In Immortal Consequences, a compelling dark academia YA novel, six ambitious teens are stuck in a magic-infused world "parallel to life and death" where there is copious amounts of romantic tension, intrigue, and deception.
Wren, August, Emilio, Olivier, Irene, and Masika have all died, but none have "crossed over to the Other Side." Instead, they are at Blackwood Academy, a purgatorial magic school. Blackwood students generally "graduate" after a few hundred years--they lose "memories of their previous life" to the Forgetting and are sent to the Ether to "reap lost souls for the rest of their existence." Every decade, however, one outstanding student is nominated for the Decennial, a ritual that allows the student the option to join the academic elite or cross over. When the six teens sneak out to watch a new student arrive, they bear witness to a concerning--perhaps impossible--display of magic. Rather than getting in trouble, though, all six are ordered to participate in a startling revision of the Decennial: instead of celebrating one student, this year's Decennial is a competition. The six "unfortunate acquaintances" become immediate rivals, but there will still be only one winner--and all are determined it will be them.
I.V. Marie's well-crafted debut is a riveting page-turner with action, witty banter, mysterious secrets, and unfulfilled longing. Her agile prose describes an ensemble cast of competitive characters who are each driven to be the best, even as they remain haunted by mistakes of their past lives. The six strive to conquer fears, personality flaws, and errors in judgment, yet remain startlingly human: even dead, all are terrified of running out of time. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author