It would totally stink to die and then realize you are going to be stuck at school for the rest of your afterlife unless you win a contest that happens every ten years, or lose your memory and wander the ether forever. Plus you get to go searching for lost souls in the ether that sometimes tries to kill you. Not my idea of a fun afterlife! Unless of course you decide to give up you what little humanity you have left and join a shadow group that is trying to destroy the school. It makes for an intriguing story though!

Told in six viewpoints of six students (some newbies and others old enough to have collected many secrets), during the decennial (which I had to look up) year right after a mysterious new student arrives, it is a good mix of types, and I was hooked once things started to go wrong during the competition. And how the students work together (or not) and their reasons for wanting to win. Of course what would a dark afterlife be without secrets revealed and dark schemes of groups wanting power or to destroy everything. And after the cliffhanger and shocking happenings, I can't wait to see what the students will do with the new truths and sides they have chosen!

Six rival students attending an academy in the afterlife was a premise that immediately caught my attention. This was a long book but read really quickly each chapter leaving you wanting to read more! And the cliffhanger at the end!!!! Can’t wait for book 2!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie

This book was such a gothic, atmospheric ride! From the candlelit halls of Blackwood Academy to the brutal Decennial competition, the setting instantly hooked me. The concept of six students battling in purgatory for a second chance at life was so unique and eerie—I loved how the school itself almost felt like a character.

The cast of six nominees kept me invested the entire time. Wren and August’s rivals-to-lovers tension gave me everything I wanted, and Emilio completely stole my heart. I really enjoyed how each character had their own motives and secrets, though at times it felt like a few of them could’ve used more page time to feel fully fleshed out.

The pacing was strong overall, though the ending felt a little rushed compared to the deliciously slow, moody build-up. Still, I flew through the last chapters because I had to know how it ended.

If you love dark academia, morally gray characters, and a twisty, gothic atmosphere, this one should definitely be on your TBR.

🖤 Dark academia vibes
⚔️ Deadly magical competition
🔥 Rivals-to-lovers tension
👻 Purgatory setting

I can’t wait to see what Marie writes next!

A dark academia enemies to lovers is a vibe. Could use a little more working out the storyline but overall a good time.

I was called to this book the minute I heard dark academic purgatory setting with the comp to the Atlas Six and I had to pick it up. We follow six characters students as they train for the Decennial at the Blackwood academy in the afterlife. They compete in the trials to prove their worth to be released from purgatory or to graduate to join the Ascended.

The book had an interesting premise, unique magic system, and i's multi-pov with a plot forward story. The writing was very digestible and the worldbuilding was easy to follow . I will say however the characters fell a little flat for me and would have love to connect more with them.

It's still worth checking out if you love ya books with a dark academia setting and moving plot.

Thank you so much getunderlined for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Immortal Consequences by IV Marie is a YA romantasy that will leave you breathless. Do you love dark academia? What if the school was located in The Place Between?
It is the job of the students of Blackwell Academy to guide new souls to The Otherside, but every 10 years one lucky student is nominated to complete four trials - proving themselves worthy of the opportunity to either be released from purgatory to eternal rest or to graduate and join the Ascended- the magical elite.

This time the rules have changed and it will be a competition. Amongst this year’s nominees is Wren who is trying to find redemption from her mistakes during her life. August is an annoying and arrogant hottie who cannot be trusted. We also have Emilio, a sweet newcomer who misses his family desperately. Can that void be filled by his crush Oliver? Arriving in the 1800s Oliver is one of students who has been there the longest. With his memories fading away, he knows his time is running out. Could Emilio be a reason for him to fight and be spared from The Forgetting? Matika is suffering the loss of her lover Catherine, who disappeared one night and is suspected to have defected to the evil and dark Demian Order. If it weren’t for Matika, Irene would be a loner. She is a rule breaker, violent, and seeking power that the Demien possess.
Readers will absolutely adore each of these distinct characters. The world building and the magic system are exquisite and be prepared for many twists. I can’t wait for book 2 of the Souls of Blackwood Academy series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the copy.

this book was so addicting i LOVED it!!! the author did such a good job with the banter, worldbuilding, and keeping the reader hooked

The story is unique. I really liked it. The story moved very slow for me. I loved all the characters and I'm really looking forward to the next book. The setting was great too

