For twenty-one years, I’ve been the Morvoren family secret—the female twin vampire no one could know existed. Too rare. Too valuable. Too vulnerable. While my brother built his reputation at SilverGate Academy, I studied behind enchanted walls, a shadow student of a world I couldn’t join.

Until now.

For reasons my family won’t tell me, I’m finally free. Safe to be part of the world.

But it’s hard to be excited when your academy bedroom comes with a resident ghost, you’re not the only new supe at the Academy, and your brother’s hot friend has more secrets floating around than the family crypt.

William: frozen in time for a century, he isn’t what I expected—neither is the intensity of his focus when he realises what I am.

Cassiel: the fallen angel whose silver eyes seem to see through every defensive spell I cast.

CJ: my brother’s intimidating vampire friend who watches me like I’m both salvation and destruction, and whose secret is worse than mine.

Something hunts at SilverGate, something that knows what I am. The shadows closing in make me wonder if I was sent here for protection or for sacrifice.

This has been an interesting read. I think I am getting a little bored with the academic setting that many reverse harem stories are set in. I’ve read a fair few outside of this sub-genre, but it does seem to be a predominant plot point. This book deals with many supernatural species, an evil ‘vague’ antagonist who mostly remains in the shadows, multiple dimensions, and a whole lot of kept secrets.

I did feel that the characters moved too quickly, sexually. I say this because it is noted that the FMC is a virgin at the beginning of the book. I am not saying it is out of the ordinary for a virgin to want to lose their virginity quickly – in real life or fictionally. However, because the book made a point of revealing this and the extent of her innocence multiple times, it felt odd.

So, let’s look at the characters. Our FMC is called Isolde – and let me tell you, this name and my dyslexia do not get on well! – I’m not convinced even now that I know how to correctly pronounce it. She has been hidden away her entire life like a princess locked in a tower, except she wasn’t waiting for her knight in shining armour. Isolde’s parents have kept her hidden for years with no context as to why, and then suddenly the moon changes colour, her parents panic, and she is pushed headfirst through a portal and arrives at Silvergate Academy.

This character has been sheltered her entire life; she has no concept of real life, no experience. All she knows is the knowledge found in the books she has read and the talks with her brother. This narrative seems to have been completely thrown out in the first half of the book and forgotten entirely, which severely irritated me.

It would have been better if she were a character who was already badass and rebellious. Isolde has defensive magic, and her brother has offensive magic, but really, her brother, Issac, is not much involved in this book. He is mentioned, and he has a small narrative, but it is clear that he isn’t important to the plot at large.

This book has 3 male love interests. CJ, Cassiel, and William.

So, CJ is Issac’s best friend, whom Isolde has been crushing on for a long while. He is wild and dark and dangerous. He holds secrets. He takes what he wants – he wants Isolde – and he gives no shits about hurting anyone who gets too close to her. He’s from another dimension – I think – and he is hiding part of himself from the academy and Isolde. He is the definition of tall, dark, and handsome.

Cassiel is a fallen angel, literally. He falls to the earth in this book, crashes to the ground, breaks all the bones in his body and is welcomed to the academy with open arms by the headmaster. Cassiel is an interesting character because he was only an angel for 21 years, but he was clearly rebellious and not suited to the high gates of heaven. On the ground, he has all the experiences and emotions to discover and explore. He explores…Isolde is isolated quite well throughout the book.

William is last and again an interesting character. He’s a ghost. But a ghost that has been dead for 100 years, and Isolde is the only one who has been able to see him in all that time. He presents himself as a gentleman but also is quite quick to anger and filling Isolde with fear… He was a Sanguinarch, someone who could manipulate blood in different ways. He was incredibly powerful and was working on a project that he had almost completed, but he was pushed off the top of a tower and fell to his death. Unsolved. So, Isolde decides to help him solve his own murder. It’s a relationship that has potential but is twisted almost. I don’t know what will come of it.

The vague antagonist is/are The Collectors. As it turns out, The Collectors, this mysterious group of unknowns, hunt rare supernatural beings. I mean, that is bad enough, but no, it gets worse. These collectors specifically hunt beings like Isolde so they can extract their consciousness and put it into a grimoire to record complex spells and rituals. You heard me, sentient books. In this book, the antagonist is more of a complex looming threat rather than a close-quarters threat.

Blackridge, the headmaster, is a twisted fucker. Okay, so the ending. The thing about having a vague antagonistic character, or in this case, a collective, is that you never know where the ending of the book will go. This ending was confusing, fast-paced, and left-field. I’m not sure what to do with the information I was given. It makes little sense, and I can’t classify it as a cliffhanger because I’m not sure I understand the meaning behind the actions.

