Gothikana by RuNyx REVIEW

Summary:

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 old, secluded castle on top of a mountain riddled with secrets, deceit, and death.

Vad Deverell is an enigma and enjoys being a closed book, but knows exactly everything that happens in the university. As 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 path crosses with Corvina that 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 more than a hundred years, Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her.

And so begins a tale of the mysterious, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.

My Thoughts:

I found myself liking this way more than I thought that I would. Corvina's mother isn't dead, she is just in a mental health care facility when Corvina gets the letter and decides to go to the school. The old castle is scary, and it's said that the woods are not safe to go into, especially at night. She ends up rooming with Jade, a girl who had previously run away and knows more than she tells of the school's secrets.

The tension between Corvina and Vad is there from the very first meeting at the school. She feels drawn to him, and he to her, but relationships between students and staff members are forbidden. Corvina makes friends for the first time in her life, as she was previously homeschooled by her mother. As she learns more about the disappearances at the school, she feels more and more drawn to the woods and to Vad, who knows a lot more than he lets on.

The writing was spectacular and the prose was beautiful. The only issue with the writing that I had was the cringe dialogue during the sex scenes and the unnecessary repeating of the phrase "this is our madness". While a lot of the mysteries came to light at the end, there were a few that did not, which was a let down. The twist towards the end was intriguing,  but it was resolved way too fast with little to no development.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and would recommend reading it.

My Rating: 4 stars