This is a compendium of three books set over one school year. They all have their own individual plots but follow one larger story arc. I would highly recommend reading them one after another, as I felt it was more of one book with three parts than three books.

The books follow the tale of Maeve and her brother Finley, who get unexpectedly caught up in a magical world, and enrol in Spellcrest Academy. Unlike so many books set in magical schools, which seem to be based on the Harry Potter world, I thought these novels were unique, and I enjoyed them even more because of this.

I would recommend these three books, and I look forward to following Maeve's adventures in her second year.

Apologies can’t review as formatting off and when tried to redownload it had expired. My fault.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Good book overall. Some parts are slow and dragged on but it makes for good character development and deepens the storyline. It's not a fast paced read but worth picking up and finishing. Looking forward to the next volume.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I was very pleasantly surprised at how well written it was and how much I enjoyed the story. The characters are well rounded and the description of the Spellcrest Academy is vivid and helps the reader picture the magical lessons.
As a Harry Potter fan I tend to stay away from this type of book but I am glad that I read it and would definitely read more of the series and from this author.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am so glad I got to read this book! I love the trope of the "school setting" I didn't know that it wasn't one book but THREE! So we got to see Maeve grow through her struggles. I also feel that Michael Pierce's writing improved from book one to the third. He is a great writer and I say this because he kept me engaged in the story and that is what counts at the end of the day. I look forward to reading book four in the series.

In helping an elderly woman, Maeve Rhodes receives a tattoo across her chest and a host of powers she can't control. She has the opportunity to attend Spellcraft Academy, a prestigious place to learn where she is partnered with characters and crushes on her senior advisor. Aside from this, she soon discovers there are plots against her to get those powers she received, as well as a magical war she had no idea about.

This omnibus is a collection of books one through three of the Spellcrest Academy series, covering the first year of the academy: Spellcrest Academy, Crestfallen, and Crystallize. Maeve is the classic character that is suddenly thrust into a new world she knows nothing about, then is sent off to a magical school to learn about new powers dumped into her lap. There's a whole genre of academy books in urban fantasy, and this slots neatly into that collection. I'm glad I read this as the omnibus; books build on information from the prior ones, so you can't skip straight into the story without being really confused, and book one is so much worldbuilding that I didn't feel the same level of threat that the characters did.

Growing up in the foster care system, Maeve is firmly attached to her younger brother Finley and won't attend school without him, so she transfers magical ability to him so they both can attend the Academy. Because they're both first years, we get an introduction into the magical world, the creatures that live in it, the kinds of magic, and even the structure of the school. The danger shows up pretty rapidly in the first book, and I raced through the book until the end. This is where having an omnibus is a good thing because I could go straight to book two after the devastating ending for Maeve.

Book Two, Crestfallen, picks up soon after the first book ends. Instead of rooming with Nym and Razielle for the second trimester of the year, she's given her own room. Maeve doesn't think she can actively participate in classes after the end of book one, but she remains very intense and often angry. This fuels her ability to summon magic for spells; it definitely gets her into trouble and makes me sigh and roll my eyes at her a lot. Yes, she's seventeen and has no formal training prior to this, but she has such a chip on her shoulder that she can't appreciate help or even keep her head down to avoid attracting further notice of bullies when she knows there's a war. There are more revelations, which are expounded further in Book Three; it calls into question a lot of things that Maeve knew about herself, her family, and the people around her. I feel it also paints the Headmistress in an even worse light.

Maeve remains brash and likely to throw a punch more often than she is to sit still and think, but she does grow and change over the course of this arc of books. She still isn't quite eighteen at the end of this series, so keep that in mind if you get twitchy about teenagers getting frisky. Nothing is detailed, but it's mentioned. Overall, this omnibus is a solid start, and I like that she actually has training and attends her classes to improve her skill and fight for the friends and family that she makes.

Spellcrest Academy is an amazing book. It’s writing is descriptive without becoming repetitive or boring. On the contrary, I was actually laughing at how Maeve felt and dealt with different situations. She is everything I ever wanted to be as a 17 year old. She is brave, strong and doesn’t hesitate to help the people she loves, even if they’re not willing to do the same for her.
As for the story, it contains suspense, action and many shocking plot twists. Not only is your attention caught by the unseen magical “land” she is thrown into, but the mysteries and secrets she is determined to uncover.
In conclusion I loved every part of the experience and can barely wait to read what else the author, Michael Pierce, has in store.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Spellcrest Academy was an okay book. It was honestly pretty predictable and I somehow zoomed through this entire thing. Which doesn't necessarily mean I loved it.. because the characters were just okay. At least the main ones. Now the side characters were a bit better in my opinion. For example, Razielle is basically my food twin.

Other than that, some parts of this book were pretty interesting. It just hurt the book more, for me at least, with all the parts that dragged. Boy, did they drag. It also didn't really help that Maeve really frustrated and annoyed me throughout the book with the way that she acted. I get that she was upset at the end.. but that didn't really matter to me anymore.

Don't know if I will dive into the next book but if I ever do - I hope it is a bit more interesting than this one.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I've been reading quite a few books in regards to academy's lately and this one stood out from the crowd with the Seamstress part of things. It was a pleasant surprise.

The only thing I wasn't sure of was Meave herself. Not every situation can be resolved by punching and gravitating your way out of them and I say that as someone who does have a slight temper. She was also a little too overprotective of her brother and it's no wonder the events played out like they did.

