Tuesday mornings in the Holloway household usually involve levitating pancakes, empathic meltdowns, and Emma scraping batter off the ceiling fan. But when a gothic monstrosity called Blackwood Academy appears overnight on the hill overlooking Willow Creek, the three witch sisters realize their biggest challenge won't be magical mishaps?it'll be survival.
Emma Holloway is used to being in control. As the eldest sister, she's mastered the art of precision magic and damage control. But Blackwood Academy's ruthless ranking system and cutthroat competition push her to her limits, forcing her to choose between her values and survival.
Lily Holloway, the empathetic middle sister, feels everyone's emotions like crashing waves. At Blackwood, where ambition and fear saturate every stone, her gift becomes a curse. The pressure to excel while protecting her heart threatens to break her.
Sophie Holloway, the youngest and most curious, stumbles onto something that should have stayed buried: a dark rune called the Signum Maleficarum, the Mark of the Wicked. Her discovery leads to ancient conspiracies, shadowy societies, and a truth that could destroy everything they love.
When their friend Matt sends a cryptic warning from inside Blackwood, the sisters infiltrate the academy as students. What they find is worse than they imagined. Headmistress Dubois isn't just running a competitive school?she's systematically harvesting students' joy and magical essence, feeding an ideology that values conformity over creativity, and control over connection.
Armed with rebellion, ingenuity, and an unbreakable sisterly bond, Emma, Lily, and Sophie must dismantle Blackwood from the inside. But the mysterious black rose symbol appearing everywhere suggests this conspiracy reaches further than one corrupt headmistress. Ancient magical societies, suppressed innovation, and the Era of Isolation all point to a larger threat.
To save their community, they'll transform Blackwood Academy into something revolutionary: the Willow Commons School of Applied Wonder?a place where magic is nurtured through joy, collaboration, and connection.
But the black rose still lingers, a promise that the battle is far from over.
The House on the Hill is a spellbinding tale of sisterhood, resistance, and the transformative power of community. Perfect for readers who loved The Atlas Six, Legendborn, and A Deadly Education.