I wondered whether to continue reading when I got to the end of this book because it was 3/5 stars. I didn’t like how quickly the sexual interactions started because it seemed out of character for the FMC, when it had been explicitly stated that she was sheltered and overly innocent. I wasn’t particularly impressed by the vague notion of an antagonist party without any follow-through. BUT I do have questions that remain unanswered, so I think I will read the second book in the series and make my decision on the series then.This has been an interesting read. I think I am getting a little bored with the academic setting that many reverse harem stories are set in. I’ve read a fair few outside of this sub-genre, but it does seem to be a predominant plot point. This book deals with many supernatural species, an evil ‘vague’ antagonist who mostly remains in the shadows, multiple dimensions, and a whole lot of kept secrets.

I did feel that the characters moved too quickly, sexually. I say this because it is noted that the FMC is a virgin at the beginning of the book. I am not saying it is out of the ordinary for a virgin to want to lose their virginity quickly – in real life or fictionally. However, because the book made a point of revealing this and the extent of her innocence multiple times, it felt odd.

So, let’s look at the characters. Our FMC is called Isolde – and let me tell you, this name and my dyslexia do not get on well! – I’m not convinced even now that I know how to correctly pronounce it. She has been hidden away her entire life like a princess locked in a tower, except she wasn’t waiting for her knight in shining armour. Isolde’s parents have kept her hidden for years with no context as to why, and then suddenly the moon changes colour, her parents panic, and she is pushed headfirst through a portal and arrives at Silvergate Academy.

This character has been sheltered her entire life; she has no concept of real life, no experience. All she knows is the knowledge found in the books she has read and the talks with her brother. This narrative seems to have been completely thrown out in the first half of the book and forgotten entirely, which severely irritated me.

It would have been better if she were a character who was already badass and rebellious. Isolde has defensive magic, and her brother has offensive magic, but really, her brother, Issac, is not much involved in this book. He is mentioned, and he has a small narrative, but it is clear that he isn’t important to the plot at large.

This book has 3 male love interests. CJ, Cassiel, and William.

So, CJ is Issac’s best friend, whom Isolde has been crushing on for a long while. He is wild and dark and dangerous. He holds secrets. He takes what he wants – he wants Isolde – and he gives no shits about hurting anyone who gets too close to her. He’s from another dimension – I think – and he is hiding part of himself from the academy and Isolde. He is the definition of tall, dark, and handsome.

Cassiel is a fallen angel, literally. He falls to the earth in this book, crashes to the ground, breaks all the bones in his body and is welcomed to the academy with open arms by the headmaster. Cassiel is an interesting character because he was only an angel for 21 years, but he was clearly rebellious and not suited to the high gates of heaven. On the ground, he has all the experiences and emotions to discover and explore. He explores…Isolde is isolated quite well throughout the book.

William is last and again an interesting character. He’s a ghost. But a ghost that has been dead for 100 years, and Isolde is the only one who has been able to see him in all that time. He presents himself as a gentleman but also is quite quick to anger and filling Isolde with fear… He was a Sanguinarch, someone who could manipulate blood in different ways. He was incredibly powerful and was working on a project that he had almost completed, but he was pushed off the top of a tower and fell to his death. Unsolved. So, Isolde decides to help him solve his own murder. It’s a relationship that has potential but is twisted almost. I don’t know what will come of it.

The vague antagonist is/are The Collectors. As it turns out, The Collectors, this mysterious group of unknowns, hunt rare supernatural beings. I mean, that is bad enough, but no, it gets worse. These collectors specifically hunt beings like Isolde so they can extract their consciousness and put it into a grimoire to record complex spells and rituals. You heard me, sentient books. In this book, the antagonist is more of a complex looming threat rather than a close-quarters threat.

Blackridge, the headmaster, is a twisted fucker. Okay, so the ending. The thing about having a vague antagonistic character, or in this case, a collective, is that you never know where the ending of the book will go. This ending was confusing, fast-paced, and left-field. I’m not sure what to do with the information I was given. It makes little sense, and I can’t classify it as a cliffhanger because I’m not sure I understand the meaning behind the actions.

I wondered whether to continue reading when I got to the end of this book because it was 3/5 stars. I didn’t like how quickly the sexual interactions started because it seemed out of character for the FMC, when it had been explicitly stated that she was sheltered and overly innocent. I wasn’t particularly impressed by the vague notion of an antagonist party without any follow-through. BUT I do have questions that remain unanswered, so I think I will read the second book in the series and make my decision on the series then.