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A review by koistyfishy
Nocticadia by Keri Lake
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5 Can I Ask You A Question Stars โญ
Spicy Level: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ/5
I knew that from page one... No, actually I knew from the first sentence that I was going to like this.
By the end of chapter 2, I was in love and by the end of chapter 5... I WAS OBSESSED!
I finished this ages ago... and it's still the book I keep coming back to, thinking about, obsessing about and recommending to anyone who will listen to me for more than 5 seconds THAT THEY NEED TO READ THIS!!!
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Four years ago Lilia Vespertine watched her mother commit suicide, or at least that is what everyone says to her is what happened. No one believes her when she says her mom was sick and infected with black worms Lilia saw crawling out of her when she died. Now haunted by the trauma, and determined to discover a cure for her mom's illness, Lilia is studying to be a scientist. When tasked to write a paper on a "make-believe illness" Lilia writes about the worms, which urns her a full scholarship to the mysterious and prestigious Dracadia University. The reason is the disease is very much real. It is called Noctisoma and is found nowhere else but on the island, the university is found on. Her knowledge of the disease sparks a few curious questions. Soon, she finds herself in very close proximity to Professor Devryck Bramwell, a brilliant and devastatingly hot pathologist in charge of the laboratory researching the disease. And something about Lilia Vespirtine keeps drawing Professor Bramwell in...
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
Lillia is feisty, and she has a pretty hard exterior as she has grown up in a difficult environment, where life hasn't always been fortunate towards her, and even basic necessities have been difficult to come by. Her home life before leaving for Dracadia is just as difficult because while her mother's boyfriend is pretty ok, the company he keeps is very questionable, causing her to garner quite a bit of unwanted attention now that she is older.
I loved her tenacity, her curiosity and her metaphorical balls that she was able to question and challenge things and stand up for herself when she needed to. Her thirst for knowledge and her drive to try and understand it was really impressive. Having read a few books that contain a woman in STEM, I am often wary of the depiction as it often turns into a "sexist fest". I appreciated that this book didn't do that. She is given credit. She was never underestimated or had her ability diminished. Her sex wasn't held against her and I liked that it gave a very good representation of what a woman in STEM could look like. About the fact that she can be smart and brilliant and passionate and have a mind that makes her equal.
Professor Devryck Bradwell was definitely an interesting character and MMC. He was an absolute dick and arsehole which meant obviously I love him and he plays into the whole "I hate everyone, including her". He often likened Lilia to a virus, parasite and poison, that has crawled into his mind and infected him. He is not happy about her presence and he is really not happy about what her presence does to him. He is haunted by his own trauma. Scarred from being physically and emotionally abused by his parent, and dealing with his grief that he hasn't come to terms with in the years since he's lost his brother. He is a hard man, doesn't take shit and has this bad-boy persona that should not exist on a professor.
I'm not going to lie, when I first saw that a big part of this plot had to do with gross parasitic worms that remind me of leeches, especially since some of them have teeth, I was a little bit grossed out. BUT, the writing in this has such a compelling and alluring effect that I was absolutely addicted to its pages. The way that the science and the fantasy elements are blurred together, especially since the aspects of science were so rooted in fact, that it was almost impossible to discern what was real and what wasn't was brilliant!
You can see, no actually, YOU CAN FEEL that Keri Lake has done a lot of scientific research into this book because the terminology, methodology, examples and aspects she pulls from science is not just common knowledge. The tools, equipment and procedures used were spot on.
Do not be persuaded that this is long, because it will not feel this way. The book takes time to develop but its pacing felt right and gave the characters a chance to grow and develop feelings for each other. I do think the ending was a little fast though - especially for the reveals that came at the end.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dual POV
โถ Touch Her You Die
โถ Dark Academia
โถ Forbidden Romance
โถ Morally Grey MMC
โถ Tending to Injuries
โถ ProfessorXStudent
โถ Age Gap
โถ He is a Daddy Death
๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Hand Necklaces
โท "Fuck It"
Overall I loved this! I am STILLL THINKING ABOUT IT! It sang to the scientist within me and made my happy place purr. ACTUALLY, lots of things in this book made my happy place purr. This is currently tied as one of the best books I have read this year.... so there is that...
