Arcana Academy by Elise Kova: Characters, spice, review, cards
Welcome to the twisted halls of Arcana Academy, where magical tarot cards hold power, secrets are currency and fake fiancés are all the rage.
If you’ve ever wanted your dark academia fantasy romance served with danger, deception and a dash of enemies-to-lovers, you’re absolutely in the right place.
In this Arcana Academy guide, I’ll explore everything you need to know about Arcana Academy characters, to a full Arcana Academy review, breakdown of spice levels and spicy chapters and a clear list of trigger warnings for those who like to know what shadows are lurking ahead. You’ll also get a quick synopsis, plus a guide to the arcana card magic system that sets this series apart from your typical magical boarding school fare.
Whether you’re a dark academia romantasy fan or a tarot enthusiast, let’s shuffle the deck and dive into a world where love is dangerous, power is addictive and nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Arcana Academy synopsis.
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 fantasy romance 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?
Get Arcana Academy here.
Arcana Academy characters.
Arcana Academy is told through the lens of Clara Graysword, a street-smart heroine with a rare gift for Arcana card magic. It’s first-person, fast-paced, and full of inner monologue. At the center of her reluctant new life at Arcana Academy stands the other key player: Prince Kaelis Oricalis, the young, mysterious headmaster with secrets of his own, plus a fake engagement plan that throws Clara headfirst into a world of royal politics and magical danger.
Below is a quick introduction to our leads, followed by a list of the characters—both major and minor—that shape the intrigue, rivalry, romance of Arcana Academy.
Main characters.
Clara Graysword.
Clara Graysword is a force to be reckoned with. Gifted in the rare art of Arcana card magic, she can ink and wield tarot cards with dangerous precision, skills that should place her at the top. The catch is that to get out of prison, she has to become a student and has to keep all of that power under wraps while pretending to be a harmless first-year. Clara’s sharp, guarded, and deeply loyal, and she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her family… even if it means faking an engagement to a man she doesn’t trust.
Prince Kaelis Oricalis.
Enter Prince Kaelis Oricalis, the enigmatic, much-too-young headmaster of Arcana Academy. He’s powerful and hiding something behind those smoldering glances and cryptic motives. Is he a villain? A savior? A little bit of both? One thing’s clear: Kaelis didn’t bring Clara to the academy by accident and he’s playing a long game no one else can quite see yet.
All characters.
Here’s a list of most of the characters in Arcana Academy including on-page characters, minor characters and the occasional off-page mentions.
Prince Kaelis Oricalis
Clara Graysword/Redwin/Daygar/Chevalyer
Prince Ravin Oricalis
King Naethor Oracalis
Silas Erentu
Moreus Ventall
Glavstone
High Lord Leva
High Lord Ixil Leva
Leigh Strongborn, the Wind’s Bane, Clan Strength
Elara
Arina
Selina Guellith
Priss (cat)
Savan
Liam
Arina Daygar (Clara’s sister—mentioned)
Laylis Daygar (Clara’s mother—mentioned)
Queen Oricalis
High Lady Helena Ventall
Starcrossed Club.
Bristara
Ren
Jura
Twino
Gregor
Students.
Sorza Sprigspark
Luren
Kel
Eza,
Myrion
Thal
Elorin
Alor Ventall
Emelia Ventall
Nidus
Cael
Orielle
Dristin
Farom
Fyrn
Marlon
Professors and their subjects.
| Professor Name | Subject |
|---|---|
| Las Rothou | Card Reading |
| Vaduin Thornbrow | Card Wielding |
| Lady Raethana Duskflame | Card Inking |
Arcana Academy Major Arcana cards and their powers.
These are all the list of Major Arcana cards, their powers and the person who can channel their powers in Arcana Academy by Elise Kova. Note that we can assume that some cards and characters won’t appear until later in the series.
⚠️ Please note that this table may spoil some of the reveals in Arcana Academy. ⚠️
| Card Name | Power | Person with Ability |
|---|---|---|
| The Magician | Calls upon and combines all the elements to manifest an object into existence from nothing. | Unknown |
| The High Priestess | Peers into someone’s mind and learns their innermost thoughts, secrets and truths. | Elorin |
| The Hierophant | Can bless a regular Arcanist with the ability to use a Major Arcana card once. The blessing lasts an indefinite amount of time but disappears after the regular Arcanist uses a Major. Can be recast after the blessing is gone. | Unknown |
| The Lovers | Can make two people fall in love if their true names are known. | Myrion Leva |
| The Chariot | Teleportation between two locations that are known to the caster. | Silas Erentu |
| The Wheel of Fortune | A manipulation of luck. A turn of fate. The caster can ask for something to happen, but ultimately fate decides what’s given and how. | Clara |
| The Hanged Man | Traps a target in a mental prison of the Hanged Man’s design. The target can experience pain but cannot die. | Eza |
| Death | Kills anyone, anywhere, if the caster knows their target’s true name and face. | Prince Ravin |
| The Sun | Removal of pain from an individual. Physical or mental. | Thal |
| Judgment | Can revive someone from the dead within five minutes of dying. | Quaelar |
| The Emperor | Unknown | Cael |
| The Tower | Unknown | Nidus |
| Justice | Unknown | Sorza |
| Temperance | Unknown | Unknown |
| The Star | Unknown | Unknown |
| The Fool | Unknown | Unknown |
| The World | The ultimate wish. Can utter a single request that can change anything, or everything, about the world to fit the caster’s desires. | N/A |
Review: Arcana Academy by Elise Kova.
