The Coven
Harper L. Woods

“If it is order that you value, then I will bring you nothing but chaos.”

Ok I loved this and the deceptions and twists were wonderful. This is the only suitable age gap I will entertain, when it’s magical immortals because for a whole that’s not a trope I go for. But this and the authority vibes, here for it.

This has a gothic, dark academia, paranormal romance vibe and I deeply enjoyed this. Possibly addicted by it actually.

“That no matter how pretty the shell may be, we are all capable of great and terrible things.”

I adored the dark and mysterious undertones and our main character Willow was ignorant and left in the dark knowledge wise constantly. But her misinformation was fantastically entertaining.

And what an ending! Seriously applauding that conclusion and how am I meant to be okay waiting until September for the conclusion!

‘He was beautiful and infuriating - a disaster waiting to happen.’

Both the main characters were great. Willow is raised isolated, outside the Coven and has this unwavering strength and determination, hardened by her circumstances and training.
Alaric Grayson Thorne is the Crystal Hollow University Headmaster and is broody, vicious, powerful and possessive. He is amazing. He is tasked with bringing Willow in when the Coven discovers she exists. Gray (Thorne) is a Vessel, and like vampires, they feed on a witch’s blood.

“Like hell, you will. This one is mine and you know it as well as I do,” he growled.

I am a massive enemies to lovers fan and the tension here was top tier. The banter phenomenal. I’m all in for book two!

“Just find the boy,” I ordered and I followed my dinner into the woods.

The Coven is book one in the Coven of Bones series. And is released in glorious special edition tomorrow! August 6th.

“Drink, Willow. I may be an asshole, and I will most definitely take advantage of you,” I said, chuckling when her gaze snapped back to mine. “But you’re safe with me. That’s more than I can say of your own.”

(REVIEW POSTED 5TH AUGUST 2024.)

I'm not sure where to begin.

I'll start with the fact that I LOVED that our FMC was big. No thigh gap, with lots of jiggle. I also felt like Woods wasn't trying to constantly remind us that our FMC was big. It was mentioned a few times where appropriate.

I hate a virgin trope. I hate it. I genuinely can't believe I finished a book with this trope. But it was mentioned so far into the story that I convinced myself to continue. This book did not make me feel differently about this trope.

I wish I could have met other witches and gotten to know their kind of magic. I don't think we saw a single other witch perform magic at a magic school? I loved Willow's magic, and how the plants and earth felt almost sentient in reaction to her magic. I wish I could have seen others.

That ending was predictable and yet somehow felt unhinged. I'm not convinced Woods knows exactly where this story is supposed to go. I'm also not convinced she understands her own magic system.

This book reminded me so much of Gothikana by Runyx, which I DNFd. But I know people devoured that book, and I'm convinced those readers would like this one even more.

Thank you to Bramble and Netgalley for access to this eArc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚.

Well, I inhaled this book in a day! And I need the next book ASAP.

My craving for a bloodsucker, slow burn, enemies-to-lovers dark fantasy romance has been met by the book and yet I want more. I'm addicted. Sounds like the FMC and MMC in this story :)

Willow's life mission is to seduce the headmaster of Hollow's Grave University so that she can reclaim her birthright to necromancy, a magic long thought to be extinct, then Unmake him and all his bloodsucking kind. But the chemistry and sexual tension between them is too great for the mortal enemies to withstand and soon, the two are addicted to each other and their love-hate relationship.

As Willow executed her covert mission, she comes to question where all parties' loyalties lie and how many layers of motives will unveil the truth of her purpose.

This is a steamy read, the flirtation is prime, and the burrrrrnnn is so good. If I had one criticism, it would be that the academic setting didn't feel real enough, despite the headmaster of a school housing witches and bloodsuckers being named Alaric (TVD vibes). The setting seemed like icing on the cake to serve forbidden love/schoolgirl kink, though I haven't read too much dark academia to know if that's common.

While this first of the series focuses on the relationship development of the FMC and MMC I can see how coming books will build a larger world, deeper lore, and take a closer look at character development.

I'd like to thank the author for sharing an advanced e-copy for review!

I loved this book. Was it well written, no. The world building was lacking, and there were definitely some plot holes that we just jumped right over and never looked back at. But still, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in on sitting!
It did take a bit for me to get into her writing style. That could be because it severely needed a better editor (some of the sentences are just bad) or it could be how she writes. After a few chapters I didn't really notice it.
I thought the spice scenes were well done, even if at times I really had to think about how we got where we were, was there an extra arm somewhere, or did they just move without it being mentioned. That last one is most likely, as in other parts of the books, we sorta skip some bits.
The ending?! You gotta be kidding me! I started the next one the next day cause I had to know what happened next!

A lot of the negative reviews appear to be from people who either skipped over the trigger warnings, or misinterpreted parts of the book. The biggest one I see is the ages of the main characters.
Willow is 20. It is very clearly laid out that no one under the age of 20 can attend the school, do to the weekly reapings that happen. So yeah, she's definitely 20. Her mom just warded against her magic, so that's who the school didn't know about her. Really standard magic shit here.
The headmaster is like hundreds of years old. I've seen reviews that he's some creepy 50 year old dude or whatever, but they're taking that 50 from how long the school has been closed since the massacre.
So take a reviews with a grain of salt.

It’s a great book!! I will be rereading it! It’s crazy, very different. Very well written. A lot of action, magic and mystery. Willow is such a bad ass, always appreciate a strong FMC
I’m going to download the next book in series now.