Spicy Level: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ/5
I knew that from page one... No, actually I knew from the first sentence that I was going to like this.
By the end of chapter 2, I was in love and by the end of chapter 5... I WAS OBSESSED!
I finished this ages ago... and it's still the book I keep coming back to, thinking about, obsessing about and recommending to anyone who will listen to me for more than 5 seconds THAT THEY NEED TO READ THIS!!!
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Four years ago Lilia Vespertine watched her mother commit suicide, or at least that is what everyone says to her is what happened. No one believes her when she says her mom was sick and infected with black worms Lilia saw crawling out of her when she died. Now haunted by the trauma, and determined to discover a cure for her mom's illness, Lilia is studying to be a scientist. When tasked to write a paper on a "make-believe illness" Lilia writes about the worms, which urns her a full scholarship to the mysterious and prestigious Dracadia University. The reason is the disease is very much real. It is called Noctisoma and is found nowhere else but on the island, the university is found on. Her knowledge of the disease sparks a few curious questions. Soon, she finds herself in very close proximity to Professor Devryck Bramwell, a brilliant and devastatingly hot pathologist in charge of the laboratory researching the disease. And something about Lilia Vespirtine keeps drawing Professor Bramwell in...
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
Lillia is feisty, and she has a pretty hard exterior as she has grown up in a difficult environment, where life hasn't always been fortunate towards her, and even basic necessities have been difficult to come by. Her home life before leaving for Dracadia is just as difficult because while her mother's boyfriend is pretty ok, the company he keeps is very questionable, causing her to garner quite a bit of unwanted attention now that she is older.
I loved her tenacity, her curiosity and her metaphorical balls that she was able to question and challenge things and stand up for herself when she needed to. Her thirst for knowledge and her drive to try and understand it was really impressive. Having read a few books that contain a woman in STEM, I am often wary of the depiction as it often turns into a "sexist fest". I appreciated that this book didn't do that. She is given credit. She was never underestimated or had her ability diminished. Her sex wasn't held against her and I liked that it gave a very good representation of what a woman in STEM could look like. About the fact that she can be smart and brilliant and passionate and have a mind that makes her equal.
Professor Devryck Bradwell was definitely an interesting character and MMC. He was an absolute dick and arsehole which meant obviously I love him and he plays into the whole "I hate everyone, including her". He often likened Lilia to a virus, parasite and poison, that has crawled into his mind and infected him. He is not happy about her presence and he is really not happy about what her presence does to him. He is haunted by his own trauma. Scarred from being physically and emotionally abused by his parent, and dealing with his grief that he hasn't come to terms with in the years since he's lost his brother. He is a hard man, doesn't take shit and has this bad-boy persona that should not exist on a professor.
I'm not going to lie, when I first saw that a big part of this plot had to do with gross parasitic worms that remind me of leeches, especially since some of them have teeth, I was a little bit grossed out. BUT, the writing in this has such a compelling and alluring effect that I was absolutely addicted to its pages. The way that the science and the fantasy elements are blurred together, especially since the aspects of science were so rooted in fact, that it was almost impossible to discern what was real and what wasn't was brilliant!
You can see, no actually, YOU CAN FEEL that Keri Lake has done a lot of scientific research into this book because the terminology, methodology, examples and aspects she pulls from science is not just common knowledge. The tools, equipment and procedures used were spot on.
Do not be persuaded that this is long, because it will not feel this way. The book takes time to develop but its pacing felt right and gave the characters a chance to grow and develop feelings for each other. I do think the ending was a little fast though - especially for the reveals that came at the end.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dual POV
โถ Touch Her You Die
โถ Dark Academia
โถ Forbidden Romance
โถ Morally Grey MMC
โถ Tending to Injuries
โถ ProfessorXStudent
โถ Age Gap
โถ He is a Daddy Death
๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Hand Necklaces
โท "Fuck It"
Overall I loved this! I am STILLL THINKING ABOUT IT! It sang to the scientist within me and made my happy place purr. ACTUALLY, lots of things in this book made my happy place purr. This is currently tied as one of the best books I have read this year.... so there is that...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Gun violence and Rape