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The Souls of Blackwood Academy #1
Immortal Consequences
Six students at Blackwood Academy, an enigmatic boarding school located at the edge of the afterlife, must compete for the once-in-eternity chance to change their fate—or risk remaining stuck in purgatory forever. An unputdownable debut full of hairpin twists, shock betrayals and world-defying love, for fans of The Atlas Six.
Welcome to Blackwood Academy: the legendary school located at the fringes of the afterlife, where students are fated to spend the rest of eternity shepherding lost souls. Once a pupil enters the school’s arched gates, there is no way out…except for the Decennial, a once-in-a-decade celebration that rewards nominees who pass its trials with a choice: formally graduate and join Blackwood’s magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the mysterious Other Side.
Wren Loughty is certain that this Decennial, she has what it takes to earn the nomination—unless, that is, her academic archrival Augustine Hughes steals her spot.
Irene Manette Bamford has never cared about playing by the rules. She’s willing to break whatever (and whoever) stands between her and getting the hell out of Blackwood, including her best and only friend, Masika Sallow.
Olivier Dupont gave up on securing the nomination ages ago. But after he meets Blackwood’s newest student, Emilio Córdova, he’ll do anything to keep Emilio from leaving him and crossing over to the Other Side—even if it means claiming the victory for himself.
All of them are determined to be Blackwood’s chosen candidate–and all of them would do anything to win. But none of them are prepared for what’s to come. Because this Decennial will be different. This time, the Decennial isn’t a celebration…it’s a competition. And there can only be one victor.
Six nominees. Four trials. Untold danger. Wren, August, Irene, Masika, Olivier and Emilio are about to learn: there are some fates worse than death.
Welcome to Blackwood Academy: the legendary school located at the fringes of the afterlife, where students are fated to spend the rest of eternity shepherding lost souls. Once a pupil enters the school’s arched gates, there is no way out…except for the Decennial, a once-in-a-decade celebration that rewards nominees who pass its trials with a choice: formally graduate and join Blackwood’s magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the mysterious Other Side.
Wren Loughty is certain that this Decennial, she has what it takes to earn the nomination—unless, that is, her academic archrival Augustine Hughes steals her spot.
Irene Manette Bamford has never cared about playing by the rules. She’s willing to break whatever (and whoever) stands between her and getting the hell out of Blackwood, including her best and only friend, Masika Sallow.
Olivier Dupont gave up on securing the nomination ages ago. But after he meets Blackwood’s newest student, Emilio Córdova, he’ll do anything to keep Emilio from leaving him and crossing over to the Other Side—even if it means claiming the victory for himself.
All of them are determined to be Blackwood’s chosen candidate–and all of them would do anything to win. But none of them are prepared for what’s to come. Because this Decennial will be different. This time, the Decennial isn’t a celebration…it’s a competition. And there can only be one victor.
Six nominees. Four trials. Untold danger. Wren, August, Irene, Masika, Olivier and Emilio are about to learn: there are some fates worse than death.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published July 29, 2025
2296 people are currently reading
70646 people want to read
About the author
I.V. Marie
2 books655 followersI.V. Marie is the instant New York Times, USA Today and Indie Bestselling author of Immortal Consequences. She was born and raised in Miami to a Peruvian mother and Chilean father, where she acquired a penchant for afternoon cafecitos and developed an all-consuming obsession with books. Her writing ambitions began behind her grandparents’ computer, where she spent her childhood crafting spooky and fantastical short stories. When she is not writing, you can find her rock climbing or watching atmospheric Youtube videos with her dog, Mr. Darcy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,750 reviews
December 5, 2024
As the first round of early copies of Immortal Consequences begin to make their way into readers’ hands, it’s officially time for me to skedaddle from here and let readers have this space <3 But before I make myself scarce, I just wanted to drop in and leave a little note for you all.
Whether you've stumbled upon this book by chance, or you've been following my journey from the beginning, I want to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude. As a lifelong reader who always found solace in reading and escaping into fantasy worlds, I can only hope my book might offer a fraction of that same feeling for you.
I always tell people this book is about many things. It’s a book about magic and friendship. About deadly secrets and fated hearts. But at it’s core, it’s a love-letter to those of us who have endured the unrelenting waves of grief and learned not to drown.
P.S. Yes, it's kind of silly for me to give my own book 5 stars, but I'm more so giving 5 stars to the version of myself who wrote the first draft of this book. The one who was working full time in retail and who had recently enrolled back in college after dropping out years before. The one who thought she'd missed the window for her dreams to come true. These 5 stars are for you!
Welcome to Blackwood Academy––and happy reading!
Edit: For those inquiring about ARCs, I unfortunately do not handle ARC distribution. Best way to snag an early copy would be to reach out to my publisher directly :) Thank you!
Whether you've stumbled upon this book by chance, or you've been following my journey from the beginning, I want to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude. As a lifelong reader who always found solace in reading and escaping into fantasy worlds, I can only hope my book might offer a fraction of that same feeling for you.
I always tell people this book is about many things. It’s a book about magic and friendship. About deadly secrets and fated hearts. But at it’s core, it’s a love-letter to those of us who have endured the unrelenting waves of grief and learned not to drown.
P.S. Yes, it's kind of silly for me to give my own book 5 stars, but I'm more so giving 5 stars to the version of myself who wrote the first draft of this book. The one who was working full time in retail and who had recently enrolled back in college after dropping out years before. The one who thought she'd missed the window for her dreams to come true. These 5 stars are for you!
Welcome to Blackwood Academy––and happy reading!
Edit: For those inquiring about ARCs, I unfortunately do not handle ARC distribution. Best way to snag an early copy would be to reach out to my publisher directly :) Thank you!
September 4, 2025
Two things I can never resist in books—dark academia and the enemies-to-lovers trope! The moment I spot them, I dive in headfirst, completely ignoring the page count or even the plot. I just know these elements will always provide the kind of entertainment that feeds my soul and makes for an unforgettable reading experience.
Surprisingly, I adored Wren and August’s sizzling chemistry and their thrilling cat-and-mouse game along the fine line between love and hate. But if I had to choose the sweetest couple, Oliver and Emilio stole my heart. Their bond felt more authentic, tender, and deeply touching. Emilio and Masika became my absolute favorite characters—I wish I could wrap them in a protective shield to keep them safe from all harm.
The world-building of the afterlife was absolutely captivating. The story unfolds at an enigmatic boarding school where souls, aged eighteen to nineteen, are trained to become Reapers, guiding the dead to the other side. Each year, one student is chosen to participate in the Decennial—an intense competition featuring four perilous trials. The winner earns the right to ascend and join the magical elite, or they can choose to pass into the afterlife, embracing the unknown.
But this year, everything changes. Instead of selecting just one competitor, the council names twelve students to compete. The reason? The Demon Order is growing stronger, breaking through the academy’s protective spells and infiltrating with spies. When six students witness dark magic taking control of a newcomer, Louise, Headmaster Silas forces them to swear secrecy. But as if that weren’t enough, those same six are thrust into the Decennial, where survival is anything but guaranteed.
Wren is haunted by nightmares and guilt over the accident that led to her death. Determined to redeem herself, she seizes her second chance at Blackwood Academy—only to find herself drawn, like a moth to flame, to August. He’s her greatest rival, her tormentor, and yet… something more. Meanwhile, Emilio longs for the family he left behind, yet he can’t help but fall for sweet, old-soul Oliver, a boy from the 1800s who hides a devastating secret that keeps him from confessing his feelings. Masika, still reeling from betrayal, keeps her own secrets locked away, while Irene, possibly the most ruthless of them all, is determined to win. After years of suffering under her mother’s cruelty, she finally has a taste of power—and her hunger for more may lead her down a dangerous path.
One of them will emerge victorious, claiming a place among the magical elite or choosing the afterlife, as Emilio longs to do. But what happens to the ones who fail? Will they simply return to their old routines—or is the academy hiding something far more sinister? As the Demon Order’s strength continues to rise, threatening to upend the entire afterlife, the trials will test not only their skills but their deepest secrets—some of which have the power to shatter everything they believe in.
Let the trials begin. Who will rise? Who will survive?
Overall, the cliffhanger left me breathless! The fast pacing and addictive chapters make this long read fly by, keeping you entertained every second. I’m rounding my 4.5 stars up to a glowing 5—dark, magical, and utterly thrilling! I can’t wait for the sequel and hope it comes out soon!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for providing me with a digital review copy of this addictive YA fantasy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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Surprisingly, I adored Wren and August’s sizzling chemistry and their thrilling cat-and-mouse game along the fine line between love and hate. But if I had to choose the sweetest couple, Oliver and Emilio stole my heart. Their bond felt more authentic, tender, and deeply touching. Emilio and Masika became my absolute favorite characters—I wish I could wrap them in a protective shield to keep them safe from all harm.
The world-building of the afterlife was absolutely captivating. The story unfolds at an enigmatic boarding school where souls, aged eighteen to nineteen, are trained to become Reapers, guiding the dead to the other side. Each year, one student is chosen to participate in the Decennial—an intense competition featuring four perilous trials. The winner earns the right to ascend and join the magical elite, or they can choose to pass into the afterlife, embracing the unknown.
