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Shadow Witch
So…Verika’s parents run a Voodoo Academy. When, exactly, were they planning on telling her? Apparently not until she almost kills half her school.
When Verika’s shadow magic nearly takes out the cast of her school play, her parents send her to a voodoo academy they run in New Orlean’s mirror world to get her powers under control.
It’s there, at Académie de Marie Laveau, that Verika learns the hot man from her dreams isn’t just a figment of her imagination…but the most feared student ever to walk the academy’s halls.
So when things start to go missing from her teachers’ classrooms, and it appears someone is aiming to pin it on Mr. Dark and Dreamy himself, Verika knows no one is going to step in to save him.
No one but Verika, anyway.
Except, Tobias isn’t looking for a hero, and Verika’s not cut out to be a detective. Considering she’s been shadow walking in her sleep and can’t account for her own whereabouts after the lights go out, it seems she’s better suited as a suspect instead.
Fans of the Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and the Harley Merlin series from Bella Forrest will love this new adult, slow-burn paranormal academy romance from Veronica Shade.
Scroll up and one-click to see if Verika can find a way to make life at Voodoo Academy work…all while dealing with bullies, would-be boyfriends, and worse…herself.
Voodoo Academy is a spin-off series of Academy of the Damned but can still be enjoyed by readers who haven’t read Academy of the Damned.
When Verika’s shadow magic nearly takes out the cast of her school play, her parents send her to a voodoo academy they run in New Orlean’s mirror world to get her powers under control.
It’s there, at Académie de Marie Laveau, that Verika learns the hot man from her dreams isn’t just a figment of her imagination…but the most feared student ever to walk the academy’s halls.
So when things start to go missing from her teachers’ classrooms, and it appears someone is aiming to pin it on Mr. Dark and Dreamy himself, Verika knows no one is going to step in to save him.
No one but Verika, anyway.
Except, Tobias isn’t looking for a hero, and Verika’s not cut out to be a detective. Considering she’s been shadow walking in her sleep and can’t account for her own whereabouts after the lights go out, it seems she’s better suited as a suspect instead.
Fans of the Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and the Harley Merlin series from Bella Forrest will love this new adult, slow-burn paranormal academy romance from Veronica Shade.
Scroll up and one-click to see if Verika can find a way to make life at Voodoo Academy work…all while dealing with bullies, would-be boyfriends, and worse…herself.
Voodoo Academy is a spin-off series of Academy of the Damned but can still be enjoyed by readers who haven’t read Academy of the Damned.
- GenresFantasy
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 15, 2022
49 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 14, 2022
This is book one of the Voodoo Academy series and the main character is Verika Dupre, who has just celebrated her eighteenth birthday and lives with her parents above the voodoo shop they run in New Orleans. She is looking forward to finishing high school with her best friend and hopefully getting an acceptance letter from a college. When shadows threaten her school’s theatre production, panic ensues and everybody runs for their lives, Verika looks for her best friend and finds her with some others on some dangerous scaffolding on stage. She has been having some weird dreams about a guy, but also seen her shadow doing some weird stuff. She has no idea if she has caused these destructive shadows, but she orders them to stop and they listen! Her friend is terrified by this and won’t even look at her and her parents have even more shocking news for her when she gets home.
She is told that she must attend the Academie de Marie Laveau, which is located in the New Orleans’ Mirror World, to learn how to control her shadow magic and her shadows before she hurts someone. It turns out her parents actually run the school, her mother being a shadow witch and the headmistress, whilst her father is a necromancer and also a professor there. They use their voodoo skills to have copies of themselves run their shop. She has been lied to for her whole life, with her parents telling her that magic wasn’t real and what they did was just for the tourists! As a mundane until her powers suddenly came out, they were forbidden to tell her about magic by the loa council. She has no choice in the matter and is stuck with two other young shadow witches, sharing a room at the school. She soon finds the object of her dreams, a young man called Tobias, is real but says he has never met her before. She is told to steer clear of him as he is very dangerous, having been claimed by an evil loa of the crossroads. When he is accused of stealing items from teacher’s rooms, it seems the proof is against him and no one has his back, apart from Verika, however unwelcome that is from Tobias himself!
