Ok from my rating you have guessed that this wasn’t a perfect book for me but it is a promising beginning to the series. Autumn was an odd protagonist as she’s twenty years old , still hasn’t started college and has dialogue and internal monologues that felt dated as if someone much older was speaking for her. Plus the fact that she sits around in a cemetery was just such a ridiculous cliche. 
Now having said all that I did like that there’s a school for those with paranormal gifts although why Autumn would accept an offer to go there believing she had no magical abilities totally baffled me. Her mother works hard for her living whilst Autumns estranged father who she decides to live with lives in relative luxury which wasn’t really explained very well. Autumn has an instant boyfriend ( honestly I rolled my eyes at that although Wade is perhaps the most interesting character ) and quickly makes friends. What completely saved this book from a lower rating was the final third because then it got really interesting and yes I would like to find out a lot more about what Autumn can do and just why Wade is really in her life.
So perhaps not exactly what I had hoped for but as a YA novel it took the idea of a magical school and gave it a new twist which I liked.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

This book was received as an ARC from Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles  in exchange  for  an  honest  review. Opinions  and  thoughts  expressed  in  this  review  are  completely  my  own.

I have been searching for a long time a series that's as good as the House of Night series  by P.C and Kristin Cast and I can't stop smiling from ear to ear. Autumn struggles in finding herself when all her friends keep telling her she possesses the great power and as she uncovers her powers she also uncovers secrets of the Blackwood Manor that will change her life for the test of time. The discussions  that will generate from our YA readers will be so intriguing that I can't wait to hear.

We will consider adding  this  title  to  our  YA collection  at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Nice start but somewhat lost towards the middle and nice tie in to the next novel in the series. I felt this started pretty strong and then lost me for a little bit and then picked me back up. All in all it was a good read, nice story line with interesting characters. Although enjoyable it felt a bit forced and lackluster in cohesion of events and pulling all the parts together. I do love the idea of a magical school and getting powers and belonging but felt that the characters could have been developed a bit more.

This book had me hooked, and quite quickly. The first book in the Windaven Witch Series, and it really lives up to the supernatural elements it promises

Twenty year old Autumn Blackwood is preparing to head to college when she mysteriously gets an acceptance letter to Windhaven Academy, a school for those with supernatural abilities.  In the letter she is told all her fees have been paid for.  Unsure if she should go, her new boyfriend, Wade,  convinces her to give it a try and see what her magical abilities might be.  Thus begins a new stage in Autumn's life full of secrets and unexplained occurrences.  Will Autumn figure out what is happening before it's too late?

This book has an interesting premise, and I liked where it was trying to go, but it felt flimsy, with underdeveloped characters, no world building, and a number of plot holes.  The MC, Autumn, gets into a magical school.  She and her mom automatically know exactly where the envelope is from when they receive it in the mail.  So everyone knows about the supernatural? They live side by side? What are the rules?  Where is the world building that creates this setting and information?  Autumn is also 20....and just going away to school?  Her insta-love boyfriend (this relationship is so ridiculous), Wade, is 23...and still waiting a year to go to college?  Why have they both waited years?  

As the story progresses Autumn moves in with her estranged father, and makes some new friends at her new school.  I was really confused about this school however.  With guidance counselors, a lunch room, bells that ring to signal class changes, and no dorms....this is high school...not college.  College does not work like this.  The actions and reactions of the characters read as high schoolers as well, not young adults in their 20's.  

The story is full of potential with family secrets and an unknown magical world, and was an easy and quick read.  It just wasn't developed enough for me to really enjoy it.

*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

I've been searching for fantasy books with more mature characters and situations than YA, so when I read the description for Secret Legacy I hoped this book was what I was looking for. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. This book checks a lot of the boxes for an interesting fantasy book, it has a supernatural school, some mistery, the MC discovering their supernatural abilities and some romance as well. However, almost everything was poorly executed. The school felt like everything we’ve seen before, the mystery was frustrating and while it is specified that the MC is in her twenties she reads like a 15 or 16 year old teenager. She also falls in the trope of “I’m not like other girls” which I hate and a lot of her reactions and thoughts are immature, which leads me to the romance. It was very cringeworthy and her romantic interest was also really immature despite being 23 years old. Overall it was a decent book with nothing new to bring to table and I would have been a lot less deciponted if it wasn’t marketed as a new adult.