But this year, everything changes. Instead of selecting just one competitor, the council names twelve students to compete. The reason? The Demon Order is growing stronger, breaking through the academy’s protective spells and infiltrating with spies. When six students witness dark magic taking control of a newcomer, Louise, Headmaster Silas forces them to swear secrecy. But as if that weren’t enough, those same six are thrust into the Decennial, where survival is anything but guaranteed.
Wren is haunted by nightmares and guilt over the accident that led to her death. Determined to redeem herself, she seizes her second chance at Blackwood Academy—only to find herself drawn, like a moth to flame, to August. He’s her greatest rival, her tormentor, and yet… something more. Meanwhile, Emilio longs for the family he left behind, yet he can’t help but fall for sweet, old-soul Oliver, a boy from the 1800s who hides a devastating secret that keeps him from confessing his feelings. Masika, still reeling from betrayal, keeps her own secrets locked away, while Irene, possibly the most ruthless of them all, is determined to win. After years of suffering under her mother’s cruelty, she finally has a taste of power—and her hunger for more may lead her down a dangerous path.
One of them will emerge victorious, claiming a place among the magical elite or choosing the afterlife, as Emilio longs to do. But what happens to the ones who fail? Will they simply return to their old routines—or is the academy hiding something far more sinister? As the Demon Order’s strength continues to rise, threatening to upend the entire afterlife, the trials will test not only their skills but their deepest secrets—some of which have the power to shatter everything they believe in.
Let the trials begin. Who will rise? Who will survive?
Overall, the cliffhanger left me breathless! The fast pacing and addictive chapters make this long read fly by, keeping you entertained every second. I’m rounding my 4.5 stars up to a glowing 5—dark, magical, and utterly thrilling! I can’t wait for the sequel and hope it comes out soon!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for providing me with a digital review copy of this addictive YA fantasy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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August 17, 2025
September 21st, 2024: Yes, I did get here because of the author's IG post
December 11th, 2024: DID YOU SEE THIS COVER???!!?!?!?
August 9th, 2025: I would just like the record to show that I object to the fact that Libby says I still have to wait about 7 more weeks.
August 14th, 2025: I GOT IT
August 17th, 2025: I think chapter 56 changed my brain chemistry
December 11th, 2024: DID YOU SEE THIS COVER???!!?!?!?
August 9th, 2025: I would just like the record to show that I object to the fact that Libby says I still have to wait about 7 more weeks.
August 14th, 2025: I GOT IT
August 17th, 2025: I think chapter 56 changed my brain chemistry
Currently reading
September 2, 2025
September 9, 2025
This was a fun read! Perfect for that dark academia, atmospheric vibe we crave in the fall.
Characters do feel quite young, but this is a YA book - so somewhat expected. I also felt some repetition between the POVs.
But overall, fun story!
Characters do feel quite young, but this is a YA book - so somewhat expected. I also felt some repetition between the POVs.
But overall, fun story!
August 17, 2025
⭐️ 4 ⭐️ Let me convince you to read this book: 6 dead teens are attending a school on the fringes of the afterlife. They are the ultimate academic rivals who are chosen to compete in four dangerous trials for a chance to become the Ascended. There are six POVs, lots of lies, secrets and betrayal, lots of tension—do they want to kiss or kill each other?
YES there is pinning and longing, TWO brewing romances and for a teen/young adult audience this is a total hit. This is everything that I imaged it to be—great magic system, cut-throat characters, great pacing & slow burn tension, darkly atmospheric and morally grey.
QUOTE:
• “I think you hate how much you don’t hate me. You hate how much you enjoy being around me. How much you want to be near me. You hate that this twisted thing between us feels…good.”
What I truly appreciated was the level of the appropriateness & the amount of romance in a TEEN/YOUNG adult debut. It was realistic & relatable to the sort of thoughts and feelings a young adult might have about what love and attraction looks like. I think a lot of people are giving this book lower ratings without taking into account the intended audience of this book. It is NOT an adult fantasy/paranormal romance so don’t expect to find spice on the level of A Court of Silver Flames.
The book deals with a few complex and triggering topics like teen death, grief, loss and love underneath all the sadness. They were wonderfully incorporated into the backstories of all the six characters. The trials showed snippets of each students’ life prior to their death and set a foreshadowing tone which in my opinion wholesomely elevated the anticipation and intrigue. It kind of gave it an edge that I always look for in any fantasy novel.
QUOTE:
• “Grief isn’t the villain. It just wants to help you remember that despite losing someone, despite the sadness and headache and pain…there was also once love”
Now the magic system/world building is a little complex & I noticed that a lot of readers have complained that it was a bit hard to follow. Personally, I loved it. It was unique, well designed with all the loops and hoops to make it more interesting. So bellow I tried my best to explain it. Don’t read further if you haven’t read the book yet!
Blackwood Academy is part of the purgatory—the world between the living and the Other Side. It keeps the afterlife afloat. They help lost souls get from the Ether to the Other side, where the Ether serves as a passageway. When you die, your souls ends up in the Ether as part of the chosen—you become the reapers of lost souls. If you die & have extra baggage (aka unfinished business) then the Ethers (the reapers) have to help those souls before they can cross over. If a Corrupted Soul crosses into purgatory, they are consumed by the Ether to maintain that balance. They are usually taken to Shadow Lands (that belong to Demien Order) where they are consumed. But the Ether has been changing over time—it always required order & balance to function properly. It began to need more and the souls of the students were enough to satiate the Ether. The annual games known as The Decennial offered that opportunity to keep everything balanced. But the rules to these games have changed and now more players are required to participate. When a new student arrives, everything shifts. Little do they know, there is something sinister brewing and nothing is as it seems. Can the players trust each other or must they watch their backs?
YES there is pinning and longing, TWO brewing romances and for a teen/young adult audience this is a total hit. This is everything that I imaged it to be—great magic system, cut-throat characters, great pacing & slow burn tension, darkly atmospheric and morally grey.
QUOTE:
• “I think you hate how much you don’t hate me. You hate how much you enjoy being around me. How much you want to be near me. You hate that this twisted thing between us feels…good.”
What I truly appreciated was the level of the appropriateness & the amount of romance in a TEEN/YOUNG adult debut. It was realistic & relatable to the sort of thoughts and feelings a young adult might have about what love and attraction looks like. I think a lot of people are giving this book lower ratings without taking into account the intended audience of this book. It is NOT an adult fantasy/paranormal romance so don’t expect to find spice on the level of A Court of Silver Flames.
The book deals with a few complex and triggering topics like teen death, grief, loss and love underneath all the sadness. They were wonderfully incorporated into the backstories of all the six characters. The trials showed snippets of each students’ life prior to their death and set a foreshadowing tone which in my opinion wholesomely elevated the anticipation and intrigue. It kind of gave it an edge that I always look for in any fantasy novel.
QUOTE:
• “Grief isn’t the villain. It just wants to help you remember that despite losing someone, despite the sadness and headache and pain…there was also once love”
Now the magic system/world building is a little complex & I noticed that a lot of readers have complained that it was a bit hard to follow. Personally, I loved it. It was unique, well designed with all the loops and hoops to make it more interesting. So bellow I tried my best to explain it. Don’t read further if you haven’t read the book yet!
Blackwood Academy is part of the purgatory—the world between the living and the Other Side. It keeps the afterlife afloat. They help lost souls get from the Ether to the Other side, where the Ether serves as a passageway. When you die, your souls ends up in the Ether as part of the chosen—you become the reapers of lost souls. If you die & have extra baggage (aka unfinished business) then the Ethers (the reapers) have to help those souls before they can cross over. If a Corrupted Soul crosses into purgatory, they are consumed by the Ether to maintain that balance. They are usually taken to Shadow Lands (that belong to Demien Order) where they are consumed. But the Ether has been changing over time—it always required order & balance to function properly. It began to need more and the souls of the students were enough to satiate the Ether. The annual games known as The Decennial offered that opportunity to keep everything balanced. But the rules to these games have changed and now more players are required to participate. When a new student arrives, everything shifts. Little do they know, there is something sinister brewing and nothing is as it seems. Can the players trust each other or must they watch their backs?
July 31, 2025
3.5 ★— I love supernatural academy settings and went into this book wanting engaging character dynamics, vivid world-building, and some solid mystery elements connected to the insanely cool premise of a school for the undead that forces students to compete against each other to escape their purgatory state.
While the book tried to deliver on all this, it all didn’t feel fleshed out enough for me, and I think a lot of this stems from the story having too many POV characters.
There’s Wren, August, Emilio, Olivier, Masika, and Irene — that’s six characters! This might just be personal preference, since I’m someone who doesn’t love POV counts that exceed four, but here it felt especially apparent that the sheer number of narrators made it hard for me to form a deeper connection to the plot and stakes.
With six POV characters and a limited page count, there’s just no way to make a reader care about everyone. I, for one, mostly cared about Wren and August, who had a tension-filled, prickly rivals/friends-to-lovers dynamic, and couldn’t bring myself to fully invest in the other characters’ backstories or internal struggles. Their arcs simply felt less compelling and less immersive to follow.
