I found this a quick easy read and read it over a two day period. I felt the story was very character based with little depth provided for the plot and felt important moments with in the plot could have been explored further. I enjoyed a couple of the characters and felt they were relatable to a wide audience. Overall I enjoy a book to be more plot based with greater world building within fantasy reads.

2.5 stars
Fast-paced queer dark academia novel infused with poetical magic. These are all things up my alley; however, I found the plot to be disjointed and the characters flat. I like having the background of the protagonist having a big secret, but the way it was revealed to the other characters felt emotionally stunted. I also found the love story to be lacking in chemistry; it felt like the attraction came out of nowhere or was even based on magic, but that was never resolved. I really enjoyed how the magic was connected to poetry and there were consequences for using magic, but I found myself wondering how this all related to the original Salem witches... were they using poetry to do magic?

It was an entertaining book and I enjoyed the storyline, however the characters sometimes felt flat to me making it hard to relate. I wouldn’t reread again but I would recommend it to those who love lesbians and witches

LIVINGSTON GIRLS BY BRIANA MORGAN: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun and interesting read, packed with action, witchcraft, and well written tension. Set in an all- girls school for juveniles, the novel explores a coven requiring a new member to fill the role following the death of a previous member. With multiple bisexual leads, this story covers a heartwarming love between roommates (and they were roommates!!!). Something I really enjoyed was the boyfriend of the love interest and how he went from a semi toxic ex to a welcomed member of the group.

Livingston Girls feels like someone took a YA fantasy checklist and dutifully ticked every box, resulting in a book that's perfectly serviceable but about as memorable as last Tuesday's lunch. It's dark academia in the same way that wearing all black to Starbucks makes you goth—technically accurate, aesthetically pleasing, but lacking that certain je ne sais haunting academic dread.

The magic system deserves genuine credit: spells are poetry spoken with intention, and every magical act extracts a physical toll—cuts, bruises, broken bones. It's beautifully brutal and makes you actually feel the cost of magic instead of treating it like a magical credit card with unlimited spending. Finally, a book that understands magic should hurt a little!

Unfortunately, the romance reads like someone googled "enemies to lovers speedrun tutorial." Our protagonist goes from pining after her male teacher (yikes, but okay) to suddenly being smitten with a girl she previously couldn't stand. The emotional whiplash is real, and not in the good, swoon-worthy way. The love interest remains as mysteriously underdeveloped as the reasons they supposedly fall for each other. I kept waiting for that moment where I'd think "Oh, NOW I get it!" Instead, I got a lot of meaningful glances and very little actual chemistry.

The plot moves along like a well-oiled but uninspiring machine—you know exactly where you're going, and you'll get there efficiently, but don't expect any scenic detours or surprising revelations. Serious issues get the surface-level treatment they deserve to be explored in depth, leaving everything feeling frustratingly shallow.

Livingston Girls is the literary equivalent of a perfectly adequate latte—it'll do the job, hits the right notes, but you probably won't be thinking about it next week.

I was drawn to this book largely due to the mention in the description that the school was founded by survivors of the Salem Witch Trials. While I realize that the existence of the current coven and witches is due to that, I was really hoping for some more historical background and story about that connection.

Beyond that, the story had its ups and downs. I enjoyed watching Charlie's character arc and watching her relationship with Rose expand. At its core, there was a lovely found family trope in the story.

At points, the story seemed simultaneously too long and too short. Aspects of the plot that I wanted expanded, such as the introduction of the coven and the ultimate fight with Blake, felt rushed, and other aspects that seemed to have minor impact on the overall story seemed too long.

Overall, it was a cute, short dark academia story with a message about found family, gender/power, and LGBTQ+ relationships.

I was excited for this book because the description made it sound really good, but unfortunately it was not. I have a bunch of jumbled notes that I need to formulate into a review, so here we go:

First off, none of the characters were very likeable. We didn’t really learn very much about any of them, even Rose, the narrator of the book. The coven started off as “mean girls” but quickly became friends with Rose. There wasn’t really any development there though, they just told her that they’d be her friend if she joined their coven and that they’d never talk to her again if she didn’t. So she did and they became friends. Yeah…

Rose and Charlie didn’t have very good chemistry either. It was a little bit insta lovey, but not quiet. It was kind of friends to lovers, but also not really. The romance just kind of happened randomly and they didn’t have any chemistry so I was barely even rooting for them.

Another thing is, at Rose’s old school she had an affair with a teacher, which is the whole reason she started going to the new school. However, that whole situation was handled horribly. Everyone originally blamed HER and not the teacher, even though that’s obviously abuse. Rose, though, claimed it was love. When her friends informed her that it was in fact abuse, she basically shrugged, said “you’re right,” and moved on. I just think this situation (especially since it’s the reason of why she’s at the school) could have been written a lot differently.

There was also BARELY a plot. At 43% I still had no idea what was going on. There wasn’t much of a conflict except whatever was going on with the Headmaster at the boys’ school. There was a big focus on Rose’s crush on Charlie there for a minute and then it went back to the school drama. It was very all over the place and uninteresting.

A note I wrote down as I was reading this was: “Literally what is happening and how does the magic even work it’s barely been talked about.” And YEAH, true. They read some poetry and magic happens? I didn’t understand the magic system at all and that could’ve been a me thing, but I also think it wasn’t described very well.

Another much smaller thing that got on my nerves was that there’s a side character who has a stutter, but it’s written in t-t-t-this w-w-way and that’s not always how stutters work!! There’s no changes in the way the stuttering is written, it’s solely t-this w-w-way and I know that not the biggest deal but it just shows that there wasn’t much effort put into that in my opinion.

