Honestly so thrilled this was such a banger. That ending had me GASPING! Longer review to come - my thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in advance!

4.5 ⭐️ (Rounded up)

This is not my first book by Elise Kova; but it is, by far, so different from every other book of hers I have read. This is an incredible story of survival and revenge. It’s truly an incredible story! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it’s extremely unique magic system. It is so well developed and and full of incredible detail that leaves you wanting more! The world building and lore was simply fantastic. The characters were interesting and each had a uniqueness all their own.

If you enjoy dark academia settings with the most unique magic, then this book is for you!

Thank you NetGalley, RHPG/Del Rey and the author for the advance ebook!

Took me awhile to start this book, but after I did I couldn't put it down. I'm obsessed with the characters especially Kaelis. His relationship and dynamic with Clara is swoon worthy. All Elise Kova’s books are great reads, but this one has to be her best yet!

This was my first book by this author, and I was pleasantly surprised! I was pretty hesitant when I started. I've been having terrible luck with fantasy/romantasy lately, so I was worried I wasn’t going to enjoy it. Imagine my surprise when I ended up loving this.

The story follows Clara Graysword, a magic-wielding thief sentenced to life in prison. Until Prince Kaelis, headmaster of a magical academy, offers her a deal. To stay free, she must go undercover as his student and fake fiancée while helping him pull off a risky magical heist. Between tarot-based magic, secret agendas, and slow-burn tension, Clara is forced to decide who she can trust and what she’s willing to risk.

I went into the book completely blind. The cover was really intriguing, and I’d heard of the author before, so I figured I’d give it a shot. The first thing that hooked me right away was the unique magic system. It’s probably the most original one I’ve read so far. I loved it. The tarot-based magic and all the symbolism were fascinating. It was definitely a highlight for me.

The world-building was also super engaging! And the academy setting? So good. I can’t even remember the last time I read a magical school book that felt this well done. Everything felt carefully thought out, and the stakes just kept getting higher. The cast of characters was great, too. You’ll find your favorites to root for pretty quickly, and a few characters might even surprise you. There’s also a slow burn romance that was well done. I liked that it wasn’t the main focus of the story. It just built naturally in the background and added a nice layer without taking over the plot.

I do wish we had spent more time in the actual classes, though. Considering how much time passes over the course of the book, it felt like a lot of the classroom learning was glossed over, and time just skipped ahead. I wanted more of that magical school vibe with hands-on learning and deeper exploration of the magic system.

My biggest complaint about the book was the pacing. It was really slow in certain parts, and it kind of dragged a bit. The story itself wasn’t boring. I never wanted to stop reading but it did feel like it took forever to get through. Toward the end, though, the pacing finally picked up. The last 15% was action-packed and intense, with a lot going on. It just felt like it took a long time to get to that point.

Other than that, I really, really enjoyed this book. I’m super excited to see where the story goes next. Especially after that cliffhanger. I’m definitely eager for book two!

I’ll for sure be checking out more from this author. If you like magic, competition, layered characters, and a story that takes its time to build, I think this one is worth picking up. Here’s hoping the sequel keeps up the momentum

I was instantly drawn in by this unique and captivating magic system. The way the magic is derived from a tarot deck is so different from anything I've ever read before. I absolutely loved the symbolism and the skill that this type of magic wielding requires. This was definitely the biggest highlight/draw for me, and I think a lot of people will be intrigued by this aspect.

The FMC, Clara is such a great character. I loved her tenacity, determination, and skill with her magic. The MMC, Kaelis, is also a very interesting character and I loved the banter and tension bewteen them throughout the book.

The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me is the pacing. I felt like things took awhile to get the reader caught up on the world building, and the plot felt like it was taking awhile to get moving.

I really wanted to love this. I adored Kova's Air Awakens series, but it kind of felt like she took the bits I liked the least from that and created Arcana Academy. I'm a little sick of women falling for these men who just basically treat them terribly, and Kaelis was absolutely one of them. He was cold & calculating, all under the pretense of looking after Clara, but I just felt like the good in no way out weighed the bad. I also felt like there was absolutely no need for them to fake an engagement for the story to work.