View my review and follow me on GoodReads here.
Spice level: 🌶
2/5, slow-burn, open-door spice, explicitly described
Arcana Academy catapulted me into a dark academia world stitched together with an elaborate card magic system, a socio-political structure loaded with real-world parallels and a classist academy built to favour nepo babies while grinding the poor into powder (so almost non-fiction. lol/sob.). It’s intricate and impressive, that’s for sure.
This book kicks off with a pretty valid enemies dynamic. Clara hates Prince Kaelis, which is fair, because she thinks he put her in prison and killed her mum. That’ll do it. But they pretend to be engaged so she can avoid going back to prison, and in return, she agrees to help him with a couple of quests.
Reading this was a rollercoaster. I oscillated between being captivated, confused, mildly bored and completely obsessed, sometimes all in the span of a single chapter. There is so much going on: Tarot card magic system, deadly trials, magical heists, escape rooms AND a murder mystery component. It’s ambitious storytelling and I respect it. But I’d be lying if I said the pacing and execution didn’t have a few issues.
The first half, especially, leans heavily on exposition. While a lot of it was necessary (because this world is dense), a couple of scenes and dialogue/inner monologue felt redundant, like the author didn’t fully trust the reader to keep up. That said, your mileage may vary. Books are art and art is subjective.
However, there’s a lot to love here, especially if you’re drawn to high fantasy with complex magical systems. These cards aren’t waiting to be collected like Pokémon cards, they’re inked using rare magical mediums that are harvested with blood, sweat and tears. The card-based magic is super layered. I’ve always loved a good magical classroom scene and we actually see Clara working through the inking, wielding, reading of the magic tarot cards and the card battles were fun, and by fun I mean high-stakes/deadly. Those moments helped anchor the worldbuilding and I appreciated that.
On top of that, some “arcanists” are more naturally skilled than others, like Clara, our FMC, who has to hide how competent she is. Turns out I occasionally prefer a protagonist who has to hide her proficiency over the more standard weak-to-strong arc. She can save herself. Love that for her and us.
Additionally, the cast is culturally rich, with fair skin explicitly described rather than assumed as default, which shouldn’t be revolutionary but kind of is. There is thoughtful inclusion with LGBTIQ+ supporting cast which feels organic rather than tokenistic.
Solid female friendships + Bechdel test approved.
Romantically speaking, it was an interesting dynamic. Clara’s got trust issues for days and there seems to be a pinch of miscommunication with her and Kaelis, who is a bit of an adorable cinnamon roll. They kinda gave me a similar enemy dynamic to Jude and Cardan.
I’m convinced I would enjoy this 10x more on a reread now I’ve mapped out the card lore and world-building and made peace with it all. I think that ending was beautifully done but very rude though.
Thank you so much to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton | Hodderscape for the arc.
View my review and follow me on GoodReads here. I chat about books a lot.
Arcana Academy FAQs.
SPOILER ALERT:
⚠️ Some answers may spoil the book if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution. ⚠️
Is Arcana Academy a series?
Arcana Academy is book one in the Arcana Academy series, by author Elise Kova. It’s currently planned to be a three book series.
What are the content and trigger warnings?
Violence
Slavery
Confinemennt
Blood
Sexual content
Death
Injury and injury details
Cursing
Body horror
Death of parent (off-page)
Abuse
Toxic family relationships and dynamics
Classism
What are the tropes for Arcana Academy?
Slow burn romance ❤️🔥
Morally grey characters 🖤
Fake engagement/dating 🩸
Forced proximity
Touch her & die 💀
Forbidden love
Reluctant enemies to allies to lovers
He falls first
What is the age rating for Arcana Academy?
Arcana Academy is classified as adult, so ages 18+, due to adult themes and sexual content. Please also see the trigger and content warnings listed above.
What is the Arcana Academy spice level?
Is Arcana Academy spicy? Arcana Academy has lots of steam and slow burn tension and yearning. Plus the spice levels turn right up toward the end..
Spice level: 🌶🌶
2/5, medium spice, with a very slow build up of steamy tension. The couple of spicy chapters are open door.
What are the Arcana Academy spicy chapters?
🧖♀️: This emoji means steamy but not explicit. Chillies are explicit and hot, more than a kiss. You get my drift? Here’s your Arcana Academy spicy chapters map and steam rating.
Chapter 27: 🧖♀️
Chapter 37: 🧖♀️🧖♀️
Chapter 50: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chapter 52: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