I loved this book so much and have been recommending it to my customers the minute I finished it. It has been one of my best selling titles so far this month. I thought it was such an original idea for the plot and I can’t wait for the sequel to come out.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and I. V. Marie for the opportunity to read and review “Immortal consequences”

⭐⭐⭐⭐
“she was spared from the immortal consequences of the Forgetting”

This book was 100% up my alley. A dark academia setting, a fun cast of characters with a found family vibe, themes of afterlife, and an enemies to lovers plot line. SIGN ME UP.
For starters, I loved all these characters so much. Each felt so individual from each other and there wasn't one POV that I didn't enjoy reading. I loved how they all had their own motives in their journey through the afterlife. I absolutely adored the location in this book, and everything felt so unique to other books on the market right now. This had “trials” in it as well which always makes for an interesting time. The concept of a school in the after life had me hooked from the begin, the school was well described and so easy to picture. The idea that each character came from such different backgrounds and centuries was interesting and compelling to read. I enjoyed that we were left in the dark on a lot of their past until it became important to the plot. Being able to only know what they tell one another really felt like we were a part of this band of friends and when this came out it felt like experiencing it right alongside the characters. The romance(s) in this book were to dye for and had me on the edge of my seat waiting for their POV. The elements of surprise towards the end of this book set up the next one so perfectly and im so excited to see where this story goes and will definitely pick up the next one.

“He would go to the ends of the afterlife, crawling on all fours, bloodied and bruised, of that what it would take bring her back”

Read if you love…
Found family
Trials
mystery elements
Shadow magic alongside other magic
A diverse cast of characters
Yearning
LGBTQ+ themes

If I HAD to pick something I wish got included into this book, I would have loved to see some of the story get a little more detail. There were some parts of this that felt rushed and I wish we got to experience some of it in more depth. I'd say primarily the ending scenes and some of the fighting scenes. Overall this felt like such a good start to a new YA series and has all the elements to be a new fav for me.

Absolutely adored this YA/NA novel! The dark academic setting was so perfect and I really loved the characters. August & Wren were my favorite - I loved their banter. Cannot wait for the next in this series.

An absolutely incredible debut. Marie deserves all the hype this book is getting!! Mastering the multi point of views and making every single one swoony blew my mind.

✨🩷Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie 🩷✨

At Blackwood Academy, students train in the afterlife to enter the ether and reap souls. With the Decennial approaching, everyone is competing for the ultimate prize—a chance to cross over to the Other Side.

This year’s Decennial brings even more students, four deadly trials, and secrets that change everything for the contestants.

August & Wren’s rivalry turned romance was full of banter and tension. Olivier & Emilio’s slow-burn connection had so much heart.

The relationships were really enjoyable. Now, I’m ready for book 2!

4.5⭐️/𝟓⭐️

This book is a YA maybe NA dark academia fantasy! What a strong start to this series I never really knew who to trust and had a constant foreboding feeling throughout my entire read!
This book has multiple POVs which was great because you never really had to wonder what was going on with each character but, it does make it a tad bit harder to distinguish what is real and what isn’t because something is suspicious is going on during this entire book.
I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book and felt a little crazy trying to piece things together. I think if you enjoy games and trials and a dark academy setting you’re going to enjoy this book!

There are few things in life that make me happier than a compelling story with a stunning exterior. I mean common, just look at this cover! The edges?! Hands down the most gorgeous book I've purchased this year.

At Blackwood Academy, students are trained in magic to reap souls and guide the dead through the ether to the other side. The students are able to do this for hundreds of years but not forever. The longer they are in the afterlife, the more they forget about their previous lives and as they forget they become lost to the ether as well. The only way to stay at Blackwood is to win the Decennial, an elite competition securing a coveted spot as an Ascended. However, this Decennial is proving to be unlike others as a radical group known as the Demon Order, makes a play for power. As the afterlife begins to crumble and the ether becomes unbalanced, the students chosen to compete are desperate and it turns out desperate people are just as unpredictable as the afterlife.

