2.5 stars. I was excited for a book with an academic setting, but this one didn't quite reach its potential for me.
The magic system seemed interesting at first - I've read another book with a card/tarot-based system and really enjoyed it - but then started feeling drab.
The pacing was odd - the first third was extremely slow, and then it picked up a little in the middle, and then slowed down again. For the romance - I love enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers, but there wasn't really "build up" per se for them. They talked a little, had a few interactions, and then bam spice out of nowhere. When spice adds to the story it's great, but this seemed like it was there more just for the sake of being spicy; it didn't deepen their connection, change their relationship, etc. It also felt like there were a lot of little subplots going on but none of them got fully fleshed out.
Overall it didn't make me really care about their characters, e.g. I didn't connect to them and there weren't any crazy high stakes, and the story felt pretty generic.

4.5⭐

Thank you Elise Kova and Del Rey US for the ARC!

I absolutely loved and devoured this book.
It was amazingly written and the world building was fantastic. I absolutely loved the magic system in this book and how beautifully intricate it was.

The world-building is phenomenal—rich in magic, with complex characters and twists that keep you on the edge of your seat. The relationships are so well-developed, and they pull you in every time. The plot keeps you guessing, and just when you think you’ve figured it out, it throws in a curveball.

Clara, the resilient protagonist, embarks on a tumultuous journey after being freed from a grim fate in prison by the enigmatic Prince Kaellis. Their arrangement—a fake engagement that soon grows more complex—adds a deliciously dark twist to the story, as Kaellis’s own ambitions and secret machinations slowly unfold.

The slowburn and tension between Clara and Kaelis was sizzling as hell. The enemies to lovers aspect of the book made it much more interesting to explore their dynamics.

The ending has me absolutely spiraling. I must have read the last 3 pages 10 times. Jaw on the floor. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to get their hands on this!

•• “𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦”

I’ve been trying to peel my jaw off the floor and write this review but it’s proving to be a struggle. The more I think about this story, the more in love with it I fall. Unique tarot card magic that reminded me of One Dark Window, a brutal magic academy that was cutthroat like Basgiath, a slow burn hate to lovers-ish relationship that gave me good and bad butterflies, along with secrets and betrayals galore had me hooked from the very start and unable to put this down.

The magic is truly impressive and I have a feeling we’ve only scratched the surface of its potential in this installment. The lore and complexities of the system keep you guessing without being confusing and the fight scenes were so well done that my heart was pounding the whole time. It’s brutal and tricky, and I absolutely ate it up.

•• “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳”

And when my heart wasn’t pounding cause of the action, it was racing from the tension between Clara and Kaelis. Don’t get me wrong, this is a slow burn, but the prince really knows how to make those little moments count. Possessive touches, sneaky humor, and slipped confessions made the hate to lovers progression feel natural and sweeter than it had any right to be.

•• “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 - 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥”

You have to work for those sweet moments though, and these characters will have you ready to scream a few times. Despite the poor communication between them, I was never frustrated with the hot and cold of their relationship. If anything, it made me truly feel the lows and made the highs that much better.

•• “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦… 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵.”

The last line of this book pulled an honest to god 𝗴𝗮𝘀𝗽 out of me. And then I just sat and stared at the ceiling for a little while. This was the perfect cliffhanger and I’ll do just about anything to get book 2 in my hands as soon as possible.

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲:
•𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰
•𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
•𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘆
•𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻
•𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀-𝗶𝘀𝗵
•𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆
•𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀
•𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀
•𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘀 / 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀
•𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗽
•𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘁, 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱

This book was amazing. I’m a massive fan of Kova’s, and I couldn’t wait for this. And I was not disappointed. It’s fresh and fun, but has Kova’s amazing prose, characters, and world building. Fantastic.

In Arcana Academy we are thrust into a world where magic users ink & wield tarot cards, however they must go through training at Arcana Academy. We follow Clara, who is imprisoned for the illegal inking & selling of tarot cards. Her only way to escape is to make a deal with the second Prince Kaelis, head of the academy. Failure is not an option as failure could mean death or worse. However, there are other secrets coming to light as Clara tries to navigate who she can trust.

Wow! Let me start off by saying that the plot felt so refreshing to read. Sometimes plots can be recycled & this broke that mold. It left things exciting wondering what was going to happen next. The magic system felt so well thought out & I loved that there’s a glossary explaining the different cards to further immerse yourself into this world.

This is a fast paced novel & it kept me on the edge of my seat. While reading I kept thinking about how I was enjoying the pacing of the book & that the timing feels almost practical as the events aren’t rushed into a short time frame.

Now let’s talk about that ending cause that had my jaw on the floor!! There were a few twists at the end that I honestly didn’t see coming. This does end on a cliffhanger since it’s the first book in the series but I will be eagerly awaiting the next book to get more answers.

I also want to add that this is the first book I’ve read from this author so I don’t have any bias from reading any of her other work. But overall this was a fantastic read & I can’t wait to read some of her other books.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC!!

