Nocticadia: A Dark Academia Gothic Romance Paperback – April 20, 2023

So I went in knowing it was a smut book, what I didn't expect was to be pulled in to the story hook, like, and sinker!! The story itself is so fascinating with a air of mystery! The hot ....and I do mean hot...spicy scenes were just a plus! I'm definitely checking out this authors other books bc this book checked all my boxes.

Alright this book could have had A LOT cut out and still been a good story. It took CHAPTERS for her to decide to go to the school. Angelo is a pos. Our FMC is going in nose to the ground, nothing will distract me to wanting Bromwells.....everything. There's not so much mysticism and they don't even cross the line until 70% of the book is done. Could have cut a bit out there also. 70% really and there's only a few scenes. It does end in an HEA for our main characters. The book has a secret society like most college/dark academia books lately and they could have done more with it. Some characters I wanted to flush down the toilet for being dicks and others needed more screen time (they know who they are).Our FMC also has a skewed sense of morality and accepting money.

Idk what i was expecting, but this surprised me!!!! I loved everything. And, the twist in it! Also, that ending!!! I really had mixed feelings about reading this book. But I have to say it's a must-read if u like dark, suspenseful, secret society, age gap, taboo this book is for you! Review by Qu33nsara

Such a good read - one of the BEST standalone dark romances books I have read - it took me a minute to get into it but that is always the case for me. The book had some good twists and turns and the sexual tension was great - I mostly did audio in this book and I loved it - good narrators can just make a good story an amazing one - this is my first Keri Lake book - I’m sure it won’t be my last-

A bit long and it took a while to get to the meat of the story but I bought it for a road trip, I needed the extra hours.I liked that it was plot heavy, liked that it was a fairly fresh story. I read a lot, and so I truly like when I read something completely different. Loved the science aspect, the larger cast of characters which usually bothers me, lead to a pretty decent “whodunit” it kind of vibe.I have just a few very minor complaints. My complaint really is Lillia was a bit of a clutz. She dropped her phone half a dozen times and ran into people pretty frequently. And I kept thinking there was going to be some connection or something to the fact that Lillia was conceived during the initial experiment, and that maybe Devryk’s mother also received doses and that their relationship, the draw to each other was related, or part of the cure related to some sort of shared history. But that was just wishful thinking.The convoluted genealogy was a little much.And finally, I really would have loved a better follow up. What happened to Mel? Gilcrest? Did Connor ever figure out what happened? Is there going to be a Cade book?

I would 3.5 if I could. Book is over 600 pages. You get a lot of character depth then about 60% through you get a character shift with the FMC. She starts out as being described as loyal to her family, plagued with trauma, poor, hard working, and innocent. Of course FMC gets a scholarship to a mysterious gothic school. She is t 18 so that’s a plus. However, the character shift was almost enough for me to dnf. Very annoying. So like I said FMC is painted one way then bam she wasn’t so innocent and had craved depravity in the bedroom. What? For 60% of the book she was innocent and didn’t date and focuses on school and family. Idk it felt like the author decided she wanted a more mature FMC for the MMC. Idk it felt forced on the worriers part to do that with zero build up just this is how she is now. I didn’t like that. I’ll give an example. Beginning of the book she is cornered by someone and he threatens to take her innocence and see her bleed for him. She gets away and goes to the school. Of course it’s never confirmed or denied by the FMC of author just kind of insinuated . Then come her scene with MMC and she say ‘I’ve had sex it wasn’t great afterward he left me’ and in her thoughts she talks about the many conquests she had with oral. What!? It was odd. Plot whole Spencer what happened to him? He was kind of in love with FMC and then he just kind of disappeared then reappeared with an e-mail? Okay? FMC is described not looking a whole lot like her mom but her sister does then it’s like reversed once she gets to the school? Huh? The twin plot twist I definitely saw coming his story of being gone seemed kind of forced, hopefully he has a book to explain that more? The MMC was consistent throughout the book and overall loved the character. FMC was not unlikable just inconsistent. Professor G also she was a psycho then she wasn’t in the end? What? The author wrote inconsistent women throughout the book. Also author seemed to emphasize the shop keeper with the tea and she even ‘saves’ MMC but then nothing? What? Idk maybe that was the purpose of the book tk to have e so many questions but for as long as this book was they should have e all been answered. If a spin off comes out for Caed I’ll definitely read. Overall though I was intrigued by the parasite and the history it held for both of the main characters. The history and the prologue didn’t add anything to the story, it definitely should have been a bigger part of the book. Again it was so long and you get snips but nothing concrete. It felt like the book was supposed to be one thing but turned into something else….if you stayed for this long winded review sorry I do recommend the writing is t horrible just inconsistent.

He is obsessive and she kinda is too. Big spin off at the end. And the right amount of foreshadowing. I’m so glad I picked up this read. It was great. I needed a stand alone but I want to know more about Cayde now…

This was a slow burn, I almost thought I was going to have to put it on hold but then little twists and turns happen. Then the big plot twist, oh my and the spice. There were parts that had me on the edge of my seat freaking out a Little but, this was good.