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The Becoming: A Dark Academia Romantic Fantasy
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 30, 2026
Very interesting story. Many similar conflicts which mirrors what often happens when something or someone doesn’t fit the status quo. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I enjoyed the overall story. The conflicts were relatable. The progression was well paced. I loved the found family vibe, one of my fave tropes. I appreciated the support and community Cassandra built for herself and Morgana. I liked Elena’s growth and how her connection deepened with Cassandra and inevitably (pleasantly) with Morgana. I didn’t feel the ‘love’ in the beginning but felt it grow as they were essentially forced to work together to protect the integration.
There was a lot of repetition, more than I felt was necessary but I did understand wanting to make something’s known again and again.
If you enjoy magical romance with pushing and persevering ethical boundaries, found family and perhaps even forced proximity, then give this a read!
I enjoyed the overall story. The conflicts were relatable. The progression was well paced. I loved the found family vibe, one of my fave tropes. I appreciated the support and community Cassandra built for herself and Morgana. I liked Elena’s growth and how her connection deepened with Cassandra and inevitably (pleasantly) with Morgana. I didn’t feel the ‘love’ in the beginning but felt it grow as they were essentially forced to work together to protect the integration.
There was a lot of repetition, more than I felt was necessary but I did understand wanting to make something’s known again and again.
If you enjoy magical romance with pushing and persevering ethical boundaries, found family and perhaps even forced proximity, then give this a read!
Did Not Finish
March 4, 2026First of all, Thank you BookSirens and the Author for the opportunity to join the ARC team for this book.
I'm not giving this one a rating because I DNF'd at 50% but this book had me doing a lot of thinking so I decided to write a review for the 50% that I did read.
The premise of this book sounded so good to me! I made it to the halfway point before deciding to DNF. There were some aspects of this books that worked so well for me and others that did not work for me at all.
First, I'll go over the things in this book that really worked for me.
I loved the setting of this book. It was giving grown-up Harry Potter vibes and I was totally here for it! I felt like the author did an amazing job integrating the reader into this magical university. I also liked the magic system. The consciousness integration and merging of souls and awakening them centuries later...That was Such a cool concept that I haven't read before. I loved that this was so different than many of the other Dark Academia Romantasies that I have read.
What didn't work for me was the romance. I felt like it was so fast and kind of random. I felt like there wasn't much yearning between the love interests and like it was a little bit of Instalove. I just couldn't see how such deep love and feelings for one another developed when Cassandra doesn't even really know this Elena... but loves her? It made no sense to me. Also, I found parts of the book to be really repetitive. And I felt like so many of the chapters had the same or similar phrases leading out of the chapters. I found myself being like.... "OMG MORGANA,WE KNOW YOU'RE HAPPY TO NOT BE ALONE ANYMORE...." "I know love is important..." I don't need that reiterated at the close of multiple chapters..
And I'm honestly not sure of how it could be done differently, but reading the inner monologue of Morgana and having Cassandra tell the other characters what Morgana said was annoying to read.... If felt like...
"I'm Morgana and I like the color yellow." (Morgana inner monologue)
"Morgana says she likes the color Yellow," Cassandra said... That really just started to irk me.
With all that being said, I do think that the premise of this book and the concept of the magic was pretty brilliant, but the execution was lacking a bit for me. I will give this author another try in the future with other works because the potential is definitely there and I didn't hate what I read. I do think that Lexi Ash has a bright future ahead with their work.
I'm not giving this one a rating because I DNF'd at 50% but this book had me doing a lot of thinking so I decided to write a review for the 50% that I did read.
The premise of this book sounded so good to me! I made it to the halfway point before deciding to DNF. There were some aspects of this books that worked so well for me and others that did not work for me at all.
First, I'll go over the things in this book that really worked for me.
I loved the setting of this book. It was giving grown-up Harry Potter vibes and I was totally here for it! I felt like the author did an amazing job integrating the reader into this magical university. I also liked the magic system. The consciousness integration and merging of souls and awakening them centuries later...That was Such a cool concept that I haven't read before. I loved that this was so different than many of the other Dark Academia Romantasies that I have read.
What didn't work for me was the romance. I felt like it was so fast and kind of random. I felt like there wasn't much yearning between the love interests and like it was a little bit of Instalove. I just couldn't see how such deep love and feelings for one another developed when Cassandra doesn't even really know this Elena... but loves her? It made no sense to me. Also, I found parts of the book to be really repetitive. And I felt like so many of the chapters had the same or similar phrases leading out of the chapters. I found myself being like.... "OMG MORGANA,WE KNOW YOU'RE HAPPY TO NOT BE ALONE ANYMORE...." "I know love is important..." I don't need that reiterated at the close of multiple chapters..
And I'm honestly not sure of how it could be done differently, but reading the inner monologue of Morgana and having Cassandra tell the other characters what Morgana said was annoying to read.... If felt like...
"I'm Morgana and I like the color yellow." (Morgana inner monologue)
"Morgana says she likes the color Yellow," Cassandra said... That really just started to irk me.
With all that being said, I do think that the premise of this book and the concept of the magic was pretty brilliant, but the execution was lacking a bit for me. I will give this author another try in the future with other works because the potential is definitely there and I didn't hate what I read. I do think that Lexi Ash has a bright future ahead with their work.
March 28, 2026
Good story, lots of questions of ethics, but felt overly explained.
To be quite honest, I enjoyed the story, but it felt like the author was telling the story with ChatGPT playing the role of the woman who died 200 years ago and was being pushed into Cassandra's conscious. Like seriously, how much Morgana's dialog was repetitive and just how it all was worded... It seemed so familiar to me, like when you ask ChatGPT to write a story with you. Morgana would repeat whatever was said, redefined as some sort of "I've learned this" type of sentiment, usually worded in some way that was meant to sound deep and meaningful, but honestly, it was a bit too try-hard.
If the author did not use ChatGPT, I honestly don't mean any offense. I have written many stories with ChatGPT, but I've never had the thought of publishing them.
To be quite honest, I enjoyed the story, but it felt like the author was telling the story with ChatGPT playing the role of the woman who died 200 years ago and was being pushed into Cassandra's conscious. Like seriously, how much Morgana's dialog was repetitive and just how it all was worded... It seemed so familiar to me, like when you ask ChatGPT to write a story with you. Morgana would repeat whatever was said, redefined as some sort of "I've learned this" type of sentiment, usually worded in some way that was meant to sound deep and meaningful, but honestly, it was a bit too try-hard.
If the author did not use ChatGPT, I honestly don't mean any offense. I have written many stories with ChatGPT, but I've never had the thought of publishing them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews