This book was given to me as an ARC from NetGalley.

I’ll be honest this book was a struggle to get through in the beginning. I found the relationship between Wade and Autumn cringey at times. But, that could be because I’m no longer 20 years old dating in this new era of social media and FaceTime. The writing again was a little too immature for me, but once I got into the meat of the book I was happy with the plot and character development.

I wanted to know what was going to happen next which kept me turning the pages. The Secret Legacy can be quite spooky at times, I was creeped out enough that I had to turn on my bedroom lights in order to keep reading without getting nervous. I really enjoyed delving into the history of the Blackwood family enough that I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series to see what else Blackwood Manor has in store for Autumn and her friends.

I requested 'Secret Legacy' via NetGalley by accident long after it was published. (I didn't realize clicking 'Read now' on an already-published book meant I was requesting it.) After some consideration, I decided to go ahead and read this title anyway.

The book is about a girl named Autumn who receives her acceptance to Windhaven Academy one day in the mail. Windhaven is a Hogwarts-like academy for sorcerers, except it is not a boarding school, so she has to go live with her dad (a previous student at Windhaven who she has been long estranged from). Autumn ends up meeting a cute boy at a cemetery the same day she receives her acceptance, which is enough to make her seriously question attending the school. That, and she's not sure she wants to leave her mom or have to speak to her dad. After some deliberation, Autumn decides to attend Windhaven after all. Once Autumn arrives at Windhaven, it doesn't take her long to figure out that something fishy is going on.

I decided to give this book a shot because the magic school concept did intrigue me - admittedly, I am a sucker for those kinds of stories. Overall, this work was okay story-wise though it doesn't really stand out from other like-minded YA fantasy titles about magic schools. The romance felt really rushed between Autumn and Wade. They literally just met, and she already considers not attending Windhaven for him, and just like that, he makes plans to visit her at school and even agrees to accompany her to her orientation. Overall, the story wasn't bad for a light read, cliches aside. However, the book as a whole felt underdeveloped and ran short for a YA fantasy. The story felt rushed in terms of its plot and characters and there were times I felt the dialogue was a little cheesy.

This book was so so good. My only complaint is why can’t I read the next series NOW. I need to know what happens!! This is like a grown up Harry Potter series for the YA audience. A young girl finds out she has been accepted with a full ride into a school of witches. But she didn’t apply. She would need to move in with her dad. Of whom she never talks to. And the house she would live in is haunted and has quite a history according to the locals. August finds out quite a bit about herself, her family, and who her friends truly are in this page turner. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An interesting read. It sometimes took a while to push through, but overall I did find it entertaining. Basically, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

Pretty good story! The characters were good and the storyline was interesting and sometimes intense. I had a lot of fun with this!

Achei essa história super incrível, o desenvolvimento e encerramento ficaram ótimos, adorei os personagens e o mistério que ronda todos eles. A cada capítulo finalizado eu ficava mais e mais curiosa pra saber o que aconteceria a seguir e ficava impactada a cada nova revelação sobre Autumn e sua vida. Super recomendo essa leitura e não vejo a hora de poder ler a continuação!

I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

♥️50% of royalties will be donated to the American Cancer Association.♥️

A very eye catching cover and it's about witches, sounds like my kind of book.
It becomes very interesting around 50% in. That's when everything picks up and makes a bit more sense. The world sounds very intriguing, but could do with more building.
I'm not all that thrilled with the MC and the love interest, it was very instant love and not a lot of it is evident in the writing. One minute they're still strangers, the next it's a serious long distance relationship. And by the way things are going near the end, I hope they will go their separate ways.
The MC makes some interesting new friends and I'm very invested in their dynamic and how it will evolve in the sequel.
The premise for book 2 sounds good and I will probably read it in the hopes that I will learn more about this town and the people who inhabit it. If the MC and love interest keep it going, I need to know more about his history. Without spoiling it, he's not a boring guy.
The writing is a bit strange, with the MC using phrases and references that don't quite fit her age group. I thought she was a teenager until the mention of university came up. It wasn't a bad read and it can be read quickly.

