Wow, wow, wow!

Going into this book I didn't know what to expect. It had everything I love about paranormal fantasy. Fast pace, dangerous magic, action and with deadly out comings. Toss in a brewing hot love interest and you got at the making for a epic, entertaining read.

I have to say I loved this book more then I first thought, because it did sound like any other of it's type, and I've never been a big "witch MC" fan. But this was, wow, juts so much wow. I love how dark the MC was. She wasn't your normal and it really made the story unique.

I highly recommend you get your hands on the outstanding read. You will not be disappointed!

Happy Reading

-E.A. Walsh

This was a great read! I read this in one sitting! The building of surroundings could of used work but besides that very enjoyable! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

Not sure why but I didn't click well with liking this book. It started out promising but sort of threw me off with the wands thing, which made me think of Harry Potter, which made me make comparisons. And lets be honest, nothing compares to the Harry Potter novels. The romance was a bit strange, yet easily predicted. Timothy and the professor were both a bit boring and the story got lost on me about 45% into it.

First, I really loved the cover if this novel. Black and the various shades of blue work well together. Seeing a woman (Ms. Dovetail) in a spellcasting circle instantly lets you know what type of story this is. Though I like the cover, it is part of what made me skeptical. It has an armature vibe but really hides a story with good bones that needs some work.

Things I didn't like:

Lack of world building
I felt lost at the beginning of this book. The reader is not told where this academy is located or even what time period the story is taking place in. It was almost as if the academy was the only place that existed...until further into the story. Give me at least something!! Heck, Harry Potter had more than simply Hogwarts! Smaller towns are mentioned here, but only in passing. It was really frustrating to have no idea where this was taking place.
No background information about magic
I wanted to know more about how the magic was used, where it came from...what was it? I was given nothing. The story really leaves a reader having to take what they are given without leaving room for questions to be asked. Are there those that are only partly magical? I just need so much more here. Again, I just feel it was lacking development.
Why so many kids?!?!
I just have to ask...how common is it to have SEVEN kids?! I have two and love them to pieces but I do not think I could handle seven. Maybe with magic...but knowing the consequences of having a seventh child wouldn't you avoid that? Why have a child for them to live that kind of life? In this magical realm, is there no condoms or other forms of birth control? Why are people not taking precautions? I mean if they are withces, why not cast a spell to prevent pregnancy? I would have loved more background on this. I think it would have fit the story better if it was rare to have a seventh child or something along those lines. Kind of how "mudbloods" were treated poorly in Harry Potter.

Things I liked:

Well written
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was the perfect October read! Spooky and engrossing. I mean honestly, what is better for October than dead bodies, witches, graveyards, etc...
Characters
Sera
Now...I really enjoyed Sera. The fact that she has no memories of her past makes her a mystery that I simply must solve! She is strong-willed, she does not take being bullied. She takes advantage of her affinity for fire and it is amazing. She doesn't even need a wand!! How amazing is that, though it is frowned upon to use magic with no wand...
Barrington
Oh man! Talk about the older man trope. He is swoon-worthy. Mysterious but also smart and protective, he is everything a young woman would look for. And he is not reeeeaaally her professor, or that much older. Sera is 18 and he is 25, seven years apart is less than the ten my husband and I are. I really love that their interactions have not turned into an instant love romance. They slowly learn to trust one another as their affection grows but they have shown no specific romantic interest as of yet.
Plot and pacing
I really enjoyed the underlying plot. Mystery, magic, handsome men...what more do you want? The ending of the story leaves the reader knowing there is more to come and I am looking forward to it. As far as pacing goes, I only felt my reading was slowed when I had no barrings...no idea where this was all taking place. Once more things began taking place, the pace picked up and never really came back down.

Final Thoughts

In the end, I really was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. I was really hoping it wasn't going to become a cheezy witch story. It was the complete opposite. If you are looking for a wonderful witchy read for October...or maybe for SCAREtober BINGO (hint hint) be sure to check out this book. It is the first in the series and I really hope the author expands the world building in the sequel.

First off - thank you so much for letting me read Seventh Born. Sera is a new favorite witch of mine :D My review (shown below) will be posted on my blog www.bookslaying.com and Goodreads, as well as shared on Twitter and Facebook, on 10/13/18.

