3.5 stars
Thank you Hodderscape for an e-arc of Arcana Academy!

I was excited by the opening which was dark and gripping. It held a lot of promise with a strong set-up for the main characters.

My attention started to drift somewhat in the middle as the tone moved more YA than adult and my feeling was I was getting told not shown elements of the developing relationship. That being said, I liked the magic school environment and the magic system.

The introduction of wider characters definitely helped with the story and getting better perspectives on the main characters.

There isn't anything massively groundbreaking with a fiesty fmc and shadow daddy (not sure he's old enough but you know what I mean) but I can see this being very popular with the fantasy readers. It's intriguing enough that I want to know where this story is going and look forward to the next installment

🌟🌟🌟 3/5 stars

Arcana Academy offers a compelling setup with its mix of forbidden magic, royal intrigue, and a fake engagement between a scrappy heroine and an enigmatic prince. Clara Graysword, a thief with the rare power to ink tarot cards, finds herself caught between survival and deception when she’s forced into a scheme that could change the fate of the kingdom.

The premise hooked me right away, especially the tarot-based magic and the academy setting. However, while the foundation is strong, I felt the execution didn’t fully deliver. The magic system, though intriguing, remained underdeveloped, and I kept wishing for deeper exploration of the tarot lore. Similarly, Clara and Prince Kaelis’s relationship had so much potential for slow-burn tension, but their connection felt rushed at times, and I didn’t feel the emotional payoff I was hoping for.

Having loved Air Awakens by Elise Kova, I found myself comparing the two. Air Awakens offered richer world-building and a romance that unfolded more naturally, with higher emotional stakes and a stronger sense of character growth. Arcana Academy felt like it skimmed the surface in those areas, leaving me wanting more depth.

That said, I do think there’s a lot of promise here for future installments. The author has created an intriguing world, and with more development of the magic and relationships, this series could truly shine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This hooked me in from the first page. I didn’t want to put it down. The magic system felt original, unlike anything I’ve read before, and the world building was really well done.

What really stood out was the dynamic of the characters. The enemies to lovers tension was perfect. It actually felt like they couldn’t stand each other at the start, rather than just a bit of banter, which made the lovers side all the more satisfying.

The last line of this book made me gasp out loud. I had expected there may be more to her sister not being dead but still found it really unexpected. The twists and turns kept me wanting to read more and more.

I loved this book and really can’t wait for book two!

A magical read than takes its time with setting the world and explaining the intricacies of the Arcana. Although it takes a while to get going, which makes sense since it is only the first book in a series, it is totally worth it in the end. With a plethora of ambiguous characters the reader constantly needs to reassess who can be trusted. Already anticipating the next installment.

I'm officially OBSESSED with Arcana Academy!!

The world-building and magic were so interesting, I would love to see this made into a film/tv series with actors duelling using tarot cards! There are so many unanswered questions after that ending so I am now DESPERATE for book 2.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the romance - the enemies to lovers trope was written perfectly with just the right amount of spice, yearning and doubt between Clara and Kaelis (as expected as they were enemies after all). Now, I love romances with lots and lots of slow burn, angst and yearning and this is exactly what the story delivered, not to mention it had ALL the tropes I love in books:
- Fake dating
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced Proximity

I think this is currently sitting in my top 3 reads of this year and I cannot wait to start collecting all the copies of this out in the wild!!

(Review shared on GR https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7656572987?book_show_action=false
Instagram to come)

If you like tarot cards and YA fantasy, this is for you!

Arcana Academy is not for the faint hearted. There is deception and murder from the very beginning of this book.
Clara is a brilliant and brave character. Her journey into the academy is gripping and her search for the truth knows no bounds.
There are trials, tournaments and duels to get through his first year of the academy.
The only question is are you cups, wands, swords or coins…?

As someone who understands tarot cards, I particularly enjoyed the unique magic system where the different tarot performed different types of magic. The author has clearly either researched tarot or performs it herself, and I was so happy to see it portrayed the way it was! Was a compeltely unique and exciting premise!

