Shadow Charmed (Misfit Magic Academy Book 1)

Just couldn't get my brain around this one. 50% and nothing much has happened, the "heroine" is still harping on about not having powers. Does she actually try to use them... NO. Does she try to study... NO everything is a pity party. Halfway there I thought she had been trying to use her powers before the academy that would explain this whole defeatist attitude but again no.We just get constant whining about how her brother is better. Hate to say it but yep he probably is. The only thing special about this heroine is her ability to be annoying, maybe that should be her special power. I had to stop reading when I thought, know what just bind her powers already.Some Y/A reads are full of adventure and excitement, this isn't one of them.

Enjoyable addition to the magic university genre, good plotting and writing, likeable heroine. I look forward to the rest of the series.

What an exciting start to a new series and the characters were brilliant and fun to read. Storyline was very well written.

Shadow Charmed is the first book in the new Misfit Academy series and it is a very good start to the series.Norah wants her magical powers bound but instead she is forced to attend the school mockingly known as The Misfit Academy. It is well known her brother is a criminal so school is definitely not going to be fun but nothing could prepare Norah for the reality.This is a good start to this new series and I really enjoyed the range of characters. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. Highly recommended.

This is book one of the Misfit Magic Academy and the main character is Norah Sheehan, who wants nothing more than for her magic, which hasn’t really manifested, to be bound and when the ruling druid council write to refuse her request, she doesn’t take it lying down. Having an older brother, Micah, who her parents have also compared her to and found her lacking, often ignoring her completely, due to her lack of magic. With her brother now locked up and awaiting trial for his actions in collusion with the mage Raphael and the damage he and others did and those he hurt. His magic has always been powerful and no matter how much she tried to be like him, it could never work. The Circle, the ruling druid council in charge of law enforcement within the supernatural environment, decide she must go to Braeseth Academy, the so called Misfits Academy, for those with really weak and unclassified magic, as they refuse to bind her magic, even when she appears in person, in front of them. She at least makes friends of a sort with Kelsey, an apprentice to the council and also someone her own brother hurt in his recent actions. Norah would love to remain anonymous at the school, but everyone knows what her brother did and wants to tar her with the same brush! When she gets up to her dorm room, one of the girls refuses to even stay in the room with her and she is left sharing with a quiet girl called Eva.She makes an instant enemy of another girl, Celine and her posse, who eventually try to get her to join in with their rebellious plans for the academy, and the fact the unclassified are seen as the lowest of the low and can be punished for simply failing their classes. The academy has been bolstered with druid enforcers, keeping everyone off the third floor, apparently damaged and cursed during the rebels attack the previous year. Norah is to learn how to control and manifest her powers, but she has never even had a manifestation event during her puberty years. When she suddenly manifests a deadly power she injuries some other students, but not any that didn’t really deserve it! She must learn to control this strange new power or have all of her magic bound, just as she is getting used to maybe having some useful magic at long last. It helps that Eva is so helpful and sticks by her side, aiding her with lessons and always encouraging her to practice and try harder, even when she is ready to just give up. A possible romance with one of the enforcers, which Eva tries to push her to explore, provides a bit of a distraction from Celine and her posse’s plot for after the end of the year. She needs to get out from under her brother’s shadow and start to believe in herself and her own type of unique magic, to be able to learn to control it and apply it as needed. A plot between students is not the biggest danger she and everyone else at the academy will be facing, with even those at the top of the pile, wanting more control and power over others. A nice nod to a few characters from other series, if you have read any, but can be read totally on its own as a standalone read. I can’t wait to see what else is to come for the Misfit Academy and how these main characters will develop as the series continues. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.