Witches have always been my favorite supernatural being. Some of my favs being: cackling, child-stealing Sanderson sisters, wise-cracking Sabrina, fierce, and fabulous Charmed ones, and scary, and badass Manon. So therefore when Entangled Teen offered me an ARC of Seventh Born, I jumped at the offer!
I really liked the Seventh Born world because it was dark, unforgiving, and had a cool steampunk vibe. It also had the awesome kind of magic that didn’t come easy to the practitioner. You needed words and ingredients, and had to study and practice a lot. There was a lot of room for error so you had to be very precise.

I liked Sera’s fiery temper, and her strong desire to prove herself. She was also fiercely determined to unveil the secrets of her past, and refused to back down. I respected her and was awed by her.

Even though Barrington had a huge ego, often was an ass, and pissed me off a lot, I really liked him. Because of his alluded to tragic past, and tightly hidden his emotions, I was very eager to discover his secrets.

There were a few other characters, like Sera’s best friend Mary, and a handsome classmate named Timothy, who didn’t really stand out to me. In fact, I often forgot they existed.

There was a teeny bit of romance in this book, and even though I personally would have liked more, because I love, love, I understood why there wasn’t. The author wanted to focus more on building Sera’s character, which was phenomenal.

The pacing wasn’t the greatest in Seventh Born. I put this book down a few times because I got bored. The last 70 pages though – wow! Towards the end I was glued to the pages. The ending was O_O and I can’t wait to learn more about Sera’s world in book two.

My rating is 3.5 stars, but I will be rounding it to 4 on Netgalley, Goodreads, Amazon and B&N.

Review: A story any Slytherin would die for. This darkly delicious stale explores a magical school from the perspective of the outcast. Sera is the seventh daughter. A magical child who drains their mother of all her magic and her life force. Once hunted down in an event akin to the witch-hunts of the eighteen hundreds, they are still feared, discriminated against and seen as lower class citizens.

Abandoned, Sera is fortunate to be sent to a prestigious magical school to learn her craft. Despite the modern-day push toward reform, the cards are stacked against the stubborn Sera. Bound by rules, false assumptions, and poor treatment, she struggles to achieve the grades she needs to gain her dream job. Alone in a sea full of people who should understand her best, Sera faces a number of challenges.

When you throw in a mystery, and a professor who’s not what he seems to be you have a turn paging tale. I liked that Sera was human. She broke, made mistakes, and doubted herself. It kept her from being too perfect, or all powerful. Sanz kept me on my toes with her secret reveals, and plot twists. I loved the universe she created, and the darker tone of the story. This is a must-read for fans of Urban Fantasy.

Received in exchange for a honest review.

This is a good October read. We have necromancy, dark magic, evil evil people, twists and turns, broody characters, a forbidden romance maybe and a strong female character who goes through so much.

Characters: Sera, Timothy and Nicolai are my favorite.

Sera: main female lead. She is a seventh born and the stigma with this is horrible. They are strong magic users but hunted down and treated like crap. She ignores it all though and does her thing. She is great in that respect. She becomes a assistant to her professor and that begins a great relationship that is complicated and has some forbidden aspects.

Timothy: sweet guy. He goes against everyone when he shows his interest and kindness to Sera. He is in a position he doesn’t want to be in and when he learns the history of the seventh born and his family we see that he becomes a hero in so many ways. Great supportive character who doesn’t deserve what he goes through.

Nicolai: broody professor trying to prove something. I love his side job and how he is with Sera. He isn’t always nice but he does help Sera so much. They fit together for both are outsiders trying to prove themselves. I felt for him with his past and all he went through and is fighting within himself.

The plot: dark, twisted and really addictive. People dying and trying to find out why. history of the seventh born and what is going on with them is exposed and you just learn so much about the darkness within some and what people will do for power. We have betrayals and power hungry people. We have forbidden associations and so many dark moments with some seriously dark magic and we see the consequences as well.

Writing: well written and really has you feel you are in the story.

