Book Review: Our Dark Incantations by Wanda Hellmund

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Really liked it! Highly recommend.

Read Our Dark Incantations if you like dark magic academies, murder mysteries, and Dramione-coded reluctant allies.

✨Heads up! Some links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping me keep this blog running and my TBR endless! 📚

*FYI: I read this as an eARC (aka an early digital copy), and as always—you’re getting my honest, unfiltered thoughts. This one hits shelves 10.20.2026.

📖 What’s Inside:

🪄 Magic academy
Single POV
Letters 💌
On-page intimacy 🔴
Demons
🌈 Inclusive
Sentient house
Explicit language
🧐 Murder mystery
“Mine”

Book Boyfriend Meter: 🧡

Would consider. Would absolutely regret something.

👉 If morally grey book boyfriends are your weakness… this free starter pack was made for you.

✨ Vibes:

Nocticadia — dark academia, mystery, and dangerous magic
Dramione fanfiction energy (the good kind)

Basically: murder mystery meets magical university chaos with two people who insist they hate each other despite all evidence to the contrary.

💭 My Thoughts:

I was ridiculously excited for this ARC. Mostly because it’s a Dramione adaptation.

But unlike the other adaptations flooding my shelves lately? I haven’t actually read the original fic.

Which is what made this experience even more fun.

I got to approach it as a fantasy romance reader first and a Dramione goblin second.

(For full disclosure: I have read approximately half of chapter one of the original work. That’s it.)

So this review is entirely about the book standing on its own merits.

First impressions:

Babes.

The glossary. The GLOSSARY.

I opened this book and immediately felt like I needed to enroll in a graduate-level course on magical terminology.

It’s extensive.

But as a fantasy reader?

That’s just Tuesday. 🤣

The first chapter hooked me immediately, even if there was a little more info-dumping than I generally prefer. It raised questions, established intrigue, and gave me enough mystery to keep turning pages.

The romance:

Alright, now because this was originally a Dramione story, I was expecting enemies to lovers. Obviously.

Spoiler alert: it’s not.

I’d label this reluctant allies-to-lovers that wanted to be enemies to lovers and didn’t quite hit the mark.

Because seriously… why does she hate this man so much?

They weren’t battlefield enemies. He didn’t personally wrong her.

The animosity often felt like it existed simply because the story required animosity.

Eventually it worked.

But I never truly felt the “enemies” part. She hated him purely because the plot told her to.

Meanwhile, the MMC seemed interested from the beginning, which made the dynamic even stranger.

Our guy is over here like, “Hey, babe, what’s your number?” and she’s like, “I hate you, even though I don’t really know you. But you’re hot!”

I wasn’t buying it.

Now heres the real start of the show: the murder mystery.

I had no idea this was a murder mystery going in, and that’s what truly saved the book for me.

The academy is really more of a backdrop than an active part of the story. There’s surprisingly little learning happening.

Instead, we’re unraveling secrets, following clues, and watching the plot steadily thicken.

The mystery and action scenes were excellent.

That, together with the obvious Dramione DNA (I mean that as a compliment) is what really worked for me. And I know that fans of Dramione adaptations are going to devour this.

Whether they’ve read the original or not.

My biggest criticism:

I wanted more from the MMC.

Y’all know my standards.

Fanfic Draco sits comfortably at the top of my Book Boyfriend Leaderboard.

His descendants have earned spots too. (Toven Hearst, I’m looking directly at you.)

I expected greatness.

And instead… I just didn’t connect with him.

I understood his struggles, and I appreciated his circumstances. But I didn’t feel them.

Maybe it’s because the writing sometimes leans toward telling instead of showing—a common debut-author growing pain.

If I had seen more of his emotions through actions rather than explanations, I think I would have been all in.

And then… the ending.

Good grief.

What happened?

It technically wraps things up in a satisfying way.

But getting there? Absolute sludge.

I was fighting for my life through those final chapters.

It sounds like I have a lot of criticisms.

And I do.

But here’s the weird part: I genuinely enjoyed this book. The pacing works. The mystery is compelling. The action scenes deliver.

And as an adaptation? It succeeds.

Fantasy romance readers will have a good time. Dramione readers will eat this up.

Just don’t go in expecting hard magic rules or a perfectly polished debut.

Go in for the vibes, the mystery, and the chaos.

You’ll be fine.

📚Read Alikes:

If you enjoyed this, try:

Nocticadia — gothic academia and dangerous attraction Read my review
A Study in Drowning — atmospheric mystery and academic settings
Any Dramione read-alike (I have a whole list) Better yet grab my free guide to the best fantasy romance books that feel like Dramione:

Should you add Our Dark Incantations to your TBR?

Dramione fans? Absolutely.

Fantasy romance readers? Also yes.

This is a solid adaptation with room to grow, but the mystery, action, and atmosphere make it well worth your time.

Just don’t come expecting strict magical rules or a swoon-worthy book boyfriend.

Come for the intrigue.

Stay for the bodies.

🛒 Buy Now

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