🔮 this was a super quick easy read.

Autumn is living her normal life wither her normal mum in a normal town. She receives a letter with her acceptance into Windhaven and all fees paid offer. She doesn’t know if she has powers or not so she struggles when deciding what route to go down.

Just as she decides it’s time to go and see if she fits in at Windhaven she meets Wade in the cemetery. They instantly fall for each other. He’s new in town and is looking after his sick grandfather as he’s got no family left. He’ll be joining her in Westhaven next semester.

They both go to orientation day and get sent home as two girls go missing. On their way back to the car Autumns car gets keyed by a young man. She doesn’t understand what it means. Veritas vos liberabit.

She befriends Cat and Colton the twins and Dominic (the guy to keyed her car) There’s a secret and everyone knows but Autumn. She’s lead down a path and her past starts to unfold. She’s missing years of her life.

Her friends, who happen to be her old friends help her piece things together but ultimately she has to figure her gifts out herself. Dominic the vandal sees things and knows she won’t safe with wade. I’m so exciting to see what comes next for Autumn.

My first NetGally book and I really enjoyed it! Thank you so much @carissa I can’t wait for the next book in this series. Also 50% of Royalties Donated to the American Cancer Society!

I enjoyed this new series of witches and the magical world around them. Lots of mystery surrounding Autumn, her family and history. In fact there are so many questions to be answered about everyone and everything this book certainly has left the reader wanting more in the second book. I hope some questions are answered a little quicker it was a little frustrating.
This has been a lighter, not  so dark and dangerous as some alternatives in this genre.
Had a feel of young adult witches and romances reads which was a nice change for me.

I enjoyed this book. With all the heavy stuff that I tend to read, I like to break it up and read some young adult books too. The book kind of hooked me right in the beginning and pulled me along, making my reading progress because I wanted to find out more and more. An easy, quick read, with well detailed characters and a plot line that could have used a little tweaking but was lovely just the same.

My personal quirks were how the characters consistently seems trail off when they were speaking. As I was reading that I was like finish your sentence! But that's just a pet peeve of mine. The second thing that I don't like in books how quickly couples come together, it's like instapot love. It just doesn't happen that way in real life. I did like the conversations and the relationships, some did feel a little stiff and stilted, but I think that's part of being in that age group - the awkwardness and the fragility. I was hoping to learn more about their supernatural abilities but, being that this is book one in the series, I'm assuming we're going to learn more in further books.

I did enjoy it and I think that it's a great book for young adults. I would buy it for my 16 year old niece.

I would like to thank Carissa Andrews, Author Revolution/ Independent Book Publishers Association and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is set in the future, a whole four years from now. I found this an unnecessary detail. The world is not going to change so drastically in a paranormal sense.  The entire book served as an overall prolonged world-building exercise. The author was only using this book as a set up for a more extensive series. It took far too long for anything to really happen that I struggled to stay interested. I also have issues with the ages of the characters. Autumn is 2o and only just getting started with college. Wade is 23, and he is deferring a year before he even starts. The characters would be more likeable if they were younger, I also hated the insta love. Autumn just meets Wade and shes thinking about giving up going to Windhaven.  That was so unbelievable, it almost turned me off the whole book. 

I did like the idea of the book, discovering family secrets, unknown powers etc. not enough time was devoted to this. There was great potential in this book, but the author was too bogged down by a need to developed a magical world that she lost the whole story. I do think this series deserves a second chance so I will give the second book a chance, but The author really needs to up her game. 

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unsure of her own magical abilities, Autumn receives an unexpected acceptance to a magical college in the town where her estranged father lives. Who sent in her application? Does she have magical powers or has her acceptance been a mistake? Encouraged by her brand new boyfriend, Autumn sets out to Windhaven to look for answers! And girl! We are on the journey with her!

I mean, Give me a book about witches and ghosts and I am IN!

This book has everything - mystery and magic and a whole bunch of secrets (secret rooms included!) - and, when it starts moving, it goes super fast. The premise is super fun and unique and I loved all the Buffy references peppered throughout the book.