Overall: Addictive and really well written. A story that keeps you in the moment and guessing for there are many twists and turns. Growth in characters is seen as well as wonderful building of the past to help understand the here and now and what is going on. Great October read and anytime read as well for really good and fascinating with it’s plot and concepts.

Here we go guys. A new TERRIBLY AWESOMELY addictive YA that you need to grab right now.

I KNOW that your TBR is as bad as mine, trust me, I know, but this book needs to jump it. It was so new and fun and a read that you won’t want to put down. I swear page after page I was uncovering the clues just as the main character was and she was fantastic.

This book also had the most epic secondary character and had so many twists that I had no clue where it was going. This book was SO GREAT! I know I am rambling and sound like a 13 year old writing this, but I feel a little fangirl-y over it. I fell for the main protagonist and from that moment I shipped this book HARD.

I wanted to uncover all of the secrets that were hiding and I couldn’t wait to see where the mystery ended up.

PLUS THAT ENDING! I can’t wait to read the next novel from this author because like I said, ADDICTED.

I enjoyed learning about the world and the characters in SEVENTH BORN.

Seventh born's are treated like the scum of the earth. As a seventh born, Sera is used to being bullied and treated like a nuisance by both the students and staff of the Aetherium Witchling Academy. It was easy to like Sera and feel for her circumstances. We learn that her current troubles aren't even the worse things she has gone through in her life and we still have a lot to learn about her that wasn't revealed in SEVENTH BORN.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Professor Barrington when he was first introduced. I didn't immediately like him, but he grew on me as the story unfolded. There is still a ton of mystery to his character, but his bond with Sera grew a lot in SEVENTH BORN and I have some hopes for them in future books.

I had no trouble getting into the story. I felt that the characters were well rounded and I enjoyed watching their personalities and growth unfold. The world was interesting and well built. The mysteries involved in SEVENTH BORN were gripping. I'm not sure where the author plans to take everything, but I'm adding this series to my watch list.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely one of the best dark fantasy novels I have read in a long time. Even though it was fairly long, I finished it all in one day in about 2 sittings. It was just that addictive!

For starters, let me talk about Sera. She has been through a lot as a seventhborn and has traumatic memories from some of the things that she went through earlier in her life. This is also discussed throughout the story, as she has to come to terms with some of these horrible memories. She meets Professor Barrington and is not sure whether or not she wants to help him. Soon, she is drawn into the world of witches being drained and used to raise others from the dead, and some of the links seem to trace back to her school, the place where she has felt trapped for several years of her life. She wants to be able to avenge the witches who had been killed, but she is afraid of getting close to Professor Barrington. What if his intentions aren’t as pure as she thinks that they are? She must learn to trust again before she can enhance her skill and make sure that no other witches are killed.

I was astonished by how detailed this universe was. The seventhborns were considered as less than human by certain groups, but the poor sometimes envied the seventhborns who were sometimes supported by the government so that they wouldn’t be killed. Then, there were extremist groups who wanted to kill all seventhborns without any remorse. This world seemed to be so alive, and each person in the book had their own unique backstory and their own unique personality.

The only thing that I felt wasn’t explained was why women chose to have seventh children. If they knew that having a seventh child would kill them and leave their families motherless, why would the family not just stop at 6? I’m sure there is probably some sort of reason behind this, but I might have just missed it as I was reading the story.

I enjoyed the romance that was in this story, even though there wasn’t that much of it. I felt that it allowed the readers to focus more on Sera’s character rather than who she wanted to be with. She was such a strong character that I just wanted to read about her without too much distraction.

I hope that there is going to be a sequel to this book, I need to know more about Sera and Professor Barrington ASAP! I have officially fallen in love with the both of them and I want to see more of their future adventures.

Also, I didn’t notice this until I saw the author, but even though Sera looks “white” on the cover, her ethnicity isn’t really specified in the book. This definitely makes it easy for readers of all ethnicities to related to her and enjoy this book even more!

I would recommend this book to lovers of NA/upper YA fantasy novels with detailed universes and strong female main characters.

I received an advance copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: In Seraphina's world being a seventh born daughter comes with the terrible curse and stigma of being a magic stealer and mother killer. Yeah, yeah, us rational people know a baby cannot help being born, but Sera's society is less forgiving. Seventh borns are basically regarded as the scourge of society. She is considered lucky to have been allowed to exist - nice huh?!

