4.5 rounded up. I really enjoyed this book. It's actually my second time reading it - I purchased and read it a couple years ago when it was self published. Its been a while since I first read it so my memory could be off, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it much unchanged, maybe a few tweaks and tighter writing. I loved the characters and the atmosphere its very moody and cozy and mysterious with the barest touch of horror. And who doesn't love academic rivals to lovers, he falls first? Delicious. There is just something missing that I can't quite put my finger on to make it to a true 5 star read. I kinda remember this being my take away the first time around too. So close to perfect. Just at times I had a hard time connecting with the story or understanding the stakes or the motivations of the characters. But for the most part, extremely compelling, a solid 4+. Recommend!

Modern Divination is a beautifully crafted rivals to lovers story. The settings throughout are simply gorgeous, giving the love story an amazing backdrop. I loved the academic vibes and lyrical style of writing that brought this to life. The romance is perfect, it’s full of magnetism and obsession, whilst at the same time utter loathing. There is plenty of longing and the pace is slow and steady before unraveling. The MMC is definitely one to stir the hearts of readers. I loved the FMC as well, who doesn’t love a competitive academic.
The reason I am not giving this five stars is because of the off pacing at the end. I would say the ending felt like it happened but then the story carried on for a while, it was a big build up to then come down again so this affected the wrap up. Overall a stunning read that I think will prove to be massively popular.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Beautifully written, and I can't wait for the next one!

I got absolutely lost and swept up in this, it’s magical!

✨✨✨

Premise:

Aurelia is a witch, hiding her true nature and not letting anyone get too close to her. Currently studying at Cambridge and trying to live a normal life among humans.

When a classmate, and it turns out, fellow witch is murdered, Aurelia find herself having to go into hiding with her University rival, Theodore Ingram.

Aurelia finds herself spending winter break in the middle of nowhere whilst they try to solve who's hunting witches. And finds herself discovering more and more about Teddy Ingram.

✨✨✨

Firstly Teddy Ingram is a bloody dark horse! When he's first introduced, I was like I'm not sure this guy will be my type, but I dare you not to fall in love with him! I want him to call me Darling 😅 He’s broody and broken, but so adorable and loveable!

I think the reason you fall for him though, is the writing. I felt so wrapped up in it, feeling everything that Aurelia felt. Her anxiety, her emotion and inevitably her falling for Teddy. It’s really beautifully executed.

And I will say, prose wise, it’s a far slower pace than I usual read. And very character driven, again not my usual preference. I often opt for fast pace and lots of plot, but I loved the lyrical nature of this writing, that I didn't mind the slow down!

And the plot itself, is intriguing, with still lots left to uncover. I loved the discovery and development of Aurelia’s magic, as well as her internal debate of whether this should be secret.

And finally the romance. It’s a slow burn with a bit of spice at the end, but oh I adore them together. They are perfectly pared with lots of sharp tongues at the beginning. It’s a great dynamic! Plus I loved the dream connection 🥰

Definitely recommend if you want a cosy character driven read! I could barely put this down!

Bring on book 2!

✨✨✨

Tropes/themes
Rivals to lovers ; dark academia ; hidden magic ; family trauma ; forced proximity ; bisexuality ; Contemporary fantasy ; dark academia ; murder.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that felt so just like made for me? I can’t really explain how much I loved this because I literally JUST finished this but this was PERFECTION. Witchy, dark academia, rivals to lovers- like literally made for me

I don’t even know what to rate this because I was so invested in the romance in this book that I genuinely didn’t care that much about the plot but I can definitely see where the plot could have been a lot stronger. To me this focused so much on the romance between our two main characters which I don’t think was advertised in the synopsis. But the chemistry between them was top tier and the yearning ugh I was obsessed the entire time. This is an urban fantasy where we follow Aurelia who is a witch at a prestigious university and her magic starts to fade with no real reason as to why. Unexpectedly she almost has to form an alliance with her classmate Theodore where they loathe each other to figure out what is going on. This sounded amazing to me when I picked up the book but I was not expecting to fall in love with the romance that we had. I think the plot was lacking and honestly a lot more could have happened but I personally was very happy with where this went!

DNF @ 21%.

I will be picking this one back up in the future, but I just can't handle the way the writing flows - I blame it completely on my reading slump as I am enjoying the story so far.

From what I have read, I think I understand why reviews are so divided. You will either love the writing style or find it too meandering. I will be recommending this to everyone though as I think you can't know if you'll like it based on other's opinions. This book definitely needs to be experienced.

Rated 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I was looking forward to this one, especially as it appeared to be set in Cambridge where I studied- however, this was only for the first few chapters and overall this book was a disappointment. The story is constructed in a very weird way, with the conclusion of the main conflict at the 70% mark, and the pacing is very slow throughout. The writing style was also difficult for me. I really liked the concept of this, but the execution just really did not work for me. I would have liked there to be more build up, more exploration of the antagonist and much more world building. I think you might enjoy this if you enjoy very slow burn romances, and books with more vibes than plot.

Isabel has left a huge Aurelia and Theodore shaped hole in my heart after a this and that letter?!
It's a stunning contemporary fantasy romance that has fully nestled itself in my brain that has no plans to leave.

We predominantly follows our fmc Aurelia who has spent her entire life hiding away her magic to maintain a 'normal' life as a Medievalist student at Cambridge University. Top marks and living life with her best friend is what comes naturally to her, and so should her magic yet it's slowly slipping away creating an unbalance in her life. To make matters worse, as she ends up banding together with her academic rival due to threats made to them from a power hungry witch.