Though Autumn is 20 when her story begins, she reads much closer to 15 (possibly even 14) and the college she attends feels like a high school. Autumn and her friends do not display any maturity and many of their actions are super cringe. The love story was particularly bad and it was really hard to imagine Wade as older than 16 or 17. It also became frustrating when Autumn would run away from situations before her friends gave her information but, at the same time, flip a switch and whine that no one told her anything. Autumn herself is not very likable and this made it hard to root for her at times. Hopefully this is fixed in the upcoming books because the action scenes were super fun!

All in all, I could definitely see myself recommending this to a middle schooler who loves paranormal books. I do think this book would be stronger if the references to alcohol and sex were cut out - they felt super out of place with the character maturity levels - and, if the ages of the characters were dropped to high school age, the book would feel more authentic as well.

This read was closer to a. 2.5 for me but I'm rounding up!

***I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*** Secret Legacy is the first book in a fantasy series about a girl who goes on a path of discovery about her past and her family, and recovers many secrets along the way, which are both unpleasant and astonishing. When I first started reading it, I expected it to be the same as any other novel about the main character learning about their past and coming across facts that shock them to the core, but as I moved forward, I realized that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Far from predictable, and very enjoyable, Secret Legacy has impressed me more than I bargained for. The only thing that felt off was the character development. It wasn’t too bad, but not entirely descriptive in the way that it should have been to give the readers a sense of clarity while reading the book. In other words, the character development was a bit jagged, if that makes sense, and sometimes, it felt rushed, which made the story a bit hard to decipher. Other than that, however, the writing style was both lighthearted where it needed to be and then drastically turned dark when the events in the book started building up towards the climax, which was also very impressive. And of course, the cliffhanger at the end was very surprising. A great way to get the readers excited for the sequel.

DNF @ 30%

The premise of this book sounded fun (a mysterious magic school, an acceptance letter to a girl who seems completely ordinary), though a bit cliche.

The execution left a lot to be desired. The first three-ish chapters are a full info-dump. It doesn't get that much better moving on. The dialogue feels forced and unnatural. I figured I'd enjoy this book as a light, fun read, but with the way it was written, I just couldn't get myself to finish it.

DNF at 36%.

This was so bad it was hilarious. From the little details - the words like resuscitation (to do so with eggs is quite ridiculous), monolithic (which was used every 5% or so), doofus (a Scottish curse word, as I found out after opening the dictionary), numpty and more - to the ridiculous phrases - morbid curiosity (about a letter), a seductive grin illuminating his features - to absolutely absurd sentences - "Why are you so glib about this endeavour?". (No, this isn't a grandma peaking - our MC is 20 years old.)
Speaking of our MC, she talks to herself, gives herself nods of approval in the mirror after (and this was written from her POV) "pulling [her] auburn locks into a haphazard ponytail", talks to tombstones, chuckles to herself, she cries sticky tears, her hands spark electricity when touching a boy she's just met on a cemetery in the middle of the night, and the list goes on.

There are many more things I'd like to discuss, but this isn't worth my time, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Author Revolution for letting me read this book, in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about Autumn, a girl who grew up with her mom in a normal household, so far her memories go, wants to be extraordinary. When she receives a purple envelop containing her acceptance letter to the Windhaven Academy along with a full-paid education gifted by a mysterious donor, she starts to think that perhaps she is not ordinary at all. 
When Autumn decides to go to the Windhaven Academy, she reaches out to her Dad who she hasn’t spoken with for quite some time, let alone visited the house she originally grew up in. Upon her arrival in her new home, strange things happen. Whispers in her ear, visions of a dead woman on the carpet. Autumn’s arrival has stirred up the past about which, apparently, the whole town knows everything except for Autumn. When she starts digging, she finds out that there is more to her past than she thought. And her loving, amazing boyfriend is someone she has been warned about, but is it all true?

