Can I just…Wait a minute, I…
Arcana Academy by Elise Kova has left me speechless. I’m calling it now as one of the top romantasies of 2025, and definitely my favourite read of the year so far.
Clara Graysword is imprisoned at Halazar for a whole lot of illegal magic, specifically for inking powerful tarot cards in the underworld of Eclipse City, a talent and skill that should only be undertaken by trained Arcanists. But when she breaks free, she’s offered a chance at survival at the elite Arcana Academy, but at the cost of a false engagement to the academy’s enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, where she will practice the world of arcane magic as a student. But, of course, he has his own motives too. The school isn’t a walk in the park though – she must survive the first test then has to pass trials to even become a student there, trials that may prove fatal. All the while, she’s searching for her sister who was a student at the academy but has disappeared and trying to figure out her own rare power too.
This book has ALL the vibes. I don’t normally do this, but here you go:
✨ Magical trials
👑 Fake engagement
💔 Found family
💘 Grumpy x sunshine vibes
🎴 Tarot-based magic system
🔥 Slow burn and yearning
👀 Secret identities
🏫 Dark academia
🐈⬛ Brooding love interest with a cat
💥 Morally grey characters galore
🧱 “There’s someone in the walls” energy
It mixes together elements from various different fantasies that I already love to create something new. The tarot card magic system of this book reminds me of One Dark Window, whereas the dark academia setting and trials are reminiscent of a darker version of Harry Potter. The deadly school studies and plot twists have a Fourth Wing minus the dragons vibe. We’ve also got a shadow daddy with a cat called Priss.
On top of this, you’ve got a gorgeous found family that Clara will go to the ends of the earth to protect, plus unexpected friendships and alliances. The main characters are excellent, but so are the secondary characters: there’s a roommate who sleeps with a dagger in hand. There’s the members of the starcrossed club. There’s a tyrannical royal family. There’s also Silas, a “Bruno” character who basically lives hidden within the walls of the academy.
The romance is brilliant – brooding, stubborn, grudging enemies to lovers. It’s a slow-burn romance filled with yearning. And don’t worry, the headmaster of a mysterious academy/student romance isn’t a weird age gap thing as he’s only a couple of years older than her! He’s also a begruding “void prince” which just adds to the royal intrigue.
The slow reveal of information as we learn it through Clara’s eyes is brilliant, we’re with her every step of the journey, and I feel there’s a lot of learning and character development still to go. The world building was fantastic – the world of Arcana Academy is one I can visualise so perfectly. The magic system is quite complex, but after reading, I discovered an index at the back of the book which explains more about the magical use of the cards we’ve already seen – it will be useful for a reread!
It ticks all the boxes of getting off to a great start, the tension builds around the halfway mark, and there are hints of a bigger picture being hinted at. It’s got tension and action: if you love a good fight scene, especially ones where the main female character gets involved, you’ll love this.
If you’re looking for authors like Sarah J. Maas or authors like Rebecca Yarros, Elise Kova will be right up your street. I haven’t read anything else by Elise Kova, but this isn’t her first book. She is the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King by USA Today, so I KNOW I’m going to be bumping that up my TBR.
This was the first installment of an enthralling fantasy romance series, and I’ve heard it’s coming soon in hardback with gold foil page edges. I’m not normally one for physical copies of books, but this one might be important.
Now can we please get the second book published ASAP, because, I don’t want to upset you, but cliffhanger much?!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.