The seventh borns have been admitted onto a special programme at school but they are still treated as inferior just because of their birth. Sera was used and abused by the devious Noah and is hesitant to trust anyone other than her friend Mary.

It is only the enigmatic and young, Professor Barrington who sees potential in Sera. He offers to support her application to become an inspector if she helps him on a murder case. Without giving anything away, I can honestly say I was never entirely sure whom to trust, and had my doubts about pretty much everyone at the school at one point or another.

The story is dramatic, sort of twisted and fun. The world building is descriptive and clever. Whenever Sera would face a new ghost I felt like I was there experiencing it all with her.

I kept expecting the story to take a bit of a forbidden romance turn, which is always a bit controversial. I'll leave it to you to find out if this happens.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for Sera and the seventh borns...

4 Stars in my Sky!

I love books about magic and witches and Seventh Born did not disappoint! I love the fact that this book also has a murder mystery! I really enjoyed the writing style . I though the characters were all interesting and well written. This book is full of suspense and magic and murder! I couldn't recommend this book more! I can't wait to read book 2!

Seventh Born by Monica Sanz is a well written and highly enjoyable novel that will bewitch readers with its tangible characters, murder mystery and haunting ambiance.

Eighteen year old witch Serephina Dovetail is an outcast amongst her people. As the seventh daughter born and the cause of her mother’s death at her birth, Sera is used to being seeing as cursed. She been called an abomination, ostracised and treated with cruelty but as a student of the Aetherium Witchling Academy, Sera is determined to get into the Advanced Studies Program and become an inspector. Yet to do so, she needs a referral and given how people perceive her, Sera is sure no one will take a chance on her. Until she is approached by Professor Nikolai Barrington, a young, handsome but brooding teacher at the Aetherium Witchling Academy who approaches Sera with a proposition; he will give Sera the referral she so desperately craves in exchange for her assistance on a case he is working on. Faced with no other options, Sera agrees but as she and Professor Barrington delve into the case of murdered seventh born women, painful memories of her past begin to resurface and soon Sera will have to accept that the monsters that haunt her may not be as dead and buried as she thought….

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Seventh Born. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting when I began this novel but whatever it was Seventh Born definitely exceeded my expectations. Beginning the novel, I was immediately entranced by this magical world of mystery and discovery that was set in a Victorian-era-esq world. Though author Monica Sanz never mentions the specific time period in which the story is set, her use of language and propriety paints a clear picture of what society is like when Seventh Born takes place.

Mixing elements of mystery, magic and danger, I really liked the world Monia Sanz has created within Seventh Born. I found the concept of seventh born witches to be intriguing and feel Sanz went into the perfect amount of detail to describe the persecution and treatment they had experienced throughout the years. I do feel like we’ve only discovered the tip of the iceberg where the Aetherium Witchling Academy was concerned although I did really like what I’ve seen so far.

Seventh Born is depicted through the vivid voice of protagonist Serphina “Sera” Dovetail, someone I really enjoyed following. Monica Sanz makes it clear early on in the novel that Sera has painful secrets about her past and as the novel progresses the atrocities she experienced are revealed. Sera is a scared individual, both figuratively and literally, but I do feel this actually gives her so much more substance as a character. Sera is a determined and capable young woman and I felt for her as she struggled to harness her abilities. Sera has been treated so cruelly by so many people and as a result her ability to trust are lacking. I highly enjoyed seeing her begin to come into her own though and can't see where she does.

The driving force of the storyline is the series of gruesome murders Sera and her Professor Barrington investigate and while I appreciated the way this was explored and depicted, I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the relationship that is developing between Sera and Barrington. They are adorable! Theirs is the kind of slow burning romance that is a subtle undertone to the overall story that burns through the novel. Barrington is gruff and brooding but the soft moments of tender touches and kind gestures really make me swoon. Sera and Barrington really have such potential to soar and as things hopefully continue to heat up and develop, I for one can wait to see where their relationship progresses to.

