Cruel Magic

Royals of Villain Academy, Book 1

By: Eva Chase

Narrated by: Meg Sylvan, Stephen Dexter

I thought I was ordinary Rory Franco: college student, artist, and over-protected daughter. Then, mages barge into my family’s home, murder my parents, and whisk me off to a university known as Villain Academy.

It turns out I’m Persephone Bloodstone, the long lost heir to one of the five royal families of dark magic. I’m destined to learn how to manipulate the world with fear - and to stand beside the four other scions: the scorching-hot, arrogant young men who rule this school.

The four of them crush anyone who doesn’t kowtow. No way in hell will I bow to any villain, no matter how brutally alluring. They can turn on the charm or tear me down, but they can’t break me.

They’ve never met anyone like me before. I don’t care about ruling. I just want to avenge the people I loved.

It doesn’t matter what kind of magic runs through my veins. I’m taking Villain Academy down.

Cruel Magic is the first in a university-age paranormal academy series. Expect magical villainy, a tough heroine who bends to no one’s will, a dollop of steam, and a slow-burn reverse harem romance where there'll be no choosing required.

©2019 Eva Chase (P)2019 Eva Chase

wow

Love Rory! Almost cried a time or two. I was sucked into the story.... had a hard time pausing when I needed to!

GOOD READ!

I enjoyed it! The narration was good and kept me entertained. The author did a good job with the character builds and plot. This was my first book by this author but definitely not my last. I look forward to reading more books in this series. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Just WOW!!!!

Cruel Magic by Eva Chase and narrated by Meg Sylvan & Stephen Dexter is the start of a multiple book series.
Meet Rory Franco, our FMC, while she watches her parent being murdered in front of her then being kidnapped by said murderers. Enter Declan Ashgrove, who was with the group at her house. She's told she has magic, but not the kind her "parents" had. She's also told that she isn't Rory Franco, but Persephone Bloodstone, the only living Bloodstone, who is one of the 5 ruling families. The other 4? Declan Ashgrave, Jude Kilbrooke, Connor Stormhurst and Malcolm Knightwood. She is accompanied to Bloodstone University with her familiar Deborah, aka Squeak the mouse. She is given 1 month to prove she has magic or she will be kicked out of "Villain Academy" Does she make it? How do all the guys feel about her?
Jump into this fast paced, anything can happen, and probably does, book with great characters and even better twists.
I highly recommend this book and this author to EVERYONE.

This is like a reverse Harry Potter story.

This is such a wonderful read/listen! First off this is my first book by this author. I am impressed. The world building in this fantasy story is great! I loved the whole idea of the magic being pulled from fear and joy. The characters were relatable and I enjoyed watching them change/grow. Being a long lost mage and thrust into this world would throw anyone off their axis. Rory does a good job trying to keep her values and not go to the “dark side”. She makes a few friends but mostly plays catch up trying to learn magic. She does make a couple enemies and “mean girls”. Then the pranking starts. Smelly rooms, hot seats in class..etc. I did enjoy reading the boys sides when their chapters came up. It shows a little look into their lives.

I did listen to this on audio. Meg Sylvan did most of the reading as Rory. She did a wonderful job being all the other characters as well. Stephen Dexter did the boys voices when we hear from them. He did a good job as well portraying each of their voices differently. This was my first listening to both of them. Although Meg Sylvan’a voice did sound familiar
This is like a reverse Harry Potter. Mages using fear instead of power within. Very enjoyable!

Nothing short of amazing

I loved Cruel Magic in audio it was like listening to a new book. Eva has created a great world and awesome characters that I cant wait to hear the rest of the series. Meg and Stephen are just great narrators.

Good start to this bully academy RH story!

I had been waiting to start this series until I could get enough credits to finish it (because of the reviews I knew I wanted to be able to listen all in one go with the cliffhangers involved haha). So far I am really enjoying this series and am already breezing through book 2 (I promise no spoilers from me!).