I likes the writing style and I will most likely read the next part of the series to see how these characters get on and what new evil will befall them

Michael Pierce is a hell of a writer. He's able to make a chronicle of a year in the life of a pain-in-the-ass 17 year old Maeve Rhodes, a kid stuck in the foster system along with her younger brother, not only interesting but downright compelling. Of course Maeve's meeting with a dying wizard (Seamstress, to be accurate) and gaining her powers does add a lot of zest to the tale.

There are innumerable twists and turns in these three books and they're almost always plausible given the context of the plot. We ride along with Maeve and her friends, all students at Spellcrest Academy, a magic school of the first caliber, as they careen from crisis to disaster and back to crisis again. It's a real adventure and Pierce's writing chops make it well worthwhile tagging along. As interesting as the magic is--the complex interplay of changing relationships is even more compelling. Almost all the characters in the books evolve and often have hidden motives that really add to the unpredictable plot line.

I just couldn't get into this. While I loved the premise (who doesn't love a good regular-girl-in-a-magical-world plotline), I struggled to keep reading. There was too much going on for me to keep track of what was happening and who was who. Maeve wasn't a very interesting or likeable character and i just couldn't connect with anything here.

Spellcrest Academy is very quick to get into. There isn’t a lot of heavy info dump and for the most part the characters are likeable. Maeve can be a bit immature at times and arrogant but it is understandable because she is still young, and as the books go on you can see she grows.

Maeve is a magical seamstress and that means her ability is unique in that she can fix the fabric of the universe when needed. She was basically just given this power and she is thrown into the deep end of the magical world. Just the structure of how this magical world works is neat.
If you like the misadventures of students at a magical boarding school then you will definitely love this.

I love her friendships with Nym and Razielle. There are some twists and turns and a lot of omg what are they doing moments but I thought that’s part of what made the books so enjoyable.

The box set does not end on a cliffhanger and of that I am so thankful. It helps to have them all together in this omnibus. This just marks the end of school year one.

I received the Spellcrest Academy year one omnibus from NetGalley as an eARC in exchange for a review.

I was so excited to get a full trilogy to read from NetGalley but boy oh boy did it fall flat for me. The first book entirely felt like it was a based too closely on Harry Potter and there were just too many things that didn’t feel original. The second and third books felt more like their own story but were still a let down. There were no characters I really liked in these stories and the twists were visible from chapters away. I won’t be continuing on with year two of these books.

I have never read this author before so wasn't sure what to expect. I found it a little hard to get into with the first book even though the premise behind it (the whole seamstress deal isn't one I have heard of before), the newness of the character type didn't really draw me in like I would have wanted. I did finish the stories in this box set and I enjoyed them well enough, not sure if I will read any of the others that came out after these.

It took a while to get this book really going. But once it starts, it is really interesting. The heroine is great. She isn't the weak and 'nice' type of heroine. I love how strong she is. A great plot and a good read overall! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

This was a compilation of the first 3 books in the series which covered approximately 1 year in time. It was an interesting start to the story with Maeve and her brother. The writing was good and really put you into the story while she adapts to her once again new home and her powers. I didn't expect the twists and turns with the other worlds and all the secrets being kept past and present. Each book in this compilation ends with a cliffhanger and then picks right back up where it started in the next one.

Before I begin my review for Spellcrest Academy: Year One by Michael Pierce, 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 imaginative and ignitable world of magic, multiverses and mind-bending tales, Spellcrest Academy: Year One is your one stop shop for all your supernatural Academy needs. Spellcrest Academy doesn't know what hit them when snarky, sassy and short-tempered Maeve barges head first into their world. Prepare to laugh out loud at the high level of sass, smile at the unbreakable friendships formed and gasp at the brutal betrayals. This combination of the first 3 Spellcrest Academy novels is a bombshell boxset that will keep you entranced right through night.

Spellcrest Academy: Year One features, but is not limited to, the following themes:
○ Magic
○ YA fantasy
○ YA romance
○ Magic/supernatural Academy
○ Friendships
○ Family
○ Betrayals
○ Multiverse
○ Fight scenes



My overall rating for Spellcrest Academy: Year One is…

4.5 Stars!

Wow oh wow did this series get better and better with each cliffhanger ending! Michael Pierce has created such a whimsical world with attractive characters and a storyline with thorns to drag you under. Though its a mountain to get through, with the 3 books in 1, I found myself enchanted by the magic of the stories. I can't wait to attend year 2 of Spellcrest!

What a wonderfully fresh and creative take on the boom of Academy based stories, especially magical ones! I loved the main character especially, and I was completely and utterly enchanted by the plot, and world building from start to finish!

I've always loved books about magical schools so was eager to give this one a try. Unfortunately, as entertaining as it was, I couldn't relate to the character well enough to care. The plot and descriptions seemed a bit generic to me and very similar to other works already out there.
I would say it's worth a causal read but I probably wouldn't pursue the rest of the story in a hurry.

A great trilogy full of twists and turns.
When stopping to help an old lady in distress orphan Maeve discovers a world of magic she never knew she existed. Finding a way to bring her younger brother with her to Spellcrest academy this trilogy follows the first year of their lives in this new magical world.

Discovering truth, betrayal and most of all friendship and family anything can happen when you find yourself at a school of magic rooming with an elf and an angel! But life is definitely not simple and Spellcrest is definitely not Hogwarts.

If you are a fan of Vampire academy or the shadowhunters series of books you will enjoy this spellbinding saga. Now I just need to read the next trilogy taking in Year 2