Secret Legacy by Carissa Andrews is everything a fantasy book should be. There is never a dull moment and the story flows seamlessly. I can't wait for the rest of the series!

Before I begin my review for Secret Legacy by Carissa Andrews, I would personally like to thank the author, the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and I have reviewed it honestly.

An unexpected acceptance letter to a supernatural academy finds Autumn returning to the town of her childhood, yet Windhaven is nothing like what she remembers it to be. Secret Legacy by Carissa Andrews is an unpredictable, spooky and mysterious YA ghost story yet is not your typical supernatural academy tale.

Secret Legacy features, but is not limited to, the following themes:
○ YA romance
○ YA fantasy
○ Supernaturals
○ Ghost story
○ Spooky
○ Supernatural school
○ Mystery
○ Secrets
○ Family curse
○ Disappearances

My overall rating for Secret Legacy is…

3.5 Stars!

This one was spooky! A YA ghost story with a fluffy romance and an underlying mystery, Secret Legacy sure kept me guessing. The book focuses very little on the supernatural academy side of things and is more secrets and self discovery. Overall, I was satisfied but not enamoured.

I was pleasantly surprised reading Secret Legacy. It has some interesting world building, as well as an engaging plot. The characters were fleshed out and had their own voices and personalities. Although I might wanted to slap Autumn a few times due to her relationship with Wade due to the instalove and his secrets. Then again, it seems like lots of people has a few secrets in this book. I also liked the cliffhanger a bit, as it made me want to read the next installment of this series.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Autumn is just your average 20 year old, looking forward to going off to university as soon as she can. She's resigned herself to going to the local Uni, until the day that she receives a package from the esteem Windhaven Academy - school for Supernaturals. The thing is, as far as Autumn knows, she's never shown any sign at all of having a gift of any sort. So is completely torn when she finds out she's received a full ride. Her decision is made harder when one night, she meets the mysterious Wade, though he is also going to be attending Windhaven Academy, just not yet. After taking the plunge and moving in with her Dad at his big Ancestral home, things take a turn for the weird. Disembodied voices, cold pockets around the house, her Dad always disappearing, and is that a ghost? It can't be, because Autumn doesn't believe in ghosts... Things continue to get weirder as secrets about Autumn's past begin to surface, and they're not all secrets that she's going to like. Not knowing who to trust, or how to navigate this new life she finds herself in, will Autumn survive her first year at Windhaven Academy and what the universe has in store for her?

I am honestly, pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel. I wasn't holding out SUPER high hopes, but man, I was, I'll admit, blown away by the fervor at which I plowed through this story. I'm not going to lie, it's not the next winner of the most amazing literary book this year, but it was just a downright enjoyable story which had me feeling super nostalgic for shows like Buffy.

The story doesn't dive straight into the whole Windhaven Academy life style, which I loved, and the book doesn't necessarily really revolve around the Academy that much at all. It follows Autumn as she discovers that she may not be as average Joe as she believed herself to be. The mystery aspect of the story, well...aspects, as there are more than a few, were well thought out and executed. I will be honest though, I already know Wade's secret and pretty much worked it out from the beginning, though I don't know if he's a good guy or a bad guy, I do know what his power and his legacy is. The mystery surrounding Autumn though, I was pleasantly surprised at the revelation for it all. I had no idea what her power was going to be, OR the secrets that she was uncovering from her Ancestors or even the secrets from her childhood. So that was great. I really enjoyed what Andrews did with Autumn's story. I have a feeling about her Dad, but it wasn't revealed in this instalment so I'm not sure if I'm right or not. I'm being as vague as possible so as not to give anything away.

