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brielleborgia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
I guess you could say I went straight into this unknowing what to expect. And if you’re interested in knowing what to expect:
🖤Dark Academia/ dark romance
🖤A huge mystery plot/twist you never see coming
🖤Student/teacher
🖤Morally grey frustrating but sexy MMC
🖤Messed up childhoods
🖤Deaths and suicides
🖤Spicy spicy 🎹 (you’ll understand WhY I put the piano)
🖤’I will kill everyone for you’ vibes
This was truly a dark read and it focused a lot on the plot of why are these people dying and why Corvina was invited to attend this school. The romance was more of a subplot, but damn was it THEREEEE. I love morally grey characters so when I met Vad I knew he had to be Corvina’s man. He was a bit toxic and he was very frustrating at times.
*when I was reading this at night, I was freaked out. This is really gothic and creepy at times and I LOVED IT*
Sometimes I felt like Vad and Corvina annoyed me because of all of the suspense. The reader is truly confused until the very end. And after reading it, I feel like I needed to know more. It was the kind of universe that probably could’ve used a duology or even a trilogy for. This is why it’s 4.5 and not 5.
I’m totally picking up Arkana ASAP. Was not disappointed ☺️
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
I guess you could say I went straight into this unknowing what to expect. And if you’re interested in knowing what to expect:
🖤Dark Academia/ dark romance
🖤A huge mystery plot/twist you never see coming
🖤Student/teacher
🖤Morally grey frustrating but sexy MMC
🖤Messed up childhoods
🖤Deaths and suicides
🖤Spicy spicy 🎹 (you’ll understand WhY I put the piano)
🖤’I will kill everyone for you’ vibes
This was truly a dark read and it focused a lot on the plot of why are these people dying and why Corvina was invited to attend this school. The romance was more of a subplot, but damn was it THEREEEE. I love morally grey characters so when I met Vad I knew he had to be Corvina’s man. He was a bit toxic and he was very frustrating at times.
*when I was reading this at night, I was freaked out. This is really gothic and creepy at times and I LOVED IT*
Sometimes I felt like Vad and Corvina annoyed me because of all of the suspense. The reader is truly confused until the very end. And after reading it, I feel like I needed to know more. It was the kind of universe that probably could’ve used a duology or even a trilogy for. This is why it’s 4.5 and not 5.
I’m totally picking up Arkana ASAP. Was not disappointed ☺️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Suicide, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Dementia
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
amelierawr's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I seriously don't know why the rating is so good, it was worse than bad- it's straight up horrible.
unhealthy dynamic, teacher-student relationship, terrible description of mental illness and let's not forget the rape downplayed as "it's always painful when you lose your virginity".
cannot wrap my head around how the ML stayed as a teacher even though rumors of him sleeping with students went around...like, what? how did he not get fired? no legal actions, nothing.
only good thing about the book is the actually not that bad of an idea the teacher-student relationship. both of them are adults, she is doing her graduation and he is doing his PhD while also teaching at the school. Still, there is an unhealthy power dynamic, which is problematic. Based on that premise itself, it could've been a really good *actual* "dark romance".
and ofc i have to consider the bad writing for my rating, bc eh
(didn't drop bc i was nearly finished anyway)
all in all,
1/10 - even Ben Shapiros trashy fascist novel was a better read
unhealthy dynamic, teacher-student relationship, terrible description of mental illness and let's not forget the rape downplayed as "it's always painful when you lose your virginity".
cannot wrap my head around how the ML stayed as a teacher even though rumors of him sleeping with students went around...like, what? how did he not get fired? no legal actions, nothing.
only good thing about the book is the actually not that bad of an idea the teacher-student relationship. both of them are adults, she is doing her graduation and he is doing his PhD while also teaching at the school. Still, there is an unhealthy power dynamic, which is problematic. Based on that premise itself, it could've been a really good *actual* "dark romance".
and ofc i have to consider the bad writing for my rating, bc eh
(didn't drop bc i was nearly finished anyway)
all in all,
1/10 - even Ben Shapiros trashy fascist novel was a better read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying and Suicide
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
A deliciously dark romance that fans of broody, mysterious and domineering love interests will absolutely eat up. But do be aware it deals with some really dark themes so I do advise checking the TWs before reading.
It follows Corvina, who gains acceptance (and a scholarship) to the University of Verenmore, a mysteriously secluded Castle-turned College—a fresh start Corvina hopes will lead to bigger and brighter things. But what she doesn’t expect is a school tangled in secrets, lies, unexplained deaths—where students are forbidden from entering the woods. And whose strange goings on may be even be linked to nearly a century’s worth of missing persons cases.
Nor does she expect Vad, the part-time professor who captures her attention and her heart, but they both know their infatuation (and deep attraction) for one another cannot be—even if fate has other plans for them.
But when Corvina comes close to unraveling the mystery of what happened to the people who’ve disappeared every five years for the past century , things begin to take a dangerously escalating and sinister turn…
I’m not usually one for Dark romances (even if I am a bit of a sucker for Dark Academia) but I did (surprisingly) kind of enjoy this. There was some really beautiful and lyrical descriptions that enjoyed and definitely felt they harkened back to that hauntingly dark aesthetic we’ve all come to associate with Gothic literature.
I loved the mystery aspects which were utterly intoxicating —It definitely brought to mind novels like Dracula (which does get several mentions throughout the book) and the compelling undercurrent of danger and uncertainty that lurks on every page kept me on the edge of my seat. I just wish we got more answers instead of questions! Though given a prequel has just been announced, maybe that was intentional.
