A great dark academia, academic rivals-to-lovers read. We follow Aurelia, a witch trying to balance her life while studying at Cambridge. I loved the prose and the lyrical writing—the tension, the angst, and the eventual tenderness. The rivalry between Aurelia and Teddy was so compelling, and I enjoyed watching their slow-burn romance unfold. I adored the setting, the atmosphere, the magic system, and the characters. It had the vibes of The Atlas Six and Divine Rivals, which I loved! The audiobook was a fantastic listen, and next time, I’d love to both read and listen to it.

This is a beautifully written book with rivals to lovers, a incredible backdrop and even some cosy vibes.
Our two MCs are Aurellia and Teddy who are forced into close proximity with eachother. They end up stowed away together in a cottage whilst they worked to figure out the threat.
There was lots of character development and you follow along as the MCs begin to slowly change their opinions of eachother from academic rivalry to much more. This is a slow burn romance with lots of yearning!
There are Witches and magic but this really is the story of our two main characters, their journey and how they can shape the world around them.
The story is character driven so don't expect a fast pace or lots of action with this one but I found it a really nice change!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking into more from this particular author.

4.5 stars
A rivals-to-lovers fantasy novel perfect for fans of Divine Rivals. The story follows witch Aurelia Schwartz as she faces new threats and is forced into an alliance with her academic rival Theodore Ingram. I loved the characters in this book, and Teddy’s backstory was heartbreaking. The story could be slow sometimes, but the characters made up for it, and there was plenty of excitement later in the book. The setting was cosy and atmospheric, and the slow burn romance was written very well. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was incredible: perfectly paced and distinctive.

-Rating & Tropes-
4.5*/5 (Rounded up to 5)
-Dark Academia(ish)
-Rivals
-Slow Burn
-Forced Proximity
-Hidden Magic

-Quick description-
Modern Divination is a dark academia fantasy romance. Aurelia and Theodore are intense rivals, a deathly turn of events forces these two into very close proximity where we get to see their relationship evolve into something new.

-Thoughts-
This is a very well written enemies/rivals to lovers story that is perfect for an autumnal/wintry read, it brings all the vibes. If you enjoy atmospheric witchy reads then this is going to be a book for you. The relationship development is top tier the author has done a fantastic job fleshing out all of the characters.

-Favourite Quotes-

~What was a kiss without hands but a letter left unsigned—intentions only halfway delivered?

~ To love something was to deface it—to give it a mark and change its identity forever.

~ It’s you I want. As you are, as I am.

Disclaimer - My rating reflects the vibes and enjoyment I had whilst reading the book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC and a huge thank you to Isabel Agajanian.
Also reviewed on Goodreads, StoryGraph,Fable and Instagram (post coming soon) @read.with.rue

Links
-Fable-
http://Check out this review on Fable https://fable.co/review/9e4c2086-2193-4ece-8e20-45f63e007fd2/share
-StoryGraph-
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/03606a1a-79b6-4e53-9c8a-4182a8820b89
-Goodreads-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7237283120

Had to dnf at 30%. The world was very interesting but it doesn't make up for how annoying the main character is. Why is so much time taken up with the love interests arguing over one comment the guy makes years ago? I actually really enjoy when academic rivals really hate each other and for justifiable reasons, but while that trope is used here, there's no heart to it. If anything I feel sorry for the guy who at least wanted to get along the whole time but at each moment is meet with visceral hatred. Like come on if she hates him that much then please give me a better reason.

I adore this book. I read the self-published version a year ago and was pleased to see that this version had very few changes. The Dark academia witchy vibes were immaculate but the romance was the creme-de-la-creme for me - the slowburn, the yearning 🫠. I am very much looking forward to the conclusion of this duology and I'm glad that more people get to enjoy Isa's lush prose.