That being said, I did like Clara, how strong she was both magically and not, and I enjoyed the magic system, even if I did find it hard to follow in places. DNF at 54%

The premise and cover what immediately grabbed me and made me want to start reading this one. I mean come on! The cover is stunning, and the plot sounds so intriguing and different to other fantasy books out there, that I knew this would probably be one that I would enjoy, especially because I have read some other books by the author in the past and really enjoyed them!

Out of all of the different elements and details in this book, I think the standout part and the most interesting element of all was the tarot based magic system. I have read a few other books with tarot as the basis for magic, but none of them have been quite so unique as this one where the cards are actually wielded (and I can’t lie, it did remind me of Yu-Gi-Oh)

I don’t want to really give anything away about the overall plot, because I was shocked by what happened, but my god was this INTENSE AS HECK!! There wasn’t a single second that something wasn’t happening, there were so many characters to get used to and learn about, and then the magic system and world building/politics on top of everything almost made it too much too handle (but in the best way). Also throw in the fact that there was a seriously slow burn romance as well, and I was in my element.

One thing I will say, as maybe a selling/comparison point, is that this books overall vibe reminded me A LOT of the Throne Of Glass series. The main character Clara was so similar to Aelin that it almost hurt, and there were so many little characteristics that just felt so similar. So if you loved that series, this one would probably be great as something a little different!!

The world building 🤌
The plot 🤌
The characters 🤌
The slowww burn 🤌

I already find tarot cards to be pretty majestic, and when you throw them into a magic system where they can be drawn and used for all kinds of things- PERFECTION!

Clara and Kaelis... Oh man! The slow burn, push and pull, hate to love 🔥 The banter between them had me giggling and kicking my feet! I will dream of them until I can get my hands on book 2!

A really unique and interesting concept. I really liked the characters and fake relationship trope. I do feel like it was a bit long and kinda lagged.

Arcana Academy has not left my mind since finishing its experience. It’s an enthralling, magnetic, addicting read. Every thread that weaves through its world-building, every spark in its magic system, every step taken by its lead, hypnotized me. I invested heavily, became immersed instantly, and relished every moment in this journey. A journey only just beginning.

Condemned to a grim, imprisoned fate, Clara is a talented arcanist who dealt magic by illegal means until caught. She is secretly freed from her fate under one condition: use her skills to replicate a tarot card that can undo the current world and remake it through the eyes of the dealer. All Clara must do is enter Arcana Academy as a student and fake a betrothal to its headmaster Prince Kaelis, who just happens to be the person whose deal Clara must take to regain her freedom.

Before we get into the amazing cast leading this journey, can we first discuss how magical the magic system is?! It's an arcane magic system based on the creative use of tarot cards. With the cards dealing actual power! I completely embraced this magic system and how it infused and evolved the world-building. Clara is tasked to replicate a specific tarot card, and what’s really well done about this is once more is learned about this magic, the higher the stakes become. It makes you hold your breath, cross your fingers, and pray Clara is able to achieve the daunting, tremendous task ahead of her.

Now let’s get to our protagonist Clara. Loved her, bite and all. Her journey is one riddled with seemingly insurmountable hurdles, but is determined to clear them all. Looking back to a traumatic past and facing a present of uncertainty where her freedom dangles in the hands of the others, it’s no surprise she has built impenetrable walls around her heart. She is determined to go at her situation alone, to complete her task as well as find her missing sister. But along the way a found family forms around her, and suddenly some of the blank faces of classmates take name, personality, and the need to care and protect them. Slowly those walls start to come down. Then there is Prince Kaelis. Who hides as many secrets and whose layers are as vast as Clara’s. The more they are peeled back, the deeper the connection between him and Clara becomes. What becomes a begrudging deal suddenly blossoms into a cautiously solid partnership. Until feelings arise that neither can deny for long. And now those impenetrable walls surrounding Clara’s heart seem surmountable by the prince. I really enjoyed watching the relationship between Clara and Kaelis develop. At times I did become slightly frustrated, as it seemed their relationship’s progress felt a bit unevenly paced. But ultimately and effortlessly I bought into their chemistry, to their yearning, to their connection. There is still so much to explore between them and I want to do just that!

