Wicked Academia: Lost Stars: 1

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Well executed world, well built relationships and friends, and well thought of magic. I can see the world and the society was thoroughly planned to the smallest details, and so were the characters. I am however also a strong believer of putting things and designing things where and how they make sense. I liked how it slowly built up to the triplets going to the Celestial Academy, and didn't rush into it, like many other fantasy books. Richard soon falls under the spell of the other students, who have a cult-like bond. The six of them get swept up in dark, murderous circumstances that begin with a Bacchanal gone wrong. They live in excess and stumble from one highly dramatic scenario to the next, and it’s all very delicious and intriguing. One of the Classics students, Francis, is openly gay, and queer themes run rampant in the subtext, too. In Tartt’s world, sexuality is fluid, as it was for the Greeks. This is partially responsible for the intense devotion many still have for The Secret History, almost 30 years later.

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I am very much in love with the concept of “magical college”, but that just didn’t come through in this story. We learned a little about the world and the rules of magic, but otherwise there wasn’t a lot of world building. The pacing of the novel was also a bit strange: I feel like the story ended in the middle, but not in the way a story is part of a larger series. This felt like the first half of Book 1, and we are missing the second half. I thought the book was going to continue past the Star Ceremony (which held me on edge till all of them swallowed their stars) and I want more: I am glad the sequel is being released soon. The lore and the world building crafted in this series is truly where it shines. It has just enough familiarity and delicious trope-y goodness (the swallowing stars immediately bringing to mind the iconic scene in Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle, and the gods having a distinctly Final Fantasy-esque edge to them) without being overburdened with references to keep lovers of those things hooked, me included. It is fun, original, and deeply fascinating. The parts of the story where the lore was delved into in depth were some of my favorites, and there are elements of the story that have me buzzing with theories and questions. Overall, it is a wonderful fantasy tale. Now about the plot itself: I love it. I think it's unique and different from a lot of NA books nowadays. I liked the world building too, it's mostly straight to the point and I didn't feel confused. However I think it's only the beginning and I hope it will be more developped later because there's definitely potential.The illustrations were very beautiful, and it’s a refreshing concept to do some illustration of an adult novel. It’s a bit predictable. Like soap opera predictable. I’m usually a fan of Insta love but eh, it was a bit over the top. Also there was enemies to lovers pushed for this book but honestly I don’t see it; you might’ve set it up but I don’t think it should be marketed as enemies to lovers like it is. (It also shouldn’t be marketed as spicy; I can count how many spicy scenes there were on one hand. Just saying someone was turned on doesn’t count as spice, it’s just writing for mature audiences. But again could have gone without and still had the same story) I really enjoyed this book. The world building was in depth, and the triplets were interesting and well rounded characters. I loved the multiple points of view (the triplets and a bonus scene from another character).

Wicked Academia: A Celebration Among the Stars - Goodreads Wicked Academia: A Celebration Among the Stars - Goodreads

Cannot wait to get my hands on book 2—even tho I’ll definitely be diving into the weekly chapters ASAP. Also that the art was all the same made it a bit hard for me to picture the characters as I wanted to. Some books I’ve read that have included art tip-ins have had art of the same character is different (but still cohesive) styles which have not been all exactly the same but have also worked to support the book itself, not just be thrown in for the sake of it. Some of the characters descriptions in scenes didn’t even match the images drawn (Marion seemed to be described as a lot fuller than the image drawn of her with Khalid??) From what I gather, the authors drew the art themselves? Some of which are fine, cute, but again, middle grade vibes. Then there are some art pieces that genuinely detracted me from the story that was happening because all I could think about was how this book did not look adult. Please understand that designers and artists are literally trained to receive, interpret and deliver on a brief. If you want these characters, you can bring these sketches and ideas to them and get a final product that is more worthy and succinct with the book that’s being written.)The Den is the Evening Star’s common room, a place where all the change-makers of the Academy can rest…though more often than not, they are found practicing their magic. Like the pegasus who was born to fly, Evening Stars can’t help but push the boundaries they were born with. And the insta love!!!!! Oh my gods I hated that so much. Viv and Darius (I think that's their names) fell in love and were ready to die for each other after 1 day of having met, and it's not like they spent the entire day together or spent hours talking..nooo! They had like 3 conversations that lasted for about 10 minutes each.