A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement to the headmaster of a mysterious academy. Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse. An enthralling plot that will keep you turning the pages long into the night, a decadent world that will leave you wanting more and a magical system that will intrigue anyone who cares to learn more about that magic found in tarot cards.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 | 𝐇𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐊𝐨𝐯𝐚

Are you willing to pay the cost to enter Arcana academy ?

You will need to sacrifice an element of your future, it could be your future soul mate, good health or fortune.

3 reasons this dark academia book will be your new obsession:

1. Tarot card magic system, my pack of Uno cards are looking at me and I’m questioning could I secretly be magic? 🌟

2. A fake engagement to the headmaster of the academy, and wait for it , his also the reason you were in prison for a year. Hello enemies to lovers & slow burn 🔥
3. This quote: “Love me, hate me, but only look at me like my existence sets you on fire . . “

Thank you NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.


“We’ve all killed our futures with our own bare hands just to get this far. What makes you think anyone would have any qualms about ending you?”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 🌶️🌶️ 2.5/5

Tropes:
✨Enemies To Lovers
✨Dark Academia
✨Fake Engagement

In my opinion, this is Elise Kova’s best book to date and I cannot wait for book 2.

Arcana Academy is so well written and has the most detailed and immersive world building. I immediately loved the world and magic system. The magic system is intricate and so different from other fantasy and romantasy books I’ve read, the tarot aspect was so smart and explained so well without being too much of an info dump.

Clara is a strong and independent character ( and vulnerable) I really was able to connect with her story and while she does technically fall into the “chosen one” category, she is such a well written and thought out character that it didn’t affect my opinions of her. Kaelis? The man you are… obsessed with his not so secret yearning and how he’s objectively of very high intelligence and equally as conniving, but manages to challenge Clara in a way that made their character progression so enjoyable rather than too combative.

I am usually so hesitant to give a book a 5 star rating but Arcana Academy was just that good and I do see this being in my top 3 reads for 2025, if not my number 1.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand | Hodderscape for the ARC, this book consumed my life for two days and I cannot wait to buy all of the special editions I can get my hands on.

OMG the fact that I got to read this book as and ARC and now have to wait to find out what happens!! I am shook

Elise Kova is one of my favorite authors. The way she writes fantasy and magic is truly so whimsical and astounding. This is some of her best work yet! I was hooked from the very beginning.

The story follows Clara, who has been illegally making magical tarot cards and has been put in Halazar prison, which is worse than death. This is a rare talent which the second prince Kaelis finds useful so he breaks her out of prison and enrolls her into Arcana Academy, which is a magic school that Kaelis runs. Those who attend and pass the school are arcanists who have the power and can legally use tarot cards.

The magic system in this book was amazing. The concept of swords, cups and coins having their own domain with each number in the stack corresponding to a different ability. I found myself so interested that I highlighted passages and noted down what each tarot card meant.

The story itself is so well written, everything means something and at no point did I feel like this was boring at all. The magic school part of this whole story was really well written. I found myself invested in the other students Clara interacted with and their classes where they learn various things.
If you love books like Harry Potter or a School for Good and Evil... this is pretty much and incredible adult version that you'll love!

The enemies to lovers concept in this was really well written, and the slow burn was so good. I truly didn't think Kaelis and Clars would get along, let alone be falling for each other. I also liked that their relationship wasn't the forefront of this story rather than being a subplot. As they're all connected to a much larger story.

Overall if you can't already tell this is my top read of the year. I love this book so much!