On top of that, I also felt like the magic system and powers themselves weren’t very developed, which made the world feel less interesting than it could have been.
I wish the author had narrowed the focus to a smaller core cast and made the others supporting characters (maybe with occasional POV chapters). That would have left more room to deepen the worldbuilding, flesh out the powers, and give weight to crucial character moments and backgrounds.
Still, anyone looking for a fun, not-too-complex YA fantasy academy setting with a touch of romance will likely enjoy this book.
__________________________
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
While the book tried to deliver on all this, it all didn’t feel fleshed out enough for me, and I think a lot of this stems from the story having too many POV characters.
There’s Wren, August, Emilio, Olivier, Masika, and Irene — that’s six characters! This might just be personal preference, since I’m someone who doesn’t love POV counts that exceed four, but here it felt especially apparent that the sheer number of narrators made it hard for me to form a deeper connection to the plot and stakes.
With six POV characters and a limited page count, there’s just no way to make a reader care about everyone. I, for one, mostly cared about Wren and August, who had a tension-filled, prickly rivals/friends-to-lovers dynamic, and couldn’t bring myself to fully invest in the other characters’ backstories or internal struggles. Their arcs simply felt less compelling and less immersive to follow.
On top of that, I also felt like the magic system and powers themselves weren’t very developed, which made the world feel less interesting than it could have been.
I wish the author had narrowed the focus to a smaller core cast and made the others supporting characters (maybe with occasional POV chapters). That would have left more room to deepen the worldbuilding, flesh out the powers, and give weight to crucial character moments and backgrounds.
Still, anyone looking for a fun, not-too-complex YA fantasy academy setting with a touch of romance will likely enjoy this book.
__________________________
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
July 14, 2025
I’m unsure whether I read this book or injected it straight into my veins because I consumed it so wholly, it may very well be in my bloodstream.
I had a grand time reading Immortal Consequences! It’s everything the dark academia fans love, but with a paranormal spin that leaves us in the limbo world of the dead. With various secrets and mysteries to unravel, it’s a constant page turner and one I couldn’t put down. I read 150 pages, and then I read the rest in what felt like a single breath because I don’t think I looked up once the whole time. I was entirely consumed by Blackwood Academy and its occupants.
And what a ragtag group they are! This character driven story is one that never failed to keep me amused, its character POVs seamlessly woven together in a way that seemed effortless. I found myself laughing at their quips and snark, and I genuinely just loved the dynamics at play through this book. I was sad to leave our group come the end!
With trails, a dark academia edge and a ghostly mystery to keep you going, this is easily one of my newest obsessions. Reminiscent of The Atlas Six and The Raven Boys, Immortal Consequences will be a lure to readers longing for secrets amongst a motley crew again.
[Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc of this book!]
I had a grand time reading Immortal Consequences! It’s everything the dark academia fans love, but with a paranormal spin that leaves us in the limbo world of the dead. With various secrets and mysteries to unravel, it’s a constant page turner and one I couldn’t put down. I read 150 pages, and then I read the rest in what felt like a single breath because I don’t think I looked up once the whole time. I was entirely consumed by Blackwood Academy and its occupants.
And what a ragtag group they are! This character driven story is one that never failed to keep me amused, its character POVs seamlessly woven together in a way that seemed effortless. I found myself laughing at their quips and snark, and I genuinely just loved the dynamics at play through this book. I was sad to leave our group come the end!
With trails, a dark academia edge and a ghostly mystery to keep you going, this is easily one of my newest obsessions. Reminiscent of The Atlas Six and The Raven Boys, Immortal Consequences will be a lure to readers longing for secrets amongst a motley crew again.
[Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc of this book!]
Want to read
January 19, 2024tension and rivals to lovers?! sign me up
July 7, 2025
what a flimsy, flimsy book. i was going to give it 2 stars originally because i had a soft spot for this book, largely because of the cover and the fact that it's a debut novel. but the more i think about it, the more disappointed i get.
i feel like there's nothing about this book that actually works. there's six main characters, but i could not distinguish them from the other if my life depended on it. they're all just so maudlin, so tortured, so deep and yet so simple-minded, have all the personality of a tumblr post.. and completely fail to leave their mark. they seem more of a "concept of a person" rather than people in their own right, and you have to fight hard to even begin to care about any of them. there's a bunch of traumadumping (forgive the word) and the author seems to think that's enough to make you root for the characters. it is not. i don't know these guys.
the worldbuilding is so thin, if it's there at all. everything of importance is explained under "we don't know why that happens" "that's just the way it is" and you're supposed to take it in stride, but still somehow understand the gravity of the situation. nb: plot twists don't work when your plot doesn't make sense. the whole book reads in sort of a limbo, which makes for awkward placing because what? is going on? why should i care? the concept of going to classes for a millennia is dumb as rocks in the first place, but then we don't get any explanation for anything ever (what do they teach for a thousand years? why are their classes STILL so elementary after a thousand years? how does the magic system work? how do the many magic “types” factor into the afterlife? speaking of, how does the afterlife even work? for a premise that's so universal, everything feels exceptionally constrained and claustrophobic.) anyway, i think books usually take this turn when they're not thought out at all, not the concept or the mechanics of the world, and the author wants a get out of jail free card to run amok with the story whichever way, without having to explain themselves. which is sure, your prerogative, but it is disrespectful as fuck to the reader. lol
the plot: more nonsense. there's no logic, whatever developments are easy to predict and kind of annoyingly thoughtless, so. it's just overall such a bland book that i can't even find it in myself to be mad about it. i just feel bad. the main villain is this comical big bad guy who became big and bad because [reasons indecipherable] [spoiler ahead]so he could do really evil things and become headmaster? what does that even matter?! no one knows anything about the secondary villain "the soulless one" except one of the characters doesn't have a soul so maybe... that's related? oh it is? no way, i am so shocked. [spoiler end]. it's just a really dull and passionless book, with a really pretty cover lmaoo. anyway: one thing to take from my review if you've read this far: don't bother with this book, it's just not worth it. i wouldn't even recommend it for a hate read.
that's all i guess. thank you to delacorte press for the arc.
*credits to whoever did the cover: any and all readers this book will ever get will be because of you.
i feel like there's nothing about this book that actually works. there's six main characters, but i could not distinguish them from the other if my life depended on it. they're all just so maudlin, so tortured, so deep and yet so simple-minded, have all the personality of a tumblr post.. and completely fail to leave their mark. they seem more of a "concept of a person" rather than people in their own right, and you have to fight hard to even begin to care about any of them. there's a bunch of traumadumping (forgive the word) and the author seems to think that's enough to make you root for the characters. it is not. i don't know these guys.
the worldbuilding is so thin, if it's there at all. everything of importance is explained under "we don't know why that happens" "that's just the way it is" and you're supposed to take it in stride, but still somehow understand the gravity of the situation. nb: plot twists don't work when your plot doesn't make sense. the whole book reads in sort of a limbo, which makes for awkward placing because what? is going on? why should i care? the concept of going to classes for a millennia is dumb as rocks in the first place, but then we don't get any explanation for anything ever (what do they teach for a thousand years? why are their classes STILL so elementary after a thousand years? how does the magic system work? how do the many magic “types” factor into the afterlife? speaking of, how does the afterlife even work? for a premise that's so universal, everything feels exceptionally constrained and claustrophobic.) anyway, i think books usually take this turn when they're not thought out at all, not the concept or the mechanics of the world, and the author wants a get out of jail free card to run amok with the story whichever way, without having to explain themselves. which is sure, your prerogative, but it is disrespectful as fuck to the reader. lol
the plot: more nonsense. there's no logic, whatever developments are easy to predict and kind of annoyingly thoughtless, so. it's just overall such a bland book that i can't even find it in myself to be mad about it. i just feel bad. the main villain is this comical big bad guy who became big and bad because [reasons indecipherable] [spoiler ahead]
that's all i guess. thank you to delacorte press for the arc.
*credits to whoever did the cover: any and all readers this book will ever get will be because of you.
September 8, 2025
3.5. The heavy oak doors 🚪 groan open with a reluctant creak, revealing the ancient hall, cathedral like, beyond.
You step over the threshold.
Above, the vaulted ceiling looms like some strange, ancient beast, its arches tracing intricate Gothic patterns. The very stone, those hoary walls; seems weathered by centuries of whispered secrets.
Now you hear from the book📕: “Enchanted sparklers 🥳🎉 hovered in the air, miniature fireworks 🧨 exploding every few seconds. An elevated platform sat at the far end of the hall, adorned with six chairs 🪑, one for each Housemaster. A dark wooden podium stood at the front of the stage, lined with golden runes shimmering with ancient magic 🪄. Behind the podium loomed an imposing throne made from rich mahogany, the Blackwood emblem carved into the backrest. Glittering candelabras flickering with inky flames and a black lace runner decorated each dining table, falling over the mahogany like translucent cobwebs. A large upright piano 🎹 and a violin 🎻 played a haunting classical tune, though nobody was actually playing them. The keys and strings moved on their own, the violin suspended in the air, as though they were being played by ghosts 👻.”
