Aurelia Schwartz has a secret. One she has closely guarded for twenty-three years. Aurelia is a witch, a fact she has hidden away from everyone in her life as she attempts to balance two opposing worlds. All it takes to bring this secret life crashing down is the murder of another witch and classmate during a campus soiree. The last thing Aurelia expects is to witness the aftermath of a murder, but the fact that Theodore Ingram, her academic rival should be by her side feels all the more targeted. Ever since she started at Cambridge, Ingram has made it clear Aurelia is beneath him, but now he insists she accompany him home for the holidays, pressing that neither of them is safe – because Teddy apparently has magic. As Teddy and Aurelia sequester themselves away from prying eyes with his magical family, they attempt to unravel the mystery of the murder, the culprit, and their complicated past. It appears the killer is far from finished and to uncover the truth Aurelia will have to undo her carefully constructed boundaries and set aside her animosity with Teddy, which could prove her undoing.
Modern Divination is the perfect example of a book that only settles deeper into your bones the longer it sits with you. This book is an exquisitely crafted blend of tea steeped to perfection, with dark notes of magic and a hint of bitterness rendered sweet through its stimulating academic rivalry. Having read the independently published version of Modern Divination upon its initial release back in 2023, I never expected to read the revised edition and fall even more in love but somehow that is exactly what occurred. This revised edition of Isa Agajanian’s original text is an addictive combination of witchery and fate, complete with enough yearning to make me feel like I was being repeatedly stabbed in the chest. Isa has completely raised the bar with this revised edition — sharpening the atmosphere and the incredible tension between Aurelia and Teddy into something entirely its own. If reading this for the first time left me longing for its sequel, then the updated version left me a shell of my former self and I will not recover until Quiet Spells is in my hands.
Isabel Agajanian’s, Modern Divination is a painfully relatable window into loneliness, grief, and the connections we close ourselves off to by insisting we bear our paths alone. Where the academic atmosphere of Cambridge and the secluded English countryside enthralls, Modern Divination’s true magic lies in its central duo realizing just how wrong they have been about each other. In a book set so firmly around an academic rivalry with a thread of magic weaving throughout the narrative, characters Aurelia and Teddy are an outstanding pairing. What can I say about Aurelia Schwartz besides the fact that I love her and she can do no wrong? An unyielding and ambitious young woman – Aurelia’s academic vivacity is matched only by her rival and arrogant specter, Theodore Ingram. Teddy is seemingly all ego with a past completely hidden from view, but after becoming targets to a witch killer, the carefully constructed walls these two have defended come crashing down. This is my favorite flavor of romance, there’s brooding, yearning, and snappy interactions as these two hold fast to their dynamic not wanting to be the first to concede to honesty.
Reexperiencing Modern Divination through a revised edition feels like looking at it through an inverted lens, yet the core of the story remains the same: two rivals finally laying down their weapons and opening themselves up to connection. Casting off the protective bonds that academia has afforded her, Aurelia struggles to let people in after building a life set around pushing them away. This innate struggle is intensified by the longing she feels for Teddy in contrast to the way she’s viewed him for so long. Meanwhile, Teddy is down bad. He’s that specific type of love interest that’s just groveling and disgusting longing stuck together in one body with few ways to make those feelings known and I love it so much. Their slow burn is this wonderful give and take centered around falling for each other because of their flaws, as they unpack why they became rivals. Isabel Agajanian understands how to build a true rivals to lovers story and the layers required to deliver that satisfying emotional payoff. Aurelia and Teddy’s romance reveals the risk of love and connection is in the potential to be hurt and changed, but it is worth it no matter the outcome. Modern Divination examines the consequences of magic with an imperfect love story I’m more than a little obsessed with. Book two cannot come soon enough and I’ll be here yearning away in the meantime.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warnings: murder, blood, violence
Literaryrobin 