I feel that this book had a lot of potential and I just could see it evolving very beautifully but for me it didnt hit the mark for me. It was a mix of hits and misses for me.

As someone who loves Greek mythology inspired fantasies and anything with celestial-based tie-ins, "Academy of Villains" hit a lot of those marks for me!

The good:
- The magic system was fascinating and felt new to me, despite how much of this genre I consume on a regular basis. Like I said though, I'm a sucker for anything celestial based.
- The references to Ithaca and the Odyssey were really well done without feeling too overbearing. My husband's family is originally from Ithaca so having the nods to such a cornerstone of Greek culture was a clever use of existing mythology.
- The trials that our main characters go through were actually one of my favorite parts of the entire book. The scenes were extremely well written and the outcomes felt satisfying.

The bad:
- The romance element felt like it could have been developed a bit more thoroughly. The other elements of the story felt so rich and this just felt a little bit lacking.

It took me a little while to get in to this book. And to understand the world. But when I got it I was hooked. It was a very unique story. There were some really good twist. I did like how the love story was there but not the main thing about the story. The ending of the book did make me curious for the next one!

I finally got to this book only to find out that it has been rereleased with 8 more chapters and an epilogue. I think it will be a waste of time to read, since I won't get the full book, let alone a full picture of the characters. This is disappointing since, though wonky, the beginning had a curious appeal and a Potter-type feel.

The Menu:
The light to his darkness
She's an Assassin

I used to think that fantasy wasn't my genre, but maybe I just needed to find the right books! I really enjoyed this lil book! Stay with me. It's fade to black, so there's no smut. It very much gives YA. But because of that, we get a book where the world building is beautiful and captivating. Think if Hogwarts met Mythology. Magic houses. Light against dark. "Bad boy" MMC (and his crew). The main character, Kiara, gives me Rei from Sailor Moon vibes. You know, if she'd been in charge of the scouts. It does read as a first book, so you end up with more questions than answers.

This book drew me in from the first second. Magic meets mystery in the best ways possible. It left me wanting more and I can see it as a feature film i the near future.

The Greek mythology vibes instantly grabbed me, and the unique magic system/powers was such a fun twist. I’m always a sucker for dual POVs because I love getting inside both their heads. Enemies to lovers made it even better. A fun romantasy to lose yourself in.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when picking up Academy of Villains. What I got was a conglomeration of Hogwarts and Basgiath (4th wing) but with Mage’s instead of dragon riders or witch/wizards. The world building was fun and I enjoyed putting the pieces together to get a picture of what the kingdom is like. You have your dark prince, your heroine, an unwanted tether and pushing their magic to the max. It was fun and I enjoyed it, but I do have a few critiques: I don’t know if I missed it or what, but I felt a little like I got the whiplash from the change in Kiara’s view/feelings of Lucian. I kept thinking “how did she go from loathing him to being so sweet and caring?” It felt like their relationship didn’t progress evenly paced with an appropriate buildup. Maybe I missed it but it felt like they jumped to lovers and trusting each other pretty quickly and by the end I wasn’t sure if I really *knew* them as characters. Granted, I know the heartstring could cause the acceleration. Another thing that bugged me was the similar character names to other Romantasy books. Overall it was a fun read and I’m interested in reading the second one, but there were holes I would have loved to see filled!

Thanks to NetGalley and Everkingdom for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I love when a book gives us a unique magic system, and unique powers and this is exactly what this book did. The idea of a Starmage is so cool, and I’m glad the author decided to use a different magic system compared to the overused ones we typically get in fantasy books.
Its interesting, to find out that someone who hates magic almost find out that they have magical powers. And that’s what Kiara’s situation is, and whats even worse is the person that seems to be her magical opposite and Heartstring is the crown prince she needs to kill. I enjoyed Kiara’s character and loved that she was stubborn sometimes, and refused to give up occasionally.
The romance in the book was good, nothing amazing. But good nonetheless. I am hoping that in book two we will get more, but we’ll see.
One thing I do wish we got was more worldbuilding and more answers to the plot. Some of the stuff has been left unknown, and could that all be figured out in the next book possibly? I guess I’ll have to find out especially with that ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and Everkingdom for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC - all thoughts are my own!

3.25 ⭐

I absolutely LOVE this world and the concept of the whole series - the magic system, the concept of grimoires, the different types of powers, the school, the secret scrolls. The way this is inspired by Greek mythology - Nyx and Erebus!! You barely ever see stories based on them, so it was nice and refreshing to have found this. And the lore is so awesome, too! I looked up the author's website for this and fell in love with the art and the lore. It's all so fascinating and I love that it supplements the books. This really helped me understand the world before and after reading it, and the art was so cool that I found myself imagining the magic scenes as if it was an anime (which I love btw).

However, I wasn't as connected to the story as I'd wanted to be. While it was easy to read (which is great for such an cool magic system and a world like this!), I found that there was more telling than showing, and this also led to the ending feeling rushed. Things happened too fast, too easily, like clues were falling into Kiara's lap and it made for a lack of suspense. I also had issues connecting with the main characters characters, who we don't really get to know below the surface level for most of the book. I can tell you what powers they have and what they do in the story, but I can't quite tell you if I know them beyond this. It also meant I wasn't too sold on the romance as I found Lucian was already into her quite early - though I will say that I loved that Kiara was pretty much keeping her distance from him up until nearing the end. The concept of Heartstrings is also so cool, but the romance - or at least, Lucian's attraction to Kiara - relied a lot on it to keep it alive.