You’re at the banquet of Blackwood Academy, where the world lies between the living and the other side.
*…•…***•***…•…***•****…•...***•***…•…***•***…•…*
It sometimes plunged into black holes 🕳️ after the 55%. If you endure to survive 😬and not DNF, it does have its moments.Even so; the plot at times, really makes zero sense.
✔️ A fast-paced, veryYA fantasy
✔️ Strong dark academia vibes
✔️ Nice magical world-building
▫️ ~ 14-hour audiobook
🔻 A bit annoying with six rotating POVs
🔻tons of “I don’t love you; but I totally do” conversations 🙄
You step over the threshold.
Above, the vaulted ceiling looms like some strange, ancient beast, its arches tracing intricate Gothic patterns. The very stone, those hoary walls; seems weathered by centuries of whispered secrets.
Now you hear from the book📕: “Enchanted sparklers 🥳🎉 hovered in the air, miniature fireworks 🧨 exploding every few seconds. An elevated platform sat at the far end of the hall, adorned with six chairs 🪑, one for each Housemaster. A dark wooden podium stood at the front of the stage, lined with golden runes shimmering with ancient magic 🪄. Behind the podium loomed an imposing throne made from rich mahogany, the Blackwood emblem carved into the backrest. Glittering candelabras flickering with inky flames and a black lace runner decorated each dining table, falling over the mahogany like translucent cobwebs. A large upright piano 🎹 and a violin 🎻 played a haunting classical tune, though nobody was actually playing them. The keys and strings moved on their own, the violin suspended in the air, as though they were being played by ghosts 👻.”
You’re at the banquet of Blackwood Academy, where the world lies between the living and the other side.
*…•…***•***…•…***•****…•...***•***…•…***•***…•…*
It sometimes plunged into black holes 🕳️ after the 55%. If you endure to survive 😬and not DNF, it does have its moments.Even so; the plot at times, really makes zero sense.
✔️ A fast-paced, veryYA fantasy
✔️ Strong dark academia vibes
✔️ Nice magical world-building
▫️ ~ 14-hour audiobook
🔻 A bit annoying with six rotating POVs
🔻tons of “I don’t love you; but I totally do” conversations 🙄
September 10, 2025
4.5 stars! What a unique YA fantasy...Immortal Consequences was truly unlike any book I've read before. The dark academia vibes in purgatory absolutely delivered.
The pacing in this book was excellent, and I think that can be attributed to the six POVs and trial element. While there's nothing I love more than a fantasy book with trials, I'm always a bit skeptical because sometimes a) the trials are not the focal point of the story and b) the trials feel repetitive. But neither was the case here! I loved the major role the trials/Decennial played and each trial felt unique. Also the plot twists kept coming and coming, and I didn't expect most of them, which is always great.
The only reason why I didn't give it five stars is I didn't like all of the characters. Irene almost irrationally irritated me. While I appreciated that the author wanted to show her ambition and her tendency to push people away...it gets to a point. She was so cutthroat, which usually wouldn't bother me. But it was the fact that she was so self-centered that got on my nerves. And a few of the other characters felt underdeveloped, though I loved Wren, August, and Masika. But I can't wait for the sequel—need it now!
Thank you so much to Get Underlined for sending me a copy of Immortal Consequences. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
The pacing in this book was excellent, and I think that can be attributed to the six POVs and trial element. While there's nothing I love more than a fantasy book with trials, I'm always a bit skeptical because sometimes a) the trials are not the focal point of the story and b) the trials feel repetitive. But neither was the case here! I loved the major role the trials/Decennial played and each trial felt unique. Also the plot twists kept coming and coming, and I didn't expect most of them, which is always great.
The only reason why I didn't give it five stars is I didn't like all of the characters. Irene almost irrationally irritated me. While I appreciated that the author wanted to show her ambition and her tendency to push people away...it gets to a point. She was so cutthroat, which usually wouldn't bother me. But it was the fact that she was so self-centered that got on my nerves. And a few of the other characters felt underdeveloped, though I loved Wren, August, and Masika. But I can't wait for the sequel—need it now!
Thank you so much to Get Underlined for sending me a copy of Immortal Consequences. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
August 7, 2025
dnf 25%
this was so stupid i don't even know where to start and I listened to only 25% of this mess
1) what icked me the most since the beginning: we have 6 pov and all this 6 people are neatly divided into 3 couples since page 1 like???? are you serious? am I supposed to feel some chemistry between them, cus there was none
2) characters were dumb af:
- Wren- director's lap dog, praise kink, literally director tells her "you have sth other doesn't- kindness" and she's ready to do whatever he tells her??? Girl stand tf up
- August "he's so scary, everybody's afraid of him, students scatter when they see him in the corridors", but one comment from Wren and "she could see he was wounded"? yeah I'm shaking in my boots
and they are supposed to be academic rivals with that "great banter" that was so pathetic and forced and immature
- Emilio- he was so naive I wanted to shake some sense into him, they're literally in afterlife? limbo? whatever with magic and he's shaken that a chair moves by itself??? "but but it's a statue, it should not move"🥺🥺🥺 ARE YOU FOR REAL RIGHT NOW?????
- other guy with accent in audiobook who was losing memories? idk man i already lost MY memories about him
- Irene - another know it all, shoved it down my throat, she's the best, she knows best, "you're not special" I can'ttttt icked me bad
- and another girl who's besties with Irene also already forgot what she was doing
3) if there was any question about worldbuilding or magic the answer was "it's just how it is" ??? okey thanks for nothing
4) the writing style - I was listening to an audiobook, so I didn't see how the sentences looked, but it sounded like a lot of short sentences that were very repetitive and it didn't make for smooth listening experience at all
Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.
this was so stupid i don't even know where to start and I listened to only 25% of this mess
1) what icked me the most since the beginning: we have 6 pov and all this 6 people are neatly divided into 3 couples since page 1 like???? are you serious? am I supposed to feel some chemistry between them, cus there was none
2) characters were dumb af:
- Wren- director's lap dog, praise kink, literally director tells her "you have sth other doesn't- kindness" and she's ready to do whatever he tells her??? Girl stand tf up
- August "he's so scary, everybody's afraid of him, students scatter when they see him in the corridors", but one comment from Wren and "she could see he was wounded"? yeah I'm shaking in my boots
and they are supposed to be academic rivals with that "great banter" that was so pathetic and forced and immature
- Emilio- he was so naive I wanted to shake some sense into him, they're literally in afterlife? limbo? whatever with magic and he's shaken that a chair moves by itself??? "but but it's a statue, it should not move"🥺🥺🥺 ARE YOU FOR REAL RIGHT NOW?????
- other guy with accent in audiobook who was losing memories? idk man i already lost MY memories about him
- Irene - another know it all, shoved it down my throat, she's the best, she knows best, "you're not special" I can'ttttt icked me bad
- and another girl who's besties with Irene also already forgot what she was doing
3) if there was any question about worldbuilding or magic the answer was "it's just how it is" ??? okey thanks for nothing
4) the writing style - I was listening to an audiobook, so I didn't see how the sentences looked, but it sounded like a lot of short sentences that were very repetitive and it didn't make for smooth listening experience at all
Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.
August 8, 2025
5 stars!!! no notes!!!
six rival students attending an academy in the afterlife? YUP this was my kind of book. i adored all six characters so much. especially emilio (the sweetest cinnamon roll—protect him at all costs) and, surprisingly, irene (she gives MAJOR main character energy 🗡️). this was like a strange, twisty dream that scratched every little itch in my curious little mind. ☁️🫢🫶🏼⏳⭐️✨
six rival students attending an academy in the afterlife? YUP this was my kind of book. i adored all six characters so much. especially emilio (the sweetest cinnamon roll—protect him at all costs) and, surprisingly, irene (she gives MAJOR main character energy 🗡️). this was like a strange, twisty dream that scratched every little itch in my curious little mind. ☁️🫢🫶🏼⏳⭐️✨
June 28, 2025
upper YA fantasy at it PEAK with hints of dark academia, set in the afterlife, and academic rivals TENSION??? yeah, i ate this shit up and will be screaming from the rooftops for everyone to read it.
Premise: Blackwood Academy is a school for souls in the afterlife who end up in the “in between” where they can hone magical skills and strive for the rank of “ascended”. One fated year, the school has so many powerful souls that rather than bestowing “ascended” upon one powerful student, they hold trials for students to compete for the rank. through twists and turns, secrets are uncovered about Blackwood that change the students’ futures, and the future of the afterlife forever.
TLDR: this book had everything i look for in a YA fantasy + more. the pacing was immaculate and never felt info dumpy. each character in the multi pov was so well rounded and complicated (hence why they’re essentially in purgatory). literally was screaming at my kindle for some of these characters to love each other but ohhhhh my god the tension was off the charts amazing. no spice in this one, but WHO CARES when the tension and pining is this good??? honestly some of the most romantic lines i’ve ever read EVER!
if you read the atlas six and liked the vibes, but it made you feel dumb (hi, me) you’ll love this book. similar vibes but easier plot to follow and characters to relate with.
highlights:
-academic rivals & banter
-dark academia
-lgbtq+ rep
-trials
-magic
-academy setting
-a ball scene 🙂↕️
-slow burn
-“you came”, “you called” vibes
Premise: Blackwood Academy is a school for souls in the afterlife who end up in the “in between” where they can hone magical skills and strive for the rank of “ascended”. One fated year, the school has so many powerful souls that rather than bestowing “ascended” upon one powerful student, they hold trials for students to compete for the rank. through twists and turns, secrets are uncovered about Blackwood that change the students’ futures, and the future of the afterlife forever.
