The premise and plot had so much potential, but unfortunately this fell a bit flat for me. I couldn't find a reasoning to become invested in the main characters, let alone their love story, which frankly felt like it came out of nowhere. However, I absolutely loved the concept of arcane magic and the very last sentence may have hooked me enough to pick up book two. It's a series I'd recommend to others for sure, just unfortunately won't be a favorite of mine.

This was my first Elise Kova book and I loved it so much! I really enjoyed the magic system (I wanted more tarot card style magic after reading One Dark Window and this book gave me just what I needed!) and the dark academia vibes. I connected with the characters and the romance to plot ratio was honestly just perfect. No notes.

After being imprisoned for inking cards outside the Academy, Clara is forced into a fake engagement with her sworn enemy, Prince Kaelis, to gain her freedom and find her missing sister. Arcana Academy is a great enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn, forced proximity romantasy perfect for fans of dark academia or Tarot. The world is beautifully described, and I look forward to how it is built out in the rest of the series.

Arcana Academy by Elise Kova. Magical, Immersive, and Intriguing.

I rated this 4 stars.

Elise Kova gives a imaginative, magic-filled world that immediately pulls you in. Arcana Academy introduces us to a school where power, secrets, and politics are as dangerous as any spell.

The story follows Clara Graysword, who is spending a life sentence in prison but is offered a way out by headmaster, Prince Kaelis, but only is she helps him. Hidden rivalries, unexpected alliances, and the weight of destiny weave together as the characters face both personal growth and looming threats beyond the classroom walls. Can they steal the tarot card from the King?

I loved the atmospheric setting—the academy feels alive with both wonder and menace. The relationships and banter kept the pace moving, and the magic system was intricate without being overwhelming. That said, there were a few spots where the pacing dipped or the world-building slightly overshadowed the character arcs, which is why I landed on 4 stars instead of 5.

Overall, Arcana Academy is an engaging start to what promises to be a thrilling series. It’s perfect for fans of magical schools with a darker edge and layered intrigue.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Couldn’t get into this one at all. The premise had potential, but the characters felt flat and the pacing dragged — I just couldn’t stay invested. DNF.

Clara is an arcanist - a person who performs magic via tarot cards that she inks herself. But such practice is illegal unless the practitioner has survived the Arcana Academy. Arrested and jailed for performing magic without that accreditation, Clara is freed by a mysterious benefactor who turns out to be the crown prince - who not only gets her into the Academy, but introduces her as his fiancée. In the Academy, Clara discovers a world even more cutthroat than the one outside its walls, full of mystery, intrigue, and cliques - none of which she fits into. Thrown into a cauldron of plots, Clara does whatever she can to survive - even pretending to love the prince. But the pretense becomes reality, slowly - only to become a danger in itself.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for a copy of Arcana Academy by Elise Kova.

It took me a long time to get to this one just because I wasn’t quite sure enough about it. I shouldn’t have been questioning it, it has all of the components of a fantasy novel that I love. And yet, I started multiple times trying to get to a point where I felt more invested in the story.

This book seems to take “Book 1” status to its own “unique” level. Yes, we were introduced to things like the characters and the world they live in and the magic system. First of all, so many things to remember with everything and everyone involved. I don’t mind that in a story, it’s often the case in fantasy, but usually at some point I become invested enough in the characters to remember who’s who without feeling the need to check the glossary. That didn’t happen here. Yes, I got the lay of the land, but I’m not sure it’s a land I care about. Getting and staying engaged wasn’t something that ever happened for me.

Unfortunately this one just wasn’t a fit for me, but as always…to each their own!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Oh. My. Gosh. What a book!! It took me a while to start this but man did I fly through it! It was so good and I cannot wait for the next book. How am I going to wait?!?!

I was definitely overwhelmed by this story. All the components were there for me to love it, but the magic and the different characters and the clans was just a lot. I realized after the fact that there was a glossary at the end, but I'm not sure if that would have helped much since then I would be pausing to jump around in the book. For the most part, the writing was solid, but toward the last quarter of the book it started to just feel really dense and repetitive.
There is a lot going on in this story, but even with all of it, I still found myself a little bored. I have a hunch it's because I just didn't care much about Clara, the relationship or the plethora of side characters. Kaelis was a really interesting character to me, though, and I definitely wanted more from him.
The world and magic system was interesting, but if you're a reader that really needs to feel a connection with the characters, you're probably not going to like this quite as much as others.

Arcana Academy had all the makings of a book I'd love, but I spent the whole book trying to figure out the magic system and clans and characters that I was overwhelmed. It would have been very helpful to know that there was a glossary at the back of the book because when reading on my kindle, I did not see it until I was done. I am intrigued by the uniqueness of the world, but there were too many moving parts to keep track of to feel like I ever settled into the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC copy of Arcana Academy

I was so very intrigued by the concept of this book. The magic system was unique and so interesting, the storyline kept me wanting more. I gave this book 3 stars because I found myself kind of bored? I kept reading not because I was having a good time but because I just had to know what happened. The writing was at times dense and repetitive, I was mostly skimming for the last probably 30% of the book.

Clara was kind of meh for me. She repeats herself constantly in regards to Kaelis. By the time their “relationship” reached any kind of climax I was no longer interested.

Kaelis’ character was kind of a saving grace for this book for me. He was interesting and dark and conflicting and I enjoyed him even though his character was left in mystery.

Will I be reading book 2? Honestly it’s still up in the air because I really really want to know how the story progresses.

I have really enjoyed some of Elise Kova books in the past and I love magic and dark academia books, so when I saw this one, it felt like a no brainer to read it!

