Name: Immortal Consequences
Series: The Souls of Blackwood Academy #1
Author: I.V. Marie
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Format: Kindle
Genres: Young Adult, Dark Academia, Fantasy, Romance
Spice Rating: 🌶️Glimpses & Kisses
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
Welcome to Blackwood a boarding school located on the fringes of the afterlife.
No one knows why they end up at Blackwood; but when they enter the school’s arched gates the only way out is to be chosen for the Decennial – a series of magical trials held once a decade. The chosen pupil is offered a graduate and join Blackwood’s magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the Other Side.
Wren knows she has what it takes to win—unless, that is, her arch-rival (and subject of her tortured dreams) Augustine steals her spot.
Irene has never cared about playing by the rules and will break whatever (and whoever) stands in her way, including her only friend, Masika.
Olivier has given up securing the nomination. But he’ll stop at nothing to keep Emilio, from crossing over to the Other Side.
All are determined to be Blackwood’s chosen candidate. All are determined to win. But this Decennial will be unlike any before.
Six nominees. Four trials. One victor.
The competitors are about to learn that there are some fates worse than death.
Review:
Oh I am so torn about this one, because I truly think this could have been epic and after finishing the story I wish so badly that it had been epic the whole way through. Let’s talk about Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie!
This is about 6 students at a school in the afterlife all eager to be Blackwoods chosen nominee for the Decennial. An event every 10 years when one student is given the chance to show off their skills in four trials and then at the end Ascend and join Blackwoods elite, or take a chance and go to the other side (of which no one knows what’s there and waiting for them). This time however, it is a competition between 12 students where only one can win. But they’ll soon learn that for some, there are some fates worse than death.
The premise sounds amazing, the execution sadly just wasn’t quite there. I didn’t mind so much feeling like I’d been thrown into the middle of 3 established relationships, playing catch up on how we were meant to feel about certain people and coupings… but I didn’t like how everything felt kind of rushed and almost as though too much was happening conveniently… It took me out of the story on more than one occassion.
However, I liked our characters (well except Irene)! So, I kept reading – I wanted to know what the trials were all about. And I.V. Marie wrote some excellent trials, in my opinion! Truly, some of them were actually terrifying! However I realised I was never really cheering for any one character to win – I guess I didn’t really understand what was at stake. This all became clear in the last 25% of the book.
If I was rating on the last 35-25% of the book alone, the rating would be a 4 or a 4.5 star – I loved it. I wrote at one point on goodreads that I felt like Immortal Consequences was trying to do too much, but I expected that there would be an ‘aha!’ moment where it would all come together nearer the end. And there certainly was! The ending was that good that actually I’m contemplating reading book 2, even though for a good 60% of this book I didn’t think I would!
All in all, I’d struggle to recommend it even to those who like deadly trials, who like dark academia, who enjoy romantasy… And yet, I’d want to recommend it based on the ending alone. I think Book 2 will be worth pushing through book 1 for… At least, I really hope that’s the case!
“Sometimes I think…I think I was never truly alive until I met you.”
Reading With Tyler 
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