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A review by kimis
Gothikana by RuNyx
dark
mysterious
medium-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? No
1.0
Gothikana is told from the perspective of Corvina, a girl raised by her single mother in a remote home separated from her village, who receives an invitation to attend an exclusive school. The story follows Corvina and her relationship with her English lecturer, Vad, and her attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding her new school.
I couldn't get myself to like, understand, support or root for any of the characters. Particularly Corvina and Vad (very unfortunate for the leads), one of whom suffered a fair lot from the dark academia equivalent of 'not like other girls' syndrome and the other was just a strange, strange man.
RuNyx struggled to find the right balance between the desire to explore Vad and Corvina's romance and the mystery that was being set up alongside it. This leads to sloppy execution in the climax of the book where, with incredibly little sense, both characters defeat the Big Bad for the simple reason they have to in order to get their happy ending. Although there is meant to be a sense of betrayal in this turn of events, there's too much alarm raised by the incestuous curve the story takes to actually care.
There are also the sort of references to literature, particularly to Dracula, that feel 1. offensive to the source material and 2. definitely came from someone who might have thought Little Women (2019) was an original story created for the movie.
As a treat, there is ableism that became hard to overlook. Throughout the book, Corvina explains she hears voices. She knows this is schizophrenia but RuNyx must not have been able to decide if she wanted to have the book contain magic or not yet at this stage (by the end it's evident the answer is both yes and no) because she also says they might be ghosts. She inherits her schizophrenia from her mother and father both and has been previously institutionalised for it. In the middle of the book, she explains this makes her not want to have any children so that they don't inherit this from her. By the end, it's thrown aside. More important is Corvina's mother who, because of schizophrenia and dementia both, is in a care home, sits and stares blankly at everything all the time, and can only speak 1 or 2 words. It feels offensive to portray her this way and is not helped any by Corvina talking to her like she's a deaf toddler throughout the whole interaction.
Overall the book was disappointing. The mystery could be interesting but was too much of an afterthought to become anything worth getting invested in and neither Vad or Corvina were able to stand on their own feet enough to make their romance feel like much of anything.
I couldn't get myself to like, understand, support or root for any of the characters. Particularly Corvina and Vad (very unfortunate for the leads), one of whom suffered a fair lot from the dark academia equivalent of 'not like other girls' syndrome and the other was just a strange, strange man.
RuNyx struggled to find the right balance between the desire to explore Vad and Corvina's romance and the mystery that was being set up alongside it. This leads to sloppy execution in the climax of the book where, with incredibly little sense, both characters defeat the Big Bad for the simple reason they have to in order to get their happy ending. Although there is meant to be a sense of betrayal in this turn of events, there's too much alarm raised by the incestuous curve the story takes to actually care.
There are also the sort of references to literature, particularly to Dracula, that feel 1. offensive to the source material and 2. definitely came from someone who might have thought Little Women (2019) was an original story created for the movie.
As a treat, there is ableism that became hard to overlook. Throughout the book, Corvina explains she hears voices. She knows this is schizophrenia but RuNyx must not have been able to decide if she wanted to have the book contain magic or not yet at this stage (by the end it's evident the answer is both yes and no) because she also says they might be ghosts. She inherits her schizophrenia from her mother and father both and has been previously institutionalised for it. In the middle of the book, she explains this makes her not want to have any children so that they don't inherit this from her. By the end, it's thrown aside. More important is Corvina's mother who, because of schizophrenia and dementia both, is in a care home, sits and stares blankly at everything all the time, and can only speak 1 or 2 words. It feels offensive to portray her this way and is not helped any by Corvina talking to her like she's a deaf toddler throughout the whole interaction.
Overall the book was disappointing. The mystery could be interesting but was too much of an afterthought to become anything worth getting invested in and neither Vad or Corvina were able to stand on their own feet enough to make their romance feel like much of anything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Ableism and Incest
Minor: Death of parent