I also have to applaud RuNyx for continuing with the boundary pushing themes that made Gothic fiction soo shocking for the age, having Gothikana touch upon contemporary taboos that will similarly make a lot of people rather uncomfortable (the ethical and moral implications of a student/teacher relationship being one of the biggest.)
The romance, likewise, is incredibly well done-the spice is definitely off the charts and not for the faint of heart, particularly thoses who don’t enjoy relationship dynamics involving quite domineering or controlling men. As somewhat of a novice to the genre I also think that maybe I was a little out of my depth my for this one, as one scene (Corvina’s first time with Vad) did feel a little too uncomfortable for me to truly enjoy and (for me, at least) did feel like it was blurring the boundaries of consent. That being said it is reiterated that Corvina (who is twenty one) was consenting both before and after the fact.
The other romance scenes later on in the book were far more enjoyable for me and I can honestly see why soo many people are raving about it. But, I do think I may just be a little too vanilla to truly appreciate this one.
Also a massive thank you to Casey Ann over at Solaris books for the absolutely stunning proof.
It follows Corvina, who gains acceptance (and a scholarship) to the University of Verenmore, a mysteriously secluded Castle-turned College—a fresh start Corvina hopes will lead to bigger and brighter things. But what she doesn’t expect is a school tangled in secrets, lies, unexplained deaths—where students are forbidden from entering the woods. And whose strange goings on may be even be linked to nearly a century’s worth of missing persons cases.
Nor does she expect Vad, the part-time professor who captures her attention and her heart, but they both know their infatuation (and deep attraction) for one another cannot be—even if fate has other plans for them.
But when Corvina comes close to unraveling the mystery of what happened to the people who’ve disappeared every five years for the past century , things begin to take a dangerously escalating and sinister turn…
I’m not usually one for Dark romances (even if I am a bit of a sucker for Dark Academia) but I did (surprisingly) kind of enjoy this. There was some really beautiful and lyrical descriptions that enjoyed and definitely felt they harkened back to that hauntingly dark aesthetic we’ve all come to associate with Gothic literature.
I loved the mystery aspects which were utterly intoxicating —It definitely brought to mind novels like Dracula (which does get several mentions throughout the book) and the compelling undercurrent of danger and uncertainty that lurks on every page kept me on the edge of my seat. I just wish we got more answers instead of questions! Though given a prequel has just been announced, maybe that was intentional.
I also have to applaud RuNyx for continuing with the boundary pushing themes that made Gothic fiction soo shocking for the age, having Gothikana touch upon contemporary taboos that will similarly make a lot of people rather uncomfortable (the ethical and moral implications of a student/teacher relationship being one of the biggest.)
The romance, likewise, is incredibly well done-the spice is definitely off the charts and not for the faint of heart, particularly thoses who don’t enjoy relationship dynamics involving quite domineering or controlling men. As somewhat of a novice to the genre I also think that maybe I was a little out of my depth my for this one, as one scene (Corvina’s first time with Vad) did feel a little too uncomfortable for me to truly enjoy and (for me, at least) did feel like it was blurring the boundaries of consent. That being said it is reiterated that Corvina (who is twenty one) was consenting both before and after the fact.
The other romance scenes later on in the book were far more enjoyable for me and I can honestly see why soo many people are raving about it. But, I do think I may just be a little too vanilla to truly appreciate this one.
Also a massive thank you to Casey Ann over at Solaris books for the absolutely stunning proof.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
Moderate: Stalking and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
millercaroline_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
This read was such a crazy ride omg. I don’t usually read thrillers and originally started this book for the hot Professor lol. But I’m so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone because this book had me sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time. As it progressed things just kept getting wilder and it was soooo good! There were times when I got whiplash from trying to decide if I trusted a character, there were great plot twists, and the SPICE WAS SO GOOD. Don’t get me started on the black ball omg. This book was very dark so definitely check content warnings before going ahead!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Mental illness, Suicide, and Sexual content
whatjasread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
• professor x student is *not my thing* but vad deverell has me (and corvina) in a chokehold
• gothic elements were so well done, i was very creeped out good job runyx
• such a different vibe from the dark verse series but the writing style is exactly the same, you can tell it's a *runyx* book, yanno?
• some grammatical errors and general confusion in places (riiiiight at the end, they're somehow having sex with his back pressed against her and i truly don't know how that works)
• overall very good, i loved the descriptions and the characters and the plot twist, literally only knocked a star off because i felt icky sometimes with the teacher x student vibe but it's fine i'm fine
TWs: suicide, explicit sexual content (unprotected), schizophrenia, institutionalisation, blood, murder, death, drowning, vomiting, mention of sexual assault, drugging, paranormal scenes, power imbalance, professor x student forbidden relationship.
• gothic elements were so well done, i was very creeped out good job runyx
• such a different vibe from the dark verse series but the writing style is exactly the same, you can tell it's a *runyx* book, yanno?
• some grammatical errors and general confusion in places (riiiiight at the end, they're somehow having sex with his back pressed against her and i truly don't know how that works)
• overall very good, i loved the descriptions and the characters and the plot twist, literally only knocked a star off because i felt icky sometimes with the teacher x student vibe but it's fine i'm fine
TWs: suicide, explicit sexual content (unprotected), schizophrenia, institutionalisation, blood, murder, death, drowning, vomiting, mention of sexual assault, drugging, paranormal scenes, power imbalance, professor x student forbidden relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, and Drug abuse
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Incest, Vomit, and Dementia
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