyes turn to me. Classes are postponed as an investigation gets underway. There’s no proof that it’s me, and it’s not, let me assure you, so I have to find a way to prove my innocence. Unfortunately, the only ally I have is none other than Dracian Dread, the man I love to hate.

Will I be able to find the real culprit before every student loses their magic for good?

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2019

470 people are currently reading
681 people want to read

About the author

Rachel Medhurst

112 books481 followers
Rachel Medhurst grew up in a small village in Surrey, England. She writes to inspire and heal. She lives in the British countryside with her dog. If she’s not writing, she can be found walking in nature and reading. For more information about current projects, including her short story dystopian series, Avoidables, please check out her website.

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5 stars
231 (36%)
4 stars
191 (30%)
3 stars
145 (22%)
2 stars
43 (6%)
1 star
24 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
Profile Image for Anubha (BooksFullOfLife, LifeFullOfBooks).
763 reviews86 followers
January 15, 2021


As the title suggests a tale of witches training to become undercover agents except the central character is a lower status witch but has exceptional talent because of which literally everyone is out to get her secret. Light hearted magical read with meaningful friendships, pinch of romance and a hint of enigma!
Profile Image for laur gluchie.
504 reviews143 followers
February 24, 2023
This read like a really bad Draco Malfoy x Original Character fanfiction, it almost rivals My Immortal. That’s kinda a compliment, maybe?

First off, the names. Starting with Dracien Dread. DRACIEN DREAD. Who names their kid Dracien?? A Draco kinnie? Dear God, this name drove me insane for the entire book. I laughed each time I saw this name, my bad I suppose, but what did you expect? And don’t get me started on someone with a badass first name like A-LEESH-EE-AH, and the most boring last name ever, Jones (no offense to all my Joneses out there). The perfect setup for a pick-me girl.

Secondly, the writing. I went into this not expecting anything special since this book was free on Amazon Kindle, and because of this I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I would be. I was surprised, though, to find that this was not this author’s first published book. This author has published over five book series before this and the writing was THAT BAD?? Yikes... this just makes me nervous to read this author’s other books.

Finally, this story in itself, which was mediocre at best. Let me start off by saying I love witches. Scarlet Witch is in my top five favorite superheroes, and I grew up watching Charmed reruns. I was excited to read a story about witches, but it was so lacking in everything. The plot was everywhere, the pacing was off at multiple points, and the ending was very confusing.

Overall, this was just so meh. At least this was a quick read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for TXBRITGAL.
1,431 reviews33 followers
July 4, 2019
I for one can't wait to see what's in store next for Ms. Alishia Jones. In a world of witches she stands apart as she had no link to the earth. She's a rare witch indeed...An illusion witch. Many f ear her kind as most have to use another witches power for their own. Until Alishia that is 😊. She and her father worked out a way to use electricity and not live people to channel for her power. At age thirteen she awoke to find her parents murdered. A ll this time she's tried to get into the Undercover Witch Academy so she might bring their murderer to justice. How was she to know gaining entrance would only start more fires and secrets? Someone is working in the shadows and making her appear to be guilty. Who can she trust? What's really going on in this place? It's a quick and exciting read!! I honestly can't wait to see where book two leads us!
Profile Image for Zimt.
227 reviews8 followers
March 30, 2020
*3.5 stars*

A new approach on witch folklore.

Alishia is an illusionist witch which means she does not have any magic on her own. But since her father would not accept that Alishia has a way of gaining magic without stealing it from fellow witches. Sadly, Alishia's parents were killed when she was just thirteen since then she loves for revenge. That os why she joins the Undercover Witch Academy. There she will learn everything she needs and the murderer of her parents attends as well. Dracian Dread is Alishia's enemy as far as she is concerned but often not everything is as it seems.
Alishia is intelligent but bias with her opinions because of what she went through. She feels hunted by the Institute and has serious trust issues. With her arrival at the academy her life is changed again. For the first time, she has friends again and her abilities are valued.
The plot is very interesting and the idea is really great. Sadly, the book is a bit short and things are too often told and not shown. There us just sometimes to much explaining which takes away from the reading fun.
Also, I do not see what Alishia's big secret is since she told everyone that she can use electricity to gain magic. So, what is that all about that everyone wants to know her "secret"?!
Profile Image for Abi.
38 reviews1 follower
May 7, 2022
I hated this book for 3 main reasons
1) Somehow the author has other series? This isn’t her first book? The writing was that of a Wattpad book and it was not a vibe

2) The MC. She was just no. Not sure if it was on purpose but she was soooo irritating I nearly left the book unfinished

3) The book was set in Britain. The MC was British. Although this was not the problem, I think the author forgot that the MC was British so every now and then the MC would come out with something stupid like ‘Bugger’. She is not a 93 year old woman. She is 18. Why?

