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Neverthorn

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If you like your heroes messy, your professors brooding, and your fantasies dark, Neverthorn is for you. Prepare to fall. Hard. Like, it’s gonna hurt.

New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones

This is a super fun, action-packed magical Academy adventure— perfect for readers of books like Fourth Wing and Zodiac Academy, but who want a main character who is a little bit older, seasoned, and absolutely hilarious!

C. N. Crawford, author of The Hallowed Games duology

Neverthorn is for the women who’ve lived, bled, and clawed their way to survive. Dark academia gets a savage, spellbinding twist—and Harlow Daygon is the chaotic queen we didn’t know we needed.

K. F. Breene, USA Today bestselling author of the Shadowspell Academy series

Harlow is a 29-year-old wizarding school dropout who is blackmailed into returning to Neverthorn Academy to help defend against the dark wizard Nocta.So now she's stuck retaking all the classes she didn't pass the first time and being mentored by the annoyingly sexy Professor Typhon.But Typhon and the other professors are hiding a secret and Harlow needs to figure out what it is and fast.Because Nocta is coming for Neverthorn and Harlow might be the only one who can stop him.Otherwise the world as she knows it will be destroyed forever

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
Could a secret in her past be so dark it will reveal she’s not the hero the world needs—but the next villain?Welcome to Neverthorn Academy. 
 
Where a bunch of magical school misfits are about to save the world. 
 
Or, more likely, die trying . . . 
Since dropping out of Neverthorn Academy, after the death of her mother, Harlow Dragon has been working as an enchanted-jewel thief.The last thing she expects is for the school to make an offer she can’t refuse: come back to Neverthorn and join seven others with secret magical abilities in House Phoenix. There, they’ll be trained in potions, rune casting and combat. 
Because Nocta – a powerful dark wizard who has been plaguing the magical realm for decades – has the mortal world in his sights, and the students of House Phoenix are all that stand in his way. 
But Harlow failed at Neverthorn once before. And nothing reminds her of this more than tall, brooding Typhon – Harlow’s old classmate and nemesis – who is now the professor tasked with unlocking her own, special power. 
 
Except Harlow is sure that Typhon and the other professors are hiding a dark secret. 
One she must figure out before Nocta arrives to bring about the end of the world . . . 
© Shannon Mayer 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, son, and numerous animals. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her. She is the USA Today Bestselling author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Elemental Series, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and the Venom Trilogy.

Neverthorn

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If you like your heroes messy, your professors brooding, and your fantasies dark, Neverthorn is for you. Prepare to fall. Hard. Like, it’s gonna hurt.

This is a super fun, action-packed magical Academy adventure— perfect for readers of books like Fourth Wing and Zodiac Academy, but who want a main character who is a little bit older, seasoned, and absolutely hilarious!

Neverthorn is for the women who’ve lived, bled, and clawed their way to survive. Dark academia gets a savage, spellbinding twist—and Harlow Daygon is the chaotic queen we didn’t know we needed.

About Shannon Mayer

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