One thing that I did find a little bit weird, is how focused Andrews is on her character's gestures...particularly their eyebrows. Every single conversation or anything really, the characters eyebrows are mentioned, whether they're pinching together in worry, or tilted up at the end or raising into their hairline, or any number of other descriptors used. I found this to be a bit much, and kind of wish there was LESS emphasis on this aspect of the characters as now I find myself thinking way more about eyebrows than I probably should be. Also, Buffy is not old. I won't hear of it. Andrews obviously grew up watching Buffy, as did I, and I feel like it really shows in the dialogue and narrative of this story, which honestly, is absolutely perfect for me because Buffy will always hold a place in my heart, and I rewatch it as much as I can. Though seeing it referred to as being ancient really had me feeling old. I also love the little Dru and Angel thing that Wade and Autumn have going on. I adore it.

The characters are well written and I found they each had their own distinct voice and personality which is great and I always love to see. I saw in another review that they had a problem with Autumn talking to herself, I didn't, but I feel like it's because it IS very reminiscent of Buffy which is why I didn't mind it, because it made sense to me as someone who grew up with show writers who make their characters talk to themselves and give themselves pep talks now and then. I really like the character of Wade, but I'm not sure yet if I trust him, and I did find his and Autumn's relationship to be a bit insta-lovey, but I guess, if you feel it for someone, you feel it, and you can't help that. It just seemed a little bit full on for them having been together for such a short time. I'm really loving Cat and Colt, and I can't wait to see what becomes of the twins, especially because of that ending.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story, it had definite creep vibes at times which was an awesome surprise as I wasn't expecting it. As said above, I enjoyed this story WAY more than I was anticipating, so much so, that I have already pre-ordered the next three books on Amazon... Even though I still have a TBR pile that is over 300 books long...it was just THAT enjoyable for me. It has an engaging storyline, intriguing characters, and I honestly just loved the voice of the author. If you like a good paranormal/supernatural/PNR story, give it a go, it might surprise you too!

I received an arc in exchange for a review, thanks! When I read the description, I thought this might be an interesting read, as I often enjoy ya fantasy. However, it seem that this is another stock ya secret magic/magic school/supernatural series for, I would guess, tween to young teen girls. There were too many things that didn't hold my interest and I gave up about 20% of the way through.
Other reviewers have commented that the writing seems too young for the age of the characters, and I would agree; I found the relationship between the protagonist and her mother to be a prime example of this. The latent sexism is pretty annoying as well.
The biggest disappointment was that the writing seemed very disjointed and hard to follow, the continuity is sloppy, and the vocabulary is either repetitive (seems to be the way she conveys character emotion?) or just consistently bizarre - like the author is using words that only look like what she really means (for instance at several points a characters 'garnishes' a weapon???) - bad auto correct? - (this was the main cause of my dnf). I really want to see ya books that demonstrate good communication and language skills, even if plots are pedestrian.
It's sad that no one seems to have taken the time to edit or offer suggestions to the author, could have been improved a lot...(edit after posting - from what I can tell this is essentially self-published, so I guess there is no editorial oversight)

This book was very compelling! Anything with witches I am bound to enjoy and this was definitely the case with this book. It was such an easy and fast read also. I hope we learn more about the supernatural abilities in the second book.

"Nestled in the woods of Windhaven, Blackwood Manor waits to unleash a dark and deadly legacy...

When Autumn Blackwood shows up at Windhaven Academy for the Witching Stick Orientation, she hopes to find out what dormant powers she could possibly possess to have been accepted to the elite supernatural school. Instead, the academy is in chaos as everyone frantically hunts for two missing girls.

But as school begins with Autumn no closer to figuring out her powers, strange occurrences start to follow her everywhere. Even at home, Blackwood Manor keeps many secrets, and Autumn can’t escape its haunting past.

New friends urge her to learn more about her family’s history in order to unlock her powers and make sense of what’s happening at Blackwood Manor, but Autumn’s not so sure. Once an accident brings Autumn face-to-face with death, however, she realizes her gifts are tied to a legacy that can either save or doom them all...

Fans of Kelley Armstrong, Joe Hill, and Jennifer Armentrout will love The Windhaven Witches!"

Fall is all about the witches for me!

Secret Legacy is a paranormal fantasy, and while it wasn't perfect, it was an enjoyable read. It's evident from the reviews that there are a lot of strong feelings about this book, and I felt like I needed to give it a chance when I read the description.

