Ravenshade

Every year, on the first day of January, teens with magic in their blood get pulled from their normal lives and thrown into the Academy of January - a place that's as mysterious as it is dangerous. For four years, they'll be tested, pushed, and changed forever.

Cordellia Ravenshade is unlike anyone else there. Her white hair falls like a ghost's veil around her thin frame, and her eyes - one cold grey, one vibrant green - seem to see right through people. She's painfully skinny, carrying a secret she's desperate to hide, while everyone around her just notices how different she looks. No one really understands the storm inside her.

Elias Caelum is the opposite of flashy. With plain brown hair and eyes just as ordinary, he slips easily through crowds - the kind of guy you'd miss if you blinked. But beneath that quiet, normal face is a steady heart, and a fierce loyalty to his best friends: Jax Merrin, the loud, quick-witted prankster with messy dark hair and bright hazel eyes; and Soren Vail, the calm thinker with sharp blue eyes and sleek black hair, always observing more than he lets on.

But the Academy isn't all friendship and magic. Brandt Hale, with his sharp blond hair and icy blue eyes, rules through arrogance and cutting remarks aimed at anyone who doesn't fit his idea of perfect - especially Cordellia. Dax Calder, rugged with dark hair and stormy grey eyes, matches Brandt's sneers with a dangerou edge. And then there's Corin Blackwell, whose smooth black hair and sly green eyes make him the master of whispers and rumors, quietly tearing others down while wearing a charming smile.

Thrown together in this unforgiving world, Cordellia, Elias, and their circle will face trials that test more than their magical skill - friendships will be forged and broken, secrets will claw their way into the light, and the true cost of power will reveal itself.

Because at the Academy of January, nothing is as it seems, and every shadow hides a story.