4 ⭐️ 3 🌶️


🦴 Forbidden Romance
🦴 Dark Romance
🦴 Paranormal Romance
🦴 Manipulative MMC
🦴 Forced Proximity
🦴 Betrayal
🦴 Secret Town
🦴 Secrets
🦴 Witches
🦴 Dark Academia
🦴 Enemies to Lovers
🦴 Age Gap
🦴 Morally Grey



Willow is both a green witch and a necromancy witch (all which gets explained), but is going to school to finally train as she runs the risk of being known at the same time. The MMC, Gray, the headmaster of the school, uses Willow, as she uses him to get what they both want.

The books is very good! It is honestly something that I didn’t expect to like as much a I did. I love the connections that were made between witch and the powers they hold. Willow, the FMC, was just unimaginable especially with her strength, not to mention the tension had with Gary, was even better!

Their character development was excellent! The more you get into the book, the more revealed personalities you get. The cliffhanger was also a great one, leaving so many questions and wonders for the next book to hopefully be answered.

The setting and world building is unique, and at times, I did feel lost where somethings just didn’t make sense to me. Also, this is a school, so I feel like Willow learned nothing of value, so what exactly was the real importance of these lessons then?

Overall, it was a fun read, and I can’t wait to read the next one to see more and get some questions answered. I am also here for the spiceee!!





* Thank you to NetGalley!

I unfortunately did not finish this book. I started out not knowing much about this book at all except for it being a spicy fantasy romance book, and maybe that’s my fault for not doing more research. But I realized that the relationship is between the headmaster of the school and a 16 year old student and I cannot get behind that morally. I just do not feel comfortable explicit sex scenes with a minor.
Besides that, I was really not enjoying the writing style. It seemed to be very juvenile and basic, with a lot of telling and not showing the reader what was happening.

4 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I truly wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did! The magic system was so cool; I love when a story shows the reader instead of constantly tells. I do wish we could learn more about the other forms of magic, but maybe in the sequel.

The relationship between Willow and Gray was...iffy at times. I like that Woods put the content warnings at the beginning so that it's something to keep in mind.

All in all, a fun read! I'm looking forward to tracking down the sequel. Didn't realize they were already published, so idk why it's on Netgalley as a to-be-released book.

I think you’ll either love or hate The Coven. The Coven had a good start but did slow a bit for me. The romance was meh and a little too dark.

I think the premise of the story was amazing. however I just wish the author really expanded on it. I easily could have read another 100 pages if we got more build up of chemistry or background about the school/Willows day to day.

It was OK at best. The storyline seemed chaotic. I almost DNFed this book. There was no tension, no chemistry. Instalove(lust) is not for me.

I have read other books from Harper L Woods and they are great! Her books are more on the spicier side, so if you love spicy romantasy this one is for you!

I liked this one!! Willow, the main character, was SO cool, I loved her powers and her personality. I did not love the love interest which I’m sure is kind of the point but I couldn’t connect with that part of the story at all and cared more about the parts of the book outside of the romance.

“There was no control where she was concerned, as if my mind and body no longer belonged to me.”

Thank you netgalley and tor for the gifted arc!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
✨witches and demons
✨morally grey/possessive mmc
✨dark romance *please check the TWs 🫶*

Idk how this book works so well, but wow does it work 😩 is it the most beautiful piece of work? No. Did it have me in a chokehold? Absolutely ✋ I was so entertained with this book and I will not apologize 🙌 and the plot twist? Give me the next book now plz!

Our fmc, willow, is a 20 year old witch who has spent her life hiding from the covenant. Once her mom dies, the wards protecting her from being found are broken and she is forced to attend hollows grove, a university for witches. She is well trained and takes care of herself! Most of the time I loved her attitude, but sometimes she was a little bit much for me.

Our mmc, gray, is a vessel and headmaster at hollows grove. Gray hates the coven but can’t escape them. Good gosh, this mannnn 😮‍💨 if you like morally grey, possessive men, gray is the one for you 🤭 I really look forward to seeing his development after that plot twist!

Again, the romance is definitely dark so keep that in mind! I really enjoyed the tension and angst 🤭 willow hates this man’s guts but (understandably) can’t deny her attraction to him. All of the rage between them created some wonderfully tense scenes 🤌

I do wish the world building was a little more detailed bc I was confused at certain points. Some scenes also felt a little rushed so I was like wtf if happening rn ☠️

Overall, I’m really surprised how much I enjoyed this! Definitely a great junk food binge read 😌

An AMAZING package. I love a good book about witches, especially one that has to do with a magic school, and this is such a great collector's edition.

I didn't realize this was a dark romance, and just thought it was a fantasy romance. That being said once I read the trigger warnings I knew it wouldn't be for me, and I turned out to be right. It's a little much for my taste.

This reminds me of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina tv show. A young female witch who has questionable judgment, destined to be “the one” to change the balance of supernatural beings.

I’m not a dark romance reader, and that is probably why I found this difficult to consume. It definitely delivers what the summary promises though. So if you like gothic fantasy romances with a bit of spice, you’ll likely to enjoy The Coven.

I still can’t get past the “throbbing fangs” though. Gave me the ick immediately.

The Coven by Harper L. Woods is a captivating first installment in a thrilling duology. The tension and mystery woven throughout the story are truly addictive, while the rich descriptions and chilling atmosphere immerse readers in a world of magic and intrigue. This book has quickly become a must-read for anyone looking for a bewitching tale. I fell in love with the story and cannot wait to read the next book.

This book was insanely good! I cannot recommend this enough! I loved every minute of it. A total must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Bramble for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: August 6, 2024

4.25 stars
I would have loved more details and character emotions in this but it was a pretty short book so it did decently given the length. The world was so neat and again, would have loved more details, more side characters. There were definitely a few things that slipped through the cracks but I read the last half of the book in one sitting. The ending and the twists there! Whew, can't wait for the second book!

I need to go pre-order those pretty special editions