I had such high hopes for this one. It sounded so interesting and intruiging. But the characters were meh and bland.  Just wasn`t working for me.

Thank you to @netgalley for this title in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun! It flew by and was a nice mix to the usual magic story. I really loved Autumn as she navigates her way through school and enjoy that the school was not limited to one power, opening it up for more. Would definitely pick up the sequel.

This series has potential! I enjoyed this book. It was fun to read about Autumn, a normal girl who gets accepted into Windhaven Academy, a school for people with supernatural abilities.

At some point in time, “academy supernaturals” have become a YA sub-genre. My expertise in this sub-genre is limited, but the ones I have read have been yay or nay. Why did I want to read Secret Legacy? Well, first, the stylish cover caught my attention, and after reading the blurb, I said to myself, “This might be a fun a read.”

Secret Legacy centers on Autumn Blackwood, a teenager who gets accepted to the Windhaven Academy, which is a school for young individuals with supernatural abilities. Sounds intriguing. Right?

Overall, Secret Legacy is a well-written first installment in a brand-new series. The story is told from the point-of-view of the main protagonist, Autumn. I liked this character from the get-go. Carissa Andrews has a natural talent for writing lively dialogue and detailed descriptions, so I sucked into the story, and the pages flew by.

If you like YA supernatural mysteries, then I recommend keeping an eye out for Secret Legacy when it drops on Kindle, Nook, and other eBook sellers on September 15th.

I contemplated DNFing it around 25%. I completed it but I‘m not sure it was worth it.
This book is advertised as a dark academia but it‘s not, we barely see her at school. 
But beside that, what really irked me is that the way the characters behaved didn‘t make any sense. Here are some examples... Why didn‘t her father tell her the truth when literary the whole town knew about what happened to her? It was just a matter of time. Wouldn‘t it have been better to avoid her knowing it from a stranger? Same goes for her mother. The protagonist cleary realized multiple times that peoples were keeping things from her (her father, Dominik, her friends,...) but never pressed the subject in a meaningful way. And.. is she stupid or something? I thought the thing about looking the vodnik‘s eyes and seeing an adult version of Angel meant she understood he was a vodnik too, but apparently her neurons died with the vodnik. Also, she found out thanks to Dominik that A. was hiding something from her and was supposed to confront him about it but never raised the subject after that. She even saw A. talking about her with the suspicious guy that appeared after the Vodnik died, but again no consequences. As I said, no sense.
All of this is clearly made in order to drag the plot on just for the sake of the book being longer, which is something I don‘t enjoy.
I‘m definitely not going to to continue with the series.

Author # Carissa Andrews has a new fantasy novel ' #Secret Legacy's. The Windhaven Witches book 1 in her series. I myself love a witch novel and she is a wonderful storyteller. Bonus is 50 percent of Royalties Donated to the# American Cancer Society.
Thank you,
# Netgalley, # Carissa Andrews, and # Author Revolution for the advanced copy

Secret Legacy is the first book in The Windhaven Witches series and is full of quotes from Buffy, which I loved! Autumn thinks she is a 'normal' person and her mum encourages her to think that way. Her dad is supernatural but she doesn't have much to do with him. So imagine her surprise when she receives a full scholarship to a prestigious school that she never even applied for. She decides to go for it and then is swept away by forgotten memories, unknown abilities, and mysteries.

The one thing I wasn't too keen on is the Wade situation. Not only was it insta-love but there is seriously something off with that dude and Autumn never seems to notice! And please don't tell me about his silver eyes any more! I just can't cope!!

Apart from that, there was plenty here to keep me occupied and turning the pages. I would love to know more about the other main characters and the school Autumn is attending but, maybe, that is something that will follow in later books.

There are some usual tropes in this book - from normal girl with untold powers to slightly dodgy boyfriend - but it is entertaining. The world-building could do with some work as I have questions about how the supernatural fits into everything but, on the whole, it wasn't bad.

A great start to a new series and I can't wait to find out more. Definitely recommended by me.

ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you for letting me review this title.

Overall it was a nice book, but it need a bit more development.

Not for me. I tried several times to read this and couldn't get into it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

This book was okay. It was not the best read I have had, but it was not the worst. I enjoyed this book and will get the other 3. I did however find the beginning of this book a little slow and did not quit pick up until the end. This could be because it was setting up the middle two books. 

Autumn Blackwood is an interesting character. Throughout the book, we are learning about her father’s family, the town, and herself along with her. Not knowing why the Windhaven collage would accept her and she herself did not apply, Autumn goes and to figure things out. She meets fellow students, who seem to know a secret but will not tell her but will guide her. When you read this, you see her growing as a rounded character. I am interested in seeing how much more we will see this growth, seeing how this book ended. I like how she does not trust easily unless her instincts tell her otherwise. She wants to be adventurous but still cautious because of the supernatural’s involved in the town.   

The other characters in this book all hold the same secret against Autumn. As the reader, they are holding it from us. I like this set up for this book. It works well. These characters are interesting, and you want to be cautious like Autumn but also want to know what is being held back. These characters are a little flat for me, but I hope they will round out in the following books.

The setting is a town called Windhaven. The Author intertwines the history behind this town with the locals and the supernatural. Even though this has been seen before, I still enjoy this idea. It feels natural and you can see this town in any city or country. 

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and felt well written. This book sets up for the two middle books in this series well. I recommend this book for those who like paranormal new age books and dark fantasy.

i really enjoyed reading this book, it was a great start to a series, it introduced the characters well and the world that they built. I look forward to more from the author and this series.

