I read the indie version and I'm back with the traditionally published version now.
Rory and Teddy are still lovely. This book is mostly about them and how they get over their prejudices to find love together
The atmosphere of this book is incredible and I love the slow burn of the romance. I'm excited to see where this series goes next.

I want to sew this book up in my ribs. Thank you to netgalley and Tor for the chance to experience a loved book again with this eArc 🥰

Aurelia Schwartz is a witch who is struggling with her magic, both the fact of keeping it hidden at Cambridge and with it's basic functions. Theodore Ingram is her academic rival, and the spite really drips off the page with these two.

They end up thrown together with the discovery that they are both witches and are being hunted by a witch killer. They are forced to take refuge in a family cottage in the countryside under protective wards.

This book's pacing feels slow at the beginning, it's heavy with metaphor and imagery. But for fans of this kind of story, it's slow burn perfection and the pages are absoutely bursting with yearning. It's clever and funny, and the color of magic is gold ✨

I enjoyed this book a lot! I absolutely loved the characters, I love a good slow burn and I was really invested in the mystery. Once I got into the story, I could not put it down. I can't wait for the sequel!

Thanks to Pan Macmillan for an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was not a perfect book, but I loved it! This book is slow in plot and character work, but loved it being with Rory and Teddy on every page. Their slow-burn romance was great and didn't disappoint, neither did their academic rivals-to-lovers romance as well. Agajanian paced the burning resentment and jealousy between them to passionate affection and endearment so well that I was giddy whenever they bantered each other. The plot behind Leona's hunt for them was not that strong but not too weak that the novel falls apart. The conclusion to Leona's demise was a little fast to me, but the looming danger in Leona's allies left room for a sequel. I am excited to check out QUIET SPELLS whenever it comes out next year!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

i was actually enjoying the slow paced, more vibes than plot thing a lot. as long as i like the characters this is my favorite type of book, and i was! i really liked both main characters individually and together, and the side characters were interesting too. but the last part of the story crossed my limits and i think it dragged too much

A beautifully crafted narrative, with complex characters who brought this magical infused mystery to life. Intertwining the rich history of Cambridge with an old system of magic and setting these up as the back drop for a slow-burn rivals to lovers arc was so enthralling to read. I was invested in the mystery and yearning to read more about these characters and their journey throughout the book both as individuals and together. Dark Academia meets Witchcraft throw in some of the all-time favourite tropes of Found Family, Forced Proximity and Slow Burn and you've got a book that is impossible to put down.

Modern Divination is a Dark Academia fantasy set in the UK, following our characters Aurelia and Teddy, two academic rivals, as they navigate a conflict of dying witches. I really enjoyed this novel and the slow-paced storytelling as we got to know our two MCs and their development from hate to friendship to something more tender. Isabel Agajanian excels in prose and character development. Their work truly shines in their rich sentences and the relationships between the characters. I would say fans of Olivie Blake would love this novel and look forward to what the author writes next.

I holy and truly love this book.

I’m gonna be completely honest though, I don’t see the “rivals” aspect of their relationship. If anything it felt more like a “we didn’t really care for each other but now we’ve been through a major trauma together and are bonding” type of relationship.

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book.

The scene where they were sitting and talking in the pub, I so badly wanted to reach in and hug Teddy and tell him it wasn’t his fault.

✨YEARNING✨: the book.

I was mesmerised from the very beginning as the prologue was one of the best I’ve read. I usually don’t read a lot of witchy books but now I’m so intrigued that I started pushing every one on my TBR higher.

Isabel Agajanian’s writing style was gorgeous. I love books that make me emotional and have flawed and messy characters. Also, this is definitely a love story, and I knew I was going to love Teddy from the first time he appeared in the book. I was blushing, giggling and kicking my feet the whole time.