The words from this book felt like they were transporting me to a familiar world. I loved all the drawing and inking, not many fantasy books are so descriptive when it comes to tarot. I cannot wait for book two but I know I am going to dwell for a long time within the walls of Arcana academy and its students. I loved the friendships formed and old. I appreciated that although the MMC was important the roles of friendship and loyalty were more so.

What a delightful, fast paced, stellar romantasy novel.

The world building and magical system! It was so intricate and as a fan of Tarot in general? I vehemently approve. It was so cool seeing all the different kinds of magic the cards can create and how it directly ties into their meanings.

The characters were multidimensional and flawed which I LOVE. Give me some complicated beans please! Especially, if they come in the sad broody boy variety! Also, Clara is a great MC, she's all hard edges, but not so much so that she's unlikable. She's very balanced in that regard and it makes it that much more fun to see the inner workings of her mind throughout the story!

This was such a wildly fun ride. AND THAT ENDING. I'm so happy that this is my first in the adult romantasy genre.

4.5/5

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think I should stop making "most highly anticipated reads" list. I'm just setting myself up for disappointment.

This was... an okay read. I really love the magic system. It's actually what first drew me in. But all the other elements of the book just didn't work out for me. The romance was meh. The magic system was so intriguing. At first, Then it became boring. And I could barely understand what was happening. (Am I just stupid?) I had to read certain paragraphs/phrases multiple times. Clara was fine. But Kaelis was just trying too hard. I think the worst was the dialogue and the supposed "banter". It bordered on cringe. It was hard to read at times, tbh.

I am heartbroken that I didn't end up loving this. I really am.

5 Stars!!!

AMAZING! This book was such an interesting read. I have never read anything like it. The magic system was so fun! I loved learning about all the different types of tarot and what each card could do.

There was definitely some spice in this book, but it was the perfect amount, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed everything about this book; the magic, enemy to lovers, romance, friendships, the school and training, etc.

The plot twist at the end had me shook! I can't believe I have to wait for this book to come out. Why can't I have the second one right now?!

There were so many tropes I loved in this book! I think this is probably going to be one of, if not my favorite book, this year! I highly recommend! I'm going to go and preorder my physical copy right now!

I absolutely loved this book! The magical system was so original and amazing, I love tarot cards so that was a super bonus point for me. The enemies to lovers is super real, they are real enemies and I love the fact that they never really trust eachother even when they are so attracted to one another. The yearning, the tension and the slow burn are amazing!
A definitely must read for me 🙏🏻
4.75 stars ⭐️

Currently in my fantasy era and this one absolutely hit the spot for me 🙂‍↕️🫶🏼 all my fantasy romance lovers out there… you’re going to absolutely devour this one when it releases

The concept of a world filled with tarot magic and an academy that trains wielders of such magic - along with an FMC who is forced to attend this school and enter a fake engagement to help the prince and headmaster of this school gain power and change the world with her unique talents - is great.

The execution? Not so great.

This entire story felt very hollow, and I’m sad to say that because I enjoy the author’s other work quite a lot. But from the beginning, the reader is bombarded with so much information that it’s hard to retain. The academy setting - which I have a soft spot for and was excited about - felt more like window dressing, used to spoon-feed world-building rather than serving as an integral part of the plot.

We barely got meaningful interactions within the academy, and the student characters felt like shells with barely-there personalities. The book introduces an entire academy system with its own mechanisms, but after they serve their plot relevance, they’re promptly discarded and barely mentioned again - just like most of the characters.

I’d wager that aside from the FMC and MMC, everyone else had little meaningful characterization. And that would be fine if the larger plot didn’t revolve around the academy. Why make the MMC a headmaster, the FMC a student, and establish all this academy lore if it’s barely relevant?

We’re also introduced to a separate set of side characters from the FMC’s old life. While she proclaims her love for them, they feel just as vaguely characterized as every other side character in this world, making their inclusion feel pointless.

Similarly, the magic system felt nebulous and hard to grasp as a reader. I really tried, but every time I thought I understood, I was bombarded with more information about the cards, the magic, the lore, etc.

The positives? The interactions between the FMC and MMC. They were cute, well-written, and had chemistry. But I wouldn’t call this an enemies-to-lovers story. He was never really an enemy, and his affections for her were apparent from the start. The attempt to frame their relationship as a hate-to-love dynamic later on felt unnecessary and it wasn’t substantiated at all.

The ending felt a little flat. It was predictable, but I was mildly curious about where things would go. I did enjoy the prose, as I usually do with Elise Kova. And the novelty of a tarot-based magic system might entice me to continue, since I do like the core idea and bare bones of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elise Kova does it again. The queen of fantasy is back. This book did not disappoint, you need to pick it up!

OMG that ending!!! Elise! You cruel, cruel woman!

Arcana Academy was such a good time! We get to follow FMC Clara as she navigates her way out of escaping prison, entering trials to join Arcana Academy to become a real arcanist, finding out what happened to her sister, and oh yeah joining in on a scheme concocted by a deliciously dark prince that will literally change the world. All in a day’s work for our girl!

