Mini Book Reviews: The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy) Book Series

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My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy 1-3)

Authors: K.F. Breene & Shannon Mayer

Format: eBook (borrowed)

Pages: Book 1 – 238 ; Book 2 – 242 ; Book 3 – 186

Categories: Young Adult, Adventure, Trials, Magic, Supernatural, Friendship, Cliff Hanger Endings

Book 1 Blurb:

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You. 

I had no idea how those words would change my life. Or how they’d changed my life already… 

Until the day the most dangerous man I’ve ever met waltzed onto my farm and left us a death sentence. 

In an invitation. 

My younger brother has been chosen for the prestigious, secret magical school hidden within the folds of our mundane world. A place so dangerous, they don’t guarantee you’ll make it out alive. 

If he doesn’t go our entire family will be killed. 

It’s the same invitation my older brother received three years ago—the same place he mysteriously died. 

The academy has already killed one sibling. I’ll be damned if they take another. 

I do the only thing an older sister can: chop off my hair, strap on two bras to flatten the girls, and take my brother’s place. 

Magic and monsters are real. Assassins are coming for me, and the dead are prone to rise. What’s a girl faking it as a boy supposed to do? That’s right—beat the academy at its own game. 

Or die trying.

MY REVIEW

The first book of The Culling Trials we are introduced to Wild. She works on a ranch, looks like a boy and takes her younger brother’s place in The Culling Trials. Of course she doesn’t know anything about supernatural creatures and magic – her parents didn’t tell her about it and she gets thrown into the trials, lacking in knowledge. But she makes up for it with strength, confidence and instincts. I love Wild, she’s badass and doesn’t take b.s. but she’s a nice person too.

In book one she meets other supernaturals, learns about the Houses: Shade, Wonder, Unmentionables, Night, and Claw. The Culling trials is a test to see who will be chosen for each houses.

The book is fast paced, short and ends with a cliff-hanger. It is filled with lots of action. Her unusual team needs to pass each trial for each of the houses. But something isn’t right and it all points to Wild. She’s undercover as a boy to protect her family, and she’s learning she has powers she never knew she had. She seems to be a target, but who is targeting her? Wild needs to find out before something drastic happens. I enjoyed this first book as it sets up us for more action in book two.

Book 2 Blurb:

Being accepted into an elite school of magic, monsters, and assassins was not my idea of higher education. But here I am, fighting my way through the Culling Trials to claim my right to be taught. 

As if the gauntlet-type physical and mental tests aren’t enough, people are going missing. 

People that are my friends. 

In a dangerous world where no one is as they seem, the golden rule is simple: Trust no one. They think we should just look out for ourselves. That we should leave the fallen behind and ask no questions. 

They clearly think we’re idiots. I got this far by trusting my instincts, and I’m not going to back down now. 

Those kids won’t be left to die. 

Not on my watch. 

MY REVIEW

The action never ends in this second book! I love Wild’s team, made up of kids with different powers. It’s not usual to have a mix in a team, but Wild is a natural leader and seems to have an affinity for each house. She brings out the strength of each teammate and even if some annoy her, she still manages to get along with them somehow.

There is no real romance in this series yet, there is a hint of something and some flirtation, but that’s all and I’m totally okay with it! I like Wild and her blooming friendship with her teammates. But someone is trying to take her out of the trials. Who can she trust? The trials are getting harder, will her team survive? Also, there are kids going missing, one of them is her goblin teammate and she’s on a mission to figure out what’s happening to them.

This is another fast-paced book in the series. It’s a quick read and so enjoyable. I’m glad the cliffhanger endings don’t leave you waiting for too long between the books. I think the books could’ve been combined to make it a duology instead of a trilogy. On to the next book!

Book 3 Blurb:

The last of the Culling Trials is here. I foolishly thought I’d survived the worst. 

My team is falling to pieces around me and my heart is shattered for the losses I’ve endured. But I can’t stop when I’m so close to the end. There are too many people depending on me. 

I foolishly thought there wasn’t much more I could lose…until the nature of my bloodline comes to light. 

I’m not what I thought I was. Not what anyone thought I was. 
But to tell people the truth would be to kill us all. 

To fail the trials will mean death, but to succeed might damn me for life. 

MY REVIEW

This final book is shorter than the other books but once more we see Wild and her team surviving the worse of the trials. Also, her gender has been revealed and she still hasn’t been kicked out for lying, which is a good thing, right? Wild is such a rule breaker, she’s a fun character and loyal. This last book puts Wild through her toughest trial yet and she’s not about to let anyone die on her watch.

Even thought it’s the last book it left some things open, maybe for another series? I’m still curious about a few things, like the Sandman’s history, the Shadowkiller and Rory. I feel like even though the series came to an end, there is more to cover with those characters and I hope these authors come back and start another series.

This was a super-fun series if you like Academy trope books (I’m a bit addicted to them). It doesn’t have romance, just minor flirtation but so much action and some awesome friendship bonds that I hope we get to experience again soon!