Harper L Woods is an author you can always rely on to provide the dark romantasy feel. The Coven toes the line of villainy, tests boundaries, and doesn’t shy away from darker tones as we delve into a story where the villain gets the girl. It’s addictive, fast paced, and the sort of fantasy that has you eagerly snatching more, all while fanning the flames of romance in the process.

Okay, I devoured this book. It was SO good. I never knew who to trust, or if anyone COULD be trusted. The twists that were thrown in every possible moment were great, and the spice was fully appreciated. I was NOT even close to expecting the ending that was thrown at me, but holy crap I can't wait to see what happens in book two!

“You fight. Every moment of every day, you fight. Because that is who you are,”

🌹 Dark Academia
💀 Enemies To Lovers
🌹 Witches & Demons (Vampires)
💀 Dark Fantasy Romance
🌹 Villain Gets The Girl
💀 Professor x Student

Overall Enjoyment ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
World Building 🌎🌎🌎🌎
Romance ♥️♥️♥️
Characters 👤👤👤👤

I have been so excited to read this duology, I absolutely love a good dark academia romance and the magic system in this book was so unique and interesting. The whole world was completely captivating, from Willows family Earth magic, which is so enchanting and beautiful, to the more sinister magics.

Our MMC Grey was the perfect villainous, broody character. He is one of those MMC’s you just can’t help but swoon for. His mouth… utter filth. Harper L. Woods just writes such amazing MMC’s, you just know they are going to blow you away everytime.

“If you ever touch me, I’ll be sure to think of anyone but you. I won’t be able to enjoy it otherwise,”

“Then be sure to scream his name for me. I’d like to know who I need to hunt down the next time I’m hungry,”

It is safe to say I absolutely loved Willow! She was strong, sassy and this perfect balance between light and dark that just made her such a complex interesting character. She loves deeply and stands for what she believes in, she doesn’t let Grey get away with anything and gives as good as she gets. Her witty comebacks made this books so enjoyable!

“If it is order that you value, then I will bring you nothing but chaos.”

Their relationship was exactly what I look for in a book, true enemies to lovers where they hate to love each other. They are pulled together again and again and they fight it each time. It just makes it a million times better when they truly come together. The tension, the banter, the spice. Everything was balanced so well.

“Let me love you as you deserve, Witchling.”

Excuse me, that ending?!?! It was so gooood but so brutal at the same time! Bring on book two!

~ Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Harper L Woods for the ARC in exchange for my honest review ~

What a great read!
I absolutely enjoyed the mixture of fantasy and dark academia in this book. Both main characters, namely fierce and strong FMC Willow as well as (more than) morally grey MMC Gray, are very well written.
If you are a fan of witches, vampires, and enemies-to-lovers, this book is for you.
I am already looking forward to the second instalment..

Possibly one of my favourite depictions of witches and covens! Absolutely loved the whole concept/plot. The story is fast paced and I found it an addictive read. For me the main problem I found was the author shows and tells a lot, at times this took me out of the story but I think with further development this is an author to watch. The morally grey characters are fun and the dark fantasy romance was certainly there. I really like the MMC despite his flaws. I also would have liked more from the school and other students as this would have increased the world building - although to be fair the focus on the romance and revenge plot. I highly enjoyed this book so it’s a 4 star for that! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

The Coven by Harper L. Woods

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Forget the broody type mmc, this mmc is truly not to be messed with. As is the fmc 😅
She's on my firm top 5 of favourite fantasy fmc's. She's fierce, she has a solid motivation, she has a relatable back story, she does not bend to anyone, she will do anything to accomplish her goal and will be sassy while doing it. Not her fault she has a soft spot for a demon right?

This book had me hooked from chapter 1, it's honestly one of those you can't put down and when real life calls, you can't stop thinking about it and what will happen next.

Apart from the undeniable awesomeness of the fmc, my favourite part of this book was the magic system. Its so unique, I had never read anything like it. In this world, Witches must give back to the source of their magic in order for the source to provide then with power. Also dependent of the source are the demons, who must drink the Witches' blood in order to survive.

An absolute MUST read, a 5 star read without any shadow of a doubt.

Willow Madizza a last of her line witch has her own dark reasons for accepting a place at Hollow’s Grove University.
Upon arrival she finds magic has been lost and twisted.
She becomes obsessed with Headmaster Gray though fighting the apparent mutual attraction.
A great start to a new series with Willow coming into her magic. The book takes on a much darker tone as you progress further.
This is a book that has a content warning which the author has listed on her website.
Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I cannot believe it took me this long to strike The Coven off my TBR list. And I never knew this was part of a duology.

