Welcome to Sorrowsong University, where revenge is a campus tradition, loyalties are constantly shifting, and the wrong person can ruin everything.

Book of the Week:

Nightshade by Autumn Woods

Book 1 in the Sorrowsong University Duet

The Book

Ophelia arrives at Sorrowsong University with a plan, a grudge, and absolutely no intention of forgiving the people who wronged her. But at a school where secrets are currency and loyalties shift as quickly as reputations, revenge proves far more complicated than she expected.

Enter Alex: the one person she should avoid, the one person she should hate, and somehow the one person she can't stop thinking about. As buried truths come to light, Ophelia finds herself caught between the future she's been planning and the feelings she never saw coming.

Nightshade is Dark Academia at its most deliciously vindictive: revenge, secrets, academic politics, and a romance that refuses to stick to the plan. Because what could possibly go wrong when vengeance and attraction start competing for your attention?

Vibe Check: Rumors. Revenge. Romantic tension.

Ratings

Overall Rating: 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nightshade completely wrecked me in the best possible way. The longing, the tension, the heartbreak, the hope—every emotion landed exactly where it was supposed to. Add in beautiful, almost poetic prose and a cast of deeply flawed characters making messy, complicated choices, and I was hooked from beginning to end.

Nightshade graduates as Salutatorian, earning highest marks for emotional devastation, unforgettable character work, and a romance that lingered long after the final page.

Spice Level: 2 Flames 🔥🔥

This book is absolutely loaded with tension. Ophelia and Alex spend so much time circling each other that by the time the payoff arrives, I was ready to file a formal complaint. The spice itself stays relatively tame, but the longing? The yearning? The emotional devastation? Top marks across the board.

Quote of the Week

Alex: Ophelia feels like finding another human after months in the dessert – a light permeating the thick black cloud. When my wayward mind wanders, it staggers back home to her. She’s everything I’ve been asking the universe for, and she fucking hates me.