Clara was really bad ass, so feisty and brave and willing to do the wrong thing. That sounds silly but in a lot of books the heroes often are about doing the right thing but Clara was pretty refreshing when she had no qualms about being selfish in her revenge plans. Prince Kaelis is something I can’t quite put my finger on. He keeps almost everything close to his chest, he doesn’t care for many people at all except his cat, Priss. Which of course shot him up a few hundred notches in my book. But he was really soft with Clara from the beginning, his heart was hers for the taking. I feel like there’s a lot more to Kaelis and we only got to scratch the surface in this first book. I also got a bit frustrated with Clara and Kaelis’s “we hate each other, this will never work” bit but their banter was fun and the sexy times made up for it. The secondary characters were fun too. I absolutely adored Silas and Alor but wish we got to know the rest a bit more.

The best thing about this book has to be the magic system. Tarot cards that are wielded like weapons and certain people can wield special “Major” cards. It was so fun and entertaining reading through the dueling and training scenes, the system really captured my attention!

Arcana Academy ends on quite the cliff hanger too so beware! Overall a really great book to start this new series off, I’m so excited to see what happens next! Thank you so much to Del Rey for gifting me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Arcana Academy is a gripping mix of magic, adventure, and romance. Clara, a thief with a rare ability to ink tarot cards, is thrown into Arcana Academy after a failed heist lands her in prison. The mysterious Prince Kaelis offers her a way out—if she helps him steal a powerful card from the king. As Clara navigates the academy's dangerous politics and her growing feelings for Kaelis, she must decide who to trust and whether she can control the power she's been given. With plenty of twists and tension, this book is perfect for fans of magic and forbidden romance.

Book: Arcana Academy
Series: Self Titled, Book 1
Author: Elise Kova
Completed Series: No
Genre: Romantasy
Format: ARC eBook

Storyline/Plot:
I was really looking forward to this book. The first half of the book is amazing! I went to sleep and actually dreamed about it. The magical system was intriguing and I was captivated by how everything was going to play out. Then the angst came. And came. And came. I think the amount of distrust between the two main characters was overplayed for my personal taste.

Favorite Characters:
I liked Silas. I found him intriguing and heartbreaking at the same time.

Spice:
It’s mainly kissing until you reach around 80% of the book. Then it gets interesting only to completely backtrack which I found frustrating.

Triggers:
It’s all fantasy, but some gory scenes lost family, imprisonment, work camps


I'm haven't posted it to my account and will not post on GoodReads until a month after the release date

I had a very interesting rollercoaster experience with this book. I must say that it took me until about the 15% point of the book to find myself with a comfortable reading pace. In the beginning, the glossary will be your friend. The reader is immediately immersed in this world of clans and kings. You find out information as our FMC, Clara, does. So, characters she hated or disliked, I found myself feeling the same way. I can appreciate that aspect of Kova's writing.

However, I wanted to DNF the book in the beginning because our MMC, Kaelis, is quite unlikeable. Also, he has an unclear character description, contradictory at worst and confusing at best. Some characters are introduced by appearance, which felt like the details were copy and pasted from the author's notes. I'm not sure I feel emotionally attached to any of them, except Silas. Lastly, when Kova's writing wasn't in its groove, I felt lost, wondering if she was keeping her facts straight. She does, and ties up many ends, so don't worry: keep with the story.

Past about 40% of the book, I was hooked and needed to know more of the drama/plot of the story. Luckily, I felt like the magic system, which is based off of tarot cards, was thoughtful and well-executed. I really enjoyed that a lot of this book has relevant story, instead of filler or frivolous writing. I could feel the dedication that Kova had because the plot is not rushed.

The spice was nice and long enough! It doesn't overpower the story at all!

I think that once I came to the realization that the story melds to unreliable narration, I increased my rating. There are high stakes, action scenes, and I enjoyed reading a "year" in this Academy. I already miss the world, and can't wait to see what happens in book 2.

eARC of this book was graciously provided by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published July 22, 2025.

This is a really good read. The kind where you're a little angry when it ends because it's over and the next book isn't out yet!

The world-building is solid and the magic system is unusual, but the characters are what really make it. Clara is strong and smart and flawed enough to be interesting. She starts the book with a prison break and things only get more complicated from there. The romantic interest is a well-done enemies-to-lovers, which I think is one of the hardest to pull off without causing reader eye-roll. I believe it's being marketed as "new adult," but if you enjoy fantasy at all you will want to read this one!

Read via NetGalley for no consideration other than an honest review.

I was absolutely in awe of this book! I loved it so much it left me desperate to read the next ones! The world building and character profiles in this fantasy novel are so well written you feel like you're immersed in every line! I already find myself needing book 2! There are themes of friendship and love, trust, betrayal and a slow burn romance its everything you need from a magical fantasy. This is looking to be my favorite book of 2025! Dont hesitate read this book!

📚I was able to read an advanced copy of title thanks to NetGalley, Elise Kova and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey📚
📚All reviews and opinions are entirely my own📚

And now i wait for the next book, and this one is not even released yet!

This is my first book from Elisa Kova, and i feel like i need to go back and read some of her other works. This story was well written, the plot and world building was understandable, interesting and well thought out. I am excited to see where the next book goes.

-Unique Tarot Magic system
-Academia setting
-Fake engagement

Thank you Netgalley and Del Ray for the Arc