The entire cast of characters is eclectic: you find favorites to root for, you cast doubt on suspicious characters who still intrigue, and you rally your anger and desire to fight the apparent antagonists. From cast to magic system to world-building, everything ties together to make a strong narrative that keeps you wholly engaged from beginning to ending. It encompasses the very stuff you hope to experience in a most excellent read!

I can’t express how happy I am with this book! I wasn’t sure how I’d feel going in, but by the time I left this one, all I wanted to do was turn back and relive it all over again. Simply put: I need more! And everything is certainly set up for just that! But how on earth will I patiently await for that more to arrive, when I need it now?!? Baaah!

Arcana Academy is a fantastic read that has left me yearning for more and more.

Thank you Random House, Del Rey, and NetGalley for this advanced complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily. 4.5

This really hurts me to write but this one just wasn’t for me, I struggled with it and ended up putting it down several times and then picking it back up. On paper it should be an absolute fave for me, it just wasn’t. I struggled with understanding the magic system and the world building, I didn’t connect to any of the characters.

This is most likely a me thing so if this book intrigues you, you should definitely give it a shot!

This was a unique magical academy setting, in an interesting world. The main female character, Clara is tough badass, very clever and I enjoyed her character. She is serving time in prison for illegal use 9f magic. When the very man she believes put her there gets her out to enroll her into the arcana academy and pose as his bride to-be, chaos ensues. The worldbuilding was great. The slow burn enemies to lovers was well done. The pacing in some parts were a little slow, especially with the amount of side characters and the large amount of time covered in the one story. I think I'd have felt more invested in more of the story if the cast was limited a bit to know them all more. Overall I liked this one and will read book two. I enjoyed the magic system too.

So GD good.

This book follows a girl who escapes prison with the help of a prince. in exchange for her help to save the world he will protect her identity by....getting fake engaged to her. all the while she must attend a magical academy and hone her skills with the art of tarot magic.

this is a long one and its world building and magic system is intricate. there is a glossary of what all the cards do in the. ack but I recommend NOT reading that before you read the book.

the end of this is completely action packed full of a slow burn romance and a complete cast of characters you will love, be charmed by, hate, and absolutely LOATHE.

and then you get a great cliffhanger at the end.

I'm a person that doesn't love slow burn that much so the monotonous daily slog of classes at a magical school was a bit much for me, but I loved nearly everything else in this book. can't wait for the next one.

thanks to the publisher for providing a free Advanced copy through Netgalley, but all my excitement over this book is my own!

If anyone needs me I’ll be walking the halls of Arcana Academy. ✌🏼
⚔️ 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 ⚔️

𝐓𝐋𝐃𝐑;
Arcana academy is like One Dark Window meets Harry Potter + 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚 with a fresh magic system, complex characters and a well built world.

🗡️ 𝗙𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
✨ 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗮
🗡️ 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘆
✨ 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆
🗡️ 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻
✨ 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀
🗡️ 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀
✨ 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀
🗡️ 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀
✨ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸
🗡️ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘆
✨ 𝗕𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗠𝗖

🔮 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 🔮
Incredibly unique and well thought out. Every tarot card has its own unique powers and I was in a literal trance trying to keep up with the cards flying off the pages. There’s even a glossary in the back revealing every card + its power if you feel like studying. The characters battle with them like an rpg game-think final fantasy, but with tarot cards.

🫦 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 🫦
True enemies to lovers. Slow burn. Broody MMC + Cocky FMC. Tension is thick and the romance is not lust forward. It’s a mix of reluctant allies, betrayal and building trust against all odds.

🏰 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 🏰
The world itself is fantastic, but the academy has my heart. Maybe it’s because I’m a Harry Potter girl, but this took me back to that feeling of desperately wishing I could enroll. The classes, the magical duals, the dormitories, the houses.
𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 🤌🏼

The worst part about being an ARC reader is having to wait even longer for book 2.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴. 🧗
Elise. Please write faster! Please and thank you. 🥺

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher, for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Arcana Academy by Elise Kova follows Clara, an escaped prison inmate and illegal tarot card practitioner, who has multiple fake last names, as she is forced to infiltrate Arcana Academy. Kaelis, the ruthless second born prince and academy headmaster, concocts a fake engagement to keep Clara close and from discovery by the authorities. Kaelis makes sure Clara knows the academy is her only safe place, and working with him is the only thing keeping her from going back to her cell.