Building to an exciting and thrilling ending that leaves me dying for more, Seventh Born was a very promising start to what I’m sure will be a wonderful series. Moncia Sanz has very much piqued by interest with this series and I cannot wait for more of Sera and Barrington. I’m already hankering to get my hands on their next tale!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been a fan of magical and witchy books, throw in some proper suspense, mystery, and crime solving and I am quite the happy reader. When it comes to novels that involve these elements I tend to go one of two way, I either love it or I hate it, there was never really an in between.

I was cautious when I agreed to review Seventh Born because I knew there would be the chance that I would not enjoy it at all. Thankfully, that was not the case. Seventh Born is a great story about Seraphina Dovetail, a seventh born witch who is judged, persecuted, and abused simply because of who she is…a seventh born. Even with though it is a constant struggle she works hard so that she can become an investigator in the hopes of one day finding her family.

I found Seraphina very relatable for one simple reason, she is flawed. She is gifted and caring but she is also hot-headed and impatient. I like characters who don’t have it together all the time, it makes them appear more real. There is more to her I could discuss but I will let you find that out for yourself.

The world building was lacking but the story itself was wonderful. I am hoping we get more detail in book 2 because I have some lingering questions that I would like answered. Then was have the bits of romance thrown in (I mean come on, don’t act surprise). I am not sure where I stand yet involving the particular romance options involved but I look forward to seeing how it progresses in throughout the series.

All-in-all this was a great book and I really enjoyed reading it. There is room for improvement but nothing is perfect and I feel that can be remedied in the coming books.

Fantastic read, well written with a great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish. Sera is a 7th born....which is the order of her birth, because she is a 7th born she is not preferred by the witch acadamy. She is accepted in to the academy and winds up caught by her professor using her wand. Instead of turning her in she becomes his assistant. Really hoping there is another book. Absolutely loved this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

Fantasy with a touch of romance!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Seventh Born by Monica Sanz!
Seraphina lives in a society that's prejudice against her because she’s a seventh born. She’s not allowed to have any friends, not even other seventh borns, and she’s forced to grovel to authority. Sera does have one forbidden friend that’s helpful and kind to her, Mary. As Mary and Sera are gathering books to give themselves a chance to talk to each other, a teen boy “accidentally” knocks books down on top of them. Sera is so angry that she causes his clothes to smolder without using a wand, so he can’t prove her fault without calling her powerful and without getting himself in trouble for dropping the books. A professor gets her out of the situation and later invites her to see him privately. Sera cautiously visits Professor Barrington and is relieved and surprised when he offers her a referral letter if she’ll help him investigate murders and be his investigative assistant. A new world is opened up to Sera as she learns spells, the history and reality of the seventh born persecution and her own abilities. A fantasy with a touch of romance and some twists, 5 stars!

To be honest I found this to be a slow read. The story was good, the characters were great, the world building exquisite but it took too long.

I like the story premise and you really feel for Seraphina. She has 1 friend, a well-off suitor and a quirky but brilliant young teacher how has taken an interest in her at least secretly.
All she wants to do is what almost no one in her station has done ... become an inspector.

Give it a try ... maybe the pacing was only an issue for me.

Reviewed by Jennifer of the GothicMoms Review Team

Seventh born is a first book in The Witchling Academy series. I didn't put any high expectations on this book because I'm not familiar with this author, but boy this book was really good. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The witchy magic in this book was the best thing I loved about it and I quite enjoyed the main characters Sera and Mr. Barrington. Besides the slow burn romance, I really liked the historical vibes, necromancy aspect, and murder mystery in this novel. There is a triangle in this book which is so many reader's pet peeve, but don't worry it's not really central focus of the book and it won't hinder your enjoyment at all. The story was very entertaining and I enjoyed every minute of it. This isn't an action packed novel, it's more like a murder investigation novel and trust me, the twists really surprised me even though I had my suspicions on some of the characters.