She aims to prove he is innocent, but she still has no control over her shadow magic and is dealing with a roommate who bullies and belittles her at every moment. An unlawful use of her magic sees her almost expelled and another friendly student injured, putting her confidence down to an all-time low! Someone is acting as a sounding board for her and giving her a different option for which loa claims her, as chaos enters her life. Whether this is for her benefit or not, will soon become clear, as danger strikes the academy. Tobias and Verika will be in the middle of everything that happens and there are warnings of worse to come! Prophecy has given her a heavy load and she struggles to even catch up with other students, whilst being bullied, ignored and pretty useless at any sort of magic, spells or even shadow magic. More to come as the danger ramps up and she must face her destiny. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
She is told that she must attend the Academie de Marie Laveau, which is located in the New Orleans’ Mirror World, to learn how to control her shadow magic and her shadows before she hurts someone. It turns out her parents actually run the school, her mother being a shadow witch and the headmistress, whilst her father is a necromancer and also a professor there. They use their voodoo skills to have copies of themselves run their shop. She has been lied to for her whole life, with her parents telling her that magic wasn’t real and what they did was just for the tourists! As a mundane until her powers suddenly came out, they were forbidden to tell her about magic by the loa council. She has no choice in the matter and is stuck with two other young shadow witches, sharing a room at the school. She soon finds the object of her dreams, a young man called Tobias, is real but says he has never met her before. She is told to steer clear of him as he is very dangerous, having been claimed by an evil loa of the crossroads. When he is accused of stealing items from teacher’s rooms, it seems the proof is against him and no one has his back, apart from Verika, however unwelcome that is from Tobias himself!
She aims to prove he is innocent, but she still has no control over her shadow magic and is dealing with a roommate who bullies and belittles her at every moment. An unlawful use of her magic sees her almost expelled and another friendly student injured, putting her confidence down to an all-time low! Someone is acting as a sounding board for her and giving her a different option for which loa claims her, as chaos enters her life. Whether this is for her benefit or not, will soon become clear, as danger strikes the academy. Tobias and Verika will be in the middle of everything that happens and there are warnings of worse to come! Prophecy has given her a heavy load and she struggles to even catch up with other students, whilst being bullied, ignored and pretty useless at any sort of magic, spells or even shadow magic. More to come as the danger ramps up and she must face her destiny. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
February 18, 2022
I received a copy of this book through BookSprout, but this review is all my own!
I don't usually choose to read YA/NA book, let alone academy ones, but I liked the idea of this new Voodoo Academy series and thought I would give it a shot. I really enjoyed it and found myself completely engrossed in what was going on!
When Verika Dupre suddenly manifests shadow magic on her 18th birthday and is summoned to the Académie de Marie Leveau, where unbeknown to her, her parents are in charge, everything she ever thought she knew about her family and their lives changes! Here she finds herself severely, yet unsurprisingly, lacking in magical knowledge and skills and despite being the daughter of two powerful practitioners, she cannot seem to get a grip on what she is supposed to be doing.
I loved that Verika wasn't the perfect student, that despite her heritage and the prophecy surrounding her, she was at times completely inept in her magical skills. I was expecting her to be brilliant from the get-go, to be able to handle everything perfectly and I'm so glad that she wasn't like that. She struggled both in her magical development and with her transition into this new world - she showed great character development and felt more relatable as well because of this. Her friends were a great support for her and even the Queen Bee bully stepped up at the end, which really surprised me!
The slow burn romance is a very slow burn as not a great deal happened between the love interests really, but I guess that's why it's called slow burn! Hopefully there will be a bit more in the next book, which I can't wait to read now after that cliffhanger ending!
I don't usually choose to read YA/NA book, let alone academy ones, but I liked the idea of this new Voodoo Academy series and thought I would give it a shot. I really enjoyed it and found myself completely engrossed in what was going on!
When Verika Dupre suddenly manifests shadow magic on her 18th birthday and is summoned to the Académie de Marie Leveau, where unbeknown to her, her parents are in charge, everything she ever thought she knew about her family and their lives changes! Here she finds herself severely, yet unsurprisingly, lacking in magical knowledge and skills and despite being the daughter of two powerful practitioners, she cannot seem to get a grip on what she is supposed to be doing.
