The Fox Hunt

By Author / Illustrator

Caitlin Breeze

Genre

Fantasy

Age range(s)

14+

Publisher

Farshore YA

ISBN

9780008760991

Format

Hardback

Published

12-02-2026

Synopsis

Welcome to the University, where an ancient magic secures the right of elite society the Turnbull Club to rule - in exchange for a sacrifice to the hidden, magical world of the Night City . . .

When naive student Emma Curran falls for the Turnbull Club's leader, the glamorous Jasper Balfour, she enjoys parties and strange rituals - until one night, the Turnbulls propose a dark little game: a fox hunt. The women run. The men chase. And Emma is their mark.

Emma is ripped from her mortal life and transformed into something beastly, in thrall to the magical Night City. Now she must harness all her ferocity and cunning if she wants to claw back her mortal life and topple the Turnbull Club. And as dark magic spills through the University, bargains go unpaid and the Night City loses control, Emma must choose between seeking vengeance ... and saving herself.

Perfect for readers of Ninth House, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Atlas Six. "A richly imagined fantasy, elegantly marrying feminist fairytale with dark academia" - Imogen Russell Williams, The Guardian. "Bury me with this book" Victoria Lee, author of A Lesson in Vengeance.

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Reviews

Rachel

Part dark academia, part romantasy, this debut novel by Caitlin Breeze will attract a wide range of readers. Emma Curran is studying law at an elite university (modelled on Cambridge) but has a passion for natural sciences. She also develops a passion for heartthrob Jasper Balfour. When she is invited into the secret society Jasper rules over, Emma becomes caught up in a parallel world where dark magic, revenge and a power struggle play out against a back drop of shape-shifting creatures and broken promises.

I found the switch of genres in The Fox Hunt to be unusual. The first third reads like several other current academia plots with an outsider, Emma, trying to find her place at a prestigious university. Then suddenly it becomes very much a fantasy novel with plenty of world building, and characters that are very much not a part of the modern educational world. It is quite a big change.

The descriptive language throughout is rich and at times overworked but there is a filmic quality to it all that will appeal to a visual readership.

464 pages / Reviewed by Rachel Bolton