Positives: It has an interesting magic system. A quick, action-filled beginning that grabs your attention. A dark-brooding male lead.

Negatives: The lack of connection that I felt with the characters.

The whole premise was set up in a cool way, but somehow I failed to connect with almost any of the characters. We have so many side characters that could have really propelled this story forward, but we barely go to know them or much about their relationship with the main character (besides the barest of bones) for us to care about what happened to them. Even the two main characters felt a bit lacking to me.

Maybe it was my mood at the time, but unfortunately this one fell short for me. I am giving it 3 stars for the cool magic system and I *might* pick up the next book when it comes out to see where the story goes.

Thank you #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I grabbed this book from the beautiful cover and was so excited to read it and it didn't disappoint! What a unique premise and world building. Enemies to lovers with a tarot card spin!

The book had a lot of good elements, but was also hard to get into at times and took me a long time to finish, despite being a fast reader and having many elements I typically enjoy. Despite this, I still liked the book overall. I'd recommend it for people who like unique magic systems, dark academia, and found family.

I loved this book. A fun use of Tarot cards and magic with 2 characters in a reluctant alliance.

Clara is an orphan whose illegal use of Tarot magic caused her to end up in prison. Kaelis is the prince who tricks her into escaping so he can use her to retrieve a missing Tarot card that allows the user one ultimate wish.

When the 2 end up in a fake engagement they have to decide if the fate of the world is more important than their feelings for each other.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys:
Dark Academia
Tarot
Found Family
Hidden Identity
Sisters

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a looooong time to get into this book. Which for me is pretty normal for fantasy books but this one was a struggle. The middle of this book was entertaining with all of the festivals or the tests that the students have to face but then the ending just dragged again for me.

There is little to no romance in this book. There is basically some sex towards the end and maybe they have some feelings for each other which could be love or hate. Either option is possible. It could also just be apathy.

I have zero idea if I would read the next book or not.

To start this off, I picked this ARC because the world-building sounded incredible. I love the idea of a tarot based magic system and the way the author explains it and how it works really appealed to me. I can easily see this magic system being my favorite things about this book. That being said...

The style of writing is a bit rough for me personally. There's just something about the tone and voice that makes me...bored? Uninterested? Which is a shame because the story matter and world-building should be right up my alley, and it is.Perhaps it's the first person perspective dragging it down for me, or I should say the way this first person is written, as I have read some I liked before. Though I will say that would be a subjective opinion on my part. In any case, I had a hard time getting through the first few chapters, though I wanted to keep going to give it a fair shot. The main character just seems very matter of fact, hard, maybe lacking in personality, or at least a personality or perspective I enjoy. She's just a little flat, which may not bother other people but it does nothing for me.

Speaking of doing nothing for me, this prince is also giving me nothing. Again, pretty subjective opinion but in the beginning I'm kind of like. Eh, whatever. Very standard evil scheming royal. That in itself works for some people but I suppose it's just not my type. Maybe he gets more interesting later but I don't feel like sticking around classes and trials to find out, unfortunately. The first trial they go through is interesting as a concept but the style of writing felt so....hmm maybe detached is a way I would describe it. Works for some people but I like a little more flavor or voice in my stories.

I believe there are good bones here and this will really speak to a lot of people, probably ones more so into romantasy as a whole. I think it has much more going on than some books which are romance first, fantasy second, especially with the tarot magic. I enjoy a good romantasy once in a while but it's not my main genre. I got 10 chapters in before I decided I didn't care enough to continue. Not bad but nothing outstanding and ultimately just not for me (especially with the wealth of my TBR these days T-T).

I would still recommend this book to people who want a good old fashioned enemies to lovers with a fake marriage scheme. If the magic system sounds like it'll appeal to you, I will not hesitate to say that is the one thing begging me to continue reading. The pieces we got of it sound so cool. Maybe one day I'll return to finish it but the TBR....she's a hydra you know what I mean.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the E-ARC.

Arcana Academy by Elise Kova was all consuming, gut-wrenching and easily one of the most unforgettable starts to a fantasy series I've read in a while. A tarot-reading magic system, an elite academy cloaked in secrets and the FMC is clever but impulsive! Our MMC is complicated and arrogant but as the story progresses you start to see there is more under the surface and you start to fall for him. "There is no world in which you do not consume my very being." If you love dark romance, found family, forbidden power, a slooowwww burn and dangerous games that pull you in deeper with every page.... you HAVE to read Arcana Academy.

The magic system is so unique and incredibly layered. Tarot cards with power, inked trials, secret corridors, betrayal, and enemies at every turn and then BOOM a cliffhanger -that is well deserved but it still hurts.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGallery for this Arc in exchange for my honest review.

For the most part, I found this story enjoyable with an interesting premise, but I also felt like it was similar to stories I’ve read before. The magic system was unique and the story kept me so intrigued. While I enjoyed the romance, the spice felt slightly out of place with the tone of the rest of the book. I have thought about it several times since finishing last month (which is always a good sign) and I’m curious where the entire story goes though so look forward to reading book 2. Thanks to Del Rey and Netgalley for the arc!

Arcana Academy by Elise Kova
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Clara is in prison when Prince Kaelis makes her an offer. He will get her out of prison if she will help him steal a magic card from his father the King. Clara hates the Prince because he is the reason she is in prison in the first place, can she trust him?
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What I liked:
-The first few chapters really drew me in.
-I really liked Clara’s character!
-The magic system was fun to learn about.
-The suspense was intense, especially the last ten percent of the story.
-The twist at the end was great and has me wanting to read book two just for that alone.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What a fun start to a new series.