
Ratings link to their original sources; spice is sourced from romance.io, Hotlist readers, or clearly marked estimates.
Save this to your reading shelf and teach Hotlist what your kind of hot looks like.
Before reading
After reading
Trying to decide?
Save this book to a Hotlist to weigh ratings, spice, tropes, and reader reactions next to your other contenders.
Your Hotlist lens
Build your lens once, then Hotlist can judge whether books like this are your kind of hot.
Build your Hotlist lens📖 24k+ readers on Goodreads
When a mysterious invitation arrives demanding her younger brother attend a deadly magical academy—the same one that killed her older brother three years ago—one fierce sister takes matters into her own hands by disguising herself as a boy and infiltrating the school instead. Surrounded by real magic, dangerous monsters, and assassins with a vendetta, she's determined to survive the deadly trials and uncover the truth about her brother's death, no matter what it takes. This is a high-stakes, action-packed adventure with a heroine who refuses to play by the rules, and a world where nothing is quite what it seems. Get ready for clever deception, genuinely thrilling danger, and a protagonist who'll stop at nothing to protect the people she loves!
Reading soundtrack
Blend ethereal indie folk with haunting orchestral strings and soft acoustic melodies. Capture tension between wonder and dread, ancient magic meeting modern danger. Include artists like Bon Iver, Florence + The Machine, and Hozier. Moody, suspenseful, yet hopeful—perfect for dark academia fantasy with stakes that feel intimate and real.
Build the vibe
No strong reader playlist surfaced yet, but this soundtrack prompt is tuned to the book's mood.
Paste the copied prompt into Spotify's AI Playlist flow. It is Premium/mobile gated, so Hotlist keeps this one-tap handoff until direct playlist creation is connected.
Reader chatter
We have not pinned a good thread for this book, but you can still look for reader reactions while Hotlist keeps enriching the page.
Get this book