The premise of this book immediately caught my eye as it was described as The Atlas Six meets A Discovery of Witches, one of my all time favourite series. While I can see where the similarities lie, I found this book to be far too slow paced as the plot centred around the academic-rivals-to-lovers trope which overshadowed the otherwise intriguing world and setting. The hatred between the two main characters had weak foundations and seemed comically one-sided which made Aurelia come off as whiny and annoying. Overall, The academic rivals-to-lovers trope was used way too heavy handedly for my tastes.

While the narrator did a good job of differentiating between characters through various accents I found her delivery, unfortunately, reinforced the novel’s already slow pacing, making it feel even more drawn out. While their tone may have been intended to match the book’s mood, it ultimately made it harder to stay engaged.

Thank you Pan Macmillan, Isa Agajanian and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of it’s release.

Thank you so much for letting listen to this audiobook. This story had a nice mistery that kept the story going and beautiful Lovestory to accompany it.

Kristin Atherton did an amazing job. I really loved her narration of A Dowry of Blood and when I saw she was doing Modern Divination, I got equally as excited!

One scene that truly gained my respect in this book was how well Kristin brought Teddy to life was the pub scene. I won’t got into details and risk spoiling it, but I will say, she truly made me feel his pain.

3.25⭐ This book had a lot of potential to be absolutely fantastic and although it wasn't terrible by any means, it ended up just being a pretty average read. I found myself struggling to feel connected to the FMC and just wasn't invested in the parts of the story that the author chose to focus on. I would have loved this to lean more into the Dark Academia Witchy Vibe and for the characters to have focused more on certain shocking events and mysteries that I felt would have been more compelling and engaging to follow as a thread. There were things that were left ambiguous or threads left loose to grab, and hold, the reader's attention and keep them in suspense for Book 2 however for me I felt like we needed to be given a few more answers in order for me to be invested rather than frustrated. The writing was beautiful at times, there were really interesting concepts and I really loved Teddy however I felt like I needed a bit more depth to the magic system to give a better understanding and at times Rory seemed quite an immature protagonist for an Adult book. There was a hint of tension and relationship development between the FMC and MMC but not enough for me and I felt that this could have been a standalone rather than a duology as it felt quite slow paced and long at times.

I was hoping for so much more from this book.

The author managed to build a world solely through the characters' conversations, and I have to acknowledge the merit in crafting an entire book almost exclusively through dialogue. But despite that, the conversations, which should have given us insight into the characters, felt empty and surface-level. They just weren’t engaging enough to truly pull me in.

I knew the characters were “brilliant” because I was told they were. If they’re supposed to be academics, their dialogue and actions should reflect that. But I never really felt that their words or behavior matched who they claimed to be. Some of their choices lacked justification beyond simply serving the plot, making their decisions feel unconvincing.

It felt like the book was so focused on dialogue that it forgot how much actions also reveal about a character. I didn’t sense any chemistry between the characters or understand why the protagonist fell in love with the MMC (or the place, for that matter). The only explanation I can come up with is that they had known each other for a long time, but nothing in the book itself justified their romance, at least not for me.

The writing itself is solid, but that’s about it. Nothing truly stood out. I was incredibly bored, and at times, I even found myself dissociating from the story. Everything was told to us instead of letting us figure things out on our own, which made it hard to stay engaged. And when the book did give us clues, they were so obvious and in-your-face that they weren’t fun, and the characters almost immediately accepted them as fact.

The characters and their motivations (if they even had any) weren’t clear enough for me to feel invested in them. They needed stronger development. The same goes for the villain, her reasoning and actions felt superficial and unconvincing. Overall, it was a letdown. It lacked depth, and flavor.

The one saving grace was the audiobook narrator, who did an incredible job keeping me listening despite how bland I found the story. Honestly, the only reason I finished the book was because I was listening to the audio version. As for the story itself (and I really want to emphasize that this is just my personal opinion) it failed to evoke any emotion in me beyond the relief of finally reaching the end so I could move on to something more engaging. Everything just felt dull.