I loved that Verika wasn't the perfect student, that despite her heritage and the prophecy surrounding her, she was at times completely inept in her magical skills. I was expecting her to be brilliant from the get-go, to be able to handle everything perfectly and I'm so glad that she wasn't like that. She struggled both in her magical development and with her transition into this new world - she showed great character development and felt more relatable as well because of this. Her friends were a great support for her and even the Queen Bee bully stepped up at the end, which really surprised me!
The slow burn romance is a very slow burn as not a great deal happened between the love interests really, but I guess that's why it's called slow burn! Hopefully there will be a bit more in the next book, which I can't wait to read now after that cliffhanger ending!
February 19, 2022
I couldn't put this book down. Although I found Verika's "poor me" attitude to be kind of annoying, I admit it must suc* to find out your parents have kept you in the dark about who you really are for your entire life. Of course, Verika is good at ignoring things she doesn't want to see. It isn't until she almost kills her best friend that she is finally willing to admit that something is wrong with her.
Apparently, the voodoo shop Verika's parents run in New Orleans is not quite as fake as she thought it was. Or at least the voodoo part is real. And the dreams she has been having about the hot, dark man at a club? Those were actually her doing something called "shadowwalking." Now she finds out she is a shadow witch and she must go to what she terms as Voodoo Academy to learn how to control her powers. This school is located in shadow New Orleans which is at least less hot and humid than the real one. To make things even worse, her shadow witch mother is the headmistress and her necromancer father is an instructor. Ugh. Could it get any worse? Yep. One of her two roommates is a real nasty piece of work and the man she saw in her dreams is there, but he insists he doesn't know her. Then she gets chosen by her loa, don't even ask.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Apparently, the voodoo shop Verika's parents run in New Orleans is not quite as fake as she thought it was. Or at least the voodoo part is real. And the dreams she has been having about the hot, dark man at a club? Those were actually her doing something called "shadowwalking." Now she finds out she is a shadow witch and she must go to what she terms as Voodoo Academy to learn how to control her powers. This school is located in shadow New Orleans which is at least less hot and humid than the real one. To make things even worse, her shadow witch mother is the headmistress and her necromancer father is an instructor. Ugh. Could it get any worse? Yep. One of her two roommates is a real nasty piece of work and the man she saw in her dreams is there, but he insists he doesn't know her. Then she gets chosen by her loa, don't even ask.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 20, 2022
Good
This is the first book in the series, and a spin-off apparently, of Academy of the Damned, though the characters and situations from that book are only obliquely referenced in this one. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it does leave an open ended situation, more of a setup for the next book in the series.
Verika is a shadow witch, her mother and father are both Voodoo practitioners, and apparently teachers at the Voodoo Academy, where Verika suddenly finds herself. After eighteen years as a normal human, she suddenly discovers her magical powers in a way both frightening and confusing.
Life at the new school isn’t easy, and even though Verika finds herself attracted to the handsome young witch Tobias, he doesn’t seem to return the feelings. But when Tobias finds himself under suspicion for some crimes at school, it’s Verika who is determined to prove everyone wrong.
This was a fast paced, slow burn academy romance. The setting and world are unique, and make for an interesting read. You have the usual high school tropes, but Verika’s family is an interesting one (I rather like her father and his snake!).
There are some intriguing storylines being set up, with Verika’s Loa, and the other Voudon gods, and it makes for an interesting plot.
An entertaining, and yet different read for fans of Paranormal Academy series.
This is the first book in the series, and a spin-off apparently, of Academy of the Damned, though the characters and situations from that book are only obliquely referenced in this one. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it does leave an open ended situation, more of a setup for the next book in the series.
Verika is a shadow witch, her mother and father are both Voodoo practitioners, and apparently teachers at the Voodoo Academy, where Verika suddenly finds herself. After eighteen years as a normal human, she suddenly discovers her magical powers in a way both frightening and confusing.
