Arcana Academy

Arcana Academy has all the typical ingredients I expect from a dark academia romantasy. A forbidden magical academy, tarot magic, a fake engagement, a morally questionable prince, royal intrigue, and enemies to lovers fill the pages. Clara Graysword enters Arcana Academy under a false identity after Prince Kaelis offers her freedom from a lifetime prison sentence. Their arrangement gives her a chance to use her illegal card inking abilities while searching for answers about her missing sister. The tarot magic system element was a familiar device I have seen in other fantasies. A society where magical cards are controlled by the ruling class leaves room for questions about power, privilege, and who deserves access to magic. Clara has every reason to challenge the caste system. She grew up outside the nobility, learned forbidden magic, and was imprisoned for possessing an ability the elite wanted to keep for themselves. I never found the story to be particularly exciting. Many pieces felt familiar because I have seen them in so many other popular fantasy romances. The book struggled to establish an identity of its own. The elite magical school, dangerous trials, corrupt monarchy, rebellious heroine, secret resistance, fake relationship, mysterious prince, and forbidden power felt like variations of ideas I have read many times before. Familiar tropes can make an entertaining book, but I needed unique characters or a more distinctive plot to make this story more memorable. Clara and Kaelis did not give me a connection to the story either. Their relationship follows a recognizable romantasy path, but neither character captured my attention enough to make me care deeply about their romance. The supporting characters had the same problem. A book filled with betrayals, political schemes, magical trials, and a major heist should have created far more excitement than I actually felt while reading it. I wanted Arcana Academy to provide something that separated it from my crowded romantasy shelf. Instead, I spent much of the book waiting for a character, relationship, or plot development to finally grab me. It never did.

I was researching my latest passion of obtaining signed copies of books. I had found a copy of Arcana Academy signed online. I asked the seller why they were selling and they had stated they didn’t care for the book. I ignored the warning and tried Arcana Academy out. It had me hooked from the very first pages. The magic system is unique, the questions I have keep me pushing forward through the book, and the questions of the prince’s intentions keep me wondering. I look forward to book two, Thank you for the great read Elise Kova!!

Took me 4 days to read from jan 1-jan5. I usually rate my books 1 -5 . So this will be different i guess itll be a 10 since i considered it a 5/5 me no doubt. I'll definitely continue the series. Very intrigued by the magic system that involves tarot. Its a dark academia . I like the MFC. I found it was a good pace. A little mystery, adventure, emotional.

When I tell you this is the next best fantasy series!!! I LOVED this book. I cannot wait for the next one to be released!! I have a love hate relationship with Prince Kaelis. I don’t trust him to give Clara exactly her world or even his version of the world but at the same time his actions and some words make me just melt. Very clever of Clara to keep a major card with her but it’s the easiest card Kaelis can replace. ALSO THE ENDING. HER SISTER IS ALIVE?!?!?!? What. The. Actual. F*€k.