𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌, 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆.

The details of plot, characters, and developments in this book were meticulously built. Not only the main, but also the side plots were very exciting. The little tensions never left me while reading Lilia and Devryck's story!

“𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.
𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.” 

I liked the dual point of view and knowing what both protagonists were thinking and feeling in a romantic book made me more attached to the story. Both Lilia and Devryck had a severe past trauma and their ways of dealing with them were quite different.

“𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.”

Devryck's father was completely abusive. We can't blame him for everything that Caed and Dev went through, but a father who so easily got his sons involved in the whole university and The Rooks thing knew that he was putting their lives in danger. 

Nevertheless, Devryck's trauma with the dead and his growth into Doctor Death in his later years depended on a very positive development in my opinion.

More than anything else, even though the romantic elements in this book came very late and slowly, I can say that Keri Lake knew exactly what she was doing with the tension that was being built up. When it came to the love between the couple, no detail was rushed. And in the end, everything was on fire. It was definitely worth waiting for.

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱.” 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘦. “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵.”  
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰.” 
“𝘕𝘰,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴. “𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵.”

With the secrets that were revealed and the tense events that unfolded one after the other, I didn't have time to stop and breathe. Also, I didn't look for a found family for Lilia, but I would have liked her to have one or two real friends. Not every girl who falls in love with her professor has to isolate herself like that. Even if she has to sneak out of the dormitory at night to work in secret in his lab. Makes your heart skip a beat, doesn't it? Mmh... fun!

I would like to explain why I deducted 0.5 points from this book. It was the first book I read by Kerri Lake and I fell in love with her writing style, the world and the characters she created. Nocticidia has become one of my favorites as of now. However, I don't understand why the book took a slow pace after 80%. The events moved very slowly and while Caedmon could have made a great entrance, the events were incomplete in my eyes. 

I expected the final pages to be faster and more exciting than the previous ones, but at this point I have to say that the potential for a very good finale was wasted.

I'm also confused about whether to wait for a second book for Caedmon. At the end of such a well-structured dark romance book, I think the cliché of twin brothers working in the same profession and dating sisters should not be in this book. Is Caedmon really going to teach literature to children after the traumas he has suffered? I wish he had remained mysteriously missing. Now it seems so out of character for a character like him.

I'm glad now Lilia's a Rook, too. It makes me happy that she secures her future. However, I felt that she could not fully comprehend the danger she was in. But I think that all this was compensated by the trust Devryck gave her. Especially at the end, Devryck presented everything I expected on an open platter in front of Lilia. While reading about their passionate love, I enjoyed every detail, so I was able to distract myself from the autopsies and the worms crawling under the skin of the dead. You should know that it is quite entertaining and engaging though hahah

Since I think this review is getting too long, I would like to end it with one of my favourite quotes because it's 6 o'clock in the morning already.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵?  
“𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘰,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩.”  
“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩?” 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘺. 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴.  
“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢.”

I present you, Devryck Bramwell, a new toxic book boyfriend of mine.

Has anyone noticed his similarities with Vad Deverell? Then please read Gothikana by RuNyx after reading this book if you are a fan of dark academia, forbidden love between professor and student, mysterious deaths, a university full of secrets, and paranormal stories! 

Actual rating for Nocticadia: 4.5*