What did I just read??? A friend told me I had to request this book and I’m so glad I did!!

From the magic system, the characters, the setting… impeccable!

If you've loved other Elise Kova's books, you're going to adore this. Arcana Academy has solidified Elise being and auto buy for me.

If you are looking for an FMC who can hold her own in a world with a unique and fun magic system, Clara is for you. I personally am a big fan of the tarot magic system and how much Elise thought it through. I can't wait to see how everything plays out for Clara and will be on the lookout for the second book.

This was so good. I loved the plot and characters. It was paced perfectly. I didn't wanna put it down and was on the edge of my seat

I was excited to get this book! The premise of the book was very intriguing. The beginning sucked me in, Clara was a strong FMC. The chemistry and banter between Clara and Kaelis was so good. I only wish that there wasn’t such a push pull between them. It was frustrating to start rooting for them only for them to pull away again. Overall the story was great! I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

Ahhhhhhhhh the ending!!!! Cliffhanger whyyy!!!

I loved every second of this book! A magic academy and a magic system based on tarot cards had me hooked right from the start. I loved Clara as a character and that ending!!!!!

I am a giant sucker for anything to do with magic schools, fake relationships/engagements and enemies-to-lovers and Elise Kova did not disappoint. The romance in this book is a slow-burn and burn did it do. Every interaction between Clara and Kaelis was so good.

The dialogue was a little bit cringey to me at times but that didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed this book.

I can’t wait for the next book to come out!

This was an amazing read! Even with the slightly predictable twists this was still a top read for me so far this year. While I’ve shelved a few of this authors books and added them to my tbr, Arcana Academy was my first actual read of hers. AND I LOVED EVERY WORD. I cannot wait for this series to continue to find out where Kaelis and Clara end up.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early review copy.

First, a big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Elise Kova’s novel “Arcana Academy" – “A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling romantasy series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.”

Arcana Academy is for those who like unique magic systems with a long-suffering protagonist who fights against an unfair system and who has a mysterious and captivating "shadow" as an enemy, all tied together with dark academia and political intrigue vibes.

Clara Graysword, a skilled but outlawed magical tarot card crafter, is caught after a heist gone wrong. In order to escape prison, she makes a deal with Prince Kaelis, the headmaster of Arcana Academy, agreeing to a fake engagement while helping him retrieve powerful tarot cards from the king. As Clara navigates the academy’s mysteries and her growing feelings for Kaelis, she must decide where her loyalties truly lie. The novel blends slow-burn romance, enemies-to-lovers tension and high-stakes magic.

The magic system in Arcana Academy is very complex, there are many details, different trials and several tarot cards with different powers and that, when read, also have different meanings. Tarot itself is already complex, using it as a magic system with powers is even more complicated. However, Kova did her best to try to make the system as understandable as possible.

The plot becomes even more complex when we add the various houses, royal family members, fake engagement, political plots, and balancing all the characters.

The main female character, Clara, has been through a lot of suffering that seems to never end, but she perseveres and always tries to stay focused. Her skill with tarot is unmatched, which makes her have to hide her talent to avoid attracting attention and to avoid people finding out that she's the prison escapee. Clara is an altruist by nature, trying to help people escape the oppressive system they live in. The male protagonist Kaelis is the clique tall, dark, and handsome brooding type who has a cat and a sad backstory, again a little clique but romantasy that’s kind of what you sign up for. Kaelis isn't the most powerful character in the book, but he's talented with cards and his attitude of wisdom and control.

The romance in this story like many others is a slow burn, since Clara hates the royal family and blames them for all her suffering. As the book goes on, Clara discovers that Kaelis isn't exactly who she imagined him to be and her hatred begins to give way to an intriguing attraction. I wanted a deeper connection between the two, but the sexual tension is intense. The emotional aspect could've been explored for sure. I felt that there was a little bit of insta-love which I didn’t like.

The pacing of the book was very slow at the beginning, mainly because we were being introduced to the magic system and world building. The final part of the book was the best of all for me, but that cliffhanger is killer.

Thank you NetGalley for providing and approving my ARC!

