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June 1, 2025
Trapped indefinitely in adolescence and forced to reap souls, the students of purgatory's Blackwood Academy boarding school have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to escape their fate in this debut. Wren, August, Emilio, Olivier, Irene, and Masika are "unfortunate acquaintances" nominated to compete in the Decennial Festival, which offers the opportunity to join the Ascended as school leaders or cross over to the Other Side. Either way, it's a chance to avoid eventually losing all memories and sense of self and wandering the Ether for eternity. But as the competition begins, a mysterious new student who can harness shadow magic appears. In between the Decennial contests, the classmates try to get to the bottom of this mystery, unraveling more threads along the way. Some inconsistent and anachronistic worldbuilding elements are distracting in places. This ancient institution admits students who have died anywhere in the world (their commonality is that each one had a near-death experience before their actual untimely demise), and there's racial diversity in the supporting cast. The six leads, several of whom are queer, include Wren, August, and Olivier, who present white, as well as Emilio, who's cued Latine, Irene, who has some Korean heritage, and Masika, who reads Black. The mystery at the heart of the story is compelling and will engage readers all the way up to the cliffhanger ending, which will leave them yearning for the sequel to tie up loose ends. A compelling plot compensates for issues with worldbuilding. (map)(Fantasy. 14-18)
COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
June 13, 2025
Grades 9-12 There's no such thing as a deadly competition when you're already dead, but Blackwood Academy's Decennial is set up to give the best approximation of one. Two students from each academic house have paused their soul-reaping duties to participate in an unprecedented competition that will result in only one of them graduating and heading up a special task force to stop the evil Demiens from sabotaging Blackwood. To further complicate things, six of the contestants are unfortunate acquaintances tied together only by their magically sworn secrecy about the events around the arrival of Blackwood's newest student. Told through those six POVs, each of which is overtly concealing information from the reader, the story line itself is fairly straightforward, shuttling the plot along through standard magical competition milestones. The world building is both more expansive and more thorough than most competition-centric fantasy but pleasantly avoids presenting overwhelming walls of information. With a constant, well-maintained air of intrigue, this is a sure hit for those who gravitate towards high-stakes dark academia without overblown romance.
COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.