Book Review: Gothikana by RuNyx
Genres: Romantasy, Dark Romance, Dark Academia, Mystery, Suspense
Pages: 399
Format: Physical
Rating: 
Initial Thoughts
I picked up Gothikana last year from a romance-only book store in Brooklyn called The Ripped Bodice.
The castle on the cover and the purple sprayed edges caught my attention right away. I also appreciated that this was a standalone since I’m not always in the mood to commit to a series. As my first book by RuNyx, and not having seen many reviews at the time I purchased it, my expectations were neutral. However, before I started reading it, I checked it on Goodreads and saw it was an erotica. This made me a little nervous because while I’m okay with spicy books, I do prefer for there to be a plot and not just spice for the sake of spice.
Since the summary references Beauty and the Beast and Dracula, I was expecting something along those lines. Vampires, magic, shifters, etc. Spoiler: This book didn’t include any of that.
The Plot (Spoiler-Free!)
Gothikana follows 21-year-old, Corvina Clemm. She describes herself as an outcast, with her purple eyes, and having been homeschooled her whole life by her mom who has severe mental health issues. She doesn’t have any friends and rarely goes into town. She does tarot card readings with judgement from the townsfolk. With her mom no longer living with her, Corvina is left all alone in her house. That is until she receives an invitation to attend the University of Verenmore – a mysterious gothic castle tucked away up in the mountains, only to be accessed by a long windy road. Corvina accepts the invitation and uses this as an opportunity to start a new life for herself. She immediately is befriended and accepted by her roommate and her friends.
Everything is going great, except she’s a little too intrigued by her teacher, Vad Deverell. And he’s equally intrigued by her. His silver eyes meets her purple eyes and they can’t stay away from each other, despite the strict rule of students and teachers not being allowed to be together. But their paths keep crossing, especially as Corvina is learning about the university’s secrets and unsolved mysteries. Vad seems to be in the center of it all. Students are killing themselves, Corvina is hearing voices in her head, and the university is rumored to have a dark, sinister past that Corvina is determined to uncover.
What I Liked
Even though the execution wasn’t my favorite, I liked how unique the plot was. I felt like the story was different and something that hadn’t been done before. I didn’t find the story predictable, and there were some twists that surprised me. I was nervous about this being an erotica and it being too spicy, but the spice actually wasn’t over the top. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely a spicy book, but without the spice there is still a plot, and that’s what’s important to me. I also appreciated how when Corvina became more involved with Vad, she didn’t immediately drop her friends for a man. That’s common in books and even in real life, and it’s something I can’t stand. While not my favorite book, the writing style and plot were easy to follow and helped me get through the book quickly, even though I found the pacing to be slow.
What Didn’t Work for Me
So as you saw, I rated this book 2.75-deer-stars. Let’s get into why.
Genres
I thought I was getting into a fantasy romance. But at best, this is a romantasy. When a book is compared to, Beauty and the Beast and Dracula, I’m expecting some of those elements included in it. The only similarities I can see are the castle and a broody man living in it. Where are the vampires? Where’s the magic? A beast, perhaps? Some sort of shape shifting? None were found. The vibes were just gothic. Color me disappointed.
Pacing
This is a standalone, coming in at just under 400 pages. I should be hooked, within the first 50, if not the beginning. The pacing was medium-slow up until page 232. That’s over halfway through the book! I was not itching to pick this book up the way I wanted to be. I was mildly engaged majority of the time, not that invested in the characters or story. Matter of fact, the reason why the pace finally picks up is because a character commits suicide, but I didn’t even care about this character’s death. It didn’t have the emotional impact it was supposed to have.
Repetition
I. hate. when. things. are. constantly. repeated. The amount of times I had to hear about Vad’s silver eyes were way too many. I swear it was like three times per chapter. We get it, he has silver (and mercury) eyes. Can we move on from it PLEASE. Also, whenever Corvina got chills, shivers, a little nervous, she would describe it as feeling like “phantom ants” were crawling on her skin. This happened a lot. So much so I started thinking, “are ants significant to her backstory?” Spoiler: The answer is no.
Insta-lust
I could not believe the love or romance between Corvina and Vad because there was no chemistry, just lust. I couldn’t connect with the strong declarations they were making because it just wasn’t believable to me. They barely knew each other, it was just lust at first sight.
Loose ends
There’s no reason that a book should end and I’m still left questioning things. Why isn’t the story wrapped up? Don’t leave things up to my imagination!
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, I can’t say I fully recommend this book. Maybe, maybe if you want a spicy, low fantasy standalone this could possibly be for you. I don’t think it’s a terrible book, but it just wasn’t for me, and that’s okay.
