Nocticadia

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 received 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 tale of deadly secrets and forbidden love.

©2023 Keri Lake (P)2024 Podium Audio

Whoa. So good.

I had to pause this a couple times bc I was so caught off guard by a couple scenes. New to dark romances, but man… this is as so good. I couldn’t stop listening to this one. Stayed up all night to finish it when I have a baby and a toddler to take care of. That tells you it’s good. I want to read everything by Kerri now.

Wow. Just wow. All of the things!!!

This book has allllll of the dark academia vibes with a gothic setting. This might be one of my favorite books since the Empyrean series. It has me by a chokehold and I’m not even finished yet with it and I’m already excited to re read it in print. But wow this audio is 🔥🔥

Loved the dark romance and the science!!

The narrators were excellent. The storyline was interesting and engrossing. The plot twists kept me waiting with bated breath for the next one!

Storyline: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Spice: 🌶🌶.5/5

The story was so so good. Good character development, spot on plot twists, and trust me you need to read the prologue and epilogue! Keri Lake is one if my favorites authors, this book however, is definitely one of her more mild books in the spice department. You have to get halfway through the book to really get some good sex scenes. I'm teetering between giving the spice 2.5 or 3 out of 5. I do hope that Ms. Lake writes another book detailing B's story; I need to know more on that! If you're looking for crazy hot steamy smut in every chapter not your book but if you're looking for a slow burn and mild smut with a fantastic storyline definitely worth it!

(Side note, did not LOVE the females voice interpretation for the main character. The performer made her sound a but like a whiney 14 year old brat....her normal talking was fine but when she was talking as Lilia it was a bit annoying)

Deliciously Dark

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The dark themes and settings were enjoyable for me since my favorite genres are horror and dark romance. This was a good mix of that. The narrators both have really nice voices and gave a great performance and the story itself was pretty unique.

The reason I didn't give this 5s across the board is that the romance and spice were really cheesy. The dialogue during the spice made me cringe and I had to fast forward through some passages. I read a lot of dark romance with spice and rarely find myself cringing, so for me that blemished this book a little. I enjoy smut but it seemed almost unnecessary in this story and the slow burn was actually more enjoyable.

The love interests also don't seem to mesh really well or have any chemistry. The female character is very whiny throughout most of this and became a little unlikeable. I wasn't sure if the female narrator was overacting it a little or if it was just the writing.

I would still absolutely recommend giving this a read if you're a fan of the darker genres.