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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
I don't know why but this took me forever to finish, and I feel like it's because I knew it would end on an insane cliffhanger. It definitely did!
The concept of tarot magic and dark academia sold me on this book, but I was not a fan of how the MMC was headmaster at the school at only 23. He won me over in the end, but that may be because he had a cat.
Overall I enjoyed the book, but it felt way too long with so many trivial details. I am still obsessed with the concept so I'll check out the sequel but will lower my expeditions!
The concept of tarot magic and dark academia sold me on this book, but I was not a fan of how the MMC was headmaster at the school at only 23. He won me over in the end, but that may be because he had a cat.
Overall I enjoyed the book, but it felt way too long with so many trivial details. I am still obsessed with the concept so I'll check out the sequel but will lower my expeditions!
4.5⭐
I was captivated by the magic system and the immersive portrayal of the academy. The integration of tarot cards, each corresponding to a specific house within the academy added a clever layer to the worldbuilding. I especially appreciated the character development and the well paced, slow burn, enemies to lovers romance.
I eagerly anticipate what the next installment has in store.
I was captivated by the magic system and the immersive portrayal of the academy. The integration of tarot cards, each corresponding to a specific house within the academy added a clever layer to the worldbuilding. I especially appreciated the character development and the well paced, slow burn, enemies to lovers romance.
I eagerly anticipate what the next installment has in store.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Thank you so much to DelRey books for my digital ARC
"There is no world in which you do not consume my very being"
This was just a fabulous book to get lost in, the story hooked me from the get go and it was so hard to put it down. Let me just say that Elise Kova's Tarot card magic system is not only magnificent to read but also a sheer brilliance to see how the story was woven into it, it is refreshing albeit took me a hot minute to understand how they work but once I had that sorted out it was just so fun to read the story. There is a detailed explanation of how the card magic works towards the end of the book in the glossary, it came in quite handy as I tried to navigate the world.
Speaking of the world, the delicious dark academia set in a wold ruled by powerful monarchs and the Arcanist's magic is strictly controlled by the Arcana academy and its enigmatic head master Kaelis. When Clara, an illegal Arcanist and a thief is imprisoned after a job goes horribly wrong, fate presents her with a rare second chance of getting out but only if she is willing to form an alliance with the void born second prince Kaelis.Their push and pull chemistry combined with fabulous magic system and world building made this book an easy 5 star for me, there are a lot of twists and many moments that gives you trust issues through out the book. It is a chunky one but I ended up enjoying every single chapter!
The battle scenes were one of my favorite's, they were unique in every way.The little found family was endearing and I can't wait to see more about them in the next installment and of course with a great story comes a great excruciating pain of waiting for the sequel especially when you are read the book quite early and with an ending like that that only makes the wait time even harder..DelRey if you read this just put me down on the ARC list already for book 2 pretty please ;)
"There is no world in which you do not consume my very being"
This was just a fabulous book to get lost in, the story hooked me from the get go and it was so hard to put it down. Let me just say that Elise Kova's Tarot card magic system is not only magnificent to read but also a sheer brilliance to see how the story was woven into it, it is refreshing albeit took me a hot minute to understand how they work but once I had that sorted out it was just so fun to read the story. There is a detailed explanation of how the card magic works towards the end of the book in the glossary, it came in quite handy as I tried to navigate the world.
Speaking of the world, the delicious dark academia set in a wold ruled by powerful monarchs and the Arcanist's magic is strictly controlled by the Arcana academy and its enigmatic head master Kaelis. When Clara, an illegal Arcanist and a thief is imprisoned after a job goes horribly wrong, fate presents her with a rare second chance of getting out but only if she is willing to form an alliance with the void born second prince Kaelis.Their push and pull chemistry combined with fabulous magic system and world building made this book an easy 5 star for me, there are a lot of twists and many moments that gives you trust issues through out the book. It is a chunky one but I ended up enjoying every single chapter!
The battle scenes were one of my favorite's, they were unique in every way.The little found family was endearing and I can't wait to see more about them in the next installment and of course with a great story comes a great excruciating pain of waiting for the sequel especially when you are read the book quite early and with an ending like that that only makes the wait time even harder..DelRey if you read this just put me down on the ARC list already for book 2 pretty please ;)
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really wanted to love this. I liked Kova's married to magic (the first three anyway) and enjoy her style.
The book is very slow paced.. it did not need to be this long. There is a lot of meandering through the plot in the middle. Plot could have been structured better.
Loved the magic system, really fantastic and one of my faves I've read recently.
MC was a little too talented at everything. However I hesitate to call her perfect as her inner monologue is quite annoying at times. She has a little of that "snarky stabby insufferable" FMC trait but not fully. The difference is enough to like her for most of the novel.
MMC... extremely underdeveloped. I dont feel like we really get anything from him for the whole book. Hes into her way too early and we never get to see him exercise tbe magic he is supposedly amazing at. (Except for small uses that anyone can do) so many secrets between them. Not a huge amount of openness, vulnerability or real banter so the development of their relationship feels a bit stale.
Also it is maddening when a main character does not ask questions or insist on answers for the sake of plot.
Overall, excellent magic system and world imo. Not enough of the questions were answered during this long book, presumably to draw into book 2. I feel the main premise qs should be answered in its own book and the overarching plot should follow into book 2. As it is, we are left with plenty of questions still. Also the plot twist is barely a twist, more a confirmation of a trope.
I'll read reviews before reading book 2, but definitely a bit disappointed overall.
The book is very slow paced.. it did not need to be this long. There is a lot of meandering through the plot in the middle. Plot could have been structured better.
Loved the magic system, really fantastic and one of my faves I've read recently.
MC was a little too talented at everything. However I hesitate to call her perfect as her inner monologue is quite annoying at times. She has a little of that "snarky stabby insufferable" FMC trait but not fully. The difference is enough to like her for most of the novel.
MMC... extremely underdeveloped. I dont feel like we really get anything from him for the whole book. Hes into her way too early and we never get to see him exercise tbe magic he is supposedly amazing at. (Except for small uses that anyone can do) so many secrets between them. Not a huge amount of openness, vulnerability or real banter so the development of their relationship feels a bit stale.
Also it is maddening when a main character does not ask questions or insist on answers for the sake of plot.
Overall, excellent magic system and world imo. Not enough of the questions were answered during this long book, presumably to draw into book 2. I feel the main premise qs should be answered in its own book and the overarching plot should follow into book 2. As it is, we are left with plenty of questions still. Also the plot twist is barely a twist, more a confirmation of a trope.
I'll read reviews before reading book 2, but definitely a bit disappointed overall.
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Priss was the main character. No slow burned
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This is a tough review for me, because I enjoyed the world building and the magic system, but I feel like I would've liked to have seen just a little more of everything overall - more magic use, more of the city or of different locations in the school (they all just felt a little vague with some exceptions), more of the other characters backstories. I think there's a lot of promise for book 2, but this one, while enjoyable, fell a little flat in places
3.75 ⭐️
I liked it a lot. But I also thought it dragged on. Not every fantasy book needs to be a million pages long.
I liked it a lot. But I also thought it dragged on. Not every fantasy book needs to be a million pages long.
medium-paced