Told in the POVS of Wren, August, Olivier, Emilio, Masika & Irene, Immortal Consequences had me absolutely CAPTIVATED. It's a little over 500 pages and when I tell you I could have read 500 more, no questions asked, I mean it. The writing was spectacular, fast paced and gripping. The plot was unique and intriguing. The angst, the betrayal, the suspense. THE TENSION. All of it, had me invested in these characters. Each of the six brought something different to the table. They are well defined, flushed out and nothing short of spell binding. I loved them. I can't remember the last time I loved a full cast of characters like this, they were pure magic.

Immortal Consequences shocked, haunted and thrilled. The ending left me hanging from a cliff, unconsciously holding my breath. It's an incredible debut by I.V. Marie. and I can't wait for the second book! Now, go read!

Immortal Consequences is a dark paranormal fantasy following six students attending a prestigious boarding school in purgatory. Tethered by shared near death experiences, they’re fated to shepherd lost souls for eternity while slowly loosing all memory and sense of self. However, there is a chance to be spared from this fate if they are nominated to the Decennial, a ten year celebration, and pass all of its trials. If completed, they are given the choice to either ascend to the academy’s magical elite or move on to the other side. But there can only be one winner.

This was a fairly entertaining read with a lot of romance and angst, but the world building fell pretty flat for me. The function of the academy made little sense. Everyone seems to be taking the same entry level courses despite being of varying ages. Why is August, who’s been there a century, taking beginner level psyche classes with Wren, who has been there eighteen years? These kids are supposed to be the best of the best and yet all their classes seem to be going over the basics and they still have such an amateur grasp over their powers. Why do they even have powers to begin with considering they’re not at all necessary for shepherding souls? I was also deeply annoyed at how only 500 students attend Blackwood, with a new student only showing up every few years, and yet our characters don’t know all of their classmates. You’ve been living with these people for decades, with no way of leaving campus, and yet you don’t know everyone? Hello? Like not even just recognizing their faces?

Having six POVs was simply too much. I think Olivier and Emilio could have been cut completely and it would have given more space to actually get to know our four other characters. I disliked how you couldn’t even tell that they were all from different centuries and countries. They all acted like modern American teens because we got zero insight into their lives before death. It would have been so cool to see how their different upbringings influenced the way they interacted with each other. Like they talk ad nauseam about how they don’t want to reminisce on their old lives. There is so much unnecessary cloak and dagger around their deaths and families. It felt like the mysteriousness was meant to give them depth, but we’re given no information to make it actually tantalizing. The secrecy never paid off.

I think there are some interesting archetypes being utilized and I can see a lot of potential for our characters, but I need more to actually be invested. Only some of the romances intrigued me, everybody was playing it too safe. I’d say the most interesting part of this book was the concept of reintroducing pain to these characters that haven’t experienced it in decades. How they were basically reacquainted with their survival instincts and a renewed fear of death after being desensitized to it for so long.

Six students compete to change their fate at a darkly enchanted boarding school in purgatory where graduation is the only escape—and love can cross the boundaries between life and death.
Overall, Immortal Consequences is an engaging and thought-provoking read for fans of paranormal fiction. It combines mystery, romance, and action, all while exploring deeper themes of immortality and self-identity. Nichols succeeds in creating a compelling world that will keep readers on their toes, eager to see what comes next in the series. Whether you're a die-hard fan of paranormal romances or just looking for a fast-paced read with emotional depth, Immortal Consequences is worth picking up.

Thank you for giving me the chance to read Immortal Consequences. I decided to set this one aside at 16%. The first chapter started off with a bang that left me intrigued, but that intrigue quickly diminished as the characters bantered back and forth about useless things. The 16% mark started the sixth character's point of view, and at that point, nothing important had happened except bantering between six characters in sets of two that clearly were in love with each other. There wasn't enough plot, especially since I thought something would happen by 16%.

relatively easy to follow which I appreciated. I loved the yearning aspects between four of the characters, the kind of yearning that only a YA novel can supply. Wonderfully written and captivating.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! From the angst of Wren and August falling in love despite being bitter rivals to Olivier and Emilio (I LOVE Olivier so so much my precious boi) to even Masika and Irene, I just loved seeing their journey and the way they are all competing for redemption while having the core elements of dark academia. It really is what the Atlas six wanted to be but couldn't actually be and I am SO happy for that that I need the next book like right now please and thank you