RELEASE BLITZ & ARC REVIEW - Nocticadia by Keri Lake
Title: Nocticadia
Author: Keri Lake
Genre: Dark Academia Gothic Romance
Release Date: April 25, 2023
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.
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Nocticadia is one of those stories I sit on the fence with. There were parts that I loved and then there were those parts that were just meh.
To start off, in my opinion, I wouldn't classify this book as "dark." Were there darker elements? Yes absolutely, scattered throughout but mainly towards the last 25-30%. Overall though, I did not find this to be too dark, not when I place this in comparison to other dark reads from CJ Roberts, Monty Jay, Marissa Honeycutt, Stylo Fantome, and even Keri Lake's own Ricochet, to name a few. To me, this book was tame; one I could comfortably recommend to my blog partner who doesn't do dark.
Due to this, I was a tad disappointed. My expectations were high, because this was advertised as a very dark read so I was expecting very dark, straight from the beginning, and appropriate that way.
With that said, I did like the taboo aspect to this story. Student/Professor with an added in age gap is usually not my cuppa, but I really enjoyed the trope in this book. I fucking loved Doctor Death. Devryck stole the show and my heart. He was all broody and stoic, until he wasn't. And that was because of Lilia. I found her to be the perfect balance for Dev's coldness and indifference. Our girl knocked him right on his ass, and I loved being there for every second of it. Not to mention, their chemistry was off the charts, which is what kept me turning the pages. The tension just radiated, especially towards the end, building until it had no where to go but combust. A quick fyi, this is a slow burn, so you have a bit of a ways to wait until it reaches its boiling point. But man, once it does...be prepared.
The paranormal aspect of the worms was interesting. However, the world building around these worms and the focus on Noctisoma sometimes bogged down the story for me. It was a lot of small details that took up over 3/4 of the book, and I found myself skimming a bit. Since this was a slow burn, I yearned for more Dev and Lilia and less technical science stuff. I wanted more of a balance between the two. Outside of our two MCs, I enjoyed the last maybe 40% the most, when the book started to pick up and we saw some action, in and out of the bedroom.
What I'm hoping and wishing hard for is that a certain side character will get their own story. Because baby, I love me a damaged man and this one intrigued the fuck out of me. I have a feeling, the author will take us on one hell of a deliciously dark ride with him.
Keri Lake is a dark romance writer who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists. Her stories are gritty, with antiheroes that walk the line of good and bad, and feisty heroines who bring them to their knees. When not penning books, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their rebellious Labrador (who doesn’t retrieve a damn thing). She runs on strong coffee and alternative music, loves a good red wine, and has a slight addiction to dark chocolate.
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