Immortal Consequences

Immortal Consequences (2025) is a young adult fantasy novel by I.V. Marie, her debut novel. Sitting within the “dark academia” genre, the story is set in Blackwood Academy, a school in purgatory where deceased students must compete for a chance to escape from an eternity in purgatory and move into the “Other Side.” When a group of ambitious rivals uncovers a deadly conspiracy at the heart of their institution, they are forced to question their loyalties and principles in order to survive and expose the truth. The novel explores themes of Adolescent Rule-Breaking as a Transition into the Adult World, Memory as the Essence of Human Experience, and The Tension between Collaboration and Competition. The book is intended as the first in a forthcoming Souls of Blackwood Academy series.

This guide is based on the 2025 Delacorte Press first edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain descriptions of graphic violence, illness and death, child death, mental illness, substance use, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual content and cursing.

Plot Summary

Wren Loughty is a student at Blackwood Academy, a school for young souls in purgatory. At Blackwood, students are dead souls who practice magic and perform weekly “reaping” assignments, guiding other souls from a liminal space called the Ether to the “Other Side,” a permanent and desirable form of afterlife. Their primary goal is nomination for the Decennial Festival in which, they have been told, a chosen student undergoes four trials. If successful, they choose to either become an elite “Ascended” in purgatory or pass over to the Other Side permanently. This is the only way to escape “the Forgetting,” a process where older students have their memories erased and are banished to the Ether.

Wren is woken by her rival for nomination, Augustine Hughes. August reveals that a new student is set to arrive, an event that is both rare and happening off the usual schedule. Despite the risk of being caught after curfew, Wren agrees to sneak out with August to witness the new student’s arrival.

Elsewhere, Emilio Córdova, a studious newcomer, is in the library trying to feel pain when his friend, Olivier Dupont, interrupts him. Olivier expresses his fear of the Forgetting and urges Emilio to aim for Ascension rather than crossing over, but Emilio is haunted by past failures. From the library window, they spot Wren and August heading for the main gates and decide to follow them. In another part of the academy, the ambitious Irene Manette Bamford and her friend, Masika Sallow, are also sneaking out past curfew. Masika displays a surprising level of skill with defensive magic, unnerving Irene. They also see the other students and decide to follow, leading all six to the same destination.

The group gathers on the rooftop of Bonestrod Hall, a faculty-only building. A shimmering light appears, and a figure, Louise Nordain, descends to the ground outside the academy gates. Before she wakes, dark shadows erupt from her body, a type of magic believed to be exclusive to the Demien Order, a forbidden mysterious cult that recruits Blackwood students. A figure appears, calms Louise, and carries her inside the gates before vanishing.

The six students are caught breaking curfew by three Housemasters. They are taken to Memorium, a place for mourning students lost to the Demiens, and questioned individually. Headmaster Silas reveals he was the one who brought Louise inside, claiming the shadow magic was an attack against her by the Demien Order, not an indication that she is a Demien. He pardons the students’ rule-breaking on condition of their silence. The next day, Silas summons Wren privately and asks her to befriend and monitor Louise, implying this will secure Wren’s nomination. At the Decennial opening ceremony, Silas make a major announcement: Instead of one nominee, 12 students will compete in the trials. The six students are among those chosen.

For the first trial, the 12 nominees are drugged, waking in a monster-filled hedge maze where their magical healing is suppressed, forcing them to feel pain. Wren and Masika team up but are separated. Masika sees a creature kill a nominee named Nick Aronson. Irene, Emilio, and Olivier fight another creature, during which Irene is stabbed and feels true pain. August saves Wren from a replica of himself that taunts her with details of her past trauma. After two nominees, Nick and Liza Mendez, are eliminated, the 10 survivors emerge in Bonestrod Hall. Silas explains that fatal injuries now result in elimination and forces them to sign a soul vow, a magical contract binding them to the competition.

In the week that follows, uneasy alliances form. Olivier secretly allies with August, who knows Olivier is beginning to experience the Forgetting. Irene is contacted by Mateo, a Demien recruiter. Wren discovers that memories of the eliminated nominees are being erased from the minds of all non-competing students. The second trial begins, sending the 10 remaining nominees into the Ether to reap a soul. During the trial, Wren is attacked by a sentient shadow creature and falls into the forbidden Shadow Lands. This causes her soul to begin disintegration.

August abandons the trial to rescue Wren. He performs a forbidden spell, transferring a piece of his own soul into her to save her life. As a side effect of this spell, they develop a telepathic link. On their return to Bonestrod Hall, the shadow creature attacks the other nominees. Louise destroys it with a sudden, unexpected burst of shadow magic. Silas confronts them and the students lie to protect Louise. Later, Wren and August confront Silas, who reveals the Decennial’s true purpose: It has always been a competition where 11 of 12 nominees are sacrificed to the Ether to maintain its balance. He uses psyche magic to erase the memories of the eliminated students from the school each cycle.

The third trial begins immediately, sending the eight remaining nominees to face illusions in purgatory. Josie Foster is eliminated after being consumed by her illusion. Emilio is stabbed by a replica of Olivier after completing his task. Masika is confronted by her lost love, Catherine, who is part of a resistance with Housemasters Birdie and Russo. They reveal that Silas is a Corrupted Soul who usurped the academy’s true leader, causing the Ether’s imbalance, and that August is an undercover Demien. Enraged by the betrayal, Masika attacks August, but becomes buried when her spells cause a landslide. Only Irene, Wren, August, Olivier, and a dying Emilio return from the trial. Olivier remains to tend to Emilio.

Silas tells the nominees that Emilio has died of his wounds. He declares that Emilio, Olivier, and Masika, along with two others, Josie and Carter, eliminated. Irene accepts Mateo’s offer to win the Decennial and act as a Demien spy within Blackwood. Wren and August spend a night together, after which Wren finds Louise’s room ransacked, with her own name written in blood. The final trial begins in the Ether, where Wren is lured into a trap. She is confronted by Edith, August’s sister, who reveals she was possessing Louise’s body. Edith explains that Wren is the subject of a Demien prophecy, a “catalyst of destruction” (492) needed to overthrow Blackwood, and that August’s mission was to deliver her to the Order. August confesses his mission but declares his love for Wren. To stop Edith from torturing August, Wren agrees to go with her.

Masika wakes, injured but alive, in a hidden location. She was saved by the resistance, along with Emilio and Olivier. They agree to join the fight against both Silas and the Demien Order. Irene is crowned the winner of the Decennial and becomes an Ascended, beginning her work as a double agent. Devastated by Wren’s capture, August fully embraces shadow magic to gain the power to rescue her. Wren is imprisoned in the Demien Order’s encampment, where Edith informs her that she is their prophesied leader, destined to destroy Blackwood.