Title: Gothikana
Author: RuNyx
Genre: Dark Academia Romance
Publisher: Solaris Press
Pages: 400
Release Date: 16 March 2023
Hello fellow book lovers, I hope everyone is having a great book-filled February. Today I'm sharing my review for TikTok sensation, Gothikana by RuNyx. A deliciously dark romance that fans of broody, mysterious and domineering love interests will absolutely eat up.
But, it does deal with some really dark themes so I do advise checking the TWs before reading.
Synopsis
An unusual girl. An enigmatic man. An ancient castle. What could go wrong?
An outcast her entire life, Corvina Clemm is left adrift after losing her mother. When she receives the admission letter from the mysterious University of Verenmore, she accepts it as a sign from the universe. The last thing she expects though is an olden, secluded castle on top of a mountain riddled with secrets, deceit, and death.
An enigma his entire life, Vad Deverell likes being a closed book but knowing exactly everything that happens in the university. A part-time professor working on his thesis, Vad has been around long enough to know the dangers the castle possesses.
And he knows the moment his paths cross with Corvina, she's dangerous to everything that he is.
They shouldn't have caught each other's eye. They cannot be. But a chill-inducing century-old mystery forces them to collide. People have disappeared every five years for over a hundred years, and Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her.
And so begins a tale of the mystique, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.
Review
I’m not usually one for Dark romances (even if I am a bit of a sucker for Dark Academia) but I did (surprisingly) kind of enjoy this. There was some really beautiful and lyrical descriptions that I loved and definitely felt they harkened back to that hauntingly dark aesthetic we’ve all come to associate with Gothic literature.
I loved the mystery aspects which were utterly intoxicating —It definitely brought to mind novels like Dracula (which does get several mentions throughout the book), plus the compelling undercurrent of danger that lurks on every page kept me on the edge of my seat.
I also have to applaud RuNyx for continuing with the boundary pushing themes that made Gothic fiction soo shocking for the age, having Gothikana touch upon contemporary taboos that will similarly make a lot of people rather uncomfortable (the ethical and moral implications of a student/teacher relationship being one of the biggest.)
The romance, likewise, is incredibly well done-the spice is off the charts —though not for the faint of heart, particularly those who don’t enjoy relationship dynamics involving domineering or controlling men.
As somewhat of a novice to the genre I also think that maybe I was a little out of my depth my for this one, as one scene (Corvina’s first time with Vad) did feel a little too uncomfortable for me to truly enjoy and (for me, at least) did feel like it was blurring the boundaries of consent. That being said it is reiterated that Corvina (who is twenty one) was consenting both before and after.
The other romance scenes later on in the book were far more enjoyable for me and I can honestly see why soo many people are raving about it. But, I do think I may just be a little too vanilla to truly appreciate this one.
I also wanted to thank Casey Ann over at Solaris Press for the absolutely stunning proof.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5