The Seventh born witches are cursed abominations in Seraphina Dovetail's world because they not only take away their birth mother's powers but also their life.  They're treated like a bad omen because of their birth order. After Seraphina's mother died giving birth to her, she was abandoned. She remembers nothing about her family and her life before except for the past two years. To bring a new change regarding their cruel treatment towards the Seventh born's, the prestigious Aetherium’s Witchling Academy accepts her as a student in their school, but sadly she wasn't treated as their equal. She was always look down on with disdain by her fellow students and teachers. Sera dreams to become inspector and find her family, but rebelling against them will jeopardize everything and she tries hard to control her quick temper which always sets things on fire. Then she meets the tall, handsome and brooding Young Professor Barrington who makes an offer to become his assistant in exchange for his referral which she really needs. Sera agrees to be his assistant and soon she was thrust into a world filled with illegal and dangerous murder investigations, forbidden necromancy magic, and dark secrets. If the Witchling academy finds about their secret investigations, it'll ruin both of their careers. 

I really enjoyed the main characters Sera and Mr. Barrington. Both of them were pretty much flawed and complex. Sera was fierce, stubborn, and a strong girl with quick temper. I really liked her character. She's a survivor who's gone through physical abuse in her past and I'm glad that she fought back her abuser. Mr. Barrington is a broody and handsome guy who harbored many secrets. His character was very intriguing and I really wanted to know more about him. He's totally swoon worthy. I enjoyed Sera and Barrington working as a team. There is a very light slow burning romance between them, and I can't wait to see how it develops in the second book. Timothy Delacort was the second love interest. He was a pretty likeable guy with sweet personality. He genuinely loves Sera and I felt bad for him at the end. Mary was another character that I liked. She's the only friend of Sera in Witchling Academy. I really liked her, but she does something at the end which really disappointed me. 

The plot was very interesting filled with mystery, suspense, crime, dark magic, horror, and a light romance. Even though it's a little bit slow paced read, the story held my attention throughout. I expected this to be another cliched YA love story, but it really surprised me. The story was very unique and there are a lot of twists and turns which I didn't see coming. I quite enjoyed the mystery surrounding the gruesome murders and also the magic. I enjoyed the writing style of the author. It was very descriptive and easy to understand. The whole book was written in Seraphina's third person pov. The world the author created was pretty good. I loved the historical stetting and the dark atmosphere she has created in the story. The magic was the best thing I loved about this book. I love necromancy and cult aspects in my fantasy reads.  

Overall, I had a great time reading this book! It was a fun read with enjoyable characters. The book finally concluded with no cliffhangers but there are still lots of unresolved questions and I can't wait to find them out in the next book.

This read grips right away, tightens and refuses to let go until the very end.

As the seventh child, Sera is cursed. As is with all seventh borns, Sera's mother died at her birth. What happened after that, Sera hasn't the slightest clue. Her memory is blank outside of the two years following her entrance to the Academy—two horrible years that have left her scarred inwardly and out. Seventh borns have been shunned by society for generations, but thanks to a new program, Sera is allowed to study at the academy and harbors the dream of someday becoming an Inspector, a position unheard of for someone like herself. Not only does she have to face the ridicule and prejudice her classmates and teachers dish out, but due to her horrible temper, she's on the brink of losing her dreams too. When one of her professors offers her a deal, it might be her one chance to become everything she's dreamed of....or loose everything she still has including her life.

This book surprised me. While the blurb and cover immediately drew my interest, the tale was so much better than I expected. Sera is an intriguing young woman with more baggage and secrets than anyone should have. But there's no room for pity, nor does Sera want any. She's determined, despite all of her weaknesses and short comings. She carries a shield of snark and a coat of coldness, all to protect her wonderfully warm heart that she's protecting inside.

Darkness shrouds these pages the entire way through, but it never grows overpowering. The evil is very evil and so covered up in layers of intrigue and secrets that it's not clear what Sera is up against until the very last pages. The mystery is very well paced with bits and pieces of the puzzle dribbling through. The clues not only follow the mystery but weave around the characters surrounding Sera in unexpected ways which deepen their own histories as well. It's well done, holds many surprises, and captures the attention without a moment of boredom.

There is a little taste of school drama in a witch world sense. The young adult audience can connect to Sera without any problem as she suffers from the difficulties with teachers and peers, as well as the expectations of the everyday teen world. Although this aspect is only slight, it gives readers an anchor before the rest of the amazing and rich fantasy of the world around Sera take hold. And the world is rich, dangerous, alluring and simply a delight.

