Nocticadia

I love a good gothic academia romance, it was super moody with a mysterious school. I might just be sick of grumpy men. But the professor was hot, just mean for half the book lol.
It was longer than necessary to me but it was still an interesting book worth reading, it probably hits different during the fall season. It’s too hot to be reading moody gothic books with people wearing mysterious robes and the professor being a jerk pisses me off.
Also she’s so close to her sister but we barely got to see that connection. The FMC was able to join this super secret cult that no one is able to join idk seems off to me just cause the professor thought she was cool.

I picked up Nocticadia for a book club as an audiobook, and I loved every minute. If you’ve been craving a dark academia romance that actually delivers on atmosphere and plot, this is it. Dracadia University feels like a fog-drenched maze built out of money, secrets, and bad decisions, and I was delighted to get lost in it. Here’s what grabbed me. Lillia’s determination to cure the worm disease that killed her mother gives the story a steady heartbeat. The biology isn’t just window dressing. It is smart, gross in the best way, and totally fascinating. The lab work, the dissections, the late-night hypotheses, the way the parasite threads through power and privilege. I was leaning in for every clue. Now, let’s talk about the reason my headphones were basically glued to my head. Lillia and Devryck are volcanic. The kind of slow slide from sharp banter to ruinous need that makes you hold your breath. The audiobook narrators are fantastic. His clipped authority. Her stubborn bite. The private softness that sneaks in when they finally give in. The sex is explicit, passionate, and frequent, and it never feels tossed in. It grows straight out of who they are and what they are up against. If you want heat, this is a scorcher. Keri Lake’s writing is perfection. Lyrical, a little vicious, and gorgeous to read. She gives you lines that feel like cold fingers down your spine. A few that I highlighted: “Mortui vivos docent.” “You’re a sickness inside of me that begs never to be cured.” That mix of beauty and menace is the book’s whole vibe. Gorgeous prose, but never at the expense of momentum. I’ll be honest about one piece that didn’t work for me. The plot thread with Devryck’s brother and Angelo, the stepfather’s predatory friend, pulled me out of the mystery I cared about most. The parasite storyline and the university politics were already driving the stakes, so that twist felt like one layer too many for my taste. Even with that, the larger arc is excellent. Secret societies. Rotted mansions. Candlelit archives. It all builds to a payoff that feels earned. If you want a campus gothic that respects your brain, gives you a heroine who refuses to be handled, a morally gray professor who makes terrible choices for the right reasons, and lab scenes that hum with tension, put this at the top of your list. I truly loved it. And if you listen to the audio, be warned. You will start inventing chores just to keep listening.

Kept me engaged the entire time and I enjoyed the science aspect of it. Personally I saw the "twist" coming, but that didn't take away from the plot.

I freaking loved this book! The plot was great! The MMC was hot as hell and loved the spunky FMC! Such a fun dark romance spicy book!!

Very slow with the romance until about chapter 50ish but very gripping with the story