I’ll probably buy a physical copy of this beautiful book to make my shelves shine even more. With this book being dark academia and having a slow-burn romance I would have loved to read it on a cosy Autumn night. So I’ll probably give it a re-read before Quiet Spells is released!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.25⭐ This book had a lot of potential to be absolutely fantastic and although it wasn't terrible by any means, it ended up just being a pretty average read. I found myself struggling to feel connected to the FMC and just wasn't invested in the parts of the story that the author chose to focus on. I would have loved this to lean more into the Dark Academia Witchy Vibe and for the characters to have focused more on certain shocking events and mysteries that I felt would have been more compelling and engaging to follow as a thread. There were things that were left ambiguous or threads left loose to grab, and hold, the reader's attention and keep them in suspense for Book 2 however for me I felt like we needed to be given a few more answers in order for me to be invested rather than frustrated. The writing was beautiful at times, there were really interesting concepts and I really loved Teddy however I felt like I needed a bit more depth to the magic system to give a better understanding and at times Rory seemed quite an immature protagonist for an Adult book. There was a hint of tension and relationship development between the FMC and MMC but not enough for me and I felt that this could have been a standalone rather than a duology as it felt quite slow paced and long at times.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance of publication!

I loved this book. I am always happy to read about academic rivals, and this hit the spot. The magic systejm was interesting, and I loved learning about it as our main characters reveals herself. The tension between the protagonists had me on the edge of my seat for the whole book. I can't believe I have to wait another year to read the second one. I not-so-secretly hope it will be on here and I can have access to it early.

Firstly I really enjoyed the characters in this book as individuals; Rory and Teddy and Gemma and Alaric were well developed. However when combined/interacting they were all a bit off. I didn’t get a full sense of why Rory hated Teddy so much at the start. I would have like more time spent on how their magic works; the system sounds really intriguing and I would love to know more about that.
I liked the small town setting alongside the Cambridge setting, but I couldn’t really class this as dark academia.
Some parts felt repetitive and overly stretched out in the story, with other parts under explained.

Firstly, I'd like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the writer for the opportunity to read the ARC version of Modern Divination. The first edition of this book was on my tbr for so long, so I was thrilled when I got the epub. Unfortunately, the book was not what I expected it to be.

Modern Divination had a fantastic concept of being a great book, but I think the author didn't take advantage of that. I think she put the main focus elsewhere than it should have been (I mean, developing the plot, building the magic system, and writing the relationships between the characters properly). And with that, she spoiled the reading experience for me.

The author wrote a 500-page long book with a plot of a short story. In the first half of Modern Divination, nothing really happened except the FMC hated the MMC for no reason (sorry, her reason was that "he was disgustingly rich"). Then, they discovered a mystery, which they ignored because they were more concerned with how much they hated each other. My other problem is that the "climax" of the book was at approximately 80%, and after that, the writer tried to resolve the conflict between the two main characters very quickly.

There were few things I liked and nothing that I loved. The magic system, the plot, and the love story could have been great, but they were not well developed. The only thing I can highlight is Teddy's relationship with Gemma and Lou. Teddy had so much potential, but I think it was wasted because Aurelia was on the level of a teenage girl.

I'm quite disappointed with this book because I had high hopes. And it simply didn't reach the level I expected. Despite the author's wonderful writing style, it simply didn't reach the level I expected.

First and foremost I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with the PDF version as an ARC for my honest review!
This book had so much potential, most of which unfortunately was wasted and lost between the unnecessary and constant drama between the fmc and mmc.
There are a few things I have enjoyed, such as the relationship between Lou and Teddy, Gemma’s character, the magic system (though it lacked extensive explanation, and I am sure it could have been explored more in-depth), the bird symbolism, Teddy and Kenny’s backstory (I would have loved to know about them much more!), and Ryan and Aurelia’s friendship. Unfortunately, these were minuscule parts of the book and were overshadowed by the hatred between the two protagonists.
It’s hard to find the essence of this story, as it cannot be truly called dark academia (a few chapters are set in Cambridge, but that is all), nor fantasy, as there are not many scenes where they actually do something with their magic. For me, this book lacked serious editing (we are talking about a 500-page long book, where the actual plot can be summarized within 100 pages at max) and a main focus. Did the author want to focus more on the relationship between the characters, introduce the magic system, or solve the mysterious and shocking death that happens in the first few chapters of the book?
The writing is gorgeous, I think the author really does know how to use their words in order to create something exceptional, however, in some places, the narration felt under- or overexplained. In my opinion, the story could have benefited from a few flashback scenes between Teddy and Aurelia (as it would have explained why Aurelia hates him SO MUCH other than the fact he is smart and rich…) and Teddy and Kenny. Their part of the story has been left quite untouched and unexplored, which is such a shame.
It felt as if the actual plot wrapped up at around the 75-80% mark of the book, and the remaining chapters served the purpose of trying to convince me that Teddy and Aurelia work as a pair. Because they do not. No one can convince me otherwise, not even a second installation of the series.
At first, both characters were quite likeable, but both their personalities took a quick turn as soon as their only interaction became the constant “I hate you, you hate me.” It quickly felt flat, repetitive (and annoying even).
As for the audiobook, I think the narration was great, sometimes I found myself lost within a longer chapter, but other than that it was rather enjoyable to listen to it.
I really wanted to enjoy this book, as it was among my most anticipated releases of 2025, however, I am left quite disappointed.