First and foremost I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with the audiobook as an ARC for my honest review!
This book had so much potential, most of which unfortunately was wasted and lost between the unnecessary and constant drama between the fmc and mmc.
There are a few things I have enjoyed, such as the relationship between Lou and Teddy, Gemma’s character, the magic system (though it lacked extensive explanation, and I am sure it could have been explored more in-depth), the bird symbolism, Teddy and Kenny’s backstory (I would have loved to know about them much more!), and Ryan and Aurelia’s friendship. Unfortunately, these were minuscule parts of the book and were overshadowed by the hatred between the two protagonists.
It’s hard to find the essence of this story, as it cannot be truly called dark academia (a few chapters are set in Cambridge, but that is all), nor fantasy, as there are not many scenes where they actually do something with their magic. For me, this book lacked serious editing (we are talking about a 500-page long book, where the actual plot can be summarized within 100 pages at max) and a main focus. Did the author want to focus more on the relationship between the characters, introduce the magic system, or solve the mysterious and shocking death that happens in the first few chapters of the book?
The writing is gorgeous, I think the author really does know how to use their words in order to create something exceptional, however, in some places, the narration felt under- or overexplained. In my opinion, the story could have benefited from a few flashback scenes between Teddy and Aurelia (as it would have explained why Aurelia hates him SO MUCH other than the fact he is smart and rich…) and Teddy and Kenny. Their part of the story has been left quite untouched and unexplored, which is such a shame.
It felt as if the actual plot wrapped up at around the 75-80% mark of the book, and the remaining chapters served the purpose of trying to convince me that Teddy and Aurelia work as a pair. Because they do not. No one can convince me otherwise, not even a second installation of the series.
At first, both characters were quite likeable, but both their personalities took a quick turn as soon as their only interaction became the constant “I hate you, you hate me.” It quickly felt flat, repetitive (and annoying even).
As for the audiobook, I think the narration was great, sometimes I found myself lost within a longer chapter, but other than that it was rather enjoyable to listen to it.
I really wanted to enjoy this book, as it was among my most anticipated releases of 2025, however, I am left quite disappointed.

Summary

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

Spicy rating: 🌶️ 1.5/5

This was such a pleasure to read. I haven’t read much contemporary fantasy and this really felt like what the epitome of the genre should be. The plot was engaging with the academic rivals to lovers element as well as a murder mystery to solve. The prose was rich, poetic and atmospheric, setting the scenes perfectly.

The magic system was interesting and engaging without being overwhelming. The characters were well fleshed out and resonate really real. They felt like reading about friends. The supporting characters also added great dynamics to the scenes, I loved the non binary and bi representation and think this was really well done!

The romance when it got going was beautiful to read and the yearning was just top notch. Rory and Teddy’s love was realistic and you were really rooting for them for some time. There’s minimal spice but it fits well to the pace and plot of the book without it feeling forced in there.

It was emotional and beautifully tragic in parts and I’m looking forward to book 2!

Thing that would’ve made this a five star read for me:

- The pacing was quite slow for the first half of the book so that could’ve been a little better

- the academic rivals aspect was a bit sparse and could’ve been explored more


The narrator was absolutely fabulous!! 10/10

I loved this book! It was throughly enjoyable, from the magic to the characters and dialogues. It was cozy yet exciting. The relationships were excellent- don’t get me started on the angsty pining. 🥺🥰

The narrator did an excellent job, keeping the audience hooked and interested and carried the complex emotions through.

The story followed Aurelia, a self-proclaimed green witch studying at Cambridge. Something horrible happens one night at a party while she and her most hated classmate, Ingram, are talking outside. From that point on, the consequences of that night and Aurelia’s past and even Ingram’s follow them.

The characters were written beautifully, their flaws and strengths shaping them into complex being that they are. You see them work on and overcome their flaws-which brings out a world of emotions. The prose was descriptive and perfect, keeping the flow of the narrative smooth. The plot was interesting and remained unfinished enough that I can’t wait for more!

I believe people who enjoy light fantasy or even romantasy fans would enjoy reading this book. It is also a great choice for starting to read fantasy.

