Neverthorn by Shannon Mayer
“You have a good heart. The heart of a lion beats inside your chest and I know you will do the right thing, no matter how hard it is.”
I want to thank Crowns and Chaos PR and Shannon Mayer for the chance to read this ARC!
Synopsis:
Neverthorn is the first book in the ‘Of Quirks and Curses’ series and centres around Harlow Daygon, a nearly thirty-year old thief and magic school dropout who is forced to returns to Neverthorn Academy after discovering she is the secret to keeping the world at balance. Alongside seven former classmates, she must train to confront a looming villain.
My thoughts:
This one reawakened the Potterhead in me and brought me so much comfort and nostalgia! I love that most of the characters are adults as well, which makes it a lot easier for me to relate to them and understand their banters. The humour in this is incredible, and could only be done so due to the age of the characters.
The narrative started off slow at first, but I got insanely hooked a few chapters in and had more trouble finding time to read it than getting through it .
I absolutely adore Harlow — she’s sassy but classy as a thirty-year old, as well as an inspiration for the other students at Neverthorn Academy. She may be older than them, but her protective nature and experience in leadership shines through, making her a role model that the other characters look up to .
The other characters were well written too, especially Typhon, Opie, and Ellie. I found myself rooting for them often. Nocta was intriguing; I want to know more about him in book 2!
Overall, this was a 5-star read and one you don’t want to miss if you’re craving something with Harry Potter vibes but on the mature side!
Tropes you will find in Neverthorn:
✨ Enemies to lovers
✨ Dark academia fantasy romance
✨ Chosen one
✨ Found family
✨ Slow burn
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Sassy morally grey FMC
✨ Magic
✨ Magic system
✨Talking animals
✨ Prophecies
Neverthorn releases on Tuesday 22nd July 2025 in the US/CA and Thursday 24th July 2025 in the UK/AU! You can grab your copy of the book on the author’s website or Amazon. It is free on Kindle Unlimited.
