Witchling Academy Semester 7

Witchling Academy Semester 7 is the return to Brianne Harlow’s story as she continues her studies and growth at Witchling Academy with her men, her two “familiars”, and the addition of a new character…all though the crossover will be a brief one. As we have come to expect from this series, the focus will be on the relationship between the characters and the trials that are meant to make them stronger and better prepared for the epic battle that is soon to come.

Witchling Academy began with 16-year-old Brianne Harlow and with each semester she has grown older, stronger, and taken steps to become the woman that she is meant to be as she learns about herself and her hidden past as well. There are some secrets that are revealed in this book, and the author kicks things off with an emotional prologue. I’ll admit that as I was reading the prologue I was pleased with the emotional element that it brought to the story. I was a bit curious as to how it was going to transition into the main story. It both does and doesn’t. It transitions briefly and then the storyline shifts to Bri and Jax. The first main chapter of the story I felt was a bit dull, but then things soon get interesting and my attention is pulled into the story fully again.

There are quite a few enjoyable moments in this story, but I was expecting more than I got when you get down to it. I understand that Bri and Jax are the main focus of the storyline as a whole for all of the books, and while I like that Finnick gets more attention in this book, I’m wanting it to be more balanced since they are all supposed to be in a relationship together. We get brief glimpses here and there between the others, but they aren’t as in-depth as I’d like so that we can experience their struggles. I will say this, I love that the familiars got more attention in this book. They have more than just a few supporting scenes. A couple of times Fuwa has a couple of real scenes of where he’s more than just there to do a task requested of him. I like that the author gives him multiple scenes with different forms depending on what is needed.

The biggest drawback for me concerning this book happens early in the book after the first couple of chapters. The characters are older teens at the youngest, so when they start using what I classify as “childish” language it makes me raise an eyebrow out of annoyance. Bri inquiries about having a “threesome” with Jax and Connor, but then she doesn’t know what a threesome is? After her being literally schooled by Miya and Mia in at least one previous book? It’s a stretch for me. Now, yes, the author tries to explain later on, but it just doesn’t flow for me. Plus, “winky dink”? Ummm…what? What 19-year-old and older honestly say “winky dink”? They are more than comfortable saying “dick” so why start using such a childish term that I associate more with a 10-year-old at best? Bri is not as innocent as she is not playing at being, so I think that aspect is pretty much played out at this point.

If you are wondering/worrying if this book ends on a cliffhanger…it really does not. The author sets the stage that something big is coming with the next book, so that is something to look forward to, but it’s not a really satisfying ending for me. I’m honestly hoping that the next book will have more balance between the characters since it is supposed to be the final book in this series, but we’ll see what ultimately happens.

At the end of the day, I did enjoy reading this book overall. There isn’t a lot of “academy” in this book, but there are a few exciting elements that show that the Darkness is ramping things up on their end. I am rating this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m taking off half a star for the childish language and behavior in this book. The one odd scene is early in the book, and thankfully the childish language is scattered throughout, but not too heavily used. If you have enjoyed this series up to this point then I’m sure you won’t want to miss what happens next.