I felt this was a slow starter of a book, the writing is very descriptive so it took a little while to get used to the detail. However, ultimately I really enjoyed the writing overall and it reminded me almost of Rebecca Ross and Divine Rivals. I did find I preferred Teddy over Aurelia to begin with as Aurelia was very set in her views about him but we didn’t have much context to the why she hated him so much, but as the book progresses and the pair open up to each other I thoroughly enjoyed Aurelia’s feelings change. This was the slowest burn of romance but it was done so well for the rivals to lovers vibe.

The story itself I felt lacked a little, I did enjoy it but the actual finding the villain element felt very sub plot and any action of the story was very short. It felt like it was resolved a bit too quickly but knowing this is just book 1 I am expecting things would explode more in book 2 and I will definitely be reading it.

Overall I gave this book a 4⭐️ as though I did enjoy it and see a lot of potential in the series it just lacked in the plot a little that I couldn’t give this more. I received the audio arc of this and I did really enjoy the audio, however I am familiar with the narrator from the Poison Study series and I did find myself losing focus a fair amount as I kept forgetting I was NOT listening to Yelena and Valek as the voices were exactly the same. However her narration is excellent and I do recommend the audio.

This book is a captivating contemporary fantasy, with witches and rivals to lovers romance. The novel starts as fast-paced but soon turns into a more character-focused narrative. There’s a lot of insight into Aurelia’s thoughts and feelings. I liked all the characters, especially Aurelia and Ingram, their arguments and the slow burn romance. I haven’t read a book with such intense yearning in a while.

The only aspect of this novel I did not enjoy was the change in pacing after the initial drama. The characters stay in hiding for quite a while. They spend time together and learn more about each other, but apart from that, nothing happens.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy slow-burn romance subplots. I will definitely continue this series when the next book is published.

✨Modern divination Review✨

Talk about a captivating story!! When I started listening to the audiobook I couldn’t stop for 2 hrs!!

💛Adult Fantasy
✨Cosy elements
💛Witches
✨Slow burn
💛Rivals-to-Lovers
✨Found Family
💛Bisexual rep

The thing I loved most about the book was how the main characters’ relationship slowly developed from this rivalry with sharp words and jabs at one another to a place of understanding of each other’s pasts and hardships, of understanding themselves and what made them who they are.
Aurelia and Teddy’s love story is a well-worth-the-wait slow burn you won’t want to miss. They don’t just fall into each other’s arms straight away, there are a lot of emotions to get through before they get there.🤍

When it comes to the magic and its manifestations I delighted in reading about the magical bookshop!! It sounded truly so beautiful and cosy! But the sparkle of magic is weaved all throughout the story.
If you love anything witchy and character- driven stories then you must check this book out.

I also highly recommend the audiobook! When I started listening I was so pleased to find out the narrator of the audiobook was Kristin Atherton who also narrated Howl’s Moving Castle and Belladonna which are two of my favourite books and audiobooks. You can count on Kristin for an immersive listening experience.💕

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and author for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book is a bit of a hard one to follow. I enjoyed the narrator but the actual writing style wasn't my favourite. A shame because the premise - fantasy academia with a bit of mystery - seemed like something I'd love!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This book is an academic rivals to lovers story with a magical murder mystery element to it. The real strength of the book was the relationship between the two main characters. It is a true slow burn romance which I find to be a strength as I enjoyed the anticipation. I loved the inclusion of a bisexual male main character, something I haven’t seen done often.
I opted for the audiobook which is unusual for me. However, I found the narration of this book was well done and easy to follow along with.
The main issue I had with the story was the ending. I felt as if the pace was building well in the middle of the book and the ending was anticlimactic. I believe the ending could have been condensed to leave the reader with more anticipation of what’s next.
I also think there could have been stronger description of the magic system in the beginning of the book as it took me a while to grasp the world.
Overall, I think this book is great if you are looking for a slow burn romance, but the fantasy elements could be improved upon.

I enjoyed this book it was fun and exciting and the narrator was also fun and interesting to listen to.