Throughout, Clara attends classes, explores the academy, and tries to prove her fake legitimacy while planning the ultimate heist, stealing powerful tarot cards from the King. The end goal? Create a powerful tarot card that is only supposed to exist in legends.

From beginning to end, this book was engaging and filled with a cool, unique magic system based around tarot cards, and the perfect amount tension between the two main characters. I can't wait to see how this series continues!

Elise Kova has been on my radar for years.
I was torn in two directions when I picked this, because the book combines two things that I tend not to enjoy and that's dark academia and capital-R Romantasy. On the other hand, it's a fake dating story with s a really unique magic system.
In the world of Arcana Academy magic users are able to ink tarot cards and each of these tarot cards release different spell-like qualities.
Our protagonist Clara has been learning to use the tarot under the radar, unofficially, unsanctioned until she's caught just before the novel starts. Here we enter Prince Kaelis, the second son of the king, and the headmaster in charge of Arcana Academy. There's a lot going on there, but it really works well together and, honestly, I think it's both the first romantasy and the first dark academia that I have genuinely without any reservations loved.
I would kind of describe this one as a dark academia version of Witch Hat Atelier meets Cardcaptor Sakura. Which sounds bonkers, and it kind of is.
But it also just really worked.
The dark tone worked so well for me. That's one of the things I really love about the idea of dark academia. I love those f gothic vibes, the vaulted ceilings, the twisting passageways.
The *aesthetic*.
And then so often in the books, you either don't get that aesthetic or that all you get. Arcana Academy give the aesthetic but also that darkness feeds into the world we’re living in and into the characters, plot, and decisions.
Kova also pulls off a really good enemies to lovers. You can see why Clara dislikes Kaelis so much. She has a genuine reason to think of him as an enemy. She's reluctant at every single step of the way to give him any benefit of the doubt, to give him any slack, and it really works.
An excellent book, and a great introduction to a new-to-me author.

I enjoyed this but wasn’t obsessed with it.

Pros: magic system, found family, enemies to lovers romance, slow burn romance, strong FMC, academy setting.

Cons: FMC is one dimensional and super hard headed, romance seemed a bit superficial and there was soooo much miscommunication between FMC and MMC (my least favorite trope), pacing was a bit slow at times.

I will read anything by Elise Kova and will probably continue the series in the hopes for more character development and relationship growth. I think most Romantasy readers will enjoy this because of the magic system, strong FMC, and broody MMC.

From the start, I was drawn into the world of magic and mystery that the author created. The story follows Kira, a young woman with a mysterious past who enrolls in a magical academy to hone her skills. What I liked most about Kira was how relatable she felt. Even with all the magic and fantasy around her, she’s dealing with insecurities and questions about who she is, which makes her journey feel very real. The pacing kept me hooked. There were plenty of twists and turns, but it never felt overwhelming. I especially appreciated how the romance developed naturally without stealing the spotlight from the plot. The magic system was interesting and well-explained, which helped me get fully immersed without feeling lost. If I had one criticism, it’s that a few secondary characters could have been fleshed out more, but overall, the cast was engaging and added good depth to the story. Elise Kova’s writing style is smooth and easy to follow, which made it hard to put the book down.

I slogged through Arcana Academy by Elise Kova and honestly, it left me underwhelmed. The tarot‑based magic is the one thing that kept it afloat, but for me, it just wasn't enough.

Characters? Clara felt like a blank slate. Just another romantasy heroine with little to set her apart. Kaelis is the brooding love interest, but their romance never clicked. It had so much potential but just fell flat and didnt really feel like a romance at all.

And the pacing… oh, the pacing. Midway it drags so badly I seriously wanted to DNF. I had to push myself to finish the book.

That said, if you’re into learning a rich magic system and don’t mind slow‑burn romance, you might enjoy it. But for me, the formula felt all too familiar and I'm over it.

This has got to be the *best* book I've read all year. Everything about Arcana Academy is utter perfection. The new world Elise Kova has created is dark and twisty and I'm totally obsessed. The plot is fantastic. The magic system is unique. The chemistry between characters are off the charts. The last few chapters left me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait for the sequel!