I must admit however, that when I started this read, I initially stopped and was going to DNF but a friend who has already read it said she really enjoyed it, so I gave it a second go and I was really glad I did! It was perhaps a bit too long for me, but for the most part, I enjoyed the slow character growth, the budding friendships, the academia side of things and the unravelling mystery.

As a fan of enemies to lovers, I enjoyed the dynamic between Clara and the prince Kaelis although it did feel a bit off at times, perhaps because of the age of the characters but I think that's just me! I think if you like angsty romance, you'll enjoy these two and their banter was amusing at times.

I might have skimmed over the politics side of things, which is actually critical to the understanding of the read, but I was more obsessed with the magic side to the novel -I just loved the tarot wielding! The ending took me by surprise, and was an exciting way to end things.

Overall, I'd recommend it, even if it probably wasn't completely to my tastes.

A big thank you to Hodder and NetGalley for the EARC!

This took me a while to get into, but so worth sticking with!
I loved the magic system, and what an absolutely foul cliffhanger!!
Kaelis’ character development was fantastic and I cannot wait for the next book!
Easily a 5⭐️

I loved this book. I was actually surprised by how much I loved it in the end. This is my first book from the author, though I do own a few others from her, and now I need to read them all!

I was intrigued about Arcana Academy largely due to knowing the magic system was tarot card based. After loving One Dark Window I was excited for another unique card based system. Initially I struggled to keep up with it though because of the sheer number of cards, but the author has done a great job of continually explaining them each time they appeared without making it repetitive. I would say this is a book to be read when you can really consume all the detail though, so I did take a good few weeks to read it as my brain isn’t able to engage more than a chapter or two at a time these days.

I liked the MCs from early on, they were both cocky and arrogant and it felt quite refreshing this wasn’t just the MMC which we see often in fantasy. I liked that Clara had a high opinion of herself and her skills. The academy setting was done really well and I enjoyed the elements of learning g about this from the different houses, secret passages and secret areas. For me I loved the slow burn, it hit at the right time and it hit well. I relished in the angst and tension between Clara and Kaelis and I was fully invested in them as a couple.

Overall I gave this book a 5⭐️ rating, it was a 4.5 early for me but the end twists I did not see coming and I had to give it the full 5 for that alone. I can’t wait for the next book!

This started off really well and it was original enough to really catch my attention and keep me reading over longer sessions than I would normally do.

However, the author had to ruin it (for me, at least). At 85% through, the first unnecessary gratuitous sex scene appeared. I was kind of expecting it as it had been telegraphed somewhat, but I was hoping to be wrong, sadly not.
Then not much later, at 88% another gratuitous sex scene took place.
Neither of these interlewds (spelling intended) add to the content of the story. They were really off-putting in the last quarter of what had been a reasonably goodish read so far
They spoilt the pleasure of reading the book for me so much.
I'm no prude, but I want to choose when I engage with such materials, not have it thrown into any otherwise engaging book.
It put me off finishing the tale, however the overall story was good enough to keep me reading on, with fingers crossed that there'd be no further such sections.

I might read the next book as I'm really quite interested to find out what happens to the characters. But I'm sure there'll be further such explicit content, so will have consider carefully whether to read it or not.

Normally a 2*, but upping it to a 3* despite the unwanted gratuitous sex because I liked the rest of story quite a bit.

First book I have read by this author and I loved it. Will definitely be reading more from her.

This book was magical.

Slow burn romance with amazing character development.

The FMC was a badass, there was something about her that resonated with me.

The MMC is a bit like marmite. You either love him or hate him. I loved him. I believe he’s just misunderstood.

I think this will probably be quite a popular book but it just wasn’t for me. A third of the way through nothing has happened just an obscene amount of info dumping that left me exhausted. The main character is largely annoying, naturally gifted just amazing at everything she does and the love interest is mean and brooding and predictable. I’ve read this story too many times. The idea of the cards was cool and I was intrigued by the magic system. I needed more from this.