Life at the new school isn’t easy, and even though Verika finds herself attracted to the handsome young witch Tobias, he doesn’t seem to return the feelings. But when Tobias finds himself under suspicion for some crimes at school, it’s Verika who is determined to prove everyone wrong.
This was a fast paced, slow burn academy romance. The setting and world are unique, and make for an interesting read. You have the usual high school tropes, but Verika’s family is an interesting one (I rather like her father and his snake!).
There are some intriguing storylines being set up, with Verika’s Loa, and the other Voudon gods, and it makes for an interesting plot.
An entertaining, and yet different read for fans of Paranormal Academy series.
February 16, 2022
Shadow Witch: A Slow Burn Paranormal Witch Romance (Voodoo Academy Book 1) is an entertaining book with an engaging storyline and characters that draw you into the story and keep you reading. It is an excellent start to this series that is a spin-off of Academy of the DamnedVerika is a powerful shadow witch who has to go to the Vodoo Academy in mirror New Orleans to learn how to control her powers. Here she meets the guy that she has literally been dreaming about, and he is as hot in real life as he is in her dreams. There starts the slow-burn romance. Shadow Witch is an excellent book for those times you just need to escape with some supernatural, paranormal action, a budding hot romance, suspense, drama, and mystery. The authors create a mirror world in New Orleans (where else would that work) that is believable and fits with the flow of the story. The book ends on a cliffhanger, so I can hardly wait for book two.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 20, 2022
Verika thought she was just a normal high school senior looking forward to college until she nearly kills her best friend. Her parents never told her that magic was real, yet they are now expecting her to attend Academie de Marie Loveau which the apparently run, just another little fact that they neglected to mention. She never wanted magic, but when the man of her dreams, literally, is accused of stealing from the teachers at the academy, Verika is determined to prove that Tobias isn’t guilty, even use the magic she doesn’t understand.
I loved these characters, especially Verika with her sass and snark. They are well written, compelling, and I think they’re realistic in their reactions to the circumstances in which they find themselves. Some exciting action, bullying, teenage angst, and some surprising twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. I think this is a must read and a fantastic beginning to a new series.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
I loved these characters, especially Verika with her sass and snark. They are well written, compelling, and I think they’re realistic in their reactions to the circumstances in which they find themselves. Some exciting action, bullying, teenage angst, and some surprising twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. I think this is a must read and a fantastic beginning to a new series.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
March 5, 2022
A great introduction to the series and a wonderful one in and of itself. Verika has her entire childhood turned upside-down when she manifests powers. The friends she had actively rejected her. The people, for the most part, at the school her parents run, don't accept her. She, regularly, rejects her powers. But there are a few good people at her new school who seem to honestly care: Ophelie, David, and Tobias to name a few that I found interesting. There is a level of closure to what occurs in this story and strong hints to what may happen in future parts of the series. I don't feel like the ending was a cliffhanger: just real close to one.
Action-packed. Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Scary. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Wonderful characters.
I received a review copy of this book from a third party. This is my honest review.
Action-packed. Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Scary. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Wonderful characters.
I received a review copy of this book from a third party. This is my honest review.
February 26, 2022
Verika is getting ready to turn 18, finish high school and head off to college. Right up until she finds out she has powers she can't control and that her parents are teachers at a Voodoo Academy and they expect her to attend. Her dad, Laurent is a Necromancer, and mon, Julieta is a Shadow Witch. She's been shadow walking lately and things get super hard fast. SO much for being a normal college student...
I have really enjoyed this. Verika comes off a bit spoiled maybe to start with, but then again not sure how differently I would react to suddenly finding out I have magical powers that almost killed my bff either. I really enjoyed this and look forward to the rest of this series.
I have really enjoyed this. Verika comes off a bit spoiled maybe to start with, but then again not sure how differently I would react to suddenly finding out I have magical powers that almost killed my bff either. I really enjoyed this and look forward to the rest of this series.
February 19, 2022
Verika has just reached the age where her powers have appeared - quite dangerously. She finds out that her parents not only run a Voodoo shop in New Orleans, but they also run a supernatural school in the Mirror Realm called the Académie de Marie Laveau. This is the school she must now attend and get her powers under control. Her "dream man" is real and is also attending the school, but he is considered dangerous. This, of course, did not deter her from trying to help him when he is falsely accused of stealing things in the school.
