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Reviews tagging 'Suicide'
Gothikana: A Dark Academia Romance: TikTok Made Me Buy It! by RuNyx
220 reviews
porshainielsen's review against another edition
1.75
Idk how I finished this. The writing was truly horrid and there are SO many unfinished plotlines and questions. The big “twist” at the end, makes almost no sense. It is quite literally impossible. The romance is also kind of nauseating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
starbeam's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I found it hard to put the book down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
tgcx24's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
amillerknaack's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unpredictable and lots happened. So unsatisfied with the unanswered pieces for a standalone. Lots of grammatical errors and things that didn’t make sense so it was sometimes hard to read. Definitely for folks looking for darkly smutty
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Suicide
fannehsm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Very dark and moody, I was spooked at times. RuNyx is so good at setting a gothic horror dark forest and abandoned lakes environment. I am a big scaredy cat so my hands were clenched through a majority of the book. (Please don’t go a walk alone in the woods in the middle of a windy night with your freaking candlestick—get back in your room, Corvina!!!!) (although in hindsight the woods seem safer than your room.
The voices come in at perfect times, too! We get just enough to make me question back-and-forth whether it’s real (and the castle) or not (Corvina). But not too much that it takes away from Corvina and Vad’s story.
The relationship does move just a little fast into the “you are my destiny”-type of depth. But it’s very romantic if you are wanting the Romance-book side of Romantasy. The sexual content is also well-written. The writing is definitely more modern than “truly dark academia” and there are some times that an editor might have rearranged a sentence or word choices to flow better. But if you are okay with that, the story reads well and didn’t distract me too much. We are here for the interesting plot, peculiar handling of voices, and vibes.
Fair warning if you have no tolerance for it: there are the times where Corvina describes herself and goes a little into “pick-me” territory with her wardrobe, lipstick, and mentioning her nose and ear piercings. It was also awkward to randomly bring up her breasts in this manner. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ These instances were a turn-off for me because they don’t really add anything to the story or plot. The most important thing really is her eye color, so unless the size of her heaving bosom or nose piercing and choker necklaces is an easter egg, it wasn’t necessary.
Sample quote that I kind of bark-laughed/cringed:“You might be a luring siren but I’m no ordinary sailor. I’m a mad pirate and I’m trying to resist your call. If I land on your shores, I will plunder and take away everything worth having. Be very careful giving me those eyes.”” This was almost when they just met to give you a sense of speed in the relationship.
I like that most of the story with Verenmore is wrapped up but I am really curious about the main problem of our FMC here—who is Mo!?
The bonus scene from Vad’s POV is a great way to lead us into the yet unannounced and unconfirmed next book. Though I now know that I’ll probably want to read the rest of the series during the day!
The relationship does move just a little fast into the “you are my destiny”-type of depth. But it’s very romantic if you are wanting the Romance-book side of Romantasy. The sexual content is also well-written. The writing is definitely more modern than “truly dark academia” and there are some times that an editor might have rearranged a sentence or word choices to flow better. But if you are okay with that, the story reads well and didn’t distract me too much. We are here for the interesting plot, peculiar handling of voices, and vibes.
Fair warning if you have no tolerance for it: there are the times where Corvina describes herself and goes a little into “pick-me” territory with her wardrobe, lipstick, and mentioning her nose and ear piercings. It was also awkward to randomly bring up her breasts in this manner. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ These instances were a turn-off for me because they don’t really add anything to the story or plot. The most important thing really is her eye color, so unless the size of her heaving bosom or nose piercing and choker necklaces is an easter egg, it wasn’t necessary.
Sample quote that I kind of bark-laughed/cringed:
I like that most of the story with Verenmore is wrapped up but I am really curious about the main problem of our FMC here—
The bonus scene from Vad’s POV is a great way to lead us into the yet unannounced and unconfirmed next book. Though I now know that I’ll probably want to read the rest of the series during the day!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Incest, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence
bookishlittlebird's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Incest
rioreadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
4.0
Gothikana
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“You’re the mountain I build my castle on, brick by brick... You stand, I soar. You crack, I crumble.”
------------------------------------------------
Tropes:
Forbidden Romance
Dark Academia
Student x. Professor
Mystery Plot
Spicy
Dual POV
Ok, being honest... I have very mixed feelings regarding this book. If we could divide it into halves it would have two completely different ratings.
I absolutely loved the mystery of the story, which had me hooked from the get go. The gothic, horror, dark academia vibes and overall aesthetic of the book was well-done! And, I feel the author did a great job masking what was going on and unveiling/revealing things perfectly.
The plot twist? I was not expecting... at all. However, it was everything after the plot twist I am conflicted over. I understand leaving the reader "wondering." I understand possibly leaving it open for another book. However, I just feel like too many threads were left unconnected by the conclusion. Too many questions and aspects that the reader still needed answers to.
Um... Vlad? Yes, please. His character was so intriguing. Was he a good guy? Was he a bad guy? Morally grey? I was here for the journey we took in learning more about his character as the novel progressed. Plus... holy hotness!!!
Corvina? I enjoyed her as well. She had a total 90's "The Craft" vibe. I wish we had more answers about her with the conclusion of the novel. I feel like as a reader I still don't fully understand her character or what was happening with her. Again, maybe that was the point?
Overall, I'd say I enjoyed it. However, I certainly hope we get a book 2!
--------------------
“If this is madness,” he told her, echoing her words against her lips, “I’ve already descended too far.”
⚠️Warning⚠️
Language, high spice, adult content, horror elements, death, suicide, mental illness
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“You’re the mountain I build my castle on, brick by brick... You stand, I soar. You crack, I crumble.”
------------------------------------------------
Tropes:
Forbidden Romance
Dark Academia
Student x. Professor
Mystery Plot
Spicy
Dual POV
Ok, being honest... I have very mixed feelings regarding this book. If we could divide it into halves it would have two completely different ratings.
I absolutely loved the mystery of the story, which had me hooked from the get go. The gothic, horror, dark academia vibes and overall aesthetic of the book was well-done! And, I feel the author did a great job masking what was going on and unveiling/revealing things perfectly.
The plot twist? I was not expecting... at all. However, it was everything after the plot twist I am conflicted over. I understand leaving the reader "wondering." I understand possibly leaving it open for another book. However, I just feel like too many threads were left unconnected by the conclusion. Too many questions and aspects that the reader still needed answers to.
Um... Vlad? Yes, please. His character was so intriguing. Was he a good guy? Was he a bad guy? Morally grey? I was here for the journey we took in learning more about his character as the novel progressed. Plus... holy hotness!!!
Corvina? I enjoyed her as well. She had a total 90's "The Craft" vibe. I wish we had more answers about her with the conclusion of the novel. I feel like as a reader I still don't fully understand her character or what was happening with her. Again, maybe that was the point?
Overall, I'd say I enjoyed it. However, I certainly hope we get a book 2!
--------------------
“If this is madness,” he told her, echoing her words against her lips, “I’ve already descended too far.”
⚠️Warning⚠️
Language, high spice, adult content, horror elements, death, suicide, mental illness
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide
spillsspellsstories's review against another edition
After 20%, I just couldn’t get into it.
It was supposed to be intriguing and mysterious but I felt like the writing and details weren’t captivating enough to keep me going while waiting for more to be revealed. I wanted to like it and I wanted to finish it, but really couldn’t get there.
It was supposed to be intriguing and mysterious but I felt like the writing and details weren’t captivating enough to keep me going while waiting for more to be revealed. I wanted to like it and I wanted to finish it, but really couldn’t get there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
kemorrison's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Murder
teafunny's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Suicide
Moderate: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Abandonment