Our main character, Autumn, mysteriously gets accepted to a special college that only accepts witches and those with paranormal powers on full scholarship, she thinks it's a mistake. But as she moves in with her father in the old family home and starts her schooling, strange events start to happen, and it begins the mystery of who Autumn is and what she can do. Just before she moves to attend school, she meets Wade, a mysterious new guy in town, and she's instantly attracted. For those that like instant love/love at first sight type of tropes, this book might be for you!

Overall, I was intrigued with the story and wanted to keep reading, but the plot points were all familiar beats to chosen one fantasy stories. There were many times in the book that it felt like the minor characters were there to support Autumn, and I wish we would have gotten to see more of them and had them fleshed out. I know this is the first book in a series, so hopefully we learn more about the other characters and get some answers to the loose ends and unanswered questions that remained at the end of the book.

Many thanks to the author and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A three-star beginning but four-star ending. The beginning of the book was rather generic urban fantasy. A girl has an opportunity and finds out she has powers, but what kind? Halfway through the book after much resistance of the MC, she finally decides to do the right thing and read what her friends told her to read. After that, she became more bearable.

The thing that bugged me the most, besides Autumn's attitude, was the amount of movie/tv references. While I'm okay with including some, these were way too frequent and were often explained, which shouldn't be necessary. If the readers recognize the reference, great. If they don't, they're not pulled out of the story because they think "what the heck?".

The second half of the book reminds me of The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong, when Autumn goes to school and tries to figure out her powers. That's where the story is deviating from the generic urban fantasy path, which I like. So get through the first bit so you can read the fun bits. I'm really curious as to what's going to happen in the second book. At least we won't have to wait long.

After receiving a welcome pack to the supernatural school Autumn argues with her mum and takes off to the one place that calms her, the cemetery. There she meet Wade a new guy in town who has come to look after his dying grandfather. Autumn isn’t sure why or haw she was accepted into the school as she didn’t show any signs of supernatural powers but after moving back in with her father at the family mansion She finds strange things starting to occur. Her friends Cat and Colton are telling her half stories as is Dominic. Wade is encouraging her to find out what her powers are but he has his own secrets he is keeping from Autumn.
This was a great quick read that only took me a few hours to read. The characters were fairly easy to connect with even though there were and still are plenty of secrets that they all hold. It wasn’t an overly deep story but I am interested to see where the story goes and uncover some of the secrets still hiding.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Secret Legacy is your typical fantasy story. Girl finds out she has powers, everyone is keeping secrets from her, girl has to figure out who she is and hone her powers, and then somehow everyone’s fate is left in the hands of said girl.

And despite the clicheness of it, Secret Legacy was such a delight to read.

We start by being introduced to Autumn Blackwood, a seemingly mundane, 20 year old girl who lives in Mistwood with her mother. Upon receiving an acceptance letter from Windhaven Academy, an elite school for the supernatural, Autumn finds out that she might not be as mundane as she seems.

Sounds familiar? City of Bones, Ninth House, Harry Potter--actually, I’ve never read Harry Potter (sue me), but that’s what my friends tell me it’s about so eh.

Honestly, within 10 minutes starting the book, I was ready to type out a full blown rant about it. The first part of this book was a solid 2 stars and that’s because of...

BRACE YOURSELVES.

Insta-Love

🤭

I apologize for mentioning it. I’ll give you all a moment.

Second chapter. Autumn meets her love interest, Wade/Angel, in a graveyard and they fall in love.

Everyone (at least, this should be how y’all are reacting rn): Hey, Isabelle! Shouldn’t there be some like, I don’t know, something more in the middle of those two points? Like, shouldn’t they have gotten to know each other better?

Yes, yes there should be.

Between the obviously awkward and forced dynamic between Autumn and Wade, there was absolutely NO DEVELOPMENT for our two lovebirds. Which was such a shame, as their relationship actually gets good the deeper into the book I went. But unfortunately, I can’t let insta-love just slide without consequence.