TLDR: this book had everything i look for in a YA fantasy + more. the pacing was immaculate and never felt info dumpy. each character in the multi pov was so well rounded and complicated (hence why they’re essentially in purgatory). literally was screaming at my kindle for some of these characters to love each other but ohhhhh my god the tension was off the charts amazing. no spice in this one, but WHO CARES when the tension and pining is this good??? honestly some of the most romantic lines i’ve ever read EVER!
if you read the atlas six and liked the vibes, but it made you feel dumb (hi, me) you’ll love this book. similar vibes but easier plot to follow and characters to relate with.
highlights:
-academic rivals & banter
-dark academia
-lgbtq+ rep
-trials
-magic
-academy setting
-a ball scene 🙂↕️
-slow burn
-“you came”, “you called” vibes
August 15, 2025
"it was why they tormented each other mercilessly, desperate to find ways to somehow, despite everything, still feel alive."
— four point two five stars
would i recommend this book? definitely!
trigger warnings: violence/light gore.
what a fantastic first novel for i.v. marie. like genuinely, i am extremely impressed. i wasn't too sure what to expect when i had preordered this. unlike some people, i wasn't familiar with the author or her bookish content, and i honestly just bought it because i thought it looked pretty. a sin, i know, because i didn't even read the synopsis when i purchased it, so i literally had no clue what to expect. i think, though, that this novel definitely blew my expectations out of the water.
immortal consequences follows six students—wren, august, olivier, emilio, irene, and masika—at blackwood academy, an academy for dead people where they learn to harness their magic in order to reap souls, and to pass the time before they begin to forget all of their memories. students are promised, though, one chance at beating the forgetting with the decennial, a trial where one student is nominated and has to prove their skills in reaping and their magical abilities in order to become ascended (or cross to the "other side", which no one has done before.)
given the premise, i was a bit skeptical, because six povs sounded entirely overwhelming and too much to follow and keep up with, but i ended up pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too hard to distinguish each character from each other. i would usually delve into some character analysis here, but because of the six alternating povs and the side characters, i truly just don't feel like doing that. sorry y'all. but i do have personal likes (and dislikes) when it comes to all six of our main characters and how their arcs and development were handled, so i'll dive into that instead.
to change it up a little bit, i'll start with my gripes on how character development was handled. because of how many povs there were, it was challenging for the author to truly flesh out every single character. for that reason, characters such as olivier and masika felt brushed past in terms of development, both of them feeling quite 2d rather than fleshed out like their counterparts. even emilie toed the line between 2d and proper characterization, finding himself to become more of the "shy boy" trope rather than an actual character, but because he held more weight in the plot, he had just a liiiiittle more development than masika or olivier.
it is incredibly obvious who the main characters of the story were given a few specific plot points, and i almost wish the story would have just been told from their povs rather than all six of them, as we likely could have seen more character development from wren, august, and irene in that case and have been given more reasoning to care about them all individually. in fact, out of every character, the only one we get a concrete backstory for is wren, which i think can be seen as both a detriment to the other characters and a plus for solidifying wren as the true main character in this story.
however, on that same point, i actually did kind of enjoy the mystery behind the characters "alive" lives and their afterlives. the fact that they were all apprehensive to talk about who they were when they were alive gave all the characters a sense of rebirth, a second chance if you will. (which this is why i liked irene's character so much, despite my previous gripes.) i also enjoyed how their past lives and their past decisions haunted the narrative—for example, the bad thing that wren did whilst she was alive (which i'm omitting for spoiler purposes, obviously) was her entire driving force, and it did make me gasp when it was finally revealed.
on the same vein, though, i do wish our villain character was better developed as well, because though he was downright despicable, the fact that one of the "parts" of the book was titled betrayal, but we didn't actually spend enough time with our villain previously to truly feel betrayed by him impacted the weight of the story, in my opinion. i do think he was an interesting antagonist, and i enjoyed the backstory we got for him, but it also failed to truly carry any actual weight outside of shock value because of a. how underdeveloped his relationship with the other characters was and b. the explanation felt brushed past because of how much else was going on in the story.
now i also realize that up until this point it reads as though i didn't like this book, but that's not the case. i promise. sometimes i just tend to be overcritical about things i truly enjoy, which sounds insane i know, but it also just means i spent more time analyzing every page.
the plot itself, as i briefly mentioned above, is interesting enough. i was intrigued to see how the author would handle a topic as ambitious and difficult to truly define as the afterlife and how she would put her own unique spin on it, and in truth i wasn't left feeling disappointed. i actually quite enjoyed her explanation for blackwood academy and how people were chosen for it (i'm not sure if this would be a spoiler, but i'm not going to mention it just in case. it was revealed in like the first hundred pages though?) and i felt that the worldbuilding was really solid. i was easily able to envision blackwood, the ether, and so on.
the pacing is where the story lost me just a bit, because i do think it toed the line between being too fast and too slow, as if the story didn't know how it wanted to progress. there were some time skips that kinda made the flow of the story a bit choppy, but nothing too bad that it made reading the book impossible or anything like that.
my main thing with the plot is that there is so much going on that it is very easy to get lost. i.v. marie obviously had a lot of ideas, and she was very ambitious in trying to tackle them all, so it was easy to get overwhelmed, and a lot of plot points didn't have enough time to settle or breathe before we were immediately whisked to another earth-shattering twist. however!!! i think that the chaos actually helped the story, rather than hindered it, because i feel like a story about the afterlife and a competition for eternal power should be chaotic. if the story had less things going on, it may have been easier to digest, but it would have lost a lot of its charm and what actually made the story interesting, if that makes any sort of sense.
i do wish, too, that we would have gotten to see the magic system more fleshed out. we weren't given much of an explanation on how any of it works or how people get their powers after they die (and quite frankly we didn't get enough scenes actually in classes, because i think that if we had, the magic system would have felt more full to me.) however, i did enjoy that most of the characters had a type of magic that they specialized in. just some of the uses of magic felt choppy because the system itself was poorly explained.
enough of my rambling though. i'm angry this ended on a cliffhanger and i have to wait for the next book because who knooooows when that'll be... but despite my gripes and over-analysis, i did find this book to be quite good, especially for a debut novel. i truly do hope the second book is even stronger than the first as i.v. marie finds her narrative voice and writing style, and i absolutely will be seated to see it.
— four point two five stars
would i recommend this book? definitely!
trigger warnings: violence/light gore.
what a fantastic first novel for i.v. marie. like genuinely, i am extremely impressed. i wasn't too sure what to expect when i had preordered this. unlike some people, i wasn't familiar with the author or her bookish content, and i honestly just bought it because i thought it looked pretty. a sin, i know, because i didn't even read the synopsis when i purchased it, so i literally had no clue what to expect. i think, though, that this novel definitely blew my expectations out of the water.
immortal consequences follows six students—wren, august, olivier, emilio, irene, and masika—at blackwood academy, an academy for dead people where they learn to harness their magic in order to reap souls, and to pass the time before they begin to forget all of their memories. students are promised, though, one chance at beating the forgetting with the decennial, a trial where one student is nominated and has to prove their skills in reaping and their magical abilities in order to become ascended (or cross to the "other side", which no one has done before.)
given the premise, i was a bit skeptical, because six povs sounded entirely overwhelming and too much to follow and keep up with, but i ended up pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too hard to distinguish each character from each other. i would usually delve into some character analysis here, but because of the six alternating povs and the side characters, i truly just don't feel like doing that. sorry y'all. but i do have personal likes (and dislikes) when it comes to all six of our main characters and how their arcs and development were handled, so i'll dive into that instead.
to change it up a little bit, i'll start with my gripes on how character development was handled. because of how many povs there were, it was challenging for the author to truly flesh out every single character. for that reason, characters such as olivier and masika felt brushed past in terms of development, both of them feeling quite 2d rather than fleshed out like their counterparts. even emilie toed the line between 2d and proper characterization, finding himself to become more of the "shy boy" trope rather than an actual character, but because he held more weight in the plot, he had just a liiiiittle more development than masika or olivier.
it is incredibly obvious who the main characters of the story were given a few specific plot points, and i almost wish the story would have just been told from their povs rather than all six of them, as we likely could have seen more character development from wren, august, and irene in that case and have been given more reasoning to care about them all individually. in fact, out of every character, the only one we get a concrete backstory for is wren, which i think can be seen as both a detriment to the other characters and a plus for solidifying wren as the true main character in this story.