February 21, 2022
Mundane
That's what Verika's parents thought,no magic. Verika didn't think about it at all, because magic is not real. Until her eighteenth birthday, when her shadow magic manifested out of control and almost killed her best friend. Her parents thought a voodoo shop, but told her magic wasn't real. When Verika talks to her parents, she finds that she is the product of a shadow witch and a necromancer. No mundane college for her, and she is very not happy. Maybe she will change her mind?
That's what Verika's parents thought,no magic. Verika didn't think about it at all, because magic is not real. Until her eighteenth birthday, when her shadow magic manifested out of control and almost killed her best friend. Her parents thought a voodoo shop, but told her magic wasn't real. When Verika talks to her parents, she finds that she is the product of a shadow witch and a necromancer. No mundane college for her, and she is very not happy. Maybe she will change her mind?
March 27, 2022
I don't normally read YA books, but the description for this one caught my interest and I am so happy that I read it. The book is well written and the characters are engaging. There's some angst, some fun, some snark and a potential romance with a serious bad boy. I mean who doesn't love that! This is a great start to this series and so entertaining. A definite page turner. I recommend reading it and look forward to reading the next book.. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 19, 2022
This book was a wonderful start to this new series. The FMC, Verika, lives in New Orleans... raised around voodoo but always believing it to be fake... something to use for the amusement of tourists. But then she finally manifests real powers.. and finds herself thrown into a whole new realm of possibilities. Will Verika learn to embrace her new power.. will she find her place in her new life.. and possibly find love as well?
February 20, 2022
A witch with a power she had no clue she had, parents with secrets, a life that is no longer your own and crotchety roommate at an school you never knew existed. Are you interested. You should be. Awesome starter, that’s fresh, unique and plenty of magical twists. It does end on a cliffhanger but still worthy of the read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 5, 2022
The storyline is entertaining, page turning, and has well developed characters. When Verika finds out she's different from her classmates' things take an interesting turn and she ends up learning more about herself and her family too. Shadow Witch is book one and a great start to the Voodoo Academy series. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.
February 19, 2022
There are a lot of secrets in this book and the secret Verika’s parents keep from her is the biggest one. This was an exciting story with a great plot. There is a lot of action and even a school bully. I really enjoyed reading this book and could not put it down. I would recommend this book to all.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 20, 2022
As Verika turns 18, she realizes something is different about herself and her shadow. She never expects her parents to send her to a Voodoo school to learn to control her new magic! Such a wonderful story, it immediately pulled me into this wonderful world.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 21, 2022
Wonderful story full of suspense, action, mystery and magic. Verika started showing her powers on her 18 birthday because of this she is to attend the Voodoo Academy. That is when the journey starts. I really enjoyed this read and can’t wait for more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 23, 2022
Rebecca is back with a new spin-off series and it did have an interesting start. Our leading lady Verika is a shadow witch whose parents are followers of Voodoo and run a Voodoo academy. Tobias adds another interesting element to her story. Looking forward to more in this series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 10, 2022
This is the first book in the Voodoo Academy series, and a spin-off of Academy of the Damned series, though the characters and situations from that book are only obliquely referenced in this one. Action packed, highly entertaining, emotional journey filled with dangerous and exciting charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and thrilling turns.
February 21, 2022
An edge of your seat, intriguing and non-stop exciting adventure from beginning to end. Action packed, highly entertaining, emotional journey filled with dangerous and exciting charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and thrilling turns.
March 8, 2022
Allow two days for this fast-paced paranormal high school recital which starts out in New Orleans, Louisiana as Verika Dupres comes into her power. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 10, 2022
Most of the academy series are based around magic, witches, shifters etc. but this is the 1st series I've come across which is based on Voodoo and that for me was the biggest hook.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am eagerly waiting for more.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am eagerly waiting for more.
July 22, 2022
While this book didn't turn out to be my cup of tea I am glad I took a chance! This was a good read with something for everyone, action, drama, suspense and even a little romance. It is well written, with interesting characters and an intriguing take on a well covered theme/troupe.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews