Half City cover art

Half City

Harker Academy Book 1: The Instant Number One Bestseller!!

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Half City

By: Kate Golden
Narrated by: Taylor Harvey, Teddy Hamilton
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About this listen

 *** The Instant Sunday Times Number One Bestseller!***

Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Keep your daggers sharp, and your wits even sharper.

Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn't even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother's approval.

She just also happens to be a demon hunter.

Ever since her father's murder, she's been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider . . . Until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she'll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again.

But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about. Not when the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv's father's death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, and fast. All while trying to ace her classes, not fall for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?©2026 Kate Golden Fantasy

Continue the series
Cursed City cover art
Cursed City By: Kate Golden

Critic reviews

Kate Golden deftly fuses a lush and bewitching dark academia setting, complex characters, and a sizzling slow burn romance in Half City, the unputdownable first installment of a trilogy that will leave readers breathless
Packed with edge-of-your-seat action, steamy scenes that will set your curtains on fire, and some of the wittiest banter I've ever read, Half City is the urban fantasy / dark academia book this Buffy fangirl has been waiting for all her life. I don't know what sort of magic Kate Golden weaves into her books but I hope she never stops. The Harker Academy series is my newest obsession
Welcome to Half City, in which Kate Golden does nothing by halves: full-throttle action, a twisty mystery, and a deliciously tense romance make this an absolute romp. Our lead, Viv, is equal parts badass and messy, and her love interest may give you a thing for claws. Absolutely fabulous action writing by Golden, beautifully offset by a story about acceptance, belonging, and what it means to be human
Half City is the dark academia demon hunter fantasy novel of my dreams. Kate Golden delivers high stakes and sizzling romance set in an exciting new world. The chemistry between Viv and Reid is electric, and the twists and turns kept me up way past my bedtime. Half City is wickedly sexy and outrageously fun, and I'm obsessed!
Is it too early to say this is the best book of 2026? Yes? No? Because it has been a long time since a story has made me feel this way. Bad ass fmc? Check. Academy vibes? Check. Enemies to lovers romance? Check. Refreshing world building with enough nuance and mystery to leave me desperate for more? CHECK. Kate takes all the beloved genre traditions of urban fantasy and academy books and makes it her own, and the result is something rich and entirely new. It's going to be a long time until I get over this book
All stars
Most relevant
loved this so much. story, characters, world building all great. the narration was also excellent. I cannot wait for the next book.

The only bit I didn't get was why the male narration was limited to a small side character (in this book anyway) and not used for any of the main male characters?

When is the next one!?

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I was hoping for a male voice but overall I really enjoyed it! Right amount of humour, build up and I loved the story line! Giving very zodiac academy meets shadow hunters!

Loved the storyline

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Please note that although Teddy Hamilton is listed as a joint narrator, he narrates one character for around 2 per cent of the overall story.

I did enjoy this book BUT I'd seen it marketed as a duet narration which drive my decision to use a credit. It is NOT. It's not even dual but basically a solo narration (Taylor is great but that's not the point). Teddy does not narrate dialogue for the mmc (of this book) and the fact that he narrates a specific character (very briefly) is in my opinion, a major spoiler for the direction future books will take. Disappointed.

Mis-sold

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This was so nostalgic, giving me vampire diaries vibes and had me hooked in. It was funny and I loved the banter from the FMC and all the side characters.

The romance had me squealing with the slow burn at first! Unfortunately I felt it went from this to full on spice a bit too quickly.

Am intrigued by the characters and think we still have a lot more to learn about Reid! Some great leads being set for the next book… can’t wait!

Also the sneaky Teddy Hamilton narration sets the scene for what’s to come in the best way!

This had the best vibes

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This gave me Buffy vibes! Story and characters kept me hooked and I pretty much listened to it in a couple of days. The world was complex enough without being over done and the ending makes me want book 2 now!

Narrators did a great job but I will add that this isn’t really a duet more single person narration. Female narrator does all characters incl MMC (she was so good!!) and male narrator is more of a feature at a couple of points in the book.

Great new series!

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