About the Book-Gothikana by RuNyx
The eternal romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the gothic suspense of Dracula in this erotic dark academia story of epic love from bestselling author RuNyx.
“RuNyx immerses her readers in the dark worlds she builds and then injects life into them in the most hauntingly beautiful way. Her work is unique and addictive—she really is one of a kind.”–Hannah Grace, New York Times bestselling author of ICEBREAKER
“Original, innovative, and unlike anything I’ve read before.”―L. J. Shen, USA Today bestselling author
An unusual girl. An enigmatic man. An ancient castle. What could go wrong?
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.
And so begins a tale of the mysterious, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.
“You’re the mountain I build my castle on, brick by brick,” she whispered to him, her eyes stinging. “You stand, I soar. You crack, I crumble.”
Read on for our review of Gothikana by RuNyx
Our Review of Gothikana by RuNyx
When I started reading Gothikana, I was instantly hooked. I felt that the magic of RUNYX that I saw in her first book, The Predator, was back. This though turned out to be a mirage. Just as quickly it had impressed with its beginning, the book went on to disappoint more and more as it progressed. My disappointment comes from the fact that the book had an amazing theme and plot- A mysterious academy, murder spree, cult-like practices and so many elements which, had been explored more, could have made this book so amazing. I could see that in the beginning and that is why I was all prepared to fall in love with the book. And then the romance hit, taking down the entire book.
Gothikana too is affected by the same syndrome that had affected Runyx’s sequels to The Predator. Blurring the lines between romance and erotica and becoming a bit creepy. I understand the allure of a forbidden romance but when it comes all about “doing it” page after page, it not only creeped me out but also instilled that little weird feeling of being “wrong” and “inappropriate”. Weirdly enough I couldn’t see it as a romance but more of a power play especially by a well-matured guy. So basically the romance was cringy and uncomfortable for me. But even with that, I would have still gone gaga over the book if the other aspects of the book were well explored and made into elements that pushed forward the story.
There was an amazing mystery plot that was still waiting to be cooked. To top my irks, the ending was like a joke. Liketying up everything with a one-line explanation for most of what happened and leaving a lot more answers still in the air with no proper head and tails. There is a scene where the murderer’s revelation is happening and the protagonist is saying…” so you killed so and so …but what about the other person? ” and the murderer is like …” I don’t know. “ I mean WTF? So like that, a lot of questions are still floating. Also, I don’t know if it’s a me thing or if the book, indeed, does this thing, where the romance came out more of an abuse in terms of the fact that you see a child being groomed by an adult and taking advantage rather than two people genuinely falling for each other. You could see that it is pure lust butsomehow the way the book shows the romance, I saw more of a power play and grooming.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would say that the book started with such a bang and so amazingly that I thought this could become my next favourite and then the romance starts taking down everything good along with it. The book went into the intimacy angle of the romance so much that it crossed the border of being Erotica to plain creepy and uncomfortable because it’s like the book did not want to pay attention to anything else that was promised by the plot in the beginning. So this book was a huge disappointment for me and with the kind of ending it had, I don’t even have the will to pick up the series. I wish the book had focused less on its “romance” and had taken the other plot elements like the academy, students and the whole murder club more seriously. They even had this amazing character like Ajax who was never explored or given a chance except to be conveniently at the right time and right place.
Squirrel Rating