If romantasy and smut is your go-to, you’ll find this book up your alley. The plot isn’t necessarily the best (loopholes include backstory on Willow’s training, how her dad escaped the coven’s notice, how did Ash remember Willow if he was compelled away in the first place, there’s talk about the devil but none of god etc) but the pacing and writing are good!

After researching, apparently Willow’s age is 20 and not 16. A couple of lines in the story were confusing and trust me you want her to be 20 given the amount of smut, gore and triggers in the book. Please please please check the TWs before reading too.

Even with the loopholes in mind, I enjoyed reading it and breezed through it fairly quickly. Adding book 2 to my tbr list!

Thank you Random House UK and Netgalley for this arc!

I was sent a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....for a full review please see my Amazon and Goodreads accounts

The Coven was a great entrance into dark academia by Harper L Woods, having read What lies beyond the veil and loving it. I was a little apprehensive going into The Coven but I was pleasantly surprised the writing felt well balanced and the banter was top tier. Was it ground-breaking, no but did I enjoy it yes. I will be reding book 2 asap.

This was soooo good! It was just what I needed to read. The tension between Willow and Gray was delicious and I ate it up.
Willow was such an incredible main character, she was strong and she didn't really let anything bring her down. Gray interested me from the start, his instant obsession with Willow was just *sigh*.
I was very naive because I was not expecting that ending?! Soooo good.
Oh, if all that wasn't enough to tempt you to read this, let me list some other things:
- Elite witchy college setting.
- Teacher and student (she is 20 before anyone starts).
-Age gap.
-Dual POV (one of my fave things!).

A good mix of fantasy and a bit of dark romance (we all love a bit of morally grey, right?). Even though I did feel like I got lost a little at certain points, the plot is interesting and engaging and I’m looking forward to the next book

Firstly a bit thank you you Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this before publication!

My Thoughts:

- I went into this purely based on the beautiful cover and the Title.
- It's a great mix of dark romance and fantasy.
- I was immediately gripped from Chapter 1. I felt the pace was fast from the get go.
- There are alot of tropes I enjoy in this book - Gothic vibes, enemies to lovers, magic, vampires and of course witches.
- I did get a little lost at certain points and felt the storyline was a little messy in the middle. However, it's spicy so obviously that makes it all okay! haha!
- the FMC is feisty and the magic is spot on. I love love loved the mention and significance of Hecate.
- I will obviously have to read the series now because the ending was EPIC.

*ARC received from Netgalley; all opinions are my own.*

TLDR: A truly morally grey villain gets me every time; I loved it! A dark romance executed well and without the pitfalls most others in the genre fall into. It's definitely a dark romantasy and encourages you to read the trigger warnings first.

Firstly, I'm glad to see the trigger warnings and authors note at the front, as I can never understand why you'd put that stuff at the back! Also, as much as I love dark romances in theory, I have more of a love/hate relationship with them, as they always seem to feel the need to have excessive violence and r*pe scenes to be described as "dark." Woods manages to capture the genre perfectly without the excessive and needless violence and still maintain certain boundaries between the two main characters.

I loved our FMC; she was fierce from the start and maintained that throughout. I really loved seeing Willow interacting with her magic and having so much love and respect for her craft, and I really hope to see more of that in the next book.

Gray, our MMC, was a great morally grey villain, and I ate it up. I loved reading from his POV where you could see the possession and feelings of being unhinged.

The relationship between our two characters was enjoyable to read but wasn't as "enemies to lovers" as I was expecting. It seemed from the get-go that it was an instalust situation and that while proclaiming to be enemies, they were both ready to ride each other from the start, which took away a bit of the suspense and feelings of hatred between them both.

The overall story was enjoyable, and I hope to see more of the other witches and how they practice magic in the next book, as Woods writes Willow's magic scenes so well, and it would be interesting to see how the others interact with theirs when they practice properly.

Overall, The Coven is thoroughly enjoyable and well worth the read for anyone who enjoys dark romances and fantasy. I would just ensure you read the trigger warnings and authors note at the front to make sure you're alright with certain scenes.

Willow has a secret. Well, multiple secrets. She is a Green witch that has been hidden away for her entire life. But she is also a Black witch. She shouldn't exist and her existence is a threat to the Coven. She enters the school of Crystal Hollow with a mission. She can't let anyone find out her secret.

I liked this a lot. I've been seeing this title on TikTok and Instagram. While a there were a lot of things that felt very repetitive and circled back unnecessarily, the story did always feel like it was moving forward. I find the relationship with Gray and Willow problematic (for a host of reasons), but regardless of how we ended up here, I am intrigued enough to want to read the next book.

