The Book of Autumn

By Molly O'Sullivan

Book Overview

Among the creosote bushes and red mesas of rural New Mexico, tucked inside the former Ludlow Ranch, are a group of selected students learning the dark secrets of ancient Magic to pursue an alleged killer.

Try as she might, anthropologist Marcella Gibbons can't escape the fact that she's a dimidium, one half of a formidable pair of Magicians, forever tied together to enable the other's powers. After a tumultuous final year at Seinford and Brown College of Agriculture (and Magic) in rural New Mexico, Cella felt more than a little uneasy about returning to the sun-drenched desert campus ever again. She'd cut ties with her other half--the charming and rugged rancher Max Middlemore--and sworn off Magic, academia, and heartache for good.

Until Max turns up at her door, grinning under his cowboy hat for one last favor. Something is shifting at her alma mater, something bigger than anyone understands. One student is dead. Another is floating midair in the infirmary, growling guttural nonsense and terrifying the staff. Their best, perhaps only, chance to intervene requires Cella and Max to work together. But the origins of the disturbances lie centuries ago. To unravel them, Cella will have to confront the truth about her past--and Max. Because she might be challenging a power she could never rival alone ...

"O'Sullivan's sun-drenched debut sheds an unexpected light into the shadowiest corners of dark academia. A poignant portrait of power, prestige, and personal growth, O'Sullivan masters the delicate balance between dire cosmic consequences and visceral, character-driven intimacy. Autumn's magic feels a fingertip away."--A. Rae Dunlap, author of The Resurrectionist

• Format: Audio CD
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GYT3K5BL
• ISBN13: 9798228655133
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Recorded Books
• Length: 1 Pages

Customer Reviews

Awesome Cover

I was first drawn in by the cover, which is gorgeous and nicely magical looking which threw me for a loop when Marcella arrived back at her old college, called to look into a magical murder mystery which looked like it was right out of the Exorcist, complete with floating girl spouting tongues to the watchers. It did keep me interested though with the explanations of magic (though not much seemed to be used in this college of magic, not until the end anyways) and how Marcella and Max were dimidium and therefore more powerful magic users together and that is why only they could solve this case. And I will admit, this book had me thinking about what three objects would be the ones I would have to be able to wield magic safely. I did like how this book was portrayed, through articles, journal entries, footnotes, and excerpts from philosophy texts, to get different points of view, not just Marcella's. I did get frustrated though on how everyone expected Marcella and Max to solve the case right quick, but also did not cooperate with them and didn't believe the facts which led to possible faculty involvement. I also would have loved the magic bits to more spaced out instead of all right at the end when all is revealed and major workings are required and made it really rushed. So, the premise of the book was really good and the cover is awesome but the story was a bit uneven in its portrayal. Though for a debut I would rate it pretty solid and I am interested in what Molly O'Sullivan might write next.