I killed someone.

I wasn’t trying to be a monster… I was trying to survive.

Now I’m tainted with something old, something deadly.

Set before The Sanctum, I’m charged with murder… and possession of forbidden magic. My penalty?

Death.

Until him.

My life for his.

Kael Forrester is given a choice: become my guardian… or die. He chose me. Flanked by his two best friends… a lethal wolf shifter and a nightmare of a shadow fae, I don’t stand a chance.

With my fate sealed, I’m delivered straight to the crumbling, brutal walls of Institute 13, a place built to control vermin like me. But I’m too hellbent on freedom to care.

Everyone thinks I’ll be easy to break.

They’re wrong.

As my power awakens, darker and stronger than anyone expected, the truth becomes impossible to ignore.

I’m not trapped in here with them.

They’re trapped in here with me.

I’m not going to lie, in the grand scheme of things, life has thrown one hell of a curveball into February. Devastating news came at the beginning of the month, and had I not been the person I am today, it would have completely knocked me sideways. I coped, and I survived, but I was changed for it. It is news that has lingered, and my mind has come up with a multitude of distractions, but reading hasn’t been one of them.

Then I find myself having a flare-up of my chronic illness. It’s the first flare-up I’ve had in one and a half years, so on one hand I feel grateful for the lack of flare-ups, and on the other I feel grumpy that I’m currently experiencing one. I saw the GP this morning and am now on a 7-day course of antibiotics, and fortunately, my current job is very understanding of my condition and is allowing me to work from home while I endure the flare-up.

Thus, I actually found myself wanting to read something. Not any of the actual books I have on my tbr piles – that would actually be the organised thing to do – but a book on my Kindle.

Now, I know KC Kean. I have already read one series by this author and am currently halfway through another. So, of course, I have started reading another series by them.

This book showcases the stereotypical campus setting. College, University, School, etc. This one is an ‘Institute’. This kind of trope is always permeated by an FMC who is either unaware that she has powers or is the underdog fighting her way to freedom. Enter sinfully attractive men and a hard helping of bullying, unpleasant characters, and you’ve got yourself a story. I have read many books in this subgenre; many live rent-free in my head, and many I would like to completely obliterate from my mind.

The FMC in this book is Elodie, and I just want to preface how much I enjoyed this name. My brain has found a new obsession and is continually repeating the name to me. Infuriating, but I’m just glad it’s stopped singing ‘God Rest Thee Merry Gentlemen’, which was an earworm for the majority of 2025.

Elodie, like many FMCs before her and to come, has survived a trauma-filled life with parents who should be locked up and a life that she has been trying to escape for as long as she has had independent thought. Her one friend, Walker, is, in my opinion, completely problematic. She calls him her safe place, the one she can always count on…I saw him as more of a parasite, and my lasting impact of his interaction can be summed up in one word – TWAT.

Elodie finds herself transported to ‘The Sanctum’, a place that seems to exist outside the realms of anything she thought possible. She gets sentenced by the council and is joined in Guardianship by Kael, a man she had shower sex with when they both believed they would die.

It’s one hell of an intro to a book. Spared her life, Elodie gets sent to ‘Institute 13’. The most common thought I had while reading this was all the questions I had in my head, because the explanation is very vague about a lot of things.

‘The Vale’ is the supernatural hub. The Institute has 13 sections, with 13 being the lowest. Why 13 is the lowest, and what you have to do to find yourself there. The supposed rebellion on the horizon and, of course, Elodie’s powers.

We don’t really get many answers. We are told of Elodie’s position as a ‘Scythe’ but not what that is, how the power manifests, why it’s so rare, or why Elodie has been allowed to live with it. I feel like the suspicious eye emoji from the number of times I represented it while reading this. I am the kind of person who needs answers, and I will always search for them. When a book withholds information like this, I become incredibly invested in learning all the secrets.