All in all, do NOT read this book. Complete waste of time
Profile Image for Ramona Walker.
94 reviews1 follower
May 2, 2022
This was a bit "thin" as a first book in a series so I'm unsure if I'll read others. It was written to a young adult audience so a few times it felt like they were trying to relate and working a little too hard in the process. You are left with more questions than answers after reading this first book.
45 reviews
January 11, 2021
I read this a few days ago and had to re-read the plot synopsis to remember what it was about. It was an ok story but as mentioned above not memorable. Will keep reading the series though and hope it gets better. 2.5 stars
Profile Image for Ashley Martinez (ilovebooksandstuffblog).
3,095 reviews91 followers
June 25, 2019
Magical! A fun fast-paced witchy read that ensnared me from the first page. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery throughout the story. I’m excited for the next book!
Profile Image for Celia Buell (semi hiatus).
632 reviews31 followers
July 2, 2023
Undercover Witch Academy: First Year had everything I've been looking for in a book like this!

I loved the way the plot unfolded, and that it kept me going. I didn't realize I was fully in the story until I was almost done, and by then, a lot had happened. I was like, there's no way this can actually be 300 pages, right? It's not that everything was happening super fast, more that everything was happening at a very normal pace, with nothing unnecessarily faster or slower than the rest of the plot.

I really enjoyed the mystery as well. There's a lot that doesn't make sense, but not in a plot hole kind of way, but something where you need to read more and find out. There's a lot of things that have me shaking my head and saying, "that can't be right." Especially about Dracian Dread.

This is the first ebook in a long time where I got the first one for free and am definitely going to buy the next one. I'm very impressed.
Profile Image for Payne’s Bookworm Reviews (Samantha Payne).
596 reviews16 followers
April 18, 2020
New to me author.

Undercover Witch Academy; First Year is book one in Rachel Medhurst’s Undercover Witch Academy series.

Alishia is an illusionist witch, she doesn’t have any magic on her own. Illusionist witches take other witches magic to perform magic, but not Alishia, she uses electricity.
Alishia's parents were killed when she was thirteen, she has spent the last 5 years working out how to catch the killer, first she needs to me accepted into the Undercover Academy, then find evidence to prove who did it, then become the best agent.
Dracian Dread is Alishia's enemy, he killed her parents and now she must get her revenge. But he’s presences makes her feel all warm, and he’s smirk makes you want to melt, nope not Alishia.

This book is a quick and easy read, I read it in one sitting. I enjoyed the characters although I did get a little annoyed with the whole everyone wanting to know Alishia’s secret. Well written with a fast paced and addictive storyline.
Profile Image for Piros OlaSz.
593 reviews3 followers
March 3, 2023
quick easy read

Not bad at all. The cover is not really good however.
The story itself is great however honestly not sharing the invention not to have other witches having similar “issues” didnt really bode well with me. I understand its her Fathers’s and that selling into the black market is bad but why not share publicly? She wanted money? Than why not to sell for the highest bidder and get out so no more magic stealing? Like for the greater good?… it just didnt sot well with me…
Anyways beside that the storyline is okey frenemies academy life and such with some adventure and nancygreying is always good…
At this point Im hesitant to pick book2 but Im intigued enough for Mr BadBoy that I may pick it up sometime later…
Profile Image for Deborah.
204 reviews
January 31, 2021
I like that Goodreads clarifies what the star ratings are - I liked the book. It wasn't amazing but it was good enough that I want to read the next one. I like that our orphan knows who she is, she knows what her powers are, and she has taken control of her life had plans for when she turned 18 and was free to do what she wanted.

What she wanted was to get away from her foster parents and go to the same school as her parents' murderer and expose him. Of course, that didn't happen by the end of book one and to be honest, book one just introduced us to all the characters and the world. Still it was a fun, fast read.
Profile Image for Kasey Fallon.
Author 7 books44 followers
September 10, 2023
Fast, easy, fun. It's an interesting take on a magic system and witch society, complete with social norms and cliques, which I liked. At the same time, the scenes could use more description overall; it felt rather flat. At various points I had to re-read because some things were way overstated while important things were just a sentence or two. *mild spoiler* for example, when the bad guy of the book shoots himself. It's very abrupt at the end of a fight scene, almost casual, no one seems to be traumatized, and the Academy leaders essentially sigh and tell everyone to go to bed. Very odd.

Overall a decent read, I may or may not read the next ones.
514 reviews5 followers
September 29, 2020
Academy with a difference

Alicia has a problem, people are either after the secret behind her magic or blaming her for all the chaos happening at the Academy, finally escaping her manipulative foster parents Alisia joins the academy hoping to take down the witch who murdered her parent's chaos ensues, meanwhile she finds new friends and enemies and begins to realise that things aren't always as they seem. Great storyline, brilliantly written characters lots of action and magic twists and turns to keep you turning pages. A great read recommended, Baz.
Profile Image for Holly Mavigliano.
205 reviews1 follower
May 19, 2021
Funny

