BOUND BY FURY

Rage, grief, and inherited witchcraft collide in the shadows of the Appalachian mountains.

Harper Scott has always loved Earnest, North Carolina, the small town her grandmother Gigi calls home; Gigi reminds Harper that “us Black folk were here first.” Gigi’s stories of women with magic in their blood feel less like fiction than inheritance. When Gigi dies on the morning of Harper’s 16th birthday, grief cracks open something lying dormant inside her. A few months ago, Harper received a mysterious letter offering a full-ride scholarship to Black Mountain Academy in Earnest, the alma mater Gigi “talked about like it was a blight” and which is rumored to be haunted. Gigi said it was a bad idea, but now her spirit appears, telling Harper that she’s “fated” and that she should attend. Harper steps into a birthright she’s only beginning to understand, and in the process faces two classmates who are estranged friends she wronged the summer before: Malachi Matsoukas, who radiates hostility, and his cousin Lucas, her crush. Both boys, one cued white and one cued multiracial, are tied to the school whose history is soaked in the blood of 12 witches. The ferocity of Harper’s narration makes for an unputdownable read. Debut author Monét’s series opener handles race and place with raw honesty, grounding Harper’s magical awakening in the realities of being a Black girl. The love triangle and some supporting characters are less vividly drawn, but the astrology-infused worldbuilding and layered generational dynamics add genuine specificity.

Confident and evocative.