Wicked Academia: Lost Stars: 1

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I absolutely ADORED this book. It was an adventure from start to finish. I can’t even explain the felling it me. The characters? The world? The magic? Amazing!! I like the 3 main characters. They all have really distinct personalities and are likeable. As a twin, I liked their dynamic: super close but still individuals. It might sound obvious to some, but that's rare to see an accurate representation of multiples' relationship (they too often act nasty to each other or are codependent to a ridiculous extent) and they nailed it !

Wicked Academia: A Celebration Among the Stars - Goodreads Wicked Academia: A Celebration Among the Stars - Goodreads

As mentioned, the book is meant to be mature adult/new adult fantasy. There are minimal spicy scenes (despite being told there were many), and honestly if you took them out, you’d have the same story but, guess what, it could be middle grade. Marion needs to save her family before her sister starts eating people alive, and her only hope is a silver-tongued revolutionary who could charm the pants off a god...which she so happens to be. The setting was so whimsical and interesting and the magic system was unlike anything I’ve read before, I could not get enough.

Having a twin sister, I adore the triplet sibling dynamic/situation: they are stubborn and dorky at times but they ultimately love each other and the sibling love in this book made my heart full ☺️♥️ it was really cute. This is another one I struggled with in terms of considering it dark academia, but the internet once again veered me towards “yes.” (Something I’ve learned, that you will also learn if you fall into this genre: a lot of classic lit fits the dark academia aesthetics, and is therefore up for consideration.) I’m glad it mostly constitutes because The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my very favorite novels. And Oscar Wilde should get as much credit as Donna Tartt for creating such rich, erudite worlds that stand the test of time. When Timothée and Val venture into the Enchanted Forest to seek ingredients for their potion assignment, they run into some of the dangerous and hideous creatures lurking in the dark.

Wicked Academia

Khalid single-handedly carries this book for me - or am I saying this because he is my favorite character? 😂😂😂 I can’t wait to read more about him in the next book. The illustrations were very beautiful, and it’s a refreshing concept to do some illustration of an adult novel. The whole ending definitely left me wanting more and I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!Each of the siblings had interesting personalities and motivations throughout and their interactions with others were never dull. I really enjoyed their different experiences within the same story. Layne Fargo’s book isn’t about queer identity in any grand sense, but features characters that identify as queer, and that often feels equally like a win. They Never Learn is a delectable book about two women who team up to take down evil men. It centers on Scarlett Clark, a (bisexual) English professor who searches for the worst men at Gorman University, where she teaches, and plots their demise. But her latest target puts her in the focus of Mina Pierce, whom Scarlett sets her sights on to avoid notice. The triplets are each so unique and different, completing each other. Marion is a traumatised, sweet girl who takes a lot of responsibility, Vivian is sweet and romantic, and Timothee deserves to be wrapped in a blanket because he is stepped on too much. If you're like me and are a reader of the online novel, then great news ! The published book is still worth reading. I'm not sure how it is for people who have access to patreon content but there's a bunch of extra scenes (including spicy ones hehe) that really made a difference for me. I'm thinking in particular about one with Vivian & Darius and especially the ones at the end of the book. It added details that I didn't think were needed but actually were really necessary!!! Well executed world, well built relationships and friends, and well thought of magic. I can see the world and the society was thoroughly planned to the smallest details, and so were the characters.

Wicked Academia by Jasmine Jenkins, Sophie Suliman - Waterstones

Listen...the only thing I liked was their sibling dynamics and i guess the magic was also kinda cool, but everything else was very meh. One thing I am waiting to know more in the next book is the whole Lost Children hand/light scene where they killed/hurt a lot of vampires…. Why wasn’t Vivien affected? 👀 she is a vampire so she should be affected right? I discussed this with my friend but I didn’t “saw it coming” because of this detail. For this, I’m curious to know and this question was not answered in the first installment.Currently reading God Emperor of Dune and you know what? I needed this book to break the density of this month’s reads 😅😅😅 this was fast paced, entertaining and has charming book boyfriends so what is not to like?

Wicked Academia: A Celebration Among the Stars eBook Wicked Academia: A Celebration Among the Stars eBook

The authors used a variety of tropes in the book which provides a little something for any reader but also makes certain things somewhat predictable. If you like The Secret History and want a story even more explicitly queer, I can’t recommend Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines enough. The book is equally intoxicating and way more sapphic. It’s set in Rhode Island at Brookhants School for Girls in two timelines: 1902 and present-day. The 1902 plot centers on two female students, Clara and Flo, who are in love with one another. Tragically, the girls are stung to death by wasps. Several other students also die, leading the school to shut down five years later. I liked how it slowly built up to the triplets going to the Celestial Academy, and didn't rush into it, like many other fantasy books. I really enjoyed the story and all of the characters introduced so far. I was happy with the world building and how it was written into the story without slowing things down or stopping the narrative.

As the triplets unravel the secrets of the school, they begin to realize their father didn’t want to protect them from the Celestial Academy. He wanted to protect the Academy from them. An ARC of this book was provided to me in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.