literaryland_livin 's review for:

Tales of a Deadly Devotion by Jennifer Delaney

4.5

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 Where gothic academia and magic meet we find Tales of a Deadly Devotion leading its readers back into Blackthorn Manor where curses, dark monsters, ancient texts, and forbidden magic reign supreme. Picking up right from the cliffhanger ending of book one we follow along Kat, Emrys, Alma, Thean, Gideon, and William as they battle against a dangerous long ancient darkness. 

I screamed so loud when I received this arc as it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and as expected I loved and devoured every second of this dark gothic magical academia world and it’s characters. The found family aspect that I  adored so much in book one is again present and took my admiration to a new level. For I had already thought I loved all these characters so greatly but book two absolutely solidified my obsessions with each and every single one of them as I  found this installment to be very character driven focused. This particularly rang true for sassy and mysterious Thean, as well as resiliently fearless Alma as we get to see more of these two characters and hear some of their own backstories. Now the romances (yes that’s right, I used plural because there is more than one this time around) continue to be delicious with all the banter, angst, yearning, and tension that make for truly swoon worthy slow burns. The magic, legends, world building, and lore are also much more prominently featured here than in the previous installment which I I anticipate being a larger focus for book three. And yes this installment also does end on a cliffhanger, leaving me again desperate for more of this immersive and magical academic world that Delaney has created. If you are a lover of books filled with forbidden magic, ancient lore, curses, dangerous monsters, gothic dark academia vibes set in a magically sentient manor, brooding and mysterious characters, slow burn romances with all the hand flexes and stolen glances, and an amazing found family then you need to read this series immediately. 

Tales of a Deadly Devotion comes out August 28th, 2025. Thank you NetGalley and Gollancz for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.