When I clocked the mention of a ‘rebellion rumbling’ I did physically roll my eyes because I do find that this is another trope to the sub-genre. If anything, I’d be surprised if a rebellion occurred and it wasn’t because the hold on power was corrupt and withholding information. – We will see, of course, as the series continues, but I’m pretty certain that if a rebellion happens, I know which way the wind will be going.

So, let’s talk characters.

My image of Elodie is pretty self-curated. I don’t have a lot of information on what she looks like, and so she has almost formed independently in my mind. I can recognise her as a strong character with trauma, but seeing that reflected in behaviour is more of an eye-opener to the character. There is a quiet strength to what she has previously endured, but also a fierce vulnerability. She almost seems numb to it all, which, regardless of being in the pages of a book or out in the real world, is never good. Because of how warped her life has been, she is driven by this never-ending yearning to return to her old life, to the life she was stuck in, abused in, and hated. All because she wants to get back to the only safe person she knows, Walker. It is sad in a way that she is so compelled to do this. It speaks volumes about her character, and I hope that as the series evolves, she becomes more independent and grows beyond that life’s dependency.

Elodie interacts with Kael first. They share a cell at the Sanctum, and after he is granted Guardianship of her, they stick pretty close. It is not something that Elodie enjoys. I think she mostly feels suffocated by his presence. She is also insanely attracted to him, but he is an arse to her the majority of the time. I would say that the first third of this book is solely from Elodie’s point of view, and we don’t get any POVs of the men until then. So, my early opinions of Kael were solely biased by what Elodie thought. Kael seems to carry a lot of baggage. He is also a vampire. There is an unnatural depth to him, and I don’t think he’s ever had the opportunity or wants to let anyone see under his skin. The majority of the smut in this book is conducted between Elodie and Kael, but it was the motorcycle ride that got me!

Rian calls Elodie ‘Petal’ when he first meets her, and I’m yet to find out the reason why. Rian is a wolf shifter. I assume. At least the word ‘werewolf’ wasn’t bandied around. While Kael is intense in his control. Rian is intense with his emotions. He feels hard and fast. He falls hard and fast, especially for Elodie. He also shows vulnerability. Discovering something about Elodie prompts his own reflection on his trauma. It was a moment of clarity as I viewed his character. There is a deep sense of anger in him. Anger at family. Anger at life. Anger at everybody. I think it is an anger that has been controlled for so long that with the arrival of Elodie, it does the only thing it can: it explodes. Elodie meets his wolf once and calms him, which seems to surprise those around him at the time, but once again, it is not explained. I think Rian sees Elodie as a goddess come to call. I do not know if his worship of her will sour into obsession or grow into love.

Thorn is an apt name for someone who can wither you with a stare. He is, apparently, a shadow fae, the last of the shadow fae. He exudes danger, dressed all in black, and is typically not approached by anyone. He is the last member of the trio who surrounds Elodie. He keeps his emotions close and his face blank, but through his POVs, we see how deeply Elodie affects him and how hard he is compelled to stay in control. He is the more level-headed of the trio, which says a lot because he also comes across as slightly psychotic. It is clear that his reactions to Elodie are neither something he is prepared for nor something he knows how to control, so on that level, it will be interesting to see how things progress.

For the plucky side character, we have Ocean, a blood witch. Known to be completely psychotic, she is a budding friend to Elodie and will be a loyal sidekick if Elodie can stop running away. We all need a plucky side character in life, but I do appreciate those with depth and their own narratives. There is an understanding in Ocean’s eyes: she never judges Elodie, but she is there to support if needed. I hope her character develops further as the series continues.

Now, the ending, well, dramatic certainly. Irritating as the reader, most definitely. Sometimes you just clock a character and know they will be trouble, and know without a doubt that the trouble won’t be good, and it’ll leave the FMC in a bad place. Yes, that happened. But it happened without clarity and depth. Which means I have to go ahead and immediately start reading the next book in order to get answers, which is a fabulous author tactic!