Review: Arcana Academy by Elise Kova

Arcana Academy

Elise Kova

(Arcana Academy #1)

Publication Date: July 22, 2025

Hardcover, 576 pages, Del Rey

Genres: Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads

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 romantasy 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?

My Review

Arcana Academy is for the Gambit and tarot card girlies first and foremost. And, unfortunately, I am not one of those girlies. However, I still enjoyed this book, but I had a rough time getting through the beginning. The story starts out pretty heavy on the world- and magic-building. It's a little info-dumpy, similar to the first Crescent City book. I stuck with it, though, and the payoff was worth the confusion and head scratches that consistently popped up while I was trying to figure out what the heck each card did and who everyone was. After the first third of the story, though, things started to get fun.

Let me back up a bit. Our main character, Clara Graysword, has been imprisoned for illegal tarot card magic. She shouldn't be creating or using the cards she's been wielding, so she's locked up by the royal family. A year later, Prince Kaelis comes to get her for his own reasons. He wants her help with a secret task. Now, she has to pretend to be his fiance (fake engagement!) and successfully graduate a magical school (trials and competitions!). It's also the school where he rules as the headmaster. Clara is a strong female lead. She didn't fold easily just because a prince batted his eyes at her, which I appreciated. She was also confident in her abilities and weaknesses. It was refreshing to see for a female main character in a fantasy world. Kaelis, on the other hand, is kind of a jerk at first. But, the tension between the two was very nice. I was actually a bit disappointed when they started getting along. The two still had their moments, though.

As for the magic and world, that's where the book lost me at first. It was really hard to follow the card logistics. And maybe that was because I was reading an e-ARC, so it wasn't easy to flip back to the descriptions of various cards, houses, or characters. Maybe the finished copy will have a nice list of all the important magical terminology in the front of the book for the card types, uses, houses, and house members. I think readers would really appreciate that. For the story itself, it was fun. The academy elements are very reminiscent of the Zodiac Academy series and Fourth Wing while still managing to be its own thing. And while the ending wasn't unexpected, I am sad to have to wait a year or more for book two after that cliffhanger. Boo.

All in all, Arcana Academy was a good read. It had action, intrigue, unique magical powers, romance, and a few twists to keep people reading. I do, however, think readers need to be prepared to go into it with that heavy worldbuilding in mind. If you're not mentally ready to be in a story with descriptive magic, come back to Arcana Academy later, when you can digest all the things. It's a long book, and it takes some brain power to get through. It's very similar to an epic fantasy in that way, just without the larger-scaled setting (the academy is pretty much the primary setting) and multiple points of view (Clara is the only POV throughout the story).

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.