Bloodstone Academy is for strong, smart witches to hunt for their shifters, bond with them in the sacred forest, and fight with them in the war when they graduate. Only issue? Most students die from bonding, but that won’t stop me.

Every generation of my family went to Bloodstone Academy, and it’s in my blood to thrive there. The witch war took my family, and I’m determined to help the Umbral Authority win.

When I finally get the acceptance marking, I couldn’t be happier until I walk through the gothic doors and slam straight into a tall, stunningly beautiful dragon shifter…and he shoves me onto the floor in front of everyone.

Bonding with a dragon shifter hasn’t been done in a hundred years…until I walk into the forest and four of them accidentally bond with me.

Mazikeen Lycidas, Kane Ardian, Black Ashveil, Valeron Drexan are treated like gods at this academy— and they hate me. They never wanted to bond, and they don’t want to fight in the war. The four of them make my days at the academy hell, and the nights even worse.

No spells are going to save me from them, not when we are pulled together by the bond. No magic will help me in the war if my shifters won’t fight.

They say every dragon witch is cursed, and these four are all that is left in the world…and they are determined to ruin me.

I’ve tried to read so many books recently, but I just haven’t found the right mood. I’ve recently cleaned out my Kindle library because I realised my tastes have changed, and a lot of what I had in there has been there for 3-4 years and will never be read by me.

After my last read, which was terrible. I almost steered away from reading for a while, but I go on holiday in a few days, and I will not be taking any books – shock! – with me, so I wanted to try and read something more while the weather was so hot that moving in any way in the UK is disgusting.

I crave world-building, character development and evolution. Those are paramount to me while I’m reading. When I read spice, reverse harem, smutty romance, any of that, it has to be balanced with the former. I’m finding that combination is harder to locate. I like books that clearly show differing points of view, chapters, and characters that feel completely rounded and fully formed.

The premise of the plot, as I understand it. Humans are no longer on top; they are now lesser beings. Witches are the ruling class and are in battle with the enchantress. The war has been going on for far too long. Witches bond with shifters who, without witches, are unable to leave the forest where they live.

Juniper is our FMC in this book. She is a witch and accepted to Bloodstone Academy. It is the freedom that she wants from life, but she soon finds out that what she expected is far different from the reality of the place. She accidentally bonds with four dragon shifters. The last dragon shifters in the world, which, as you can imagine, causes quite a bit of chaos. Because the book is written the way it is, I didn’t feel as strong a connection with her as I usually do. I’m not sure I learned enough about her to be able to visualise her in my mind. Having now read the book, I can understand that much of this leans towards the hidden part of her, the memories that she has forgotten. So, as I am now seeing a little bit of where the plot is more than likely heading, I feel my connection to her will grow. I do not see her as a damsel or a weakened character, but she is definitely a character with the capacity to grow and evolve.

Vale is the most violent and aggressive of the dragons. He begins the book going down the path of standoffish bullying, but does benefit from Juniper’s ongoing presence. The dragons are pretty much a closed book in terms of what has happened in their past, but there is a clear hatred of witches that he isn’t shy to express. It does make for an interesting character in terms of how he will open up and develop throughout the series. I think there is a lot to work with here, and I am eager to learn why he is so deeply against witches and what experiences he has had with them.

Kane has a history with Juniper. That is clear to see as the book is read, but whatever history that is, he is unable to say, and she is unable to remember. He doesn’t start off the book strong, cutting her down when she has nowhere to go, but he does prove that he has stalkerish tendencies, whether Juniper realises it or not. He cares in his own way. I would say he is 3^rd in line of the dragons, going from hating her to wanting to be friends. I think whatever has happened to him and to Juniper, it is deeply traumatic and full of lies. I am curious as to how the mystery is revealed and how it will affect the characters involved.

Maz is the first dragon to want to be kind to Juniper. I would say that he was the most sensitive of the four dragons, and he is the first of them that we, as the reader, learn a little about his past. He was born a dragon as a dragon, and it was interesting to get a dragon’s perspective on growing up in a world that wasn’t heavily saturated by witch propaganda. Not that Juniper buys into that, but it is an undercurrent in the book.

Black remained an unknown entity to me as I read for much of the book. He loitered in the background, never speaking or interacting with anyone, and I had labelled him in the same camp as Vale, but I have since realised that his persona wasn’t his personality but rather a consequence of a curse laid upon him. If I carried a curse that affected everyone I touched, I’d be a bit cagey and standoffish as well. Though Black took his time coming around to Juniper, he has a connection with her that has not been matched by the others. It’s an interesting connection, but not one that I’m certain of the outcome of. I don’t know whether it will benefit the dynamics or the plot or become more of a loose end or forgotten element.

I have just come to the end of the book, and it was a well-deserved break from the heat, but now the heat headache has set in, and I just want to sleep. I would say that there are certain elements of the book that I would classify as more ‘stereotypical’ for the genre, but really, they only feel that way as the community has grown and expanded. I did feel that Juniper felt like a more genuine character. The author was about to write the character well, despite the character also struggling with a past that is locked away. She has much mystery surrounding her, but I felt that the author did a good job of writing her in a style that didn’t take away from her character and didn’t make me feel like I was only getting half a character.

The dynamics among all five don’t feel fully connected yet. It is not that they are disjointed; it’s more that they just don’t know enough about each other to form deep connections yet. I think also that the author has created a lot of red tape in terms of the rules of the witches and their idea of the world, which, at the moment, in this book, has limited the scope of what the characters are able to play with.