Deathbringer

Overall Rating: 5/5

Welcome to Gorhail Institute of Magic...

Viola has always been able to hear the voices of the dead...She has always been able to speak to the dead.

Born to be a mage, and yet... Viola has always hated her magic. She has always wanted nothing to do with her talents and is intent on sealing them away and living her life as a nonmagi.

Olivia, her sister, steps up, claiming she has magic so that Viola can somewhat peacefully live her life out as she desires... far away from the halls of Gorhail Institute...while she pursues a degree in Botany... hopeful that it will be her path out of Bane...Hopeful that her ways of containing her magic will last until she can visit a sealer...

That is until her sister turns up dead. Killed by magical poachers.

And she finds herself at the doors of Gorhail Institute, brought there by the desire to find out what happened to her sister. Brought into those wretched halls she so desired to avoid...

She is a Mortemagi. A whisperer of the dead.

And a member of the House of Death.

As she spends her days in the dark halls of Gorhail, she runs into an Aspieri. A member of the House of Poison who is haunted by his past. He has three aspiers.. one who kills, one who heals... and one that makes him Immortal. His past has led to a hate for what Viola is, and a hate for all those who are like her kind.

He is determined to keep his distance from Viola, and yet... was forced to heal her when she was brought into Gorhail's halls through a bond that connects them both.

And as more students show up dead, with relics missing... they are forced to form an uneasy alliance to try and solve the mystery of who's behind the killings, and why. An Aspieri and a Mortemagi must join together to wander Gorhail's dark halls... and the secrets within...

Sonia, you have stamped on my heart, you have claimed my soul, and I am forever to be drawn to the dark halls of Gorhail Institute. Firstly, this cover is beyond gorgeous, and I can only imagine its beauty in person. The way that Sonia has managed to weave a dark academy of magic, found family, jaw-dropping betrayal, with elements of a rivals-to-lovers romance... to weaving in "whodunit" elements, dark secrets, magic... and a seemingly good power of authority that seems to wish to hide the darkness that is occurring within Gorhail...Sonia left me staring up at the ceiling at midnight, wishing that I could somehow walk the dark halls of Gorhail... but also leaving me wanting more of this fantastic ... series? Duology? However many books will come, I need them all in my life.

Sonia, you have seriously outdone yourself with this fantastic work.