A dark, atmospheric tale of deadly secrets and forbidden love.
Mortui vivos docent.
The dead teach the living.
After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I’d find the cure for what ravaged her. And leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me.
Four years later, I receive an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest, most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it’s rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before. Those whose bones are said to make up the island’s white sandy shores.
And restless ghosts aren’t even its most daunting peculiarity.
Devryck Bramwell, known on campus as Doctor Death, is a brilliant pathologist in charge of the midnight lab. He’s also my devastatingly handsome professor, who seems to loathe tenacious first-years, like me. Except, his dark and enigmatic gaze tells me all the ways he’d devour me if given the chance, and his stolen kisses burn my lips with forbidden jealousy.
I crave his authority.
He aches for redemption.
Together, we’re toxic. Delicious fodder for the prying eyes hellbent on exhuming the rotted skeletons of our pasts.
For the dead have much to teach, and it’s only a matter of time before Dracadia’s most depraved secret is resurrected.
Nocticadia is a standalone dark academia gothic romance.
I read this book for The Next Chapter book club. This is my honest review.
This is one of those books that I liked in the moment more than I loved in retrospect.
There’s definitely something here that kept me turning pages. The premise had promise, and there were stretches where I felt genuinely pulled in, curious about where things were going and invested enough to keep reading “just one more chapter.” When it worked, it really worked—those moments had a nice emotional pull and a sense of momentum that made me remember why I picked it up in the first place.
But…I also can’t ignore that there were quite a few sections where things just felt a little too drawn out. It created this uneven pacing where I’d go from engaged to slightly bored and then back again, which made it hard to fully settle into the story.
I also struggled with how certain elements played out. A few plot points didn’t hit as hard as they could have, and there were moments that should have carried more emotional weight but ended up falling a bit flat for me. I kept waiting for that deeper connection or that extra layer of development that never quite materialized.
That said, I don’t regret reading it. There’s enough here to make it a worthwhile experience, especially if you’re drawn to this kind of story or enjoy a slower, more reflective pace. It just didn’t fully live up to its potential for me.
Overall, I give Nocticadia 3.5728 out of 5 almost sexy stars. - Katie
Keri Lake writes gothic romance layered in vengeance, obsession and atmospheric worldbuilding. When she's not romanticizing villains or plotting peril, you'll find her wrangling family and dogs, sipping red wine, and fueling her next story with strong coffee and moody music.
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