There are types of witches and I'm the type that has to steal magic to use it...The outcast type. An Illusionist witch. Before they were killed, my parents helped me home the skill of creating magic from electricity. Now others want that knowledge...and are willing to kill for it. I'm hiding out and trying to learn more about magic, and trying to find my parent's killer. I'm hiding at the Undercover Witch Academy. Full of magic, maybe some romance, and a lot of snark. Great book!
Profile Image for Mike Brannick.
215 reviews1 follower
June 7, 2022
I'm well outside the YA target demographic of this book, but I still enjoyed it. The characters are interesting and easy to empathize with (except for the teen angst part). The magic system is unique and causes the main character some difficulty that she must handle any time she needs to cast. Her solution is a very interesting and believable (with some willing suspension of belief, of course) and quite imagonative. If you like, or arent irritated by teen angst, this is a story you'll want to read.
Profile Image for SaraJane.
270 reviews2 followers
December 27, 2023
This book has an interesting premise. The main character isn't very likeable and the supporting characters seem very one dimensional. One weird thing I noticed is that every few pages, someone is licking their lips. It's gross; a whole school full of people just standing around licking their lips all the time. No thanks. The ending seemed rather abrupt. I get that it's to get people to want to read the next book(s) but nothing was really wrapped up. I'll probably read the next one just because I have all three of these in one ebook and it's a really short, fast read.
Profile Image for Bryn Holmes.
50 reviews1 follower
February 20, 2021
I liked the idea of the book that there is an academy that teaches witches to be undercover detectives. For some reason, I did not get into Alisha as a heroine although her adventures reminded me a little of those of Harry Potter. The fact that Alisha is an orphan should be a draw, the fact that she is seeking to find her parents' killers also should be a plus. While I was left a little cold, you may like the whole premise, action and world that Rachel Medhurst has taken the trouble to create.
Profile Image for Tosha Y. Miller.
Author 15 books76 followers
April 16, 2021
Good book

The main reason I gave this book a four star review is because the rest of the series isn't apart of Kindle unlimited. I don't get to read the rest. I loved the fun new way of magical beings. The protagonist is strong but has extremely poor self esteem issue. This book is under 18 approved with slight romance and action. I recommend this teen academy book that likes reading fun agent books. Solving her crimes.
Profile Image for Jack Gardner.
39 reviews2 followers
January 7, 2021
There are not very many books that I can't finish . . . but this one was one of them. It was just poorly constructed and blatantly uninteresting. I only got about 1/3rd of the way through it before I decided it was not worth finishing. This almost felt like a concept that was much more clear in the authors' head than it ended up being on paper.
667 reviews7 followers
January 13, 2021
Teenager witch harnesses electricity!

Teenager witch AlishIa is invited to join an academy that teaches unusual witches to be undercover detectives. Young witches are being drained of their power, something she can do. She has to prove she isn't the one while hunting down her parents killer.
665 reviews6 followers
March 22, 2023
Teenaged witches

Alishia Jones, an 18 year old witch without magic, escapes foster care and makes it to the Academy . There she wants to become an agent . She gets involved in a mystery, dead snake Toby, her roommates familiar . Oh the trials and tribulations of being a teenager .
Interesting , fairly well written .
Profile Image for Chels.
861 reviews115 followers
October 2, 2023
A solid idea but the writing was not good. The writing was all over the place like the author couldn’t quite keep up with what day it was. The MC woke up one day and suddenly it was already the next day? It hurt my brain trying to keep up. Luckily it was a short read. Just very weird pacing and writing overall.
Profile Image for Maria.
1,131 reviews51 followers
November 18, 2025
This was such a fun read! The mix of magic, mystery, and academy drama kept me turning the pages, and the lighthearted tone made it easy to get swept up in the story. The characters are quirky and engaging, and the plot balances suspense with humor. It’s not overly heavy, which made it perfect for a cozy escape. If you enjoy witchy adventures with a playful twist, this is a great pick.
214 reviews2 followers
June 20, 2021
Her Parents Killed and she is put in foster care.

Instead of being put in into her mothers friends family she is put in foster care.
Now that she is 18 every one what's her invention.
Put she first has to solve her parents murder
651 reviews1 follower
July 7, 2022
Interesting start

What do you do when your foster parents try to sell you to the Institute? You run to the Academy that just accepted you. But things start happening right after entering the door. What is going on? I am ready to find out more.
151 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2023
Not bad

I like it. Either I read it too fast or the book was short. I read this book in some hours. I would like to know whats next and I'm intrigued to know who is the culprit as I could not figure out yet at the end of book one.
Profile Image for Avid.
997 reviews5 followers
May 25, 2024
DNF

This book was simply awful. I refuse to waste any more of my time writing on it to give it a review. Don't waste your time. If it is not free, PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Skip this book.
Not recommended 👎
📚
3 reviews
June 16, 2025
It was okay. I kinda want to know what happens next in book 2 but I certainly wouldn’t pay for it. I got this one for free. The writing was okay, some areas were confusing and could have used more development.
Profile Image for Chrystal Roe.
1,290 reviews12 followers
December 5, 2020
Wow

This is a pretty exciting story. I really like the main characters. Despite being witches they are really easy to identify with. I look forward to reading more of this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews

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