Overall, I wasn’t a fan of this book. The writing style also wasn’t the best in my opinion. I hate to write such a bad review, but unfortunately I just didn’t like much about this book. I only continued reading it because I read a lot of it while I was at work and had nothing else to do. I definitely started skimming a little towards the end. I do think it had a lot of potential and that if it were executed better it would’ve been fine.

This was a short and sweet read, dark academia vibes, witches with magic that comes at a physical price and young, sapphic love. I would have liked a bit more action and to learn a bit more history of the school and how the magic was passed on by generations.

Some stuff was left unanswered but I don’t know if it was forgotten about or will reappear in the sequel, most importantly: the vial at the beginning - which I assumed was a love spell that our FMC accidentally dropped and now maybe it is on her, which would explain the lack of chemistry or relationship building between her and her love interest. Would be disappointed though if this was the reason they fell in love.

Also, are we just going to completely gloss over the fact that the FMC was date raped by magic??

There were things I liked and disliked about this one.

I liked how they introduced magic and the creative way they cast it. I’ve never seen that method before but it worked well within the book.

There were moments that flowed well but a lot seemed rushed especially with the relationships that were presented. The book could have used some more character development.

I enjoyed the climax of the story but the ending felt flat to me. I was actually surprised it was set up as a series but that’s not always a bad thing. I’m not sure there was enough here to support more.

The book had potential but falls short most of the time.

Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

"There's a place for troublesome teenage girls: Livingston Academy. When 16-year-old Rose's relationship with her English teacher is exposed, her community mourns his reputation, and she's the one banished to boarding school.

Ashamed and hoping to keep her past under wraps, Rose is surprised to learn she's not the only one with a secret: Livingston Academy was founded by Salem witch trial survivors - and their successors still practice magic in secluded dorm rooms and the woods outside the school grounds. When Rose falls in with the strange and rebellious group of girls that make up the Livingston coven, Rose gets an offer to join that she can't refuse. Soon she's part of a hidden world of whispered spells, charms, summonings, and sisterhood.

But there's a darker side to becoming a witch - there will always be powerful men who resent and envy a witch's abilities. When the headmaster of the nearby boy's school is revealed to be a witch hunter eager to claim the power of the Livingston coven, Rose and her new friends must fight for their very survival.

And Rose might have an even bigger problem. She can't keep her eyes off her prickly coven sister and roommate Charlie. Will she master her power in time to save the school, or will her crush prove a deadly distraction?"

I say burn the next door school to the ground and have a make out session with your roommate. While you're at it go take vengeance on the English teacher too.

“Livingston Girls” follows Rose, who transfers to a private all-girls school after a scandal at her old one. There, she entangles herself with a coven - and becomes entangled with one of the girls.

I wanted to like this, really. Sapphic, witchy AND dark academia? Sign me up.

Unfortunately, I felt like the writing just didn’t do it for me. The sentences were quite short and direct, which I think just didn’t work for this kind of story. The characters’ moods and emotions also seemed to me to change strangely quickly and without reason, I just couldn’t figure out why what’s happening is happening because of it.

Or maybe I’m just finally too old for good ol’ ya novels. :((

Rose gets transferred to an alternative school following an affair with a teacher - This summary gripped me when I read it on Netgalley.

This is a story of friendship, witches, and a coming of age as well as understanding of newfound sexualities.

It started promising and I did enjoy it and overall the story had a gripping and interesting plot however, at points in the book, I found myself rolling my eyes at the dialogue between characters or finding the relationships too predictable. That being said, there were some unexpected twists within the book.

I enjoy the found family trope, and I liked how the friendship and coven developed, including all the girls, despite a frosty start.

I did notice some plot holes within the story, such as characters being in the plot when they weren't meant to be there.

All in all, it was a gripping tale. I think I struggled with some of it due to it being YA, which was quite obvious at times, with the dialogue and I don't typically read YA.

I rated this book - 3 🌟

Livingston Girls by Briana Morgan was not my favorite read of the year. It had so much potential. I was drawn in by the concept of a sapphic book about teens at a magical boarding school, but it fell a little flat. I did not find the characters to be very interesting and the plot was missing detail. I felt that the book hopped from one point to the next rather than flowing through the story. Not a horrible read, but not the best either.

3.25 ⭐️ This book had some of my favorite themes (campus/academia, unique twist on magic, mystery) but I felt it lacked cohesion and character development. There was a lot of introspection from the MFC and a lot of dialogue, but rarely was there description about the characters/plot/setting or a lot of "telling not showing." The girls were at school but never in class. The MFC's backstory and family just disappeared with no explanation. Personalities would switch up in the same paragraph. Plot points seemed to come up out of nowhere. Many things didn't make sense, like [it never being addressed when the girls show their magic to the whole school but no one says anything (hide spoiler)]. Basically, it felt like it needed edited more. I did really like how the magic/spells were based on poetry and wish that was expanded more.

Briana Morgan does a amazing job in telling this storyline, I really enjoyed getting into this world and how the characters were so well written in this universe. It uses the paranormal element that I wanted and enjoyed in this type of book. The overall feel worked in this universe and I enjoyed how good Briana Morgan created the characters to this world. I enjoyed the idea of showing the dark side of witches and how the genre worked together in this universe.

3.5 stars

Whilst I enjoyed this, I did find the writing a bit clunky, There were some spelling errors and grammar issues. I thought the storyline was solid, and it was very addicting, I couldn’t put it down. I thought it was really interesting whilst yes some parts were rushed through it was solid. Loved the queer representation, lesbian and bisexual witches? Absolutely!

I found the parents really weird, especially after everything that happened previously, and I felt like it was really brushed over when it could have been explored and added more to the FMC.

This was a solid book, it wasn’t my favourite but it was a fun, easy and quick read, I feel like this book would be great if you were in a slum but I wouldn’t say this is an immediate read but it is fun