Ophelia Winters doesn’t belong at Sorrowsong University, an elite school hidden in the Scottish Highlands where power, money, and secrets rule everything. But her scholarship gives her exactly what she came for: the chance to investigate the mysterious “accidental” deaths of her parents. Her prime suspect? A powerful billionaire whose son, Alex Corbeau-Green, happens to be one of Sorrowsong’s most mysterious students—and the last person Ophelia wants to trust. But when someone begins stalking her and the danger turns deadly, Alex becomes her unexpected ally… and even her alibi for murder. The problem? The closer Ophelia gets to the truth, the closer she gets to Alex—and falling for the son of the man she plans to destroy was never part of her revenge.
What happens when getting justice means destroying the person you’re starting to love?
I genuinely didn’t expect Nightshade to get me like this. I love dark academia mixed with romance, but usually the mystery and the sex are what win me over in a book, so I wasn’t completely sure about this one at first. Somehow, though, I got sucked into Sorrowsong University pretty quickly. It didn’t even feel as long as I expected it to, and then I found out there’s a second book? Okay, wow. We’re doing this.
I have to say, though, I’m not Ophelia’s biggest fan. Obviously I haven’t lived through her trauma, but GIRL, I would’ve given Alex a little more attention—or at least tried to get to know the man better. Because excuse me??? He’s ridiculously hot, genuinely kind, already takes care of his mother and SIX sisters, and somehow still has enough love left in him to want to take care of Ophelia too. Gosh, I would be delighted. Meanwhile, I reached around 60% of the book and we still had basically nothing sexual happening, and the worst part is that it wasn’t even Alex’s fault. That’s just sad, sincerely. I liked him so much.
But God, this book ended up being so cute. The Christmas part especially got me—the festive atmosphere mixed with the Scottish Highlands and that dark academia setting was everything. It had that cozy, gothic university feeling I wanted, with secrets and danger lurking underneath all the pretty scenery, and I absolutely ate it up. The actual plot and mystery didn’t necessarily keep me on the edge of my seat as much as Ophelia and Alex did, but the suspense was sprinkled throughout at just the right moments, so I was never bored.
Apparently this is marketed as YA, which honestly explains a lot because I kept sitting there thinking, can we make this darker? Can Alex and Ophelia please do something?? I would’ve loved for it to lean much harder into dark romance, with more tension and definitely more spice, but even without that, this was so damn good. Dark academia, murder, revenge, romance, Christmas in the Scottish Highlands, a hot man with a heart of gold… yeah, it worked on me.
And just so you know, there is a cliffhanger. BUT part two is already out, so all is well in the world. Would I have liked Nightshade to be darker and spicier? Absolutely. Did I still have a ridiculously good time reading it? Yep. Alex Corbeau-Green, you have my attention.
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