Arcana Academy

 By: Elise Kova 

Location: FIC KOV

Genre: Romantasy

This novel is magic! I absolutely loved it! - connie

 What does Nilufer say: By the time I reached the final pages, I was desperate for more. Arcana Academy delivers everything I crave in a fantasy novel—high-stakes magic, a dangerous yet alluring academy setting, characters who are flawed but oh-so-easy to love, and a romance that burns. If you love dark academia, cunning heroines, and books that leave you breathless, DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS ONE.

A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.

Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.

Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy's enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.

In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.

Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?

Esta says this: Arcana Academy catapulted me into a dark academia world stitched together with an elaborate card magic system, a socio-political structure loaded with real-world parallels and a classist academy built to favour nepo babies while grinding the poor into powder (so almost non-fiction. lol/sob.). It’s intricate and impressive, that’s for sure.