Introduction
Nightshade is the first novel by Autumn Woods, set in the Scottish forests in the dead of winter. This story follows the idea of revenge, loss, grief and familial connections - as well as the fact that you don’t choose who you fall in love with.
A Summary
Nightshade follows Ophelia Winters as she gets pulled into this strange mix of privilege, danger and messy loyalty, all while trying to figure out who she is in a place that doesn’t make that easy. The world has that dark‑academia‑but‑make‑it‑criminal energy, full of rich kids with sharp edges and secrets they pretend not to care about. Alex’s chapters add a lot of heart to the story, giving everything this warm, aching undercurrent that makes the slow build of their connection feel worth it. As Ophelia deals with the weight of her past and the chaos of Sorrowsong, the book shifts into something more emotional and grounded, with moments that hit harder once the story finally settles into itself. It becomes less about the shock of a new world and more about longing, trust, and choosing the people who feel like home.
Writing Style
Autumn Woods’ writing style in Nightshade is fast-paced, and her prose fairly clean, but not as well-developed as I would have liked, most likely due to this being her first released novel. This is a dual POV novel, but Alex’s chapters are few and far between, despite being my absolute favorites to read.
What I Loved
I loved Alex’s POV and genuinely thought it was incredible. He feels very realistic (at least for the world he is in), and the yearning gave me butterflies. I also enjoyed the parts in which she had to go back home, and everything that entailed. The struggles she faced, and the joy of the nursing home, were extremely bittersweet.
What I Didn’t Love
Honestly, the first 100-150 pages of this book were a complete fail in my eyes. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what went wrong for me, and why I wasn’t able to immerse myself in the world presented to me, and I believe I figured it out. The introduction was too fast-paced for me, lacking in the amount of description I would have wanted and the introduction of the characters felt forced, rather than a steady stream of information. There were several points where I was having to re-read entire pages to try to grasp where Ophelia was within the school, or who she was speaking to. The book could have been written like this, but it needed a map of Sorrowsong for the reader to refer to - which it didn’t have. I also felt as if a lot of the character’s personalities melded into each other, as they are all just rich children, but all the men are seemingly flirtatious sons of criminals, and the girls are vicious daughters of them. Again, this could have been avoided with more description, and less cheesy dialogue.
Is There A Sequel?
Yes - Nightshade is the first book in a duology. Daybreak, the second book, is set to be published on the 30th of July 2026, but is available to pre-order on the Waterstones website, and Amazon.
Is Nightshade Spicy?
The later parts of the book are quite spicy, with full explicit scenes and plenty of horniness, although it’s written well and very enjoyable if that is your cup of tea.
Recommendation
If you love yearning, and books with mafia ties, then you’ll love this. The spiciness in the later parts of this book is around a 3.5/5 on the spicy scale so it’s nice to dip your toes in. I will be buying the second book personally, as I am excited to see where the story goes. This story does involve a stalker, and if this is something that can affect you, I would recommend that you give this read a pass.
Songs
Songs that I find reminiscent of the book:
Shameless by Camila Cabello
Dracula by Tame Impala (JENNIE remix)
Me and My Demons by OMIDO x Silent Child
Darkside by NEONI
(P.S. We made them links so feel free to click on them and get teleported straight into the vibes.)
