Review: Nightshade - Autumn Woods

Review: Nightshade - Book #1 Sorrowsong University - Autumn Woods - January 2025

Nightshade opens with a heartbreak that settled right into my chest. Ophelia Winters is the daughter of two hardworking parents: her dad a chef, her mum a gardener, both employed at Sorrowsong, the wealthy elite university on the hill. They always warned her to keep away from the place, never wanting her stuck in a world of ungrateful adults. Then one night, while Ophelia waits at home for them to return, their helicopter crashes in a fiery wreck and she loses them both. The whole thing is swiftly covered up, and nobody will answer her questions.

So when a scholarship to Sorrowsong lands in her lap, Ophelia doesn’t hesitate. She wants the truth, and she wants revenge on the people who took everything she loved. I adored her. She’s spunky, stubborn and fiercely loyal to her parents’ memory, and I was rooting for her from the first chapter.

Then there’s Alex. He’s already at Sorrowsong, and he simply cannot get this feisty newcomer out of his head. She’s nothing like his usual type, which is exactly why he’s determined to win her over. But here’s the delicious snag: Alex’s father is the very man who covered up the death of Ophelia’s parents. Cue my squealing and a second cup of tea!

Running alongside the romance is a second thread: Ophelia has a stalker. But is this shadowy figure really a danger to her? The people who wrong her keep coming to harm, and Ophelia is slowly being painted as the villain. I loved how that question hung over the story, keeping me turning pages long past my bedtime.

Like so many dark academia reads, Nightshade ends on a proper cliffhanger. I may have gasped out loud and then immediately looked at my bookshelf, because the good news is that Book #2, Daybreak, is already sitting there waiting for me. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

If you love moody campus settings, grief-fuelled revenge, a slow-burn romance with a complicated twist, and a good mystery to puzzle over, tuck Nightshade into your reading pile. Just make sure the sequel is within reach.

Amazon: https://link.amazon/B02KlhNuN