Romance hovers in the pages too, but at a very low-key level, especially at first. Sera is not interested in the more social aspects of life but is very determined in her goal. Her opening up flows smoothly and perfectly with her character development. The hints of romance drip in, increasing toward the end of the book but never running full stream. Trust needs to be built, and that's clear in these pages., which fits superbly with Sera, her past and what still awaits her.

If it were available, I'd already have my hands on the second book of this series. It's that good, and I can only recommend it to fans of magic, intrigue, darker tones, a dash of romance and tons of mystery.

Seraphina “Sera” Dovetail is a witch studying at the Aetheriums Witchling Academy. Not only a witch, Sera is also the seventh-born daughter to a witch. Cursed from birth, she is also the reason why her mother lost all of her powers and ultimately her life as well. Her cursed birthright afforded her no luxuries at the Aetheriums Witchling Academy. She is shunned by the other students and the professors at the academy treat her as if she was nothing. Sera should be grateful to even be attending the witchling academy given her status as a seventhborn. All Sera wants to do is study hard and pass her exams and gain a referral so she can attend The Aetherium School of Continuing Magic. Her only goal is to become an inspector and to hopefully find her father and her other brothers and sisters. Sera’s life is about to change though with the help of Professor Barrington who requires her assistance on a case he is working on and in turn he will give Sera the referral she needs, but what does the case have to do with her and does the case have anything to do with the troubled past she was rescued from?

Seventh Born by Monica Sanz is everything! I cannot gush enough about how much I absolutely adored this story. I will admit I do not read enough books based on the paranormal, but Sanz opened me up to world and a genre I mostly shied away from. The world building is absolutely phenomenal and I felt as if I was taken to a different time and place. The historical aspect of the story really drew me in. I love anything historical from the gowns to the carriages and just the different mannerisms that are so different than today. The magical aspect really shines here because the way Sanz describes magic really feels as if it is brought to life and you can feel the heat radiating in your belly and through your fingertips. The magical aspect was superbly done and really made me fall in love with the lure of magic.

Sera is a character you will instantly feel a connection to. She might not be the most grounded, but she is spirited and has heart. She shows real feelings such as anger and passion and although she may not be able to control her anger at times, hence her always getting into trouble at the academy, she is still passionate about what she is learning as she works to her goal of becoming an inspector. She is faced with many obstacles in her way including the cruelty of the other students making fun of her or just being downright cruel. I am so glad her spirit was never broken during these times. Although, I did feel sorry for her having to go through life feeling as if she didn’t matter. Sera has a heartbreaking backstory, one that is so evil and so emotional, but yet she survived it and even though it made her stronger, you can still see and feel the lingering effects it has on her today. Little by little Professor barrington starts to break down her barriers and in turn it allows Sera to grow as a person and also become stronger. I loved seeing her growth and progress throughout the story.

Professor NIkolai Barrington is definitely my new book boyfriend. He is just so swoon worthy! He is very mysterious, demanding, confident, and definitely very alpha in both demeanor and through his words. He is in his early twenties, but he demands attention. I love the secrecy surrounding him and his family and felt his story interweaved between the main story was done quite well. His interactions with Sera were definitely of the professor and assistant variety, but you can see the spark instantly between Barrington and Sera right from the beginning. I loved seeing the connection they both shared and even though they both tried to fight it, you can feel the passion building up between the both of them. I have to say Barrington was very much a gentleman to Sera as he gained her trust little by little. Like Sera, Barrington also grew as a character and came into his own with the help of Sera. He was also very protective of Sera throughout all of their time together. Barrington is just to die for!

Seventh Born by Monica sanz is a captivating and richly told story full of magic and lure that had me hooked right from the beginning! The story is beautifully written and grabs your attention right from the first page. The story is shrouded in mystery and as you peel back the layers one by one you will be deeply entranced by what is discovered. I highly recommend Seventh Born to be read by fans of both fantasy and the paranormal. Seventh Born is the first book in the Witchling Academy series and I, for one, am wholeheartedly looking forward to more of Sera and Barrington.