An Arcane Inheritance (Standard Edition)

By Kamilah Cole

Book Overview

Elle Magazine Best Fantasy and Science-Fiction Book of 2025

Indie Next List Pick for January 2026

A modern-day dark academia fantasy with a twist, perfect for fans of Babel and A Deadly Education.

Warren University has stood amongst the ivy elite for centuries, built on the bones--and forbidden magic--of its most prized BIPOC students...hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright. No matter who they must sacrifice along the way.

Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her Freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely...familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of d j vu grows increasingly sinister.

Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can't convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic...this time, she may lose herself for good.

"Draws readers into its spell before asking readers to consider who pays the true price of power--and what it means to refuse to let the powerful win." -- Laura R. Samotin, author of The Sins on Their Bones

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1464247722
• ISBN13: 9781464247729
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Dark Academia

Well, the cover is awesome, nicely dark academia and it certainly drew me in. However, while there was a bit of magic, it was more about the mysterious connection between Ellory and Hudson. A missing history with clues hidden in books and things like appearing and disappearing tattoos. I wanted it to be more like Ninth House which it was not. Not that it was all bad. I did enjoy the few bits of Ellory doing research into the history of Warren University with its arcane beginnings and then missing students. Also the creepiness of special dinner parties for students of a certain professor and their innuendos and racism and something far darker. I will admit the twist threw me as something nicely unexpected though it did get a bit crazy at the end. I do feel it kind of dragged though in parts, mostly because I did not really care about the romance of Ellory and Hudson. Instead I wanted more about the arcane arts at Warren University and the Old Masters, along with the newer magics from other places and people. It was pretty good so I would rate this 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because of the craziness of the ending which brought the whole story up to another level after the hemming and hawing of the first section. I am glad I did get a chance to read this.