The thing is: ”Livingston Girls” is not a bad book. Unfortunately, it is also not a good book. I generally liked the characters and Briana Morgan’s take on the magic system. The plot itself is not innovative but a solid YA story. So, yeah, the basic framework is there but that’s it.

My biggest problem with the book was its length. It’s only 270 pages long – and that’s not enough to turn this idea into a fully developed story. So, nothing is really fleshed out: neither the characters nor the plot or the lore. Everything is missing depth, build-up, development and details.

Same goes for the romantic plot which felt extremely forced. There was no chemistry between the two girls, they were going from “I don’t want to do anything to do with you” to “I think I am in love”. It was just weird.

“Livingston Girls” could be a good book if the author would add 100 pages and another round of proofreading.

Sadly, I had to DNF this one. I struggled to connect with the characters, and much of the story felt repetitive with a predictable plot.

That said, I appreciated the representation of queer characters, the inclusion of magical elements, and the diversity woven into the narrative.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I really enjoyed this book! While it kinda read like YA fluff, it's the kid of book I wish I had growing up. I think the pacing was a little weird and some of the backstories could have been fleshed out, but it was a good fun read!

After a scandalous relationship with her teacher, Rose transfers to Livingston, an all-female boarding school where she feels alone and isolated from peers until her roommate, Charli, invites her out with her friends and Rose is asked to be part of a coven. The school's headmistress leads the coven and teaches Rose magic in which spells are cast by reciting classic poems.

This is a sweet sapphic YA novel with two bisexual female MCs. There's a villainous character they need to defeat and a final battle scene.

It's a pretty straight forward read with okay writing. The MCs' relationship feels a bit rushed in the second half, but I would recommend this as a fun read.

I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.

I was very intrigued by the concept of this book and in theory it should be something I absolutely couldn't put down, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected to. I think the characters could have been a lot more fleshed out and well-rounded, and the romance element didn't really hit for me.

Briana Morgan has crafted a fast and engaging dark academia witchy tale with this story of an elite private school with a secret. I loved the way Rose’s story incorporates so many things that young women have to face on a daily basis, and how her trauma informs the decisions she makes throughout the story. The core group of girls are fantastic and this is a book that can easily be devoured in one sitting.

This book had all my typical go to’s but the execution of the story was wildly disappointing. The characters were just annoying & the romance element grated a lot. The cover is so gorgeous though so that has earned my 2 ⭐️.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the arc.

Minor spoilers ahead:

Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I wanted to love it - it has all the elements of a good story for me: witches, lesbians, dark academia, which is what makes it more disappointing that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. While I'm sure there's an audience that will love it, that wasn't me.

That's not to say it was all bad! There was a lot that was really good. The friendships between the girls are realistic and well-fleshed out. They behave like teenage girls are times but love each other fiercely and will do anything to protect each other. Most of the characters are also well-developed, with fairly clear motivations and behaviors. The vibes were also good, with a dark, moody, academia setting.

For me, it read very juvenile. There's certainly a place for YA that leans younger, but the content at some parts was more mature, giving a jarring jump between the two tones. The drama and conflict itself felt underdeveloped. I didn't understand the stakes so I didn't understand the main conflict.

The romace between Charlie and Rose was a bit too insta-lovey for my taste. They had some cute moments and some good build up in the beginning, especially with Rose discovering her sexuality, but as soon as she did, she quickly was head over heels for Charlie and the good tension fizzled out.

Speaking of Rose and her romantic history... I really think there was no reason to include her relationship with her teacher. That's a tough subject and one that shouldn't be taken lightly, and yet by halfway through the book I forgot it even happened until it was briefly mentioned again. It only served to get her to the boarding school, which could've been done any other way. The ramifacations of that "relationship" and it's effects on Rose (a minor!! with a much older teacher!!) were not explored, making it feel like a cheap twist.

I also didn't think there was enough explanation of the magic. It was basically just them reading poems? I was confused about how it worked. I guess any poem could be a spell? I didn't understand if anyone could become a witch simply by reading poems? Or if only certain people could? Maybe I missed something, but the magic worldbuilding definitely pulled the age-level feeling down.

There were a couple weird reveals/twists that didn't felt earned and were just a little strangely placed. I won't spoil them, but there was one where I literally laughed (when it was meant to be intense/serious) and one where I audibly said, "No way this is actually happening." Rose's parents and Blake read as one-note, caricature villains. Blake got more development but his motivations were hazy at best.

Last thing I'll say (spoiler warning!) why did Ronnie and June just get engaged at the end of the book?!? These are high schoolers! It was the most random, out-of-place quickly mentioned plot point that I didn't understand.

I hate being negative in reviews, but unfortunately this just wasn't my cup of tea. It wasn't a bad book, by any stretch of the imagination, but there were some glaring issues with it that I couldn't overlook. I enjoyed the dark academia setting and the queer representation, and I think there are others out there who will really love this!

2/5 stars

I'm sad to say that although I wouldn't describe this book as bad, most of the things that stood out to be were the negatives.