And speaking of awkward things: the dialogue. The conversations that Autumn has with everyone in the first half of the book just feel so unnatural as if they were reading from some sort of script that was like, sitting right on their lap. And they were reading right off of it. And like it was the first time they’ve ever seen that script.

The characters themselves were perfectly fine, but not the best. Autumn makes for a solid protagonist, but definitely could be development a LOT more--hoping for that in the sequel! She was fun to read about and follow along her journey, and as we got to know her better, I actually started to like her. Autumn is an honest character, but she’s also smart. She knows what information she holds that is important and that could be used either against her or to her advantage; she won’t allow herself to be a victim, and I liked seeing that in her.

The side characters however, and by side I mean literally everyone else, only showed themselves when it was convenient for Autumn. She needs info on her past? The Gilbert twins. Autumn gets horny or needs someone to geek out with? Wade. She needs someone to guide her the right way? Dominic (I LOVED him though... wished we could’ve seen more of him). It just felt quite off in that regard.

And now that we’ve got that all out of the way, time to tear apart the plot mwhaha!

Unexpectedly, the plot was good. Like, REALLY good. Like “what the hell just happened I need to know more” kind of good. A far cry from what the first half of the book made me expect.

Sure, it’s full of fantasy tropes and is quite predictable, but at the heart of it is a still enjoyable plot line. I liked watching Autumn go through this journey of self discovery while also finding out more than what she bargained for. The little hints we get about her character are just enough that we’re satisfied but still are left wondering. The climax of the novel was also action packed and full of exciting scenes that I devoured.

Bottom line: Plot is basic, but still fun to read about.

Now, I don’t usually talk about this since every author has their own writing style since I can typically tolerate most of their “artistic liberties” or whatever it is, but I just felt like this needs to be said.

Throughout reading, I noticed that Andrews is extremely fond of writing certain things. I mean, she somehow is able to describe the same light in 4 different scenes all uniquely. While I praise her for that ability, it gets boring. Surely there are better ways to describe a room other than it’s light.

Oh, and also the classic trap authors fall into:

“She loosened a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.”

Not an exact quote from the book, but you get the point. Carissa Andrews really likes to stick to her safe bank of things to write about and phrases to use. My personal favourite being every time a character exits a car they go all BLACKPINK Lisa on me and kick it open.

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Carissa Andrews falls into quite a few of these writer traps that I’ve noticed not just in books, but in my own and my friend’s writing. She describes the environment yes, but in all the wrong ways. We want to see Windhaven, how the houses are like, the streets, the people. We don’t want to see the same four colours of leaves described over and over again. It’s Fall (or Autumn haha), we get it.

I wish instead of writing about these superficial aspects of her world, she’d focus more on world-building. How does the magic work here? What decides who has abilities and who is mundane? Do mundanes and supernaturals coexist peacefully alongside one another? Do supernaturals have to hide their true natures around mundanes? These are the things I want to see expanded on, not how the light seems to seep through the tree branches everytime the characters are outside.

Overall, if you’re a fantasy fan I recommend you give Secret Legacy a read! You might not enjoy it’s tropes, but I hope you enjoy the plot as much as I did:)

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You NetGalley, Publisher & Author for this gifted e-book.

Summary
Family Secrets Shrouded in Death. An Ancestral Home with Secrets of its Own. And a Legacy of Power She Can’t Escape.

When Autumn gets a full scholarship invite to the Windhaven Academy, an exclusive college meant for witches and other supernaturals, she thinks someone in the head office has clearly made a mistake. She’s a mundane human with no special abilities whatsoever. Or so she thinks.

Review
This is the Windhaven Witches Book 1
This was a fantasy book. Which to my surprise I really enjoyed.
It was a really fun book. Full of mystery, which that is what kept me reading.
Overall a very fun, exciting book I read.

Rating 3/5

It started off promising, but I simply couldn’t finish. There were too many cliches through the book regarding the characters and the plot line. Hopefully it will improve as the series goes on.