I did not know anything about the story before I started reading, I hadn’t even read the premise. I think that the story is a typical YA story in the sense of a magic school, protagonist who struggles with her past/ identity, scary things happen. At some points, the writer rushed through a situation or did not provide enough background information, this is also noticeable regarding the length of the book. The love story is a cheesy, loving story that I think every young girl wishes to experience. 
The book is categorized as New Adult, although this is in accordance with the age of the characters I personally think that the book read more as a YA story.

I would recommend the book if you are looking for a quick, YA read with a cheesy, but nice love story.

I enjoyed this! I know the plot has a kind of cliché feeling because it starts with Autumn. She seems to be a normal teenage girl with normal worries and issues until she gets that letter. The letter that acts as a pandoras box being opened. 
Soon she meets the love of her life/love intrest in the Graveyard.  The whole instant love thing was kinda cheesy, but it worked well with the plot. 
While the whole theme of the book is alot like many other Young Adult books, I have to say I still enjoyed this one. It was a delight to read and had parts that definitely still kept me on my toes. 
Definitely recommend to paranormal romance and Young Adult book lovers!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were really well developed, and the story was engaging. While I felt that at times it moved too slowly, there was a lot of mystery surrounding Autumn, and her journey of discovery really held my interest.  Additionally, the book ended with only some of the answers, but not all, which builds anticipation for the next book in the series.

For those who like supernatural stories, this is a pretty decent beginning to the series. I liked that it was New Adult (honestly I’m loving that this genre is really picking up lately).
Autumn Blackwood lives in a world where some people have magical/supernatural abilities - which is a pretty cool premise and honestly I wish there was a bit more world building here. But she gets into Windhaven, which is this college for students with abilities - a total shock to her bc she thought she was just a normal human. But once she goes, she finds out she’s caught up on this whole intrigue and there’s a family curse she knew nothing about and a mysterious part of her past she can’t remember. Also, her boyfriend isn’t who he says he is.

A great start to a series if you like these types of stories - can’t wait to see where the series goes.

Autumn is shocked when she receives an acceptance letter from Windhaven University, especially since she never applied. She’s also shocked because Windhaven is for people with supernatural abilities, and she has none. Eager to start at Windhaven and take advantage of her good fortune, Autumn moves in with her father in their ancestral home.

Strange things immediately start happening. Vases fall and break without provocation, ghostly images appear, and weird noises become more frequent. On top of that, two girls go missing, and their disappearance hints towards similar happenings in the past. Can Autumn figure out what is happening in her home and what happened to the missing girls?

This is an entertaining, if a bit predictable, read. Autumn is a smart, strong, and dynamic protagonist. From the moment she receives her acceptance letter, her life changes and is filled with unexpected twists and turns (not to mention a ton of supernatural occurrences!). She had a great character arc, and I was surprised at the extent of her powers. However, I do wish the characters were a bit more developed, especially some of the minor characters.

Very early in the story, Autumn meets Wade, and they feel instantly connected (Yes, we have an insta-love situation here). They quickly develop a deep bond, but it seems a bit rushed to me. They barely know each other, and Autumn is ready to change her future for him. I liked their romance as the story progressed and felt it was better developed later in the book. I’m curious to see what happens to this pair, as some revelations are sure to cause conflicts in future books.

The title of the book is so appropriate, as secrets riddle the story. This includes family secrets, secret powers, secrets from the school’s past, and mysterious boyfriends who seem to be hiding something. Autumn has many mysteries to uncover, and this makes for a suspenseful read.

A well-paced story with interesting characters and more suspense than I anticipated (but that’s a good thing!), the book ends with a cliffhanger that definitely makes me want to find out more. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Author Revolution for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm gonna keep this review short.

The cover is pretty
The synopsis is intriguing.
But the book? None of the above.
This was almost a DNF for me. At several points in the first half of the book, I considered dropping it too.

The main character was quite annoying and felt underdeveloped. The story was riddled with clichés tbh and there wasn't anything refreshing. It was a mish-mash of of all those different books that I've read before but not in a good way.

Now about the writing. Why did I feel like the author just describes the same sort of scenes over and over again in different ways? The conversations between characters didn't feel natural too.

And the ending.... I don't even know what to say. It felt so abrupt to me. Here I was just starting to enjoy the book and bam! a few pages later, the story ends. 

Such a shame... plot felt like a wasted potential.