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adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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
RuNyx really knows how to write atmospheric books! She just has this way with words that makes you instantly sucked into the scene with the characters - it's like you're there with them too!
Salem was definitely a very unusual FMC, the lairs that RuNyx put into her characters were the chef's kiss! I really loved how her dynamics with her mom and sister were written. She wasn't perfect, sometimes a BIT TOO death obsessed lol but nonetheless a very intriguing character.
Her chemistry with Caz was absolutely explosive. Caz was an eccentric character too. Somehow, both Caz and Salem's eccentricities complimented each other and they seemed like the perfect pair.
However, I personally felt that the ending was a bit too abrupt. The mystery was easy to guess, not like a lot of efforts were put into hiding it. The ending just felt a bit rushed, perhaps it could've been written in 2/3 chapters, the mystery didn't really hit hard enough.
Nonetheless, it was a good book. If you enjoyed Gothikana then you would definitely enjoy this.
Salem was definitely a very unusual FMC, the lairs that RuNyx put into her characters were the chef's kiss! I really loved how her dynamics with her mom and sister were written. She wasn't perfect, sometimes a BIT TOO death obsessed lol but nonetheless a very intriguing character.
Her chemistry with Caz was absolutely explosive. Caz was an eccentric character too. Somehow, both Caz and Salem's eccentricities complimented each other and they seemed like the perfect pair.
However, I personally felt that the ending was a bit too abrupt. The mystery was easy to guess, not like a lot of efforts were put into hiding it. The ending just felt a bit rushed, perhaps it could've been written in 2/3 chapters, the mystery didn't really hit hard enough.
Nonetheless, it was a good book. If you enjoyed Gothikana then you would definitely enjoy this.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This book was riveting!!! I read it in a day and a half. It’s not my usual genre, but boy did it capture my attention in the best of ways! It was dark, the romance was top tier, the MMC was
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Blessed with a copy of this from evermore publishing and it did not disappoint
A dark, gothic academia with unhinged romance. I didn't know what to expect going into this, but the vibes are immaculate, it's mysterious and haunting.
Caz is unapologetically obsessed with Salem, she's the black sheep of her family, enrolling at Mortimer University to find out what happened to her sister.
There's mystery, a secret society, murder, scandal and corruption all tied together with a semi stalker ish sizzling romance ? obsessed.
This book was filled with such poetry:
"To that girl, his words weren't reason enough. They were everything"
"his words tattooing themselves in her brain, changing her chemistry, her composition, her core."
"I found my muse on a beach on a dark night," he told her, holding the back of her head, his eyes blazing. "And she was the most stunning creature I had ever seen, with living snakes in her hair and fire in her eyes, yet made of ice."
"You'll sleep in a bed every night till you die, no matter what happens between us. I promise"
"And you'll be in that bed with me every night till I die. I promise."
A dark, gothic academia with unhinged romance. I didn't know what to expect going into this, but the vibes are immaculate, it's mysterious and haunting.
Caz is unapologetically obsessed with Salem, she's the black sheep of her family, enrolling at Mortimer University to find out what happened to her sister.
There's mystery, a secret society, murder, scandal and corruption all tied together with a semi stalker ish sizzling romance ? obsessed.
This book was filled with such poetry:
"To that girl, his words weren't reason enough. They were everything"
"his words tattooing themselves in her brain, changing her chemistry, her composition, her core."
"I found my muse on a beach on a dark night," he told her, holding the back of her head, his eyes blazing. "And she was the most stunning creature I had ever seen, with living snakes in her hair and fire in her eyes, yet made of ice."
"You'll sleep in a bed every night till you die, no matter what happens between us. I promise"
"And you'll be in that bed with me every night till I die. I promise."
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
I'm not sure how I feel. I really liked the characters, I liked the premise. I think I wanted there to be more detective work from Salem, and maybe more of climax towards the end, and I could have done without the epilogues. BUT again, I really loved how intense Caz was and how determined Salem was to find out what happened to her sister.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, so Enigma has everything I want: gothic dark‑academy vibes, secret societies, and steamy tension. Salem Salazar? Obsessed with death, wearing that whole “black sheep” energy at Mortimer U. And Cazimir van der Waal? Tattooed TA, mysterious artist, fire and ice energy .. he definitely gave me possessive bad boy feels
What I loved:
* Creepy, immersive setting castle by the sea, secret rituals… so gothic and sexy
* Sexy chemistry with just enough edge.
* The mystery around her sister’s death added real stakes and kept me hooked.
What didn’t quite land:
* Pacing drifted middle felt slow and I wanted more actual answers about the secret society
* Salem and Caz’s enemies to lovers vibe wasn’t always believable felt more lust first, connection maybe later
* Some scenes felt kinda awkward, like they didn’t match the older-academia vibe (I see you, “dance sexy” dare…)
Bottom line:
Great for vibes and heat, but the plot and romance depth were a bit wobbly. I enjoyed it, but it’s not an all time fave
What I loved:
* Creepy, immersive setting castle by the sea, secret rituals… so gothic and sexy
* Sexy chemistry with just enough edge.
* The mystery around her sister’s death added real stakes and kept me hooked.
