Ghost summoning? No biggie. Raising the dead? Bring it on. Solving my sister’s sudden disappearance? A bit more complicated…
I’m Serena LeStrange, a necromancer who prefers to hide her freakishly fabulous skills from others. Only my sister makes me feel less of a weirdo, so when she mysteriously vanishes from college, I enroll at Macabre Academy to start my own investigation.
Except this is no … this is no ordinary school for the magically inclined, it’s home to all monsters—even the most dangerous ones. And after meeting an incredibly gorgeous vampire and a sinfully hot reaper, I find myself entangled in a passionate, yet forbidden, flirtation. To complicate matters, I get stuck with a ghostly genie sidekick and suspect a sinister sorority of misdeeds.
But to solve the mystery, I’ll need all the help I can get. Someone at Macabre knows what happened to my sister, and I won’t stop until I dig up the truth.
Unfortunately, some dark secrets prefer to stay buried.
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Welcome to Macabre Academy, the first spellbinding book in a paranormal mystery romance trilogy!
PG-13: *No F-bombs, sex (slow burn), or graphic violence, but there are steamy kisses.
Premise: An older university-age academy series with light humor.
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It was awesome!
Shadow Magic (Macabre Academy Book 1) by Sherry Soule is such a wonderful story that I have read. This is book number one in wonderful start to a brand new series that I am hooked on and want to read the rest of this wonderful series. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about magic, witches and paranormal romances.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The story opens with our POV character Serena attending Conjuration University taking part in a Resurrection 101 class. As a Necromancer Serena is looked down upon, with other paranormal entities believing the magic she processes to be dark and unnatural, and even amongst other Necromancers she feels like an outsider. Serena is an animal lover who wants to become a pet and familiar resurrection specialist and use her abilities to help people, and to do that she needs a degree in Necromantic Rites.
Serena has been so focused on her studies that she has lost touch with her sister, Harper, the only person she feels truly accepts her for what and who she is. After a disastrous resurrection practice lesson, Serena gets a phone call from her father telling her that her Sister Harper has gone missing from Macabre Academy. Serena is an emotional reck after hearing this news. But she makes the decision to enroll at Macabre to seek the truth and track down her sister and thus kicks off this new paranormal series.
I liked the paranormal set up and world-building in this story of its schooling system and genetic hand me down powers. In this world that Sherry Soule has created powers and abilities are a roil of the dice. And though different “breeds” (e.g. Bear-Shifter, Siren, Harpy, Vampire, Sorceress etc.) reproduce, their offspring can inherit the supernatural traits of any ancestor within their lineage.
Serena is an easily likable protagonist. She is kind, caring and when she believes in herself she can accomplish amazing magical feats and do some super sleuthing. Throughout this book Serena unearths her sisters and other Macabre Academy students’ secrets, solves mysteries and makes friends, real friends that except her freaky death powers and all.
Serena grew up feeling like she didn’t belong anywhere. When she first starts at Macabre Academy she is afraid of people finding out she is a Necromancer. She is also trying to hide the fact that she is Harper’s sister, which creates all sorts of awkward situations throughout the book. Serena’s self-hate is mainly because of her dad. He has made her feel like trash her whole life, for a card she was dealt at birth via past family genetics. Her Dad is an asshole, straight up no other way to describe him. I really want to see her find the courage to stand up to him in the next book.
We are given a cliffhanger ending regarding her Sister, so that storyline continues into the next book. And there is also the budding forbidden romance with sexy reaper Dante to be explored further. “A necromancer and a reaper. Sounds like the beginning of an incredible love story” – and that’s what I’m hoping for in the next book. Yep, I will be reading the next book. I am curious to see where Sherry Soule takes these storylines.
All in all, this is a light and fun read about friendship, self-acceptance, and the acceptance of others, with a lil bit of forbidden romance thrown in for good measure.
I thought this story was very entertaining. It is the story of Serena and her search for her sister. She leaves her collage and enrolls at her sister’s to find out what happened to her. It made me laugh so hard at times. The flirting between Serena and the hot guys was a riot. Although Serena made for a interesting detective, the story was fun and all the characters crazy. The basic world setup was interesting and played well into the story and will add to the series. Watching Serena sneak around and try to discover what happened and what is going on was fun. Cannot wait to see what happens next.
„Shadow Magic“ (Macabre Academy Book 1) marks the start of a new Adult Paranormal Mystery Romance Series by Sherry Soule, and follows Serena LeStrange a teenager who tries to live a normal live, while being a necromancer, an almost impossible task. The living and the dead should not mix, unfortunately the dead didn’t get the memo, forcing Serena to spend her time hiding her skill from the general normal population. Her only confident and ally was her sister, and as she suddenly disappears without trace, Serena follows her path to the the Macabre Academy and registers there just to found out the truth.
Macabre Academy is a college for supernaturals, and no matter how handsome and special they may appear at first sight, they are primary and foremost monsters, or are they not? And do they have to be so sexy, and…… well let us say that Serena’s rescue mission, becomes sidetracked by some very interesting guys… as the rhyme goes… with choice comes agony . As the mystery unfolds, some facts are revealed just to peel out a darker truth, while Serena becomes entangled in a web of secrets and has to navigate the joys and tribulations of having three (not really suitable) suitors on her wake, but nevertheless so…. interesting
“Shadow Magic” is a good story, with an interesting plot and enjoyable characters that are just so fun to read. A blending of Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars and Buffy. Serena has nonetheless a unique personality that captivates the reader with her witty approach to every situation. The remaining two books in the trilogy are already noted down in my TBR list.