In terms of the story, you will have a ton of questions that will lead into the future books (no, not really any of them have been answered in book 2 so far haha, but that's half the fun!) and you will second-guess everyone because you don't know who to trust at this point. I mean that is kind of the point because the Bloodstone heir is thrust into a world she didnt know she was a part of, people have been lying to her her entire life, and she is supposed to be this big shot villain pretty much and she is no where close. I liked the supernatural aspects of this story, some things were similar to another series by Eva that I enjoyed previously, so that was kinda cool to see. I can't wait to see more of that in the future books as Rory learns more about her past and deals with her current magical standing. Now regarding the men of this future harem....the scions are definitely harsh to Rory at times, some worse than others. I really was liking Connar buuuuut then he ruined it so we shall see how he redeems himself once he realizes Malcolm is not the messiah and should be put on a pedestal. I am intrigued by the Barons and cannot wait for Rory to put some of them in their place (what I am assuming the storyline is going, I could be totally wrong!). I hope Rory is able to make real friends and doesnt have everyone hurt or betray her. I feel like a lot of heartbreak is going to come in the next couple books, but I am here for it all!

In terms of narration, I thought Meg Sylvan did a good job, sometimes Jude's tone grated on my nerves, but you could always tell it was him talking with her intonation change. I thought she did a fantastic job with Rory, her parents, the side female characters, made my heart swell and then obliterated it haha. Stephen did a good job as well, he was much better at the male voices and interpretations, but he also had some weaker moments with the female characters (sometimes sounding very whining when it was Rory and not one of the mean girls on campus).

I would definitely recommend this series and these audiobooks, now back to listening to book 2 ❤️❤️❤️

Will Rory Survive Villain Academy?

Reviewer: Teresa Fallen Angel

Summary:
Rory loved her parents and accepted that she was the only member of the family who had no magical abilities. Her parents are members of the Joymancer community. Rory has been home schooled and only has just begun taking classes at the local college and she is determined to make her own way. Everything changed the night the Fearmancer mages broke into there home murdering her parents kidnapping her to a Villain Academy. You see Rory had been taken as a baby and raised by her parents. If this wasn’t crazy enough, the boys that rule the academy, the Scions, and Rory immediately clash placing her as their primary target. Rory comes to learn that she is the last living Bloodstone and the fifth Scion. In Villain Academy individuals are either prey or predators with the survival of the fittest. This is not how Rory was raised leaving her struggling to find her powers without compromising her beliefs. The Scions really don’t understand Rory and may get a rude awakening as they begin to question everything about their lives.

This was a fascinating story about standing up for what you believe in despite overwhelming odds. Rory has a fight ahead of herself, but the question is who is stronger Rory of the other Scions? This audio-book brought the story alive as it unfolded. I can’t wait what will happen next. I loved how Rory’s strength was more than anyone expected leaving the boys questioning themselves. Her willingness to help the helpless showed there was more to Rory then they knew.

Great job

Wish the next book is an audible, but if isn't yet I will still purchase the e-book because the writer is that good.

Great Audible Listen🎧 Fascinating Story! 4.5🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wow, this book really blew my mind, it is well written, well told and lives up to its title in many ways. The original storylines are interesting and mesmerized my mind from start to end. Eva Chase created an imaginative world where different types magical beings exist, her characters are complex and nice developed. Rory finds out she is not who she thought she was and her parents were not who they said they were. She is abruptly pulled from the only life she knew and thrown into a whole new one and it is not a good one. Eva Chase masters both “cruel” and “villian” in this story, so much that she brought me out of my comfort zone and got under my skin at times. I was angry at how Rory was treated, but proud of how she stood up for herself and how much strength she had. I just hope her fellow schoolmates, especially the other scions do not break her and she always stays true to herself. Speaking of the other scions, Jude, Declan, Connar and the ring leader Malcolm. They are all sons of powerful Mage and in line to be the next rulers along with Rory. I am looking forward to what comes next, need to know what the current leaders have planned and what they want from Rory. There is no RH action in this first book, not much romance at all but does say slow burn and I am looking forward to see where that goes as well. I am hoping Jude, Declan and Connar grow a pair and stand up to Malcolm, his bullying is over the top, though I do see it getting worse before it gets better especially after the results of Rory’s magical assessment. WTG, Rory!! Eva Chase, thank you for this great story.

I listened to the Audible edition, Stephen Dexter and Meg Sylvan are wonderful narrators and voice performers. They brought these characters to life, gave each their own voice and personality. Great job on covering the different accents and projecting the emotions of the characters in your performance. Both are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to! Thank you for this great listen🎧

Great story

In this book, a girl is raised by people who are good and practice good magic. Then one day she finds out that she's actually a practitioner of dark magic. She ends up in an Academy where everyone is out to get her and she must somehow survive. The book is well written and the characters interesting.
I love both of the narrators, they do such an amazing job that I think they may become my new favorites