An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields
Redhook
Publication date: April 28th, 2026
Paperback. 512 pages.
About An Arcane Study of Stars:
"From Sydney J. Shields, the breakout author of The Honey Witch, comes An Arcane Study of Stars, a historical dark academia fantasy filled with ancient secret societies, a swoon-worthy rivals-to-lovers romance, and dangerous deals made after dark. Perfect for fans of The Atlas Six and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
When Claudia Jolicoeur is rejected from Cygnus University, a devilish stranger named Dorian appears in her nightmares and offers her a bargain: he will get her into Cygnus if she learns how to free him from a prison of stars. He takes a bite of her soul to seal the deal, and Claudia wakes to a letter from the High Sage of Cygnus stating she will take the place of Odette Dufort, a Rhetoric student who passed away.
Her arrival raises suspicions, rumors that she had a hand in Odette's death spread like wildfire, and Cassius MacLeod, the High Sage’s apprentice and Claudia's fellow Rhetoric student, seems hellbent on humiliating her. Determined to clear her name, she searches for any evidence that could prove her innocence. When someone—or something—starts slipping her pieces of Odette’s diary, Claudia uncovers a horrifying truth: over the last century, celestial witches at Cygnus have been murdered. Odette was one of them, and Claudia could be next. For her own protection, Claudia needs to free Dorian—and fast. By night, she studies the stars, slowly unraveling the mystery of Dorian's prison.
By day, she and Cassius wage rhetorical war as debate partners in class. What begins as a fierce rivalry devolves into something deeper, darker, and dangerously sensual. As Claudia inches closer to the truth, she must decide: would trusting Cassius be the last mistake she ever makes?"
When Claudia Jolicoeur is rejected from Cygnus University, a devilish stranger named Dorian appears in her nightmares and offers her a bargain: he will get her into Cygnus if she learns how to free him from a prison of stars. He takes a bite of her soul to seal the deal, and Claudia wakes to a letter from the High Sage of Cygnus stating she will take the place of Odette Dufort, a Rhetoric student who passed away.
Her arrival raises suspicions, rumors that she had a hand in Odette's death spread like wildfire, and Cassius MacLeod, the High Sage’s apprentice and Claudia's fellow Rhetoric student, seems hellbent on humiliating her. Determined to clear her name, she searches for any evidence that could prove her innocence. When someone—or something—starts slipping her pieces of Odette’s diary, Claudia uncovers a horrifying truth: over the last century, celestial witches at Cygnus have been murdered. Odette was one of them, and Claudia could be next. For her own protection, Claudia needs to free Dorian—and fast. By night, she studies the stars, slowly unraveling the mystery of Dorian's prison.
By day, she and Cassius wage rhetorical war as debate partners in class. What begins as a fierce rivalry devolves into something deeper, darker, and dangerously sensual. As Claudia inches closer to the truth, she must decide: would trusting Cassius be the last mistake she ever makes?"
An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields is a book that I really wanted to love. The premise, setting, and overall concept was fascinating and full of potential, but ultimately I found that the execution just didn’t quite come together for me. The magic and world were intriguing, but inconsistent characterization, jarring dialogue, and some strange plot choices repeatedly pulled me out of the story.
These days, magic schools can be pretty hit or miss for me, but I found this particular premise very promising. The hidden and exclusive nature of this school and the celestial magic--especially the fact that the celestial magic was considered “lost” and not studied anymore--really stood out to me, and I thought Shields executed these elements well. I also found myself really intrigued with the focus on rhetoric, and the philosophical, discussion-based classes we attended with our protagonist, Claudia, were particularly well-written. All of these things together gave the book some needed depth and really hinted at there being so much more in this world and story beneath the surface.
At the same time, I felt like this book was trying to do a lot, between the things I just mentioned as well as some academic rivalries, a burgeoning romance (of sorts? I’ll get into this), a bargain with a demon, and more threads of mysteries here and there, it all just felt like a lot. While I think these all could have worked together, I think they never really all came together in a way that felt satisfying.
The Claudia that we are first introduced to at the start of the book felt very different to the one that was in the rest of the story. While she seemed somewhat more mature and responsible at the beginning of the story, it ended up feeling incredibly hard to believe that she was a 23 year old woman, as she--and many of the students around her--acted much more like teenagers. There was a lot of potential to have her go through some strong emotional development and I think we lacked that, which left her feeling a bit underdeveloped for me.
She’s a bit bull-headed, but that’s not necessarily something I’d consider to be a bad thing, and I think she did have some aspects of her personality that made her feel capable and intelligent. However, I also found her a bit inconsistently portrayed throughout the story. At times, she seemed impulsive and almost abrasive in her actions, but at other times she seemed almost detached and passive. While these shifts in personalities could be done intentionally to show that a character is confused or struggling, these didn’t feel like they were done with that type of intent, but rather just the result of inconsistent writing and a struggle to make Claudia seem both capable and outspoken, but also still somehow… not.
I will say that I enjoyed aspects of the friendships that are depicted in this book that Claudia develops with her fellow students. There was a nice variety in the friendships and how they were formed, such as some that were formed almost by chance and some that grew much more gradually and showed some real growth and transformation from this involved. I really appreciated seeing these different dynamics and thought Shields did a great job with these.
What didn’t work as well for me was the romantic relationship. It felt a bit sudden with its intensity and sudden acceleration, and the rather abrupt inclusion of BDSM elements felt forced and just didn’t work with the rest of the story. I can almost see where Shields was going with the idea, but it came across more like it was added in just to add to this being an “adult” story.
I think Shields builds atmosphere really well, and I really loved the moments in this book when things felt genuinely dark and ominous and magical. There was a hint at something malevolent beneath the surface that I loved and found compelling. Unfortunately, this was often interrupted by some abrupt shifts into lighter scenes that didn’t feel like they were built in for levity, but rather just odd tonal shifts that felt scattered.
This leads into some of my issues with Claudia’s reactions to some pretty emotionally intense things that happen. There’s one particular scene at the start of the book where Claudia does something pretty, uh, intense (you’ll know if/when you read it), and it ended up feeling weirdly minimized somehow. I kept expecting to return to it in a way that felt like it was really addressing it and Claudia’s emotional consequences, but it just never felt like we dug into it much, which felt really weird, and it didn’t feel like Claudia really cared that much. There were also a few smaller plot elements, such as some diary entries that involved Claudia’s pet snake, that felt a bit convenient and under-explained and just left me feeling a bit unsure of things.
All of that being said, I do want to note that somehow I found the pacing to be quite solid. This is a surprisingly long book with clearly a lot going on, but it never really dragged too much and felt very accessible to get through.
The biggest issue for me, though, was probably the dialogue. It often felt unnatural, overly modern, and at times almost juvenile, which I felt clashed heavily with what was described as a historical fantasy. I also felt like a few lines seemed more like chat speak that would be used when talking to a friend online or texting, and that felt oddly jarring. There were times when I felt genuinely pulled out of the story because the phrasing or delivery of something felt so out of place. I don't have a finished copy so I can't quote some of the exact things that bothered me, but I would be curious to see if there are any adjustments in the final.
Overall, this is a book that, for me, felt like it was constantly almost getting it right. It has so many great things about it