5⭐️ eARC - Thank you to Elisa Kova, Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is my first 5⭐️ of 2025 and enjoyed it from start to finish! The magic system is utterly unique, like nothing I’ve read before. It takes some getting used to but each card and its abilities are explained when mentioned (there is also a glossary) which helps.
The is sloooowwwww burn, spice doesn’t appear until about 80% of the way through but that isn’t a bad thing.
Clara is feisty, stands her ground at every corner and is a badass in every way. The characters are likeable, the plot is intriguing but does lull around 60-70% of the way through but the ending is explosive (literally).
The cliffhanger left me with my mouth open!! Can’t wait for the 2nd

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a fan of dark academia, magic, and enemies-to-lovers, this book may be it for you.

We follow Clara Graysword, a tarot-wielding outlaw who somehow finds herself in a fake engagement with Prince Kaelis, the headmaster of Arcana Academy. What begins as a means of survival soon becomes a deadly game of politics, power, and desire.

The magic system is super unique: tarot cards are used as both weapons and tools for manipulation? Yes, please. Kova makes such an intriguing world where magic isn't all about casting spells; it's more about strategy, trickery, and manipulation. The world of Arcana Academy itself is atmospheric and mysterious, full of dark academia vibes.

The romance is slow burn but totally worth it. The Clara/Kaelis dynamic is full of tension, misunderstandings, and moments that make you want to scream, “Just admit your feelings already!” The first half is a little slower in pace, but once things pick up, I couldn't put the book down.

All in all, this is a thrilling start to a promising series. If you love magic, political games, and angsty romance, this one’s for you.

I absolutely loved this book!

I thought there was a risk that this would be very similar to the storyline of some other recent books in the genre, but it did not disappoint. The storyline was interesting and built the characters and their back stories up so much that I was incredibly invested from early on. The style of writing was perfect for the storyline and the short chapters made me just want to keep reading forever. Before I’d even finished reading the book I was googling to see if and when the second was going to be released. It was quite difficult at times to follow the cards and the magic but enough information was given each time to make sure it was clear what was happening and what it meant. I read on my kindle and the illustrations at the beginning of the chapters took over three pages each time which was a little frustrating but nothing that bothered me too much. Overall, I loved the characters, loved the storyline, loved the writing style, and am already hooked into this series and hoping there will be plenty more. I’ll be following Elise Kova’s releases very closely moving forward!

Thank you NetGalley and Hodderscape for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book before its release. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 ⭐️/ 3 🌶️

This books has been quite a difficult read for me, not gonna lie. It is the story of Clara, a talented arcanist in a world where magic is strictly controlled by the Crown and that lands her in a lot of trouble. She ends up in prison and after a year, it's her nemesis Prince Kaelis, that offers her a way out. She gets to attend Arcana Academy and find out more about the inner workings of magic and the politics behind it, while slowly realising that Kaelis isn't who she thinks he is.

I actually enjoyed very much the premise and magic system, and the overall idea of cards-based magic intrigued me from the start.
The vibes were a mix One Dark Window + Harry Potter + Forth Wing + maybe Zodiac Academy, which is a hell of a weird cocktail (and if you know anything about me, I am not the biggest fan of a lot of these books).

I struggled a lot with the first good half of the book. I found the pacing very slow, the actions very repetitive, and considering this is a book mostly set in a magic school, we didn't get nearly enough school classes scenes (the first one was around the 40% mark), which would have probably helped with the world building. The FMC is annoying, projects her hate for the MMC into him hating her back, when there's very little proof of it, and her powers kind of get out of hand.
The second half of the book gets a bit better pacing wise and therefore allows the book to feel more intriguing. Which is why I don't think this is a bad book, just its priorities weren't what I was expecting and not my favourites.

It's an entertaining enemies to lovers, ends on a cliff hanger but I wouldn't say it's particularly surprising, as it follows the well-loved recipe of romantasy books of these days.
I realise I got to a point in my reading career, where I expect more from books and it harms only myself.

I would recommend this book to lovers of tarot cards magic, the enemies to lovers trope, and magic school settings.

I've read a lot of books you have to turn your brain off to enjoy. I tried to do that with Arcana Academy, but there was just too much wrong with it - every page had something new to annoy me.

