Transitive Verve

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  Mia Corvere watched her father die, hung for being a traitor to the Itreyan Republic. Then she watched her mother and brother get hauled off by the same corrupt senate that ordered her father's execution. And then she was taken away to be disposed of herself. But years later, Mia is still alive, and gunning for revenge. She has trained for years to merely qualify to join the legendary Red Church School of Assassins, and now, in order to be able to return and avenge the fall of the House Corvere, she will have to survive the training program, as well as her deadly classmates. But Mia has a special ability that her classmates don't have: she can manipulate shadows. As Mia makes allies and enemies alike, someone is murdering her fellow initiates. If she wants to earn her spot in the Red Church and eventually get her revenge, she will have to reckon with her past, defeat her rivals, and stay alive.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  Alex Stern was a nobody going nowhere fast. After being the sole survivor of a horrific drug-related mass homicide, Alex awakes to a chance at a new life: a full ride to Yale in exchange for some work with its Ancient Eight secret societies, or Houses. The thing is, those Ancient Eight Houses, with their illustrious, powerful alumni that include past Presidents and other well-known figures, operate using some very old and dangerous magic. And it is the job of the Ninth House, the House of Lethe, to keep those Ancient Eight in check. Alex's work with Lethe, already dangerous and difficult to stomach, takes a turn for the worse when, first, her mentor disappears and, second, a local townie girl is found murdered on campus. Authorities are quick to brush off the murder as mundane (well, non-magical), but Alex thinks there is some House involvement. Surviving on just her street smarts, her memories of her mentor, and her u...