Actual Rating 3.5 ⭐

I love a witchy novel and this did not disappoint. I was intrigued right from the get go, there are so many secrets that I was just dying to find out! I also loved the characters and the relationships in this in particular the main character/love interest. 

I wasn't 100% on the writing style, the encounters and dialogue between characters sometimes felt a little unnatural and some ways in which the characters acted in more serious situations didn't always fit - which ended up making it slightly anticlimactic in the end. 

Overall I'd recommend you give this one a go if you love the supernatural and an overall sense of eeriness. I'm definitely looking forward to picking up the next installment in this series.

This was a great YA fantasy novel. I read it in two days, and can't wait to read the next book to see what happens next. I would definitely recommend this book, and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series and more books by this author. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The premise was intriguing. Magic academy? Sign me up for it.
But then the plot was just messy, too rushed and basic. It was nothing new.
I didn’t really like the writing as well.
I don’t think I can manage to give a proper review due to the DNF.

Full review here: https://fictionfixerreads.wordpress.com/2020/09/28/dnf-thoughts-secret-legacy/

DNF'ed at 20%.
Secret Legacy was a struggle for me to read, with its underdeveloped characters, romantic and familial relationships, and worldbuilding. Its prose was indeed descriptive, but only in terms of physical surroundings and not where it should count towards plot or emotional impact. It also suffers from mood shifts so fast, it left me with emotional whiplash. The main character suffers from “I’m not like other girls” syndrome like other female leads in the early 2000s but has no justification as to why she’s “not like other girls.” The dialogue is also filled with quips trying to be witty but end up sounding unnatural, even for the modern fantasy this book is set in.

I can’t give a rating due to a DNF status. If you do want to check this book out, I’m not stopping you. Heck, maybe this book would appeal to a lot of people. It just wasn’t for me.

My Rating : 4.25🌟
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Kindle/ Netgalley/ September2020
#mabookyardchallengeSep20
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Okay first let's talk about that cover 😍😍
Thank you so much @netgalley for the review copy, which let's me give you my unbiased opinion.
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This book follows our main character Autumn who is thrust into the world of power and supernaturals as she tries to find herself and control the power she might possess with the help of her new found gang.
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First, I absolutely loved the concept of the story. The Elite Supernatural school kind of gave me cliche vibes, but after reading the book, it's not what it looks like. (I know.. trust me, it's still the crux of the story, but not the main course) I really liked the fact we get to learn everything through Autumn's point of view. She is sassy, doesn't take shit from anyone and is very loyal. Cat was an absolute bundle of bestie energy and I loved their relationship.
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Second, this book went in ways I didn't expect it to. I still predicted the ending (kinda) but the way it progressed surprised me. I loved all the characters introduced (Ahem ahem Colt I'm looking at you) and the relationship they had. 
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Now coming to the story and character arc, I think Colt and Dominic gets the most Character arc. I really liked how things went with them wrt the power dynamics and scene wise. (I'm still looking at you Colt). When I started reading the book, I wasn't into it tbh, but once I crossed 5 chapters, I was hooked! Since we are thrust into a world with zero knowledge, I would have loved to know more about the history of the academy or atleast about the characters more. This is the first book in a quartet, so I'm keeping my hopes up to know more about the four friends and what role Wade plays in this storyline. 
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Overall, I absolutely loved the Characters, the story progression, the relationship between characters and especially the uber great grandma (who is on my most favourite characters list). I can't wait for the next book to come out so that I can read more about Colt (I'm still looking at you).

Secret Legacy had an appealing premise in that she receives a mysterious acceptance letter to Windhaven Academy orientation in order to find out what her powers are. I dove in, anticipating witchcraft and mystery but there was a lot of murkiness surrounding the main character (Autumn), as there is an instalove plot and family secret drama with her mother. I didn't find the writing to be particularly engaging, but it was an okay book overall. It wasn't too long and it was a pretty quick read.

We follow Autumn as she gets accepted into a prestigious school for the magically gifted. What Autumn doesn’t know is why she was accepted when she doesn’t have any powers that she is aware of. Once at Windhaven strange occurrences begin to happen and girls start to go missing. Autumn struggles to solve the mysteries surrounding her as well as maintain her relationship with her boyfriend Wade. The story starts out on shaky legs and it took me a bit to get into it but once the story hit its stride it flowed nicely and I found it to be a quick and easy read. I’m curious as to how she’s going to explain Autumns gift and what happened at the end. It does end on a cliffhanger and it’s a doozy so be prepared to grab the next book ASAP. A nice young adult story with coming of age themes full of witches, ghouls, ghosts, and mystery. A fun read.

I found this book to be a bit of a drag to get through. There were so many elements that felt copy-pasted from other blockbuster books of the YA fantasy drama. Don't get me wrong: I understand that nearly all art is a reponse to other art forms. Being influenced by great works is how more great works come to be. But, instead of an original piece, this felt more like a hapazard collage of elements that worked in other books, but we not fully flushed out in this one. The plot was very basic, the characters could be mildly compelling.

This book was a lot of fun. It is a perfect fall read. A mysterious school, a missing parent, a love interest who might be the bad guy: it's got it all. I like that it is targeted towards new adult readers and not YA. It's nice to see magic in the 19+ range. The writing style is easy to follow. The plot and world building are strong. A good read.