"An Arcane Inheritance" By Kamilah Cole: Review/Giveaway

Review by Kiana Wall

Details at the end of this post on how to enter for a chance to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

Kamilah Cole returns to her readers in An Arcane Inheritance, an intriguing story set at the mysterious fictional Warren University. Her book builds a captivating world around her relatable and honest-to-goodness character, Ellory Morgan, a freshman at Warren. It explores the hidden undertones of spiritual energy, hauntings, and inexplicable aspects of the occult.

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Image Source Poisoned Pen Press

Ellory Morgan, a political science major, is struggling. She has struggled her whole life to get to an Ivy League college, and when she has finally made it on a special scholarship, she is sure she is losing her mind. Not only is she coping with a fierce academic rival and the need to prove herself, but she has also been the victim of many mystifying happenstances that she doesn’t think are coincidences, starting with a perplexing note in her favorite bookstore, to a magical tattoo with a warning in her writing. Ellory is desperate to find out what’s happening to her.

With the reluctant help of her hot academic rival, who seems to know more than he’s telling her, Ellory launches an investigation into the unsettling and dark secrets of her university. Her questions and the answers that follow lead her into something that feels both familiar and deeply sinister. She navigates ominous secret societies, Warren’s hidden history of the occult, and uncovers secrets that shake her world, all the while interacting with entities and people she isn’t sure she can trust.

An Arcane Inheritance was my introduction to dark academia, but I quickly learned that Kamilah blends many different genres in this deep, introspective masterpiece. Not only does this book explore the occult, it also explores themes of memory, high society, enduring love, and the Jamaican culture. I found the book extremely well written, and very relatable. Kamilah Cole weaves a tale grounded in dark fantasy, the inner workings of the occult, and the life of a minority immigrant college student. I fell in love with the tone and setting at once, and the suspense, romance, and plot twists kept me deeply involved with the book the whole way through.

Even if you’ve never been interested in dark academia, I would highly recommend you give this book a try. You won’t want to leave the world of Kamilah Cole’s An Arcane Inheritance with its epic conclusion to the twisting mystery, and a hopeful ending.

To enter to win a copy of An Arcane Inheritance, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "arcane,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 31, 2026. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors!

You can click here to purchase this book.

Kiana Wall lives in Reedley, CA and is 17. She enjoys reading, writing, and a number of different crafts in her spare time. She also loves anything to do with horses.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.