A review by just_one_more_paige
Gothikana by RuNyx

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

 
I've been tracking the Bramble Romance (from Macmillan and Tor) imprint since it was announced, because that magical romance combo is basically my whole personality as a reader (if we're talking about my reading roots and the books of my heart). This was one of the first books they started marketing and hyping up. And I do love a good gothic romance (I was one of very few students who enjoyed Wuthering Heights in high school), so this dark hero, gothic academia, set in a creepy castle, mystery plot situation called out to me. Plus, like, the purple sprayed edges were hard to ignore, aesthetically. 
 
A blurb as provided by Goodreads, as I cannot bring myself to take the time to write my own (if you stick with me and read the full review, you'll find out more about why): "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. An enigma his entire life, Vad Deverell likes being a closed book but knowing exactly everything that happens in the university. 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, 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 over the past century, Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her." 
 
Ok look, this book has everything I could have wanted it to (and I did want it, I went into this book wanting all that), but it just....tried too hard. It's like it took every single dark gothic academica romance trope and tried to smoosh it into this story without quite spending enough time on editing to make sure the story itself didn't have holes/didn't read awkwardly. Like, there were no reasons for some of the descriptions/explanations/connections except *vibes.* And while I do love when the vibes are right, and even sometimes when that's all a book is (The Chosen and the Beautiful and Rouge and a bit An Education in Malice - though that did also have some plot - are recent examples), they are not enough to carry what attempts to be a greater plot. And vibes, even when they include gorgeous illustrations/photographs as chapter art, epic quotes leading into each chapter that really fit the energy of the novel, sprayed edges, and a cover that looks like this one (I mean damn it's gorg), are definitely not enough to make up for sub-par writing. 
 
And y'all, the writing really left something to be desired. It was basic. So much telling, very little showing, and omg the repetition was...inane. Like, we got it: Corvina was homeschooled and didn't get out much and has never felt lust for a *real* person before and despite being on a remote campus together is constantly surprised by how often she runs into Vad (who, did you know, is dark and secretive and hot/cold and definitely not a good guy but also like, where's the real evidence of that?!), and the pull between them is impossible to resist (though there’s no why for that either…). And Corvina and Vad are drawn to each other but it would be bad if they got together, but like, why? Who knows? For the vibez. There's insta-lust too. Which honestly, I personally don't mind as a trope when executed well/with solid writing, which, of course, was lacking here. Also, plot-wise, everything was just too...I don't know how to describe it. But things happened that didn't really make sense or had no explanation or just weren't realistic (yes, I know, I'm using it loosely, within the confines of this "world"), just to make a next step or trope work, and then minds would changes or issues wouldn’t matter without reasons, just to make the next step/trope work. There was just no robustness to the development of anything. Finally, the dialogue. Interestingly, this was some of the best writing, when the characters involved were not the central two. All the side character conversations were just like how people talk (it's almost like, when the author wasn't trying so hard to do something, it was more successful) . But then, there was this: the way Vad and Corvina spoke to each other "in the moment," as it were. It was...fine? Maybe. But it felt totally anachronistic in the setting. I feel like dirty talk more appropriate to the novel could have been found/included. Like I support explicit talk, but specifically the way it was done here sort of took me out of the story/setting. 
 
One major theme/topic control to the story, and to Corvina herself, is mental illness (including suicide). It was ever present. And I wasn't really a fan of all the ways it was included, as it felt, at times, like a romanticization of mental illness and suicide. However, I have to also be fair and say that I did really appreciate the message that everyone wants to be loved and accepted and protected for who they are, even the difficult/challenging parts. So, seeing that a person with a history or diagnosis of mental illness can get that love and support and do amazing things (Corvina and her mother both) is important representation (if not quite accurate to the reality of the diagnosis in question). Even though there is some sort of unexplained "foretelling" drawing Vad and Corvina together that is impossible to resist, so maybe it's not entirely the challenge it might be IRL, I still loved that for Corvina.  
 
A couple final notes. There was a solid amount of heat and spice, which I did like (though these scenes were only marginally less cring-ily written than the rest of the novel). There were some really random inclusions (like a everyone-having-sex-in-the-open ball?) that were there only to allow certain types of scenes that are apparently canon for romantasy now and have to be forced in even if they wouldn't otherwise fit. I didn't see the twist coming, as far as the culprit (though I wasn't trying very hard to figure anything out - I was skimming pretty hardcore by the end), so that was a nice surprise. I actually liked how unexplained some things were. We never get closure on a few points of the mystery in the plot. And there is an open-ended-ness to Corvina and the voices she hears; is it mental illness or magic or a combination. I know that kind of unresolved situation is a big "no" for some readers, but when it fits, I respect it. And I personally thought it fit here. 
 
In the end, I have to be honest and say I was disappointed. It delivers everything it promises, all the tropes I wanted to see/read, but in a pretty incompetent package. The writing was too elementary, the plot was too inconsistent as it tried to find the most convenient way to get the best tropes in, and the effort put into trying to fit a mold was too distracting for it to really be good. 
 
 “Beautiful in the way pain was beautiful, because it tugged at the chest and made something visceral come alive in the stomach and caused blood to simmer in the veins. Enchanting in the way she imagined dark magic was, because it twisted the air around it and warped the mind and overpowered the senses. Haunting in the way only very few living things could be, because it sent a shiver down the spine and cloaked itself in the darkness and fed on the energy around them.” 
 
 “He smelled of dangerous adventurer and coming home, of heartache and nostalgia.” 
 
“This will last until the day the roses on my grave stop sharing roots with the roses on yours…” 
 
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