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

On the surface, Arcana Academy seemed to be perfect for my tastes in fantasy. An academic fantasy set around a tarot based magic system with a main character who has one choice—survive a magical academy to graduation or surrender to a fate worse than death, Elise Kova’s ambitious series debut attempts a lot, but is bogged down by its world building and substantial magic system. Endlessly complex, Arcana Academy was a book I so desperately wanted to parse, to get to that point where I was fully involved in its narrative from plot to characters. Suffice to say, that never happened, for a variety of reasons. There is a lot going on at the start of this novel in regards to world building, and Arcana Academy gives little room to breathe, jumping from one thing to the next in a matter of a few chapters, never leaving space for the reader to connect to anything substantial. The characters, the tarot cards, and various settings all flew by in a breeze of infodumping until I had to ask myself how much I wanted to continue. I ultimately decided to put this one down around 26% and I won’t be continuing with it.

First I’d like to say thank you to the author Elise Kova for writing such a wonderful book. I can’t wait to read the full series. (I’m screaming internally from excitement)

Thank you to Del Ray and NetGalley for a copy of this eARC of this book.

First I would like to express how anxious, exciting, and nerve racking it is to start a series where only book 1 is available. Honestly I’ve had the pleasure the last few days to really soak in the magic system and observe what the author focuses on in her writing. The magic system has a tarot card base to it that’s always exciting to read about, and of course the main characters Clara and Kaelis were written beautifully. I was happy to say a few of my theories were debunked before the end of the book. Thank you for writing such interesting and complex characters in a complicated story verse.

The magic system of this book is so unique and engaging. While there was sometimes a lot to track i was hooked and need to know what happens next.

UGH. I am upset after finishing this book because this book isn’t even out yet and I already really want book two.

First of all, a magic system based on tarot? Such a cool, unique idea! I’ve truly never read one like it. I love books set in academies, there is just something so fun about that and I think this is a great addition to that sub-genre.

Our main character, Clara, is extremely well written in my opinion. I really think that her background and trauma were developed in such a way that my heart truly reacted at times.

I have so many theories going into book two and hate that I have to wait!!t!

The author really got into detail about what was going on and with what. This was my first time reading a book by this author so I was glad to see the detail of events so thorough to understand her writing type.

I wish the glossary was at the front to reference back to it vs the back( I never even noticed it was at the end until I got to the end of the book) so I struggled to keep track of what was what.

I loved the story line, it caught my attention right away but seemed like the loss of what card was what really threw me for loop .i can always appreciate a sassy lead role.

I really enjoyed this. The magic system was super interesting and made this story stand out in the sea of Romania’s. We, of course, have a dark haired shadow-wielding potentially bad but maybe not(?) MMC. And our FMC is an absolute badass. But the magic system made up for the lack of originality.

The romance was fine and I really did enjoy how the story unfolded. It was a little slow in the beginning and I wasn’t exactly sure where we were going but once I started to pick up I was hooked.

This was such a fun time! The world of Arcana Academy holds a special place my heart because of its complexity and world building around tarot cards. I thought the idea around the cards and their power was SO unique! And giving a little extra spice to people ACTUALLY being Major Arcana?! The inking, wielding, and reading was so insanely cool.

Clara, our FMC, escapes a high security prison only to be captured by the headmaster of Arcana Academy. The story unfolds with a very traditional enemies to reluctant allies. Switching to mayyyyyybe allies to lovers? We had found family and SO MANY twists and turns. I really didn’t know what was going to happen next. When I thought I knew what was happening, a new twist came.

There was something so special about Clara - she is smart, fierce, and wildly intelligent. A true force to be reckoned with for sure. I loved how she was so determined to remain true to herself and her history, while accepting help and friendship from unlikely allies.

There were some super high sexual tense moments but ultimately giving us some open door, very explicit scenes around 70%.

This was definitely one of those slow to start and continue to burn very slowly reads. But when it picked up, it was game on. I enjoyed every single minute of this. I hateeeee the major cliffhanger and having to wait to see what happened, but I’m so excited to see where the world takes me!

I want to start with thanking Elise Kova and NetGalley for an advanced copy of "Arcana Academy". This book was a fantastic read, and could definitely be one of the best fantasy books released this year. The world-building is incredible; I found myself really caring about all the characters we meet throughout the story.

