Fast Forward Friday: A Door in the Dark 3/28/23

Hey y’all! In contrast to Throwback Thursday, I like to use Fridays to look forward to an upcoming release that I’m excited about! Today’s is A Door In The Dark by Scott Reintgen!
Expected Release: March 28, 2023

Why wait on this one?

• MAGIC. Especially a kind of dark, deadly magic. This sounds like it’s rife with violent, dangerous magic. And given that it’s wielded by young adults means they probably make all kinds of stupid emotional decisions with it. What could go wrong?! 😄
• Lord of the Flies – ish style story? Sounds like there’s some class issues (rich v regular) as well as probably some academic / skill competitiveness. Plus there’s the whole issue with them being dropped in some random deadly forest by a magic portal and arriving with one of the group dead. Uh oh…
• I think this is a bit of the opposite of normal reading diversity goals, but I don’t read much by men, so I’m hoping this one will break the mold. Typical issues I run into with books written by men — especially when they write a woman’s perspective — are numerous. I’m desperately hoping he will avoid those issues and I can enjoy this one.

Summary

Ren Monroe has spent four years proving she’s one of the best wizards in her generation. But top marks at Balmerick University will mean nothing if she fails to get recruited into one of the major houses. Enter Theo Brood. If being rich were a sin, he’d already be halfway to hell. After a failed and disastrous party trick, fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holidays—Theo’s punishment is to travel home with the scholarship kids. Which doesn’t sit well with any of them.

A fight breaks out. In the chaos, the portal spell malfunctions. All six students are snatched from the safety of the school’s campus and set down in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is dead on arrival.

If anyone can get them through the punishing wilderness with limited magical reserves it’s Ren. She’s been in survival mode her entire life. But no magic could prepare her for the tangled secrets the rest of the group is harboring, or for what’s following them through the dark woods…