The world and concept of this story were definitely my favourite parts of this book. And also side characters. I found myself really interested in learning about Lucian's friends, especially Tobias and Bastian. I know Book 2 is Bastian's but I hope Tobias gets his own book soon!!

I think if there was more depth in the character building/development and the writing in certain parts, then I definitely would've loved this a lot. But that's not to say I didn't like it, because I did and I still enjoyed it! It was fun, fast-paced, and there is plenty to keep a reader curious and interested. I will definitely be checking out Bastian and Lyla's story to see what happens next.

I liked the Greek mythology through out the plot. the storyline in itself was well written yet a little predictable for an enemies-to-lovers. the inner dialog on both pov's was a little annoying at times. the tension was good, their situationship had me confused in the beginning until she and the prince finally got together.

Thank you so much for the ARC! I absolutely loved this book! It had everything you could want from a fantasy romance & it is the first in a series of interconnected standalones! I definitely recommend you picking it up if you are a fan of any of these things:

•secret society
•dark academia
•shadow prince
•stabby fmc assassin
•he falls first
•slow burn

This book did such a great job of setting up for the rest of the series and getting to know the other characters that will be in the books to come! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🫑

The ROMANCE?! Ahhh I love it! Initially, I read this because it features Nyx, my favorite Greek Goddess, and the concept of light and darkness is blended really well in the book. This is set in an Academy of Mages where Kiara is sent to kill the Prince, Lucian Darkwing but when she’s about to kill him, she feels an intense attraction. One that is far more than just a physical one.

Kiara is a special type of mage called the Starmage. She is slowly discovering her powers as well as her attraction to the Prince. We see what’s going on in the Mage Academy and how the plot unfolds. However, at some points the pacing of the story ebbs and flows.

You will love this if you love:

🖤 Academy
🖤 Magic
🖤 Shadow Daddy
🖤 Girl coming to her power
🖤 Greek Mythology

Thank you NetGalley, Everkingdom, and Ever King for this Advance Reader Copy of Academy of Villains.

This is everything you could ask for in a romantasy, the characters had great chemistry, although the setting and atmosphere was my favourite. I really enjoyed rooting for the main character, Kiara as we follow her through her journey and development. I usually don't really like dual pov because it takes away from the 'mystery' of the romance but I think it worked in this instance as it gave different perspectives.
Overall this is a solid four star.

this had such a cool concept with a mix of mythology, magic and romance, and i reslly enjoyed it! i will the say the writing isn’t the best, its not a good book, but its so FUN, and thats what i look for when reading!!!

“Academy of Villains,” by Ever King

This book wasn’t bad but very messy, it reads like a fan fict 100% of harry potter with many many things being so similar that you can ignore it. Some of it didn’t bother me because I like fan fict but using names like Bellatrix I think just rubbed me the wrong way. The entire book is harry potter meets throne of glass meets gossip girl. I feel like the plot just bit off more than it could chew and just ended up being messy, just a girl who has all the right skills at all times at the right time and the right place to fix all the problems lol. Not bad, just not my favorite book ever. 3 out of 5 stars.

-Assassin
-Magic
-Magic School
-Harry Potter X Throne of Glass X Gossip Girl
-Greek Retelling Nyx X Erebus

Thank you for the free copy, Netgalley.

Academy Of Villains is a wonderfully built world of powerful mages, secret societies, secret scrolls,magical artifacts, dark creatures, and missing students. A perfect read for those who enjoy reading about magic, love, identity, and challenges!💫💫💫💫💫

" When the world is at its darkest, follow the stars"

Kiara is an orphan. Her village was reduced to rubble due to the king's relentless hunt for magic. She was captured as a child and was trained to become one of the king's assasins. The Nameless.

She is entrusted with the duty of killing Lucian Darkwing, Crown Prince of Ithaka. She must sneak into the Academy of Magic and end the royal bloodline. However, during the Selection Ceremony, they all find out she is a mage, a Starmage, one of a kind. She will stay at the academy while she learns how to harness her magic, learn to use her grimoire, and control her power. While also attempting to kill Lucian and not fall for his kind, protective, and powerful demeanor

This book gives shadow and bone x Harry Potter x Percy Jackson. And I lived for every second of this book, I didn’t want to put it down. Learning about the magical system, the twist in the beginning I was not expecting. I loved this book to my very bone. I feel like I just got whiplash from reading a beautiful sentence then I was shocked to find it was the end of the book. This book was everything.

Absolutely loved this.. loved how the magic works.. the way she was so new to everything and her librarian friend helps her and how she's to tell her secrets to her.. next big thing!

I can't even describe how this book made me feel. I am a big sucker for academic based books but add in magic, romance all inspired by greek mythology I am dead. I am obsessed and I can not wait to read the others. Run and add this to your TBR