however, on that same point, i actually did kind of enjoy the mystery behind the characters "alive" lives and their afterlives. the fact that they were all apprehensive to talk about who they were when they were alive gave all the characters a sense of rebirth, a second chance if you will. (which this is why i liked irene's character so much, despite my previous gripes.) i also enjoyed how their past lives and their past decisions haunted the narrative—for example, the bad thing that wren did whilst she was alive (which i'm omitting for spoiler purposes, obviously) was her entire driving force, and it did make me gasp when it was finally revealed.
on the same vein, though, i do wish our villain character was better developed as well, because though he was downright despicable, the fact that one of the "parts" of the book was titled betrayal, but we didn't actually spend enough time with our villain previously to truly feel betrayed by him impacted the weight of the story, in my opinion. i do think he was an interesting antagonist, and i enjoyed the backstory we got for him, but it also failed to truly carry any actual weight outside of shock value because of a. how underdeveloped his relationship with the other characters was and b. the explanation felt brushed past because of how much else was going on in the story.
now i also realize that up until this point it reads as though i didn't like this book, but that's not the case. i promise. sometimes i just tend to be overcritical about things i truly enjoy, which sounds insane i know, but it also just means i spent more time analyzing every page.
the plot itself, as i briefly mentioned above, is interesting enough. i was intrigued to see how the author would handle a topic as ambitious and difficult to truly define as the afterlife and how she would put her own unique spin on it, and in truth i wasn't left feeling disappointed. i actually quite enjoyed her explanation for blackwood academy and how people were chosen for it (i'm not sure if this would be a spoiler, but i'm not going to mention it just in case. it was revealed in like the first hundred pages though?) and i felt that the worldbuilding was really solid. i was easily able to envision blackwood, the ether, and so on.
the pacing is where the story lost me just a bit, because i do think it toed the line between being too fast and too slow, as if the story didn't know how it wanted to progress. there were some time skips that kinda made the flow of the story a bit choppy, but nothing too bad that it made reading the book impossible or anything like that.
my main thing with the plot is that there is so much going on that it is very easy to get lost. i.v. marie obviously had a lot of ideas, and she was very ambitious in trying to tackle them all, so it was easy to get overwhelmed, and a lot of plot points didn't have enough time to settle or breathe before we were immediately whisked to another earth-shattering twist. however!!! i think that the chaos actually helped the story, rather than hindered it, because i feel like a story about the afterlife and a competition for eternal power should be chaotic. if the story had less things going on, it may have been easier to digest, but it would have lost a lot of its charm and what actually made the story interesting, if that makes any sort of sense.
i do wish, too, that we would have gotten to see the magic system more fleshed out. we weren't given much of an explanation on how any of it works or how people get their powers after they die (and quite frankly we didn't get enough scenes actually in classes, because i think that if we had, the magic system would have felt more full to me.) however, i did enjoy that most of the characters had a type of magic that they specialized in. just some of the uses of magic felt choppy because the system itself was poorly explained.
enough of my rambling though. i'm angry this ended on a cliffhanger and i have to wait for the next book because who knooooows when that'll be... but despite my gripes and over-analysis, i did find this book to be quite good, especially for a debut novel. i truly do hope the second book is even stronger than the first as i.v. marie finds her narrative voice and writing style, and i absolutely will be seated to see it.
August 26, 2025
This was fantastic.
I haven't become obsessed with a cast of characters this bad since all of us villains, they mean the world to me and I can't wait to suffer with them in the sequel.
The writing, the plot, the characters, the vibes, it's all immaculate. I loved it.
I haven't become obsessed with a cast of characters this bad since all of us villains, they mean the world to me and I can't wait to suffer with them in the sequel.
The writing, the plot, the characters, the vibes, it's all immaculate. I loved it.
August 6, 2025
4,75⭐️
C'était TROP BIEN ?!!! Dès le début, j'ai été happée par l'histoire, j'ai adoré l'ambiance et le fait qu'on alterne le point de vue de plusieurs personnages. Ils sont tous hyper intéressants et attachants, tous avec une vision différente des choses et ça rend l'histoire encore plus accrocheuse. Les relations entre eux, mammaaaaa j'étais fan, et ne me laissez pas commencer à vous parler d'August et mon énoooorme crush sur lui, sinon dans deux ans, on y est encore (mais bon, que ça soit dit : je l'aime tellement, c'est vraiment l'homme capable qu'il pense être en fait, I'll always stand by him). J'ai aussi aimé le style d'écriture, l'ambiance, le rythme... et alors l'univers et l'intrigue ? Sans rire, je crois que c'est la première fois que je vois quelque chose dans ce genre. C'est une VRAIE originalité, c'est bourré d'action et de rebondissements et je n'avais absolument aucune idée d'où l'autrice allait nous emmener. Ça fait un bien fou de lire un roman comme ça au milieu d'une ribambelle de romans qui utilisent un peu tous le mêmes codes. Alors, me faites pas dire ce que j'ai pas dit : EVIDEMMENT qu'il y a des trucs prévisibles et clichés, c'est de la littérature YA hein, on a des ressorts classiques. Mais sur plein d'autres points, j'ai trouvé que ça cassait vraiment les cases et j'ai adoré.
Bon, vous avez compris mais je le redis : J'AI ADORÉ DE OUUUUF, VIVEMENT LA SUITE PARCE QUE LE CLIFFHANGER DE LA FIN, PAS COOL HEIN.
C'était TROP BIEN ?!!! Dès le début, j'ai été happée par l'histoire, j'ai adoré l'ambiance et le fait qu'on alterne le point de vue de plusieurs personnages. Ils sont tous hyper intéressants et attachants, tous avec une vision différente des choses et ça rend l'histoire encore plus accrocheuse. Les relations entre eux, mammaaaaa j'étais fan, et ne me laissez pas commencer à vous parler d'August et mon énoooorme crush sur lui, sinon dans deux ans, on y est encore (mais bon, que ça soit dit : je l'aime tellement, c'est vraiment l'homme capable qu'il pense être en fait, I'll always stand by him). J'ai aussi aimé le style d'écriture, l'ambiance, le rythme... et alors l'univers et l'intrigue ? Sans rire, je crois que c'est la première fois que je vois quelque chose dans ce genre. C'est une VRAIE originalité, c'est bourré d'action et de rebondissements et je n'avais absolument aucune idée d'où l'autrice allait nous emmener. Ça fait un bien fou de lire un roman comme ça au milieu d'une ribambelle de romans qui utilisent un peu tous le mêmes codes. Alors, me faites pas dire ce que j'ai pas dit : EVIDEMMENT qu'il y a des trucs prévisibles et clichés, c'est de la littérature YA hein, on a des ressorts classiques. Mais sur plein d'autres points, j'ai trouvé que ça cassait vraiment les cases et j'ai adoré.
Bon, vous avez compris mais je le redis : J'AI ADORÉ DE OUUUUF, VIVEMENT LA SUITE PARCE QUE LE CLIFFHANGER DE LA FIN, PAS COOL HEIN.
July 31, 2025
If you are looking for your next young adult fantasy addiction, may you please give this book a chance???
I am beyond floored with how well this story was executed. The way the author handled six different POVs was genuinely impressive. Each character's voice felt distinct and well-developed, making it easy to tell whose perspective I was reading. That kind of clarity only comes when an author truly understands their characters, and it really showed here. The minor drawback for me was the frequent shifts between perspectives occasionally made it hard to stay fully grounded in the story. As I got deeper into the book, I adjusted to the shifts and ultimately found the multiple POVs added to the overall experience.
There was not a single character I liked more or less than the others. I found myself deeply connected to each of them in different ways. They’re all navigating their own personal journeys, and the way those experiences were shown really tugged at my heartstrings. The emotional depth given to every character made it easy to empathize with all of them, which was severely important for that diabolical ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I am beyond floored with how well this story was executed. The way the author handled six different POVs was genuinely impressive. Each character's voice felt distinct and well-developed, making it easy to tell whose perspective I was reading. That kind of clarity only comes when an author truly understands their characters, and it really showed here. The minor drawback for me was the frequent shifts between perspectives occasionally made it hard to stay fully grounded in the story. As I got deeper into the book, I adjusted to the shifts and ultimately found the multiple POVs added to the overall experience.