Thanks so much to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc!

Modern Divination had been on my radar for some time, seeing pictures of it, other people review it, hearing them talk about this atmospheric, tension-filled, dark academia-esque book, that also has prose that has you levitating of the ground, made me sure that i would love this. And so for while i kept it in my back pocket for the perfect time to read it. And that time was now.

All that to say, i LOVED this book. This is the kind of romace that i need. The climax is so much sweeter if the romace is filled with tension, when you´re gripping the pages waiting patienly for them to finally be together. The small glances here and there, the innocent touches. That is peak romance to me.

The prose that Agajanian weaved into this book is only adding to the already dripping atmosphere and painting a story that is to die for. It has a intersting magic-system and is definitly a book driven by it´s characters. Characters that are messy and raw and oh so relatable.

I am patienly awaiting book 2 and definitly going to get myself a physical copy, rereading and annotating it several times while waiting.

Go read this book!!!

Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian is a must read if you’re looking for a book with:
🖤 witchy vibes
🖤 academia
🖤 rivals
🖤 mystery

Once I got into this one I found it very difficult to put down! Aurelia Schwartz and Theodore Ingram are rivals at Cambridge University. When a mysterious death means the university isn’t safe anymore, they strike an unexpected partnership! The forced proximity? Unparalleled. The hate to love? Excellent. But the YEARNING???? Oh I just love me some yearning. 😍 I’m really intrigued to see where this series will go!

Sadly this is a DNF for me

It’s definitely the right book wrong time so I will try again in the future. A lot of the time the way they’re sent to kindle and the formatting of them makes it very difficult to read and reading on the NetGalley app isn’t always ideal on my phone.

But…the characters sound amazing, the premise is wonderfully witchy and the dark academia vibe is the reason I’m going to try again - maybe in the ber months

A beautifully atmospheric book with the best dark academia vibes, interesting magic, and character building that kept me intrigued along the way. It is a perfect autumn/winter read.

The pacing felt very slow within the first 30-40% of the book, but I was enjoying the perilous banter between Aurelia and Theodore along the way. The relationship between them developed slowly but it was the most gorgeous slow burn that had me gasping for more. This very much delivers on the Howl / Sophie dynamic we were all promised.

Overall, a lovely read - I'm glad this one was picked up for traditional release as I know a lot of readers will love it.

This book is a captivating contemporary fantasy, with witches and rivals to lovers romance. The novel starts as fast-paced but soon turns into a more character-focused narrative. There’s a lot of insight into Aurelia’s thoughts and feelings. I liked all the characters, especially Aurelia and Ingram, their arguments and the slow burn romance. I haven’t read a book with such intense yearning in a while.

The only aspect of this novel I did not enjoy was the change in pacing after the initial drama. The characters stay in hiding for quite a while. They spend time together and learn more about each other, but apart from that, nothing happens.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy slow-burn romance subplots. I will definitely continue this series when the next book is published.

✨Modern divination Review✨

Talk about a captivating story!! When I started listening to the audiobook I couldn’t stop for 2 hrs!!

💛Adult Fantasy
✨Cosy elements
💛Witches
✨Slow burn
💛Rivals-to-Lovers
✨Found Family
💛Bisexual rep

The thing I loved most about the book was how the main characters’ relationship slowly developed from this rivalry with sharp words and jabs at one another to a place of understanding of each other’s pasts and hardships, of understanding themselves and what made them who they are.
Aurelia and Teddy’s love story is a well-worth-the-wait slow burn you won’t want to miss. They don’t just fall into each other’s arms straight away, there are a lot of emotions to get through before they get there.🤍

When it comes to the magic and its manifestations I delighted in reading about the magical bookshop!! It sounded truly so beautiful and cosy! But the sparkle of magic is weaved all throughout the story.
If you love anything witchy and character- driven stories then you must check this book out.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and author for this ARC. All opinions are my own.