"Arcana Academy" takes place in a world where some can harness the power of tarot cards; however, using these cards is highly regulated. Any Arcanist must go through the Arcana Academy to legally wield the power. All applicants to the academy must be 20 years of age to reflect the 20 tarot cards. If someone fails out of the academy, they become Marked and are unable to take part in society. Instead, the Marked are taken to factories to make the pigments used to ink cards. Any illegal creation of cards is punishable by death or imprisonment. That is how we meet the main character, Clara. She is serving a lifetime imprisonment for not just making cards illegally, but also smuggling people with the power of tarot out of the kingdom. Kaelis, the second-born prince, finds her in prison and allows her to escape, as that plays into his plan for her. He believes Clara to be one of the best Arcanists to ever exist, and plans to use her to change the World. Throughout the book, we follow Clara and Kaelis as Clara deals with being used by the same royal family that has done nothing but harm her, and Kaelis works to separate himself from the rest of the royal family.

Overall, a 5 star read and I already cannot wait for the next book!

A Dark Academia setting where the magical power is derived from tarot cards?! Sign me up. Elise Kova enchanted me quickly with this first book in her new Arcana Academy series. I was easily captivated within the first chapter of this book. Our main character is in prison illegally inking and using tarot cards, when she is, effectively busted out by a dark and broody prince. The only kaveat, is he needs her help. And the relationship that forms between them is one that will keep you guessing throughout. Afterall, it can be hard to trust someone whom you think will betray you as soon as they get what they want. We have some crazy good enemies to lovers, wonderful banter, and fake engagement. There were so many moments where I was shouting at the characters on the page to just actually admit their feelings TO THEMSELVES. Overall, a very strong start to a new fantasy series, and one that I predict will enchant a lot of people.

I was so excited to get an ARC for this as Arcana Academy was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. And it did not disappoint! I loved everything about this story!

From the first page I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down. The tarot card magic system is so unique and was definitely my favorite part of the book. Those who can wield tarot cards are called Arcanists and must go to Arcana Academy to train their abilities. The students must pass a series of trials to enter the Academy and to earn their place in one of the houses. The school is full of twists and turns and is full of dark secrets. I absolutely loved dark academia mixed with the tarot card magic system. I really liked seeing the different classes at the school. It gave us so much background and information about the magic system.

I loved main characters Clara and Kaelis. They are so complex and have an amazing slow burn enemies to lovers arc that felt so natural. Clara starts the book in prison for illegal tarot card activities and Kaelis, the headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the prince who put her there. After a prison escape and a fake engagement that leads to Clara joining the Academy their relationship grows. The tension that builds between them while planning a big heist was perfect and really fit their personalities. And as we learn more about Kaelis we are constantly left guessing whose side he’s on.

I thought the pacing and writing was excellent. There’s plenty of action and mystery that keeps the plot moving and I can’t wait to see what comes next in this trilogy after that ending. This is definitely my favorite book from Elise Kova!

A Fresh Take on Tarot Magic, Found Family, and Slow-Burn Romance

Elise Kova kicks off a brand-new fantasy series with Arcana Academy, a magical, character-driven story full of secrets, slow-burn tension, and a tarot-based magic system that feels both fresh and mysterious.

We meet Clara, our fiercely independent and determined main character, in a grim place—prison. After losing her mother, Clara has been doing whatever it takes to keep herself and her younger sister safe, even if it means turning to making illegal tarot cards. Raised with a deep knowledge of tarot magic, including the rare skill of inking her own cards, Clara is a powerful Arcanist in her own right.

Her life takes an unexpected turn when she encounters Prince Kaelies in the prison. Cold, enigmatic, and seemingly calculating, Kaelies is the kingdom’s second prince—and now the headmaster of Arcana Academy, the institution responsible for training magical elites.

What begins as an antagonistic encounter leads to an unlikely arrangement: Clara finds herself enrolled at the academy and unexpectedly engaged to the prince in a political maneuver.

Much of the story unfolds within the walls of the academy. It’s here that the world-building shines—with a unique magic system based on tarot cards, including suits and rituals, that fans of fantasy will find intriguing and original. You don’t need to be familiar with real-world tarot to enjoy it; this is very much a fictionalized and creatively reimagined system.