There was not a single character I liked more or less than the others. I found myself deeply connected to each of them in different ways. They’re all navigating their own personal journeys, and the way those experiences were shown really tugged at my heartstrings. The emotional depth given to every character made it easy to empathize with all of them, which was severely important for that diabolical ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
August 28, 2025
4.5 stars
🐈⬛ ˚｡
after enduring a nearly 2 year long wait for this book, i am completely floored — how is this a debut novel? the way iv marie crafts out her world and characters is so mesmerising and it genuinely feels like she’s been writing for her entire life.
wren and august are without a doubt the stars of this book. marie did such a good job with their characters and relationship, and she really knows how to deliver academic rivals to lovers with that perfect balance of tension, angst, and slow burn. truly, i love a man who yearns.
on the flip side, i didn’t have the strongest liking for irene, which i guess makes sense given her role in this story. still, i am hopeful things will change in the next book and i am very excited to see how it plays out, along with her friendship with masika. emilio and olivier’s miscommunication also made me want to actually go into this book and slap them both. in my opinion, there was some, but not a lot of progress in their relationship. it was a lot of back and forth. i did really like them as individual characters, and i thought that their own sets of struggles were really complex and interesting.
this was the first book i’ve read with 6 povs. with so many different plot points it felt slightly overwhelming, especially across 500 pages. but overall, the pacing worked well enough for me to comfortably settle in between transitions.
as you can probably tell from the way i finished this in 2 days, i had a really fun and enjoyable time <3 i expected nothing less from the ending, but it was still very criminal. i will be first in line for the sequel!
after enduring a nearly 2 year long wait for this book, i am completely floored — how is this a debut novel? the way iv marie crafts out her world and characters is so mesmerising and it genuinely feels like she’s been writing for her entire life.
wren and august are without a doubt the stars of this book. marie did such a good job with their characters and relationship, and she really knows how to deliver academic rivals to lovers with that perfect balance of tension, angst, and slow burn. truly, i love a man who yearns.
on the flip side, i didn’t have the strongest liking for irene, which i guess makes sense given her role in this story. still, i am hopeful things will change in the next book and i am very excited to see how it plays out, along with her friendship with masika. emilio and olivier’s miscommunication also made me want to actually go into this book and slap them both. in my opinion, there was some, but not a lot of progress in their relationship. it was a lot of back and forth. i did really like them as individual characters, and i thought that their own sets of struggles were really complex and interesting.
this was the first book i’ve read with 6 povs. with so many different plot points it felt slightly overwhelming, especially across 500 pages. but overall, the pacing worked well enough for me to comfortably settle in between transitions.
as you can probably tell from the way i finished this in 2 days, i had a really fun and enjoyable time <3 i expected nothing less from the ending, but it was still very criminal. i will be first in line for the sequel!
December 9, 2023
SO EXCITED FOR THE RELEASE OF THIS BOOK!!!
September 7, 2025
« The past doesn’t go away if you ignore it. The more you pretend it doesn’t exist, the more it consumes you. »
Immortal consequences is a formula that works. It’s fun, it’s dark, it has trials and mystery. My biggest issue with it was that the world building was incomplete and I had so many questions that were left unanswered. I will admit I have an over-analytic mind and some things just… didn’t make sense. I don’t know if the things my brain got stuck on will get explained in the next books because I don’t see how the author could just go back on it. It’s things that should’ve been mentioned at the very beginning… and its got me thinking they might be plotholes.
I saw a lot of reviews saying the 6 POVs were too much but on this level - I think they were well incorporated. I personally didn’t care for Wren, August & Irene but I absolutely loved Olivier, Emilio & Masika. One thing for sure - the characters sometimes felt like caricatures. They weren’t fleshed out and sometimes blended with each other. The trials were also very similar to one another.
Some things happened around the end to jack up the stakes but they, again, left me with a whole bunch of questions bordering on plotholes. I think the element of death wasn’t incorporated in a way that made us believe that’s what we were reading.
I do think it makes for a good Autumn season read. But to be quite honest, as of right now, I don’t know if I want to pursue this series. I might wait on the reviews for the next one and decide then.
« I think I was never truly alive until I met you. »
—-•preread
Book 2/10 of the Autumn physical TBR
Immortal consequences is a formula that works. It’s fun, it’s dark, it has trials and mystery. My biggest issue with it was that the world building was incomplete and I had so many questions that were left unanswered. I will admit I have an over-analytic mind and some things just… didn’t make sense. I don’t know if the things my brain got stuck on will get explained in the next books because I don’t see how the author could just go back on it. It’s things that should’ve been mentioned at the very beginning… and its got me thinking they might be plotholes.
I saw a lot of reviews saying the 6 POVs were too much but on this level - I think they were well incorporated. I personally didn’t care for Wren, August & Irene but I absolutely loved Olivier, Emilio & Masika. One thing for sure - the characters sometimes felt like caricatures. They weren’t fleshed out and sometimes blended with each other. The trials were also very similar to one another.
Some things happened around the end to jack up the stakes but they, again, left me with a whole bunch of questions bordering on plotholes. I think the element of death wasn’t incorporated in a way that made us believe that’s what we were reading.
I do think it makes for a good Autumn season read. But to be quite honest, as of right now, I don’t know if I want to pursue this series. I might wait on the reviews for the next one and decide then.
« I think I was never truly alive until I met you. »
—-•preread
Book 2/10 of the Autumn physical TBR
September 4, 2025
A short and sweet YA fantasy novel with cute romance, an interesting setting, and Harry Potter vibes. Unfortunately, much like the Harry Potter series, the world building is riddled with plot holes. The exposition is poorly delivered, which is detrimental to a book set in the afterlife. It's hard to remember if characters can die, where they go if they do, and what the stakes even are. I'd say if you want a quick fall fantasy read to pick this up, but don't go in expecting brilliance.
August 3, 2025
Alright, if you liked this or enjoyed this in anyway, please look away now. This will be your only warning.
This is a glorified work of fanfiction with very little worldbuilding and sparse to NO character building. Exactly how you would expect an average fanfic written with established characters, 2-3 ships, and a different setting from its original source material.
It was boring. It was flavorless. The only POSSIBLE thing going for this was an interesting premise and plot but honestly even that felt underwhelming and disappointing. I had so many questions about the world, the school, and how everything worked but most of those questions were never answered and in fact were replaced by even more questions.
One of the writing decisions that boggles my mind the most was the fact that it had 6 POVs. This did NOT need 6 POVs. Maybe 2-3 at MOST. The other POVs really added nothing to the story and just made it more boring and repetitive. In reality there was only 2 main characters that made sense with different POVs. If you're going to do multiple POVs, you need to make sure your character building is there because if not, people will play favorites and want to skip the more underdeveloped characters.
Speaking of characters... The main reason I enjoy reading is for the characters. I am a character-driven reader. There was very little difference in personality between most of these characters and I never felt myself immerse with them nor get attached to them by the end. They were flat and felt very same-y save maybe 2 or 3 (barely). You have all these different people from different cultures and walks of life but if you were to remove the names of any of their chapters, it would take you a bit to realize which POV was actually speaking. They were basically cookie-cutter versions of themselves but oh this guy was French, this guy is British... with very little else going on that makes them who they were.
Now... as this was advertised as a romance... romantasy, I'll get into that. The main romance actually felt like it had some chemistry in the beginning and was going somewhere. Until it didn't. The rivals to lovers bit was not really rivals to lovers. More like, two people attached to the hip with crushes they never admitted to that begrudgingly admit to it later out of the blue? Zero build up whatsoever. It felt very underwhelming and disappointing.
I guess I overhyped myself for this because I was just expecting so much more and ended up disappointing myself in the meantime. The premise sounded absolutely amazing and so cool! It could have gone a million different directions but this was just not it. I would have DNF'd this at around 30-40% but I bought the book for this and I wanted to see if any of my worldbuilding questions would ever get answered but alas, I guess I wasted my time.
But hey if you enjoyed this, try Five Broken Blades. It had a similar style in how it was set up but similar problems (in my opinion).
As for me, now I have to figure out what I am doing with my physical copy. I guess I got bamboozled by the beautiful cover and sprayed edges... sigh.
1.75/5
This is a glorified work of fanfiction with very little worldbuilding and sparse to NO character building. Exactly how you would expect an average fanfic written with established characters, 2-3 ships, and a different setting from its original source material.
It was boring. It was flavorless. The only POSSIBLE thing going for this was an interesting premise and plot but honestly even that felt underwhelming and disappointing. I had so many questions about the world, the school, and how everything worked but most of those questions were never answered and in fact were replaced by even more questions.
One of the writing decisions that boggles my mind the most was the fact that it had 6 POVs. This did NOT need 6 POVs. Maybe 2-3 at MOST. The other POVs really added nothing to the story and just made it more boring and repetitive. In reality there was only 2 main characters that made sense with different POVs. If you're going to do multiple POVs, you need to make sure your character building is there because if not, people will play favorites and want to skip the more underdeveloped characters.
Speaking of characters... The main reason I enjoy reading is for the characters. I am a character-driven reader. There was very little difference in personality between most of these characters and I never felt myself immerse with them nor get attached to them by the end. They were flat and felt very same-y save maybe 2 or 3 (barely). You have all these different people from different cultures and walks of life but if you were to remove the names of any of their chapters, it would take you a bit to realize which POV was actually speaking. They were basically cookie-cutter versions of themselves but oh this guy was French, this guy is British... with very little else going on that makes them who they were.
Now... as this was advertised as a romance... romantasy, I'll get into that. The main romance actually felt like it had some chemistry in the beginning and was going somewhere. Until it didn't. The rivals to lovers bit was not really rivals to lovers. More like, two people attached to the hip with crushes they never admitted to that begrudgingly admit to it later out of the blue? Zero build up whatsoever. It felt very underwhelming and disappointing.
I guess I overhyped myself for this because I was just expecting so much more and ended up disappointing myself in the meantime. The premise sounded absolutely amazing and so cool! It could have gone a million different directions but this was just not it. I would have DNF'd this at around 30-40% but I bought the book for this and I wanted to see if any of my worldbuilding questions would ever get answered but alas, I guess I wasted my time.