What didn’t quite land:
* Pacing drifted middle felt slow and I wanted more actual answers about the secret society
* Salem and Caz’s enemies to lovers vibe wasn’t always believable felt more lust first, connection maybe later
* Some scenes felt kinda awkward, like they didn’t match the older-academia vibe (I see you, “dance sexy” dare…)
Bottom line:
Great for vibes and heat, but the plot and romance depth were a bit wobbly. I enjoyed it, but it’s not an all time fave
3.5 ⭐️ This was my first RuNyx book and I really want to read some of her backlist now. This book had a lot of potential, it starts off so strong with a lot of intrigue, mystery and tension but it quickly fizzles with pacing problems and slower middle and rushed ending. I think the story could have been much more complex and interesting but it moved way too slowly and missed out on being great in the middle. I went into this relatively blind, knowing it was a dark romance and dark academia. I was thrown off a bit that it takes place in modern times, since the cover gives off different vibes. I won’t get into a synopsis, but I will say that I was immediately hooked from the start. If the whole book was as great at the beginning this book would be an off the charts rating. I listened to the audiobook version and I really liked it. It is dual narration but is also a bit odd in that there are only two or three chapters in the entire book from Caz, the mmc’s perspective. I definitely wanted more from his POV but it was still very good. I definitely recommend audio for this book.
I have yet to read a dark academia book that goes as deep and dark as my twisted little brain would like it to go, this book deals with secret societies and I was left feeling very underwhelmed with that storyline. It seems like the mystery and society take a backseat to the love story. This book has trouble figuring out what it wants to be. Is it a dark romance or dark academia and because both stories aren’t super flushed out, it left we wanting more. The ending happened way too fast. It left me with a little whiplash and wondering if I missed something. Also, I think there was a plot hole with the grandparent arc or maybe I missed that too, someone tell me?
The dark romance parts of this book are what I would call “dark romance -lite” it has a few open door scenes but nothing over the top, the ones rating this 3-4 chili peppers must not read a ton of romance because I thought it was pretty tame. The tension to start though, that was fire! I love me some good tension before it gets to the actual spice. This also has touch him and touch her and die vibes from both our possessive fmc and mmc. Loved it.
I also loved that this book tackles Salem’s grief and loneliness. I really enjoyed her self discovery journey/healing and how her relationship grew with her mom. The epilogues give a lot of closure.
TLDR:
* Dark romance - lite
* Dark Academia - lite, secret societies
* Erratic pacing, fast to slow to fast ending
* Great beginning
* Super fast, blink and you’ll miss it ending
* Murder mystery
* Touch him/her and die
* Check your trigger warnings, there are a lot of sensitive topics discussed.
This was my 43rd book of 2025
Format: MacMillan ALC Audiobook
Thank you to MacMillan Audio, I was gifted an advanced listeners copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published on 4/29/2025.
I have yet to read a dark academia book that goes as deep and dark as my twisted little brain would like it to go, this book deals with secret societies and I was left feeling very underwhelmed with that storyline. It seems like the mystery and society take a backseat to the love story. This book has trouble figuring out what it wants to be. Is it a dark romance or dark academia and because both stories aren’t super flushed out, it left we wanting more. The ending happened way too fast. It left me with a little whiplash and wondering if I missed something. Also, I think there was a plot hole with the grandparent arc or maybe I missed that too, someone tell me?
The dark romance parts of this book are what I would call “dark romance -lite” it has a few open door scenes but nothing over the top, the ones rating this 3-4 chili peppers must not read a ton of romance because I thought it was pretty tame. The tension to start though, that was fire! I love me some good tension before it gets to the actual spice. This also has touch him and touch her and die vibes from both our possessive fmc and mmc. Loved it.
I also loved that this book tackles Salem’s grief and loneliness. I really enjoyed her self discovery journey/healing and how her relationship grew with her mom. The epilogues give a lot of closure.
TLDR:
* Dark romance - lite
* Dark Academia - lite, secret societies
* Erratic pacing, fast to slow to fast ending
* Great beginning
* Super fast, blink and you’ll miss it ending
* Murder mystery
* Touch him/her and die
* Check your trigger warnings, there are a lot of sensitive topics discussed.
This was my 43rd book of 2025
Format: MacMillan ALC Audiobook
Thank you to MacMillan Audio, I was gifted an advanced listeners copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published on 4/29/2025.
slow-paced
CW: Graphic scenes of death, graphic postmortem, on-page suicide mentioned in the opening chapter, coercion, mentions suicidal ideation, mentions sexual trauma, mentions sexual grooming of a minor, depression, PTSD, consensual non-consent, dubious consent
*sigh* 500 pages and almost nothing happens. What even was this all over the place plot?
Insta-love/lust/obsession is one of my least favorite tropes, so I'm not overly surprised that didn't go all that well for me. It's just that every time Caz said these deeply passionate and devoted things to Salem, they came off so shallow to me because they literally just met, barely know anything about each other, and we aren't shown that they spend any time together where they're not fucking or arguing in class. Where's the getting to know each other, the emotions, the actual romance someone claims this to be? Idk, I always find this kind of stuff incredibly hard to believe. 🤷🏼♀️
*sigh* 500 pages and almost nothing happens. What even was this all over the place plot?
Insta-love/lust/obsession is one of my least favorite tropes, so I'm not overly surprised that didn't go all that well for me. It's just that every time Caz said these deeply passionate and devoted things to Salem, they came off so shallow to me because they literally just met, barely know anything about each other, and we aren't shown that they spend any time together where they're not fucking or arguing in class. Where's the getting to know each other, the emotions, the actual romance someone claims this to be? Idk, I always find this kind of stuff incredibly hard to believe. 🤷🏼♀️