Clara is a standout heroine—tough, loyal, and deeply committed to protecting those she loves. The book has a strong found-family theme, and the relationships Clara formed both before the academy and at the academy, both tentative and intense, form the emotional heart of the story.

As for the romance? It’s a true slow burn. There’s tension, there’s chemistry, and there’s a lot left unsaid between Clara and Kaelies. Their dynamic evolves from enemies to reluctant allies, and maybe even friends, but don’t expect any steam until very late in the book.

Kaelies, in particular, is a fascinating character. While his feelings remain hidden beneath a composed facade, there’s a sense that he’s falling first—and hard—while Clara remains laser-focused on survival and revenge.

Foreshadowing is cleverly woven throughout the story, and the payoff by the end is well worth it. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say: the twists are unexpected and the ending hits hard. Fair warning—Arcana Academy ends on a cliffhanger, so prepare yourself to want the next book immediately.

According to the author’s website, this will be a trilogy (at minimum), and with how much groundwork has already been laid, I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.

If you’re looking for a fantasy series with rich world-building, an inventive magic system, a strong heroine, and a slow-burn romance with serious tension, Arcana Academy is absolutely worth picking up. Just don’t be surprised if you finish the last page and immediately start searching for the release date of book two.

A Fresh Take on Tarot Magic, Found Family, and Slow-Burn Romance

Elise Kova kicks off a brand-new fantasy series with Arcana Academy, a magical, character-driven story full of secrets, slow-burn tension, and a tarot-based magic system that feels both fresh and mysterious.

We meet Clara, our fiercely independent and determined main character, in a grim place—prison. After losing her mother, Clara has been doing whatever it takes to keep herself and her younger sister safe, even if it means turning to making illegal tarot cards. Raised with a deep knowledge of tarot magic, including the rare skill of inking her own cards, Clara is a powerful Arcanist in her own right.

Her life takes an unexpected turn when she encounters Prince Kaelies in the prison. Cold, enigmatic, and seemingly calculating, Kaelies is the kingdom’s second prince—and now the headmaster of Arcana Academy, the institution responsible for training magical elites.

What begins as an antagonistic encounter leads to an unlikely arrangement: Clara finds herself enrolled at the academy and unexpectedly engaged to the prince in a political maneuver.

Much of the story unfolds within the walls of the academy. It’s here that the world-building shines—with a unique magic system based on tarot cards, including suits and rituals, that fans of fantasy will find intriguing and original. You don’t need to be familiar with real-world tarot to enjoy it; this is very much a fictionalized and creatively reimagined system.

Clara is a standout heroine—tough, loyal, and deeply committed to protecting those she loves. The book has a strong found-family theme, and the relationships Clara formed both before the academy and at the academy, both tentative and intense, form the emotional heart of the story.

As for the romance? It’s a true slow burn. There’s tension, there’s chemistry, and there’s a lot left unsaid between Clara and Kaelies. Their dynamic evolves from enemies to reluctant allies, and maybe even friends, but don’t expect any steam until very late in the book.

Kaelies, in particular, is a fascinating character. While his feelings remain hidden beneath a composed facade, there’s a sense that he’s falling first—and hard—while Clara remains laser-focused on survival and revenge.

Foreshadowing is cleverly woven throughout the story, and the payoff by the end is well worth it. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say: the twists are unexpected and the ending hits hard. Fair warning—Arcana Academy ends on a cliffhanger, so prepare yourself to want the next book immediately.

According to the author’s website, this will be a trilogy (at minimum), and with how much groundwork has already been laid, I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.

If you’re looking for a fantasy series with rich world-building, an inventive magic system, a strong heroine, and a slow-burn romance with serious tension, Arcana Academy is absolutely worth picking up. Just don’t be surprised if you finish the last page and immediately start searching for the release date of book two.

Arcana Academy, is one of those books that the premise sucks you in what it could deliver. And it delivers in so many ways and more. I loved the magic that was used in the books, it felt unique in ways and I honestly crave more and more of it.
Clara is a wonderful character and I think that her and Kaelis are a beautiful pair. The romance through this book it felt slow-burnish but they paired out so well together I'm happy.
I wasn't expecting that ending though? And some of the plot twists that are in this book will keep you entertained for hours just trying to figure out who's who.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group Del Rey for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.