But hey if you enjoyed this, try Five Broken Blades. It had a similar style in how it was set up but similar problems (in my opinion).
As for me, now I have to figure out what I am doing with my physical copy. I guess I got bamboozled by the beautiful cover and sprayed edges... sigh.
1.75/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2025
There are few things in life that make me happier than a compelling story with a stunning exterior. I mean common, just look at this cover! The edges?! Hands down the most gorgeous book I've purchased this year.
At Blackwood Academy, students are trained in magic to reap souls and guide the dead through the ether to the other side. The students are able to do this for hundreds of years but not forever. The longer they are in the afterlife, the more they forget about their previous lives and as they forget they become lost to the ether as well. The only way to stay at Blackwood is to win the Decennial, an elite competition securing a coveted spot as an Ascended. However, this Decennial is proving to be unlike others as a radical group known as the Demon Order, makes a play for power. As the afterlife begins to crumble and the ether becomes unbalanced, the students chosen to compete are desperate and it turns out desperate people are just as unpredictable as the afterlife.
Told in the POVS of Wren, August, Olivier, Emilio, Masika & Irene, Immortal Consequences had me absolutely CAPTIVATED. It's a little over 500 pages and when I tell you I could have read 500 more, no questions asked, I mean it. The writing was spectacular, fast paced and gripping. The plot was unique and intriguing. The angst, the betrayal, the suspense. THE TENSION. All of it, had me invested in these characters. Each of the six brought something different to the table. They are well defined, flushed out and nothing short of spell binding. I loved them. I can't remember the last time I loved a full cast of characters like this, they were pure magic.
Immortal Consequences shocked, haunted and thrilled. The ending left me hanging from a cliff, unconsciously holding my breath. It's an incredible debut by I.V. Marie. and I can't wait for the second book! Now, go read!
At Blackwood Academy, students are trained in magic to reap souls and guide the dead through the ether to the other side. The students are able to do this for hundreds of years but not forever. The longer they are in the afterlife, the more they forget about their previous lives and as they forget they become lost to the ether as well. The only way to stay at Blackwood is to win the Decennial, an elite competition securing a coveted spot as an Ascended. However, this Decennial is proving to be unlike others as a radical group known as the Demon Order, makes a play for power. As the afterlife begins to crumble and the ether becomes unbalanced, the students chosen to compete are desperate and it turns out desperate people are just as unpredictable as the afterlife.
Told in the POVS of Wren, August, Olivier, Emilio, Masika & Irene, Immortal Consequences had me absolutely CAPTIVATED. It's a little over 500 pages and when I tell you I could have read 500 more, no questions asked, I mean it. The writing was spectacular, fast paced and gripping. The plot was unique and intriguing. The angst, the betrayal, the suspense. THE TENSION. All of it, had me invested in these characters. Each of the six brought something different to the table. They are well defined, flushed out and nothing short of spell binding. I loved them. I can't remember the last time I loved a full cast of characters like this, they were pure magic.
Immortal Consequences shocked, haunted and thrilled. The ending left me hanging from a cliff, unconsciously holding my breath. It's an incredible debut by I.V. Marie. and I can't wait for the second book! Now, go read!
January 16, 2024
I just finished this book and I’m literally not okay, so I apologize in advance if this review is an incoherent mess.
Immortal Consequences follows six students at Blackwood Academy, a prestigious institution located in the afterlife. (YES, this is as cool as it sounds.) The character dynamics between the characters are so exquisitely crafted, and from the very beginning I cared about each character equally, which for me is so rare—especially in a multi-POV story. So, applause.
Blackwood itself is such an interesting setting, and the magic system is revealed so naturally throughout the story that I barely noticed when I was learning something new. It was all just part of the scene (in the best way).
Like I said, the ending of this book had me holding my breath and wanting to scream, and if I had had a physical copy, I very well might have thrown it against the wall. Needless to say, I cannot wait to preorder a physical copy, and I am ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT for book two.
Immortal Consequences follows six students at Blackwood Academy, a prestigious institution located in the afterlife. (YES, this is as cool as it sounds.) The character dynamics between the characters are so exquisitely crafted, and from the very beginning I cared about each character equally, which for me is so rare—especially in a multi-POV story. So, applause.
Blackwood itself is such an interesting setting, and the magic system is revealed so naturally throughout the story that I barely noticed when I was learning something new. It was all just part of the scene (in the best way).
Like I said, the ending of this book had me holding my breath and wanting to scream, and if I had had a physical copy, I very well might have thrown it against the wall. Needless to say, I cannot wait to preorder a physical copy, and I am ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT for book two.
Want to read
January 3, 2024academic rivals to lovers fantasy about six dead teens competing in a magical academy in the afterlife
Screaming crying!!!
Screaming crying!!!
April 22, 2025
3.5⭐️| TikTok | IG |
A multi-POV, dark academia fantasy set in purgatory with deadly trials, rivals-to-lovers and enough pining and longing to fill the Grand Canyon
What’s to love…
- fast-paced, easy to binge
- Grade A tension, longing and pining
- dark academia vibes
- deadly trials
- found family
- interesting world and magic
- multiple romances to root for
What didn’t work for me but might work for you…
- Personally, too many POVs makes it hard for me to connect with the characters - I found myself more interested in one particular couple, which made each POV switch frustrating for me. I think if you don't mind multiple POVs this one will probably work for you!
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
A multi-POV, dark academia fantasy set in purgatory with deadly trials, rivals-to-lovers and enough pining and longing to fill the Grand Canyon
What’s to love…
- fast-paced, easy to binge
- Grade A tension, longing and pining
- dark academia vibes
- deadly trials
- found family
- interesting world and magic
- multiple romances to root for
What didn’t work for me but might work for you…
- Personally, too many POVs makes it hard for me to connect with the characters - I found myself more interested in one particular couple, which made each POV switch frustrating for me. I think if you don't mind multiple POVs this one will probably work for you!
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
August 19, 2025
definitely in my top 5 for the year!!
have you ever felt like a book was written for you specifically? well, this was mine. dark academia, set in PURGATORY, our characters have already passed on and attending blackwood academy when they're thrust into the decennial yrials where only one victor can emerge. Very hunger games esque with its cruelty, as we later see.
The writing style was illustrious and evocative, so you actually feel the characters' emotions, which, for a debut(!!!) novel is impressive. The magic system was so unique, and i lowkey wish they got more class time cause i loved learning/ seeing them use their psyche & illusion magic.
What didn't work for me was the number of povs. I adored this group of characters and their different personalities, stories, and romances, but 6 made the reading experience feel too busy. Just when you get into one pov, you're thrown into another. At first, it was really jarring, but by the halfway mark, I was used to it. So, just something to keep in mind.
Out of all the couples, my favourites were obviously Wren & August (he CRAWLED TO HER Y'ALL) and Emilio & Olivier (my stubborn yearnful babies who deserve the world)
I can genuinely say the author stumped me regarding the plot, too. I thought we were playing checkers, meanwhile I.V was playing chess!! There's so much new info. I just need to know more!!! She completely blew me away. I was completely enamored by this book and HIGHLY recommend for the yearners :)
have you ever felt like a book was written for you specifically? well, this was mine. dark academia, set in PURGATORY, our characters have already passed on and attending blackwood academy when they're thrust into the decennial yrials where only one victor can emerge. Very hunger games esque with its cruelty, as we later see.
The writing style was illustrious and evocative, so you actually feel the characters' emotions, which, for a debut(!!!) novel is impressive. The magic system was so unique, and i lowkey wish they got more class time cause i loved learning/ seeing them use their psyche & illusion magic.
What didn't work for me was the number of povs. I adored this group of characters and their different personalities, stories, and romances, but 6 made the reading experience feel too busy. Just when you get into one pov, you're thrown into another. At first, it was really jarring, but by the halfway mark, I was used to it. So, just something to keep in mind.
Out of all the couples, my favourites were obviously Wren & August (he CRAWLED TO HER Y'ALL) and Emilio & Olivier (my stubborn yearnful babies who deserve the world)
I can genuinely say the author stumped me regarding the plot, too. I thought we were playing checkers, meanwhile I.V was playing chess!! There's so much new info. I just need to know more!!! She completely blew me away. I was completely enamored by this book and HIGHLY recommend for the yearners :)
August 25, 2025
4⭐️
I usually don’t read YA books. I started this one and it was like a breath of fresh air in my life 😀.
So this one was Dark Academia and surprisingly it was pretty original. Fast paced and quick. I loved the multiple POVs! The only problem with those is you are bound to have a favorite😀. Obviously my favorite is August❤️.
There was no smut but there was yearning and tension and that is fine.
I couldn’t predict the ending and I was flabbergasted!
I usually don’t read YA books. I started this one and it was like a breath of fresh air in my life 😀.
So this one was Dark Academia and surprisingly it was pretty original. Fast paced and quick. I loved the multiple POVs! The only problem with those is you are bound to have a favorite😀. Obviously my favorite is August❤️.
There was no smut but there was yearning and tension and that is fine.
I couldn’t predict the ending and I was flabbergasted!
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