Great read! Loved the mix of fantasy and dark romance. The story pulls you in very quickly. Loved the characters and getting to know the witches/vessels

Okay this review is going to be a tough one. This book was a bit of a conundrum to me. From what I can tell from the reviews, it was originally published last year, and has since had some changes made to it, which I think was a good idea because it made things clearer (ie her age). BUT, to me, this book seems like it was written by multiple people. The tone changes drastically between the beginning, middle, and end. It feels like you're being tossed between different stories and characters.

Grey, the headmaster, is a horrible horrible person (I say person for ease, but as we know he is a 'vessel'). He starts off by forcing himself on Willow and feeding from her without consent, and later goes into her room at night and takes off her clothes while she's asleep. Uncomfortable to read. Then suddenly we're expected to like him!

Willow starts off being this badass witch, then somehow becomes more and more diminished as the book goes on, because of a man. Great.

This book is not a romantasy simply because there is no romance. It's fantasy, sure, but it's also an abusive and toxic relationship. I have read plenty of enemies-to-lovers books, where yes, the man starts off as being a dick, and there's a lot of to-and-froing etc before they get together, but never to the point of him being an actual bad person. Reading this was an entirely unpleasant experience because this man had no redeeming features. I don't understand why people lust over men who are actually abusive. And Willow loses all sense of badass-ery and personality and seems to have somehow lost all her powers that she showed at the beginning. I just feel like you can't set up two characters a certain way then expect an audience to be happy when they change completely in the middle for the sake of some smut. It could have been equally smutty without the drastic decline, or Grey could have been set up in a way that makes more sense with how we're supposed to feel about him in the middle. Then Willow's feelings/actions towards him make more sense. The ending is a different story, and probably the best part of the book, but the 'reveal' could've been so much more impactful if we were more shocked by it. No spoilers, but if Grey was set up better, the reveal would have been way more impactful and an actual surprise rather than expected.

I also don't think you can market this as 'dark academia' because yes, it's set in a school, but from what I can tell Willow goes to one class the entire time she's there and learns nothing. There's not enough world building/events to support the dark academia claim.

**I got this eARC in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and Random House/Transworld**

I’ve had this book on my list for so long, I’m glad I finally got to read it. While I wouldn’t count this as one of my favorite books, I was entertained and appreciated the fast pace most of the time.
It you dislike tropey books with age-gaps and insta-lust, do yourself a favor and don’t read it. If you enjoy these, then you’ll probably really like this book so I can only encourage you to give it a try.
I loved the fact that the heroine wasn’t a clueless innocent girl (and no, she’s not 16 years old, although it too me a while to understand that because her age is never explicitly given). She starts the book as a badass witch with secrets and grit, which was really cool. The mmc is an asshole and a lot of situations fall right into the dubious consent spectrum, or even non-con in some instances, but reading the author’s note made this very clear so you can’t say you weren’t warned.
What made me take off a couple of stars is the fact that a lot of scenes or plot elements were too cliché for my taste and that it was pretty predictable at times, so the fmc came off as a bit naive. That being said, I still had a good time and I dove right into the second book.

Upon her mother’s death, a task Willow has been training for most of her life is eventually thrust upon her. She must survive her new school and the headmaster carved from sin, to survive and fulfill her father’s wishes.
Embracing her magic to right the wrongs done to their family.
The nature elements of willows magic are beautiful I could invisage roses and greenery growing around her vividly. She seems to have so much love for the earth in comparison to the more lustful romance between her and Gray.
This book really drew me in and I was very disappointed it ended, wanting to magic up the next book right away to see what else could possibly be expected of willow.

Star rating: 4.75 ✨

Wow, this book was sooo good! I read it so fast. I went into it blind because of all the recommendations I’ve been seeing, and my expectations were high, but this book delivered! “The Coven” features vampires and witches in an incredible gothic romantasy. There’s spice and an incredible plot. I stayed up all night reading because I literally couldn’t put it down.

This book hits all my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, a genuinely badass FMC, gothic vibes, hot vampires, witches, and magic. It even has the “who did this to you” trope. It’s the perfect romantasy.

And Gray? Our vampire MMC? I’m in love. That’s it. I love him and hate him. I’m not always a fan of toxic relationships, but this one I loved because… well, because it was Gray.

I wouldn’t say it’s a literary masterpiece or that the book is perfect, but it was amazing. I loved it and enjoyed it so much. The plot was incredible, and I adored the characters.

The book has a little creepy and gothic vibe, with magic and mystery throughout. The “I hate you, but I want you” dynamic was spot on.

The ending had my jaw on the floor. I’m picking up the second book immediately because I need more.