Very interesting concept of a book. I enjoyed the romance that blossomed between Willow and Gray. People who like fantasy books will enjoy it!

Dark paranormal fantasy- could be triggering for some readers so definitely look up any warnings. But i thought it was great and I look forward to the rest of the series! 3 of 5 for spice.

The Coven
By Harper L. Woods
Release Date: August 6 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
MAN OH MAN. THIS BOOK. I was hooked from the very beginning, I binge read and finished it within a day. One of my favorite reads of 2024 so far, but I am a sucker for dark paranormal romance.

Can we talk about our MMC Gray?? 😮‍💨 He's everything I want in a morally grey man. The tension and chemistry between him and Willow was sizzling. And Willow is a baddie herself!! She's a fierce FMC and I love that she stands for what she believes in. The character development, world building, and magic system were all great. It’s fast paced and I also appreciate that. I had zero complaints with this book and the cliffhanger had me SCREAMING.

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
🔮 age gap (headmaster and student)
🔮 enemies to lovers
🔮 dark academia
🔮 secret identities
🔮 witches, vampires, demons

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: This is a dark paranormal romance with gothic vibes and a dark academia setting. The male lead in this series is pushy and domineering. He goes beyond the typical morally gray variety and is an actual villain who gets his HEA. Triggers include dubious consent, forced feeding, graphic violence, rough and explicit sexual content, restraint, forced proximity, betrayal, references to past abuse, knife violence, graphic depictions of blood, and physical harm inflicted upon the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this dark academia book a lot! This book had magic, vampires, and romance, a perfect combination for me. It was hard to put this book down. Overall, it was a fun and entertaining read. I look forward to reading the next one!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!

I enjoyed this one a lot! Vampires, spice and magic equals a fun and sexy read! Can't wait to start book two!

This was entertaining, and quite fun. This is a good read for people who enjoyed books like Gothikana by Ru Nyx or Hollowed by Karina Halle. The elements of magic and mystery were intriguing, but what it lacked in plot it made up for it with steamy romance. I’m definitely looking forward to reading part two of the series. This one was honestly just fun and easy. The tension was good and the betrayal was even better.

I loved this story. The magic, the secrecy, the lies, the twists? It kept me on my toes. I don't think l've read many books as fast as I did this one.
It felt slightly predictable and I wanted more spice but those are my only complaints.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this!! So I know this book has been out for a while. I'm a little late to the party. Sweet magic with corruption, romance, and trauma. All the pairings for a fun little story. I will now need to find the second in the series for myself.

oh boy this book had me hooked. it was dark, spicy, and filled with action. I loved getting both Willow and Gray's POVs. Both had such strong personalities which led to tons of tension. The ending was intense and left on a major cliffhanger.

This book was sick! I loved it so much! The vampires, paranormal, coven vibes, all of it! It was such a fun book and I loved the dark academia elements

This was creepy academia at its best. It was hard to follow in the beginning but picked up in the middle. I’m glad there is a book two because I still want to follow the story more.

Being able to jump into this book once more, I was immediately reminded of how much I enjoyed reading anything that Harper L Woods writes. This book was brilliantly dark, had hilarious banter, and gave us top tier romancing in this setting.

The characters were easily my favourite part of this book, because they were just so complex and yet so perfect and I loved them so very much. Willow was so funny, and I loved how well she was written as a strong female character. Harper knocked it out of the woods with writing her as a badass character.

Loved this book so much! Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wasn't sure where this was heading when I started the book, but I liked our FMC, witch Willow and her dynamic with the MMC, Headmaster Alaric Grayson Thorne. Overall, it was well-paced, intriguing and I'm invested enough to be curious how their story will continue in the next book.

The Coven is a 4-4.5 star read for me. I love this author so much! This book was well paced and then the ending came so fast!

I enjoyed the absolutely crazy twists and storytelling. Harper L. Woods does a stunning job with vivid descriptions!!!! I love her!!! This story was unique and I never saw the twists coming.

There were moments where I was thoroughly confused and had to re read a few things. I will say, it’s definitely a book that has many details to put together. I almost needed help piecing things together.

There is spice, tension, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and more! Just like most of her books, action happens immediately and you’re hooked into the story!

I still recommend it to anyone who wants a fantasy read in a gothic world of vampires!

The Coven is such a beautifully written dark fantasy romance novel. The characterisation is done so well, and I love how the villain character or Gray is not your nice morally grey villain, he is a villain through and through. The setting and world description was *chefs kiss* with the plot nicely surprising me at the end. I cannot wait to read the next instalment!

Loved the story and am excited to see more from this author! Exciting and fast-paced! Really enjoyed learning more about the characters and found the authors writing style to be beautiful and engaging

2.5 stars. The book started off strong with Willow using her earth magic to fight off the demon-vampire headmaster of a magical university that has come to force her to attend. We find out that her father has raised her to be a tool of revenge against Hollow’s Grove University and the Coven that governs it. The magical system was good and the premise was intriguing, but everything fell flat for me. The book would have benefited from additional worldbuilding, expounding of themes and ideas, character growth, and another round of edits.

Thank you to Bramble for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley. This book was originally self-published in 2023; Bramble is re-releasing it in August 2024.

3.75⭐️

This book was a bit confusing at times but overall I enjoyed it very much. The Coven has it all; witches, demons, magic, seduction, mystery, etc. It’s an incredible quick read that captures your attention. I honestly could have finished this in one sitting if I had started it on a weekend. I’m really excited to see where the story progresses from here. The ending was phenomenal and drew me into the story even more than I already was. The dynamic between Gray and Willow was so alluring, I can’t wait to know where their relationship goes after the ending of this book.

After being hidden from the Coven, Willow is found and forced to join her fellow witches at Hollow’s Grove University. Headmaster Alaric Grayson Thorne continues to be a thorn in her side, but nothing will distract her from her end goal of seeking revenge. Until dead witches start turning up at the school…

Alright I’m going to split this review down the middle. There’s a lot to unpack so let’s get into it.

What I liked:

The magic was fascinating! The way Willow used her magic and the rules on how she could use it were very interesting. Overall, I really enjoyed Willow as a character, she was determined and powerful! The story had it’s highs and lows, but the ending was chaotic in a surprisingly good way. It’s enough that I want to see what happens next!

What I didn’t like:

So, this is my first “dark romance”. Had I known the list of trigger warnings I might not have even engaged with this book. I know this book will be perfect for the audience that prefers their villains truly evil. This book contains “dubious consent”. In my reading I need consent to be explicit, instead of a grey or unexpressed area. I would recommend consulting the list of trigger warnings prior to reading, so you’re fully aware. I also feel like Willows age wasn’t directly addressed soon enough. There’s discussion before we meet her where the characters think she’s 16. After reading the trigger warnings I put down the book and did a deep dive google to confirm Willows age (20) before proceeding to read. It’s confirmed further along in the book, but I really think her age needs to be shouted from the rooftops. The Headmaster/Student relationship is NOT where we need confusion about age. That was enough that, if this wasn’t an ARC I felt obligated to finish, I probably would’ve put the book back down. Don’t make me fight to read your book. In addition, I wish we’d had more time in the story with Willow and her friends. They took such a far backseat that I genuinely forgot they existed until they were needed to progress Willow and Gray’s story.

I’m going to read the second book. There are enough interesting things going on to make me see how it ends.

When I requested this title, I was unaware of the content warnings. Once I was made aware from the warnings at the start of the document, I elected not to read this title. While I am glad the content warnings were there, I am disturbed by the romanticizing of dubious consent in romance novels lately. I also don't see the appeal of villains as romantic leads.