Nocticadia (Standard Edition)

Pretty Poison

Bewertung am 20.11.2025
Bewertungsnummer: 2658970
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

Fantastically haunting and so so well written. Dark(-er) Romance with a beautiful gothic backdrop and a stunning horror plot. The supernatural aspect of this book was not big per se but incredibly well done and so scary in my opinion. It kind of reminded me of The Last Of Us so if that is your cup of tea, then this might be a good Dark Romance pick for you. I enjoyed this book so much and practically devoured it. Keri Lake completely captured me with the forbidden lovestory and the gothic dark academia vibes. Added bonus were definitely the well written spicy scenes.

Nocticadia - 4.5-Star Dark Academia

Whispers & Pages am 31.03.2026
Bewertungsnummer: 3095495
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

Four years ago, Lilia’s mother succumbed to a mysterious illness that rapidly destroyed both her physical and mental health. She became paranoid, violent, and convinced that something was living inside her. In the end, she couldn’t bear it any longer and took her own life. Something Lilia and her younger sister had to witness. Now, Lilia works as a hospital cleaner while attending community college, barely scraping by in a cramped apartment she shares with her mother’s ex-boyfriend. She’s doing everything she can to support her sister and pay for her care and tuition, all while still suffocating under the weight of her grief and trauma. Officially, her mother died from blood loss, but Lilia is almost certain that she saw a parasite leaving her mother’s body that day. Something no doctor ever acknowledged. Something no one believes, telling her that whatever she thinks she saw was a trauma-induced hallucination. When Lilia is assigned to write a paper on a fictional disease for her microbiology class, she chooses to document her mother’s symptoms. But when her professor calls her in, she’s stunned to learn that the illness she described isn’t fictional at all. It’s part of privately owned research conducted at Dracadia University, an Ivy league institution for medical research and law. Even more shocking, she’s offered a scholarship for a semester. Despite her hesitation, the opportunity to study the disease that killed her mother is too tempting to ignore and when her unstable living situation becomes dangerous, she realizes she has no choice but to accept. At Dracadia she meets Professor Devryck Bramwell also knows as Doctor Death. A brilliant and enigmatic man who is also the son of the former leading scientists researching her mother’s disease. But he’s also surrounded by dark rumors and whispers about a missing female student. This was my first book by Keri Lake, and it absolutely delivered. I’m a sucker for the student x professor trope, and this one hit all the right notes. The atmosphere is incredibly dark, eerie, and immersive. There’s a constant sense of tension and unease that kept me hooked from start to finish. While parts of the plot were somewhat predictable, the story itself is so well-crafted and intricate that I didn’t mind at all. I was so very entertained the entire time. The story blends dark academia, forbidden romance, mystery, and unsettling fictional elements perfectly. The characters are deeply complex and morally grey, sometimes even crossing into morally black territory and yet I couldn’t help but feel for them, root for them, and hurt alongside them. The dual POV worked beautifully here. I’m usually more invested in one character than the other, but in this case, both perspectives were equally compelling. Watching the story unfold from both sides was simply perfection. Keri Lake created two characters who feel perfectly matched. Their shared trauma, the way science ties their stories together, and the emotional depth of their connection were so well done. By the end, they’ve easily become one of my favorite fictional couples and I finally understand why everyone’s swooning over Devryck Bramwell. That man is sex on a stick and that mouth on him! *gasp* The pacing really picks up toward the end, and the final 20% had me in a chokehold. I was genuinely anxious about how it would all play out. This is the perfect spooky season read. It’s dark, twisted, and atmospheric. If you haven’t picked it up yet, do yourself a favor and add it to your list. Honestly, it’s worth reading anytime, but I suspect it hits especially well around Halloween. Story: 4.5 ⭐️ Spice: 3.5