Isabel does such a gorgeous job at really delving into these two character, that you can't help becoming enthralled and attached to them tenfold. The prose and atmosphere are absolutely delicious and create such depth and feeling to this story of rivalry, romance and mystery. I can't quite put into words the gift Isabel has at creating such connections and beautiful, lyrical writing. Teddy is fully howl-codded and this rich, endless yearning and desperate flirting between himself and Rory was both too much and not enough (in the best way).

My only reason for not giving this 5 stars is purely because the plot itself would be so so good had it been featured and delved into more. The writing felt more about prose, atmosphere and character development which I'm fully on board with, but I would love to learn even more about the magic within this modern world.

Thank you Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"My point is that you're allowed to feel it all at once. To be dissatisfied and to want more, knowing you're in a good place already. There's how things are, how they should be, and what you want them to be."

I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is dark academia done right - mystery, magic, and enemies to lovers all rolled into one!

I loved the coziness of the whole setting, and I thought the comforting winter vibes complimented the way Ingram and Aurelia begin to soften towards one another. This behavioural shift did seem a little sudden at first, but by the ending, I was really connected to their shared development and the enemies to lovers storyline.

The plot itself was dark and magical, but still left space for some sweeter moments too. One thing I would have liked was more explanation of the witchcraft itself - I found myself struggling to follow the rules of Agajanian's magical system. I loved the descriptions of different magical gifts, but even more of this would really enhance the story - especially the angst between Ingram and Aurelia!

Overall, this hit the spot, and if (like me) you find yourself torn between dark academia and fantasy, you'll definitely enjoy.

Books with similar vibes - Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törsz, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy, and A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

I really wanted to love this book, but the writing style very much wasn't for me and the whole book was much longer than it needed to be. Some of the magical aspects were interesting, but too few and far between to save a story that completely failed to grip me.

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

Ohhh the romance and tension had me giggling and kicking my feet!! Loved the magic system, but I felt like the ,main antagonist just came out of nowhere??

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Well, you can't win them all and this one was not for me. I absolutely love Deborah Harkness's Discovery of Witches series and this sounded like it might have a similar vibe. Sadly the writing style is so needlessly obscure that half the time I had no idea what on earth it was going on about. I give books 100 pages before deciding whether to go on reading, and I'm sorry to say that's where I stopped with this one. There are slow burns, then there are the ones which are crying out for a firm editorial hand and Modern Divination falls firmly into the latter category.

Another book that wasn't really what I expected. I was sold on the idea of this being about someone who was trying to steal magic from witches, but that isn't really what the book is about.

Really, this is a book about two people learning the shape of each other, facing danger together and learning to look beyond all of their preconceptions. It is about being bold, admitting you are wrong and agreeing to try to be better.

The magic stealing part forms a slightly disappointingly small part of this book, always hovering in the background, but almost never being at the forefront of the story.

The relationships in this book felt real, and it was very interesting to see how multi-faceted they all were.

I don't know whether this book hopes for a sequel, or whether I missed something towards the end, but what happened to Gemma?!

I really wanted to like this one, because the premise is so intriguing - a woman with a gift for free magic, a secret university and hidden witches. However I think that the plot overall was way too complex and convoluted for it to work. Add in the overly flowery writing and I found the plot meandered too much to hold my interest. A lot of plot threads are never resolved either, which is a massive bugbear of mine. I'm still mad that we don't get any resolution about Gemma.

I liked the overall dynamics between Teddy and Aurelia. They're true rivals to lovers with a lot of chemistry, with all the bickering and banter that goes with it. Their relationship was well done, and to be honest they definitely carried the story somewhat. I just wish more happened plot wise, because the pacing just wasn't there.

Great chemistry but the plot needed to be puncher and the writing just wasn't to my taste.

I love this book so much! I love the addition of the prologue chapter compared to the self published version of the book. I will be buying a copy and reccomending this book to students.

The story is interesting but I unfortunately found the writing to be too clunky and a bit all over the place. It reads more like a first draft than a finished novel. I do think that the author shows promise and I would try one of their other books, but this one sadly just wasn’t for me

I'm gonna be honest, I struggled with this book. A friend of mine read it too (the self published version though which comes with a lot of editing and different. The author said it's best to read the new version). That being said, I don't think this was for me. I love realism magic so I was a bit dissapointed because I thought I was going to love it but nothing is explained (which isn't a problem but here ; nothing made sense to me). I wanted to know more about the magic. But what threw me of the most was the characters which I didn't like very much and once you don't care for a character it's hard to get through it. Now I see why people would love it and I'm sure a lot will. The writing for example is really beautiful!

I absolutely loved this book! I discovered it a bit late and decided to wait for the traditionally published version, and I’m so glad I did. The academic rivals to lovers trope is one of my favorites, and this book captured it perfectly. It's an ideal read for December, with its winter vibes.

The romance between Teddy and Aurelia was remarkable—I adored their characters and their dynamic. Everything about this story was wonderful!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to review this book <3

I was desperate to read this as it's been compared to A Discovery of Witches which is one of my favs, unfortunately this didn't quite work for me and I ended up DNFing, I found the writing too flowery and it felt complex for the sake of it? I liked the characters and general mood but it was hard to keep engaged

Brilliantly dark and witchy with the best kind of atmosphere that gave me so many A Discovery of Witches vibes. Loved it!