Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Gothikana: A Dark Academia Romance: TikTok Made Me Buy It! by RuNyx

26 reviews

starbeam's review against another edition

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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. 
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fannehsm's review against another edition

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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! 
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prairierose's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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atlas_lostlove1993's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a complex gothic romance and while I didn’t love Vad, Corvina was an interesting character who grew from naive, insecure girl to confident woman who came to appreciate her mental conditions. 
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cinderellasbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

I can see the appeal, but this just isn’t for me.

The story itself has a lot of potential and could have been better with some editing on the pacing and story development. The writing is good, but gets bogged down for being too repetitive (the number of times Corvina says god). The declarations of love said between Corvina and Vad also start to become overly exaggerated when it’s meant to be heavy and emotional. I did though like the descriptions of Verenmore and can see it coming straight out of a Gothic novel.

My main problem though, and this is just a me-thing, is that I couldn’t connect with the book. I like the premise and the mystery behind this secluded university, the history of deaths attached to it, and a girl with purple eyes who falls for an enigmatic student/teacher — but something is missing. That’s why I think I’m probably the wrong audience for this.
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addi_grimes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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biancaneve5's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

0.25

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amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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isabelh0410's review against another edition

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challenging fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.25

Save yourself. Do not read this. It reads like poorly written self-insert fanfiction. If you are looking for smut, I'm sure there is better out there. Everything about this book was problematic. 
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thelongroadtosanity's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"This will last until the day roses on my grave stop sharing roots with the roses on yours,” he declared. “I will have you even in death, little witch. I am your beast. I am your madness. And you, you’re my afterlife."

*
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Despite the ending being mildly predictable and a bit anticlimactic, I really enjoyed this book. The author's writing style felt so immersive to the point where I felt like I was there at Verenmore University. I do feel like there may be another one in the future. 

Overall, this has spice in it, but I also wouldn't consider this to be a dark romance. It's more possessive romance than dark in my mind. I really did enjoy the Gothic and witchy vibes to this storyline however.

I wish more of the underlying mystery was revealed, but I am assuming it will be in the next book. (06/2024)

4 out of 5 stars.
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