I didn't feel attached to any of the characters at all, mostly because we know very little of them aside from their reasons for being 'troubled'. Other than that, a lot of the actions we see don't paint them in a great light. I have no problems with characters doing 'bad' or questionable things, the issue is that the narrative doesn't ever acknowledge that these people are Not Nice. There are several occasions where our main character's friends are actually really awful towards her, and at first I was intrigued about what the consequences for that would be... but there weren't any. Rose sees them as her 'family' descpite having realisations that the previous relationship she thought was great was actually abuse (Not a spoiler, I'd say that's pretty clear from the book description) One of the worst things that happens to our character is completely glazed over within a couple of lines This was related, in my opinion, to the previous abuse, so overall it was a bit of mixed message around toxic and manipulative relationships.

The lack of character building is also why the romance felt so lacklustre for me. Our main character goes from pretty apathetic beside wanting to be their friend, to being pretty madly in love within a couple of chapters. It was whiplash inducing, and it meant when they did get together I wasn't really rooting for them. There just wasn't enough foundation for them, and the same can be said for everything that happens to the characters. I felt like the book was really suffering from it's short length; there just wasn't enough substance for me to fully care about what was happening.

I will say to the books' merit that I found the magic system intriguing. It was very 'Dead Poet's Society' meets 'The Craft' and I appreciated the intricacies that were put into how each spell applies to it's corresponding lines. I just wish the payoff was there for the rest of the story. Still grateful to have read the advanced copy. Hopefully it will find it's people once it hits the stores.

The premise was really intriguing to me. I loved the connections to Dead Poets Society and Salem, and the idea that poems were powerful enough to be used as spells. However, it felt poorly executed in a few different ways. I found myself wishing it had been through another round or two of copy editing.

First, it read like a middle grade novel… but the subject matter was definitely high school/YA and the characters were high school juniors. The ending was incredibly quick and abrupt, and didn’t flow with the rest of the story.

The next thing that frustrated me while reading was the forced inclusion of “diverse” characters. Truly only skin color is mentioned in background characters - one of the main characters is mentioned to be Black, but it doesn’t really come up other than just referring to her as Black. There’s a section where a character sees a “Black RA” - and then another “Black RA.” But why is this mentioned? They don’t refer to the others as “white RAs.” It’s a lazy way to attempt to write in diverse characters. At least give them some dimension. It happens again when a new administrator is described to only be like a previous administrator because they’re both white. It felt out of place and unnecessary. We need REAL diverse characters, not surface level skin descriptions.

I feel like, with a few more rounds of edits and about 150 more pages, this could be a really incredible book.

Thank you to Netgalley, IBPA, and Briana Morgan for The ARC.

I really likes the idea of our main character Rosemary just trying to joining a poetry club... only for it to be a witch coven. It had a promise of being whimsical, risky and ivy league coded. I feel there was a lot to be said in this book that wasn't said, which made us the readers have to fill in the gaps and inference ourselves. The setting wasn't clearly visualized at times, and felt like we just glossed over many things that could have fleshed out the book a bit more. The timeline of events felt a bit too muddy for my taste, and really wished there was more in it since it had potential.

This was a quick and easy to read book that takes place at an all-girls boarding school with a secret coven of witches. There was plenty of action, a FF romance, unique spell casting, and an academy setting. Unfortunately, the characters and the concept of found family fell flat for me, and I wish the romance developed more organically. Overall, while the premise of the book was intriguing, I wish it had more depth.

3/5 stars

So I must say, the 2025 edition book cover is beautiful, and totally caught my eye on Netgalley. I also liked the summary and idea of this book: a regular 16-year-old girl, Rosemary, is sent to an all-girls boarding school and joins the "poetry club" - which turns out to be a witch coven, hunted by the headmaster of the neighboring all-boy boarding school. While they face this threat, Rosemary also comes to terms with her attraction to girls and her blooming relationship with her roommate.

I liked the first 2/3 of this book. The flow was nice, the characters were more or less likeable, though they were all a bit flat and one-sided, and some things were glossed over really quickly, or lasted way too long. But it was entertaining. But then, everything suddenly happens all at once. I'm a big fan of drip storytelling, and unfortunately, most big reveals happened in the last few pages, with some details previously rendered useless/null...

IMO, this book could be 50-100 pages longer, to allow for more fleshed out characters (there are six main characters, so of course, it's hard to really dig in deep into each of their personality and backstory) and a less rushed end of story.

The diversity outside of the lesbian & bi representation also felt very forced, which, I'm sure, was not the author's intention, but comes off wrong still. I do appreciate the idea behind it.

This is a nice book to start fall with, but I wanted and expected something more polished.

Stopped reading at 20%
The premise is interesting, and the story had potential, but the grammatical decisions and the development of the characters made the story not very pleasant to read.
Only simple present is used, making some sentences very awkward; it reads more like a step-by-step script or diary of a 12-year-old than the thoughts or experience of a 16-year-old. Teenagers can be dramatic and immature, but they have more depth than this.

I was initially interested in this book because of the description of it. I read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix earlier this year, which I really enjoyed and the description made it sound like it had some similar vibes, but in a different setting.

I just found I couldn't get into this book and I did end up deciding not to finish it after I got so far into it. I stuck it out for about a third of it and found I really wasn't looking forward to reading it so I decided to put it down and not finish it. I found the narrative style really difficult to get into - as the reader, we are dumped into a story basically and are subjected to the FMC's inner dialogue, which comes off as really whiny and insecure. I found the setting, or at least the way it was written to be quite odd, and the dynamic of the headmaster was really weird. As the reader, we are left to fill in the gaps, or to make assumptions about things because while immersed in the world, there really isn't a narrative tool to help fill in the gaps.

I think this book conceptually has a lot of potential, but the way it was executed just didn't jive well for me.

Thank you though to Netgalley and Briana Morgan for giving me an ARC of this book to read!

3.5 stars out of 5

This was a pretty quick read. The magical system made a lot of sense, but the plot was a little too simplistic for me to really get my teeth in to. The relationships were pretty basic, which I suppose is to be expected for a bunch of teenagers, and the book itself went too fast in the end, with relationships going from sour to sparkling and vice versa in next to no time. Some aspects of the story seemed to be shoehorned in and unnecessary, and overall it felt like it was trying a little bit too hard.

Rose is a girl who, after getting caught having a relationship with her teacher Nathan, is transferred to a boarding school, Livingston. Her roommate is Charlie who apparently can’t stand her, along with her friends, Ronnie, Billie and June. One day, they invite her to “Poetry Club” whose advisor is Celestia King, the Headmaster. Is it just poetry or is something more magical brewing?

When I read the premise for the book, it caught my attention but as I advanced in reading the book, I was a bit disappointed. The story felt like it was going too fast or like I had missed a few details. They couldn’t talk or even stand Rose but they invite her to join their coven. Rose didn’t even know magic was real but defended herself with a spell in King’s office. Charlie has a pregnancy scare from a month ago and suddenly we learn that Rose had a pregnancy scare too with the teacher. They didn’t like each other and then they have crushes on each other. Devin being the henchman for the headmaster. For me, the timeline and the pacing was just inconsistent.

The only thing that I distinctly liked was that, unlike in other magic books, the performing of spells came with a physical price and the injury directly correlated to the strength with which the spell was intended. If the story was reworked to have a better pace and more character development, maybe it could be more enticing.

Thank you to Briana Morgan, IBPA and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book pulls you in from the start into the magical, hidden world of the Livingston Girls. I love the concept of using poetry to cast spells, as well as the consequences of using magic. In a lot of other books that have a magical foundation, the cost of magic is explained, but rarely implemented. It is interesting how the balance of using magic is enacted in the world that Morgan wove together.
I had to take on a star off because of how whiny and unlikeable the FMC, Rose, is, and how easily she falls to peer pressure. Every time she did something against what she swore she wouldn't do, I felt like pulling my hair out. It is not easy being a new person in a high school, so I understand Rose's deep desire to fit in, especially considering how she was being taken advantage of in her previous school. I can't wait to read the next books in the world of the Livingston Girls. I give this four out of five stars.

Livingston Girls by Briana Morgan is a fast-paced, witchy YA novel that explores queer identity, power, and belonging, all within the walls of a haunted boarding school steeped in Salem-inspired history. The story follows Rose, a sixteen-year-old girl sent to Livingston Academy after an affair with her female teacher becomes public. Emotionally raw and seeking somewhere to belong, Rose stumbles into a secret coven of witches—girls who recite spells as poetry and wield magic in ways the outside world fears.

There’s a lot to admire here. The queer representation is sincere and nuanced, with Rose’s bisexuality thoughtfully explored as part of her emotional journey. The coven functions as a found family, offering her a safe space to rediscover self-worth and connection. One of the novel’s most enchanting features is its magic system—spells spoken as poems—which adds a literary, almost sacred quality to the supernatural elements. The overall tone evokes a blend of The Craft and Dead Poets Society, offering something moody, creative, and distinctly YA.

The novel also excels in its atmosphere. The boarding school setting is appropriately eerie, with enough gothic flair and secrecy to satisfy readers who love stories about girls with powers navigating dark institutions. And while Rose herself can be prickly and impulsive, she’s a compelling protagonist who refuses to apologize for her truth.

That said, Livingston Girls doesn’t always live up to its most intriguing ideas. The plot feels underdeveloped in places, moving too quickly through key emotional and narrative beats. The threat of the witch-hunter, for example, lacks the weight it should have, and some scenes feel rushed or emotionally shallow. There are also moments where dialogue or character behavior seems inconsistent—possibly a result of the story needing a tighter edit. And while Rose’s journey is central, the relationships she forms could have benefited from more time to develop naturally on the page.

Ultimately, Livingston Girls is a mixed read—but a promising one. It’s a book with big feelings, queer heart, and creative ideas that just needed a bit more room to breathe. I’d recommend it to readers looking for a short, atmospheric sapphic fantasy with a poetic twist and autumnal vibes. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly memorable—and I’ll be keeping an eye out for what Briana Morgan writes next.

Really wasn't my kind of book. I liked the premise but the characters fell flat for me. I didnt relate to them in anyway.