Wow! I couldn’t put this magical fantasy read down! Follow Harlow who returns to Neverthorn to train and defeat the darkness. I loved the atmosphere and the mystery of the school itself. If you love slow burn romance and dark academia this book is for you!

Neverthorn was an absolutely spellbinding read that had me hooked from the very first page! Harlow’s cynicism was a joy to read – watching her navigate new (and old) relationships with an air of suspicion made uncovering people’s true intentions so much fun. The found family was beautiful, and I had a great time watching them slowly learn to trust each other and work together. I also loved the tension between Harlow and Typhon, it had me literally kicking my feet and giggling at times! I cannot wait for book two!

This story had me totally hooked right from the first chapter. It's a magical school setting with forbidden magic, second chances, romance, rivalry, adventure and so much more! Honestly I loved it and think fans of other magic school-esque stories should definitely give it a go! I'm very excited to see how the story progresses in book two and will definitely be recommending this to everyone!

I love everything I’ve read from Shannon Mayer and this was another brilliant book. Can’t wait for the 2nd book to come out. Plus the Waterstones special edition is beautiful.

You know a book is good when you finish it and immediately NEED the second book. Neverthorn was so good, a thoroughly enjoyable read. We meet our FMC Harlow, a 29 year old magic school dropout, living in the non-magical world. She makes her way in life by working as an enchanted jewel thief while supporting runaway teens, including Opie who was born without magic and abandoned by her family. When Harlow is captured by her old classmate Typhon (cue brooding love interest) she has no choice but to return to Neverthorn to train with a group of other ex-students who also struggled first time round at the school. A prophecy has foretold that one of them is destined to be the one to defeat Nocta, a powerful dark wizard. They must work together to unlock their powers while discovering the secrets being kept by the school and it's professors. Things I loved This book was so fun to read, I couldn't put it down. The FMC is extremely likeable, I felt like you could relate to her reasonings behind her actions. The side characters were all memorable and added to the story. I loved the dynamic of everyone is House Phoenix, real found family vibes. Lots of mystery and slowly finding out things which I love. Things I didn't love There could have been more on the romance side of things, just a personal preference. There was a lot of slow burn but it didn't build to anything, but this is left open for future books in the series. The story was a bit predictable but at the same time I didn't mind that, it didn't detract from my enjoyment. The swearing ban was a bit tedious, lots of 'fruck' and 'sheet' which I didn't enjoy, the book did have some real swearing though so I'm hoping this rune can be lifted for book 2. Overall though I loved this book, I'd probably give it 4.5 stars rather than 5, but as I can't give half stars it feels closer to 5 than 4. I've got my special edition pre-ordered and I can't wait to receive that.