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An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields

Genre: Dark Academia Fantasy • Romantasy • Historical Fantasy • Gothic Fantasy Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (romantic tension with open-door spice)

Synopsis (Spoiler-Free)

Claudia Jolicoeur never expected to enter Cygnus University, the prestigious occult academy she dreamed of attending. After being rejected, her future seems doomed—until a mysterious demon named Dorian appears in her nightmares with an impossible bargain: he will secure her place at Cygnus if she helps free him from his prison of stars.

To seal the deal, Claudia gives up a piece of her soul.

When she arrives at Cygnus, she discovers she has taken the place of Odette Dufort, a student whose death remains a mystery. Suspicion follows Claudia immediately, especially from Cassius MacLeod, her brilliant and cruel academic rival who believes she may be connected to Odette’s fate.

As Claudia studies celestial magic and tries to uncover the secrets behind Dorian’s imprisonment, her rivalry with Cassius begins to transform into something far more dangerous—an attraction filled with secrets, power, and temptation.

Tropes

🌙 Dark academia fantasy

✨ Magic university setting

🖤 Rivals to lovers

😈 Deal with a demon

🔥 Morally gray characters

📚 Academic rivals

🪐 Celestial magic

🗝️ Secret societies

🩸 Soul bargains

🖤 Forbidden attraction

🏛️ Gothic atmosphere

💫 Dangerous knowledge

Spice Level

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 — The romance builds through intense chemistry, rivalry, power dynamics, and emotional tension before becoming more explicit. The book balances romance with mystery, magic, and dark academia elements.

Content Warnings

Death and murder investigation

Dark magic

Demonic bargains

Soul manipulation

Violence

Grief and trauma

Power imbalance

Threats and danger

Psychological manipulation

Explicit sexual content

Overall

An Arcane Study of Stars is ideal for readers who love The Atlas Six, dark academia, and romantasy with morally complicated characters. It combines a mysterious magical university, ancient secrets, celestial powers, and a romance built on rivalry and temptation.

⭐ Best for readers who want: occult universities, demon bargains, clever heroines, academic rivals, forbidden magic, and a darkly seductive fantasy atmosphere.