The characters are painfully generic, falling into every romantasy cliché without any depth or originality. Clara is the typical romantasy protagonist: overly confident, sassy and always talks back, specially gifted in magic, takes stupid risks without thinking about it. Kaelis is the typical romantasy love interest: dark and shadowy, seems evil at first but it's just an act, overly protective of the MC.

Side characters all have 0-1 traits, and they're lucky if they get assigned a personality trait and not just a job or something e.g. Luren is timid, Myrion is flirty, Thal is non-binary, and Jura is... a cook. They also contribute so little to the plot that any interactions Clara does have with them feel like filler. You can have characters other than the love interest do important things, it's allowed.

Clara spends a lot of time thinking about the people from the Starcrossed Club, who she considers her family. They barely appear and are as 2D as the other characters when they do, so this part of her motivation falls flat whenever she thinks about it (which is a lot). We are constantly told how close she is to them and how she would do anything to protect them, while barely seeing them interact. How are we supposed to get to know these characters if they hardly ever show up on page?

The villains are all bigoted and Evil and hate the MC fiercely and immediately for no reason. No complexity here.

The dialogue is bad and everyone talks in the same voice. The "banter" between Clara and Kaelis is especially painful. Here's Clara's very first dialogue of the book, when a guard comes to her cell and tells her she has an audience with someone:
"Sounds formal." [...] "With whom?"
First of all, starting early with the sassiness and talking back, and second, no one says "with whom", especially not someone who's supposed to be a lower class criminal. More importantly, does this sound like she has been in a horrific dungeon for a whole year?

Here is Kaelis passionately telling Clara why he hates/loves her (bolding mine):
"You are insufferable. You are too talented for your own good. You are so - fuck - so arrogant at times and more stubborn than I have ever imagined a person capable of being. You are angry, fiery, passionate, often impulsive, and more determined than any creature I have ever met[...]"
I bolded those words because why are they there? This is supposed to be Kaelis letting his heart out, overcome with frustration and desire for Clara - he shouldn't be trying to minimize or qualify any of what he's saying, and it makes it sound like he's holding back. Imagine the same rant without the bolded words. Doesn't it sound better? More heated?

The writing quality is consistently poor throughout. Clara's every thought and decision is explained to death, but basic things like where she is or what she's doing are sometimes left out. Scene transitions are clumsy and word choices are just bad. Almost every paragraph has something slightly (or seriously) wrong with it. There are so many leaps of logic and non sequiturs throughout, and
this is petty but Kova needs to learn the difference between "broach" and "brooch."

The setting feels completely underdeveloped and inconsistent.
Only one kingdom seems to exist in the entire world (it's also very convenient that all of the Majors can be found in this one country). The government is so eeeevil and treats poor people like dirt and is eager to murder their own citizens for no good reason. Every single person who can't pay an exorbitant fee has to work for years collecting inking materials, jobs which all involve a high risk of death. You'd think this would be reserved for criminals, or that at least some people would be exempt (like maybe farmers), but no. It's so contrived. Also if they have that many people constantly collecting inking materials they should be a lot less rare than they're presented.

The noble clans are named after the major arcana, which sounds like a good idea until you get a noble clan called Clan Lovers. The magic system is the most interesting part of the book but did Kova have to link the suits to the four elements? Is she incapable of imagining a magic system that does not involve the four elements in some way?

We hardly see the day-to-day life of the academy. Clara spends a lot of time training with other students but we don't see that either, it's just summarized. Apparently the only two topics of conversation are the escaped prisoner and Clara's engagement to Kaelis - even after months they are still talking about it - which gives the impression there is nothing else going on in the world, everything centers on Clara. Arcanists apparently work for the noble clans, but we have no idea what they do for them exactly.

The plot involving Clara's mother is so annoying. From the beginning she tells us all these assumptions she has about her mother being murdered, but she doesn't explain most of them for so long, making it seem like she thinks her mother was murdered for no reason. Something that is such a central part of her motivation should be explained much sooner. The same with her arrest and her assumption that Kaelis was the one behind it. It seems like she thought he was responsible just so their relationship could be enemies to lovers.

Clara is warned by both her mother and Bristara to avoid going after the World card, but both of them are vague and won't tell her exactly why.

Clara and Kaelis spend lots of time trying to convince people the engagement is real even though it's not clear what the consequences are of not being believed. The students can't do anything. Ravin could push to have Clara thrown back in prison, but he was suspicious from the beginning so what's the point of continuing the charade past the bare minimum?

There are no real consequences or problems for Clara. Anything that vaguely resembles a problem will be immediately dealt with so she can spend more time going to parties and listening to people gossip about her:
- She finds that the Starcrossed Club building has been burnt down and worries that her friends are all dead, only to be reunited with all of them the very next chapter (because luckily one of the club members still walks through the area just in case Clara shows up looking for them. Even though she's been in prison for a year. And no one even knew if she was alive for sure).
- None of the students are supposed to be able to leave the academy (which makes no sense, why not), but not to worry: Clara finds a guy who can teleport the moment she goes looking for a way out.
- If anyone knew that Clara was the escaped prisoner, she would be dragged back there! Except one of the students knows the whole time and never says anything.
- At one point she gets stabbed in the chest while in a secret part of the Academy with no one else around, but someone (the teleporting guy, actually) instantly finds her and heals her.
- Clara's roommate hates her! Actually no, turns out she's just jealous and she opens up and becomes super close to Clara after one conversation.

Lots of things make no sense and constantly pulled me out of the story:
- Who cut Clara's hair in prison? The guards wouldn't care that it was tangled/matted and no one would give a prisoner scissors or a knife to do it herself.
- When she gets to the Starcrossed Club's new building and it mentions how one of the people there is a night owl and that's why he's still awake, but literally everyone else except one guy is also still awake (the cook is even making some kind of sauce, for some reason)
- Why does Clara only start to suspect Silas after Kaelis tells her his brother is the one who put her in prison?
- For that matter, why is she surprised that Ravin was responsible for that? Does no one know who is in charge of the justice system, and if not, why did she think Kaelis was?
- Would it really take that many hours to clean up blood from one person, on a stone floor?
- Why would she not try inking with her blood immediately to try ink her Major?
- Kova seems to think you can tell how old anyone is to the year just by looking at them. Can you tell the difference between a 20 year old and a 21 year old, every time? Or a 23 year old and a 26 year old? Well, apparently everyone in this world can.
- How are we supposed to believe that Kaelis is actually a good guy when he only allows a low number of initiates to become students (the ones who fail either die or go to labor camps)? If he really cared about helping arcanists he could just let more people in.

Everything feels so hollow and lifeless, the author substitutes tropes and summaries for real depth, and I don't believe the romance at all. Barely anything happens but of course it ends on a cliffhanger to bring people back. In case it's not clear, I will not be reading the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I am OBSESSED!

Firs of all, thank you Hodderscape and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to review! Although you have actually temporarily ruined my life because WHAT WAS THAT ENDING!

Needless to say this was a 6 star read. I had never read anything by Elise Kova before and now it looks like she's gonna be one of my favourite authors. The magic system in the book was incredible - yes, we've seen magical schools and trials to get in, but the card concept was incredible and so easy to follow.
The story is fast paced, but there's nothing that's left unexplained and the YEARNING between the two main characters was top tier.

The side characters were also incredible - although we of course need to know more about some of them but that's what the next books in the series will be for.

I genuinely just have good things to say about this book; I devoured it and I'm still thinking about it. One of the absolute best reads of this year!

*thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I am not a Tarot lover so I was a little sceptic for this one but Elise Kova is such a great author so I wanted to give it a try.
I wasn't expecting to start the story with the fmc in prison xD. And then for her to escape just to be caught by the mmc and betrothed to him.

The story was dull of surprise and the plot very well thought.
The world building was basically perfection and the magic system quite unique.

I had definitely a great time reading it but right now i do need the sequel because this ending !!!!

Clara & Kaelis
Fake Engagement
Slow Burn
Dark Academia
Tarot Card Magic System

Omg I ate this one up! I was so invested!

I love the unique magic system and learning more about this throughout the book!

I love how brooding Price Kaelis is! I love the chemistry between these two!

I cannot wait to find out more about how their history is entwined!!!

And the ending!!!! I need book 2 please! So so good!