Garden of Witches by Salem Sinclair * Books and Moods Tour *

•Title: Garden of Witches

•Author: Salem Sinclair

•Rating: ★★★★★

•Length: 257 pages

•Publisher: independent

•Read Date: 10/22/2021

•Publication Date: 10/29/2021

•Type Read: Digital arc from Books and Moods

•Genre(s): Dark academia, romance, witchcraft, mystery

Synopsis:

Hidden in the wild forests of the Appalachian Mountains is a school of magic…and mystery.

Ezra Bishop’s life crumbles apart after a devastating loss, sending her and her twin sister across the country to a prestigious boarding school for bloodline witches.

Atwood Preparatory Academy seems like an ideal place for the sisters to attempt to restart their lives, but it isn’t long before peace at the school is broken when one of the students goes missing.

One of many…

When someone close to her is threatened, Ezra is forced to face a mystery that has haunted the school for centuries. Unraveling the truth of the disappearances goes deeper than Ezra is prepared for, until she finds herself digging the grave of a terrorizing secret.

Forging a tense alliance with the Headmaster’s sons, Ezra may be better off on her own as she discovers the boys are harboring dangerous secrets of their own. But the enemy is already here, and as children continue to go missing, Ezra realizes that she has to lay everything on the line to protect those she cares about…even her life.

My review:

If you are looking for a dark academia romance with seriously spooky themes, this book is absolutely the one for you!

Atwood Preparatory Academy is an elite school for witchcraft and they only take students of pure magical bloodlines. When their mother dies, twin sisters Ezra and Noa go to live with their father who is the groundskeeper at Atwood, earning them attendance to the exclusive school. If the move from Washington to Kentucky wasn’t enough of a change, being part of this new school is a bit overwhelming for Ezra at first. Still fully mourning her mother, she is thrown into a group of students who shun her and bully her, while Noa seems to be thriving.

When students start to go missing, Ezra has something to sink her teeth into and is determined to find out what is going on at this ancient school. She has caught the attention of Alder, the headmaster’s son and Asa, the headmaster’s ward. And trying maneuver through her interactions with these two boys is a feat all in itself. It doesn’t take long for Ezra to being to unearth the dark and twisted past this school holds onto and the old magic that it and the surrounding woods are harboring. When the safety of people she loves is threatened, she is even more determined to stop this dark evil.

Let me tell you, the story that Salem Sinclair crafts in this book is absolutely ensnaring. I love the world of witchcraft and how it is used and studied by the students. I love the deep, rich history we get to see and the atmospheric setting. But most of all, the romance that I didn’t see coming in this book is what completely grabbed a hold of me. It was pure perfection and I loved every single minute of it and every direction it took.

Ezra was a great heroine with a strong and steadfast love for her family. There was nothing this girl wouldn’t do to protect them. She faced trauma, bullies, depression and anxiety with a brutal sense of self. Even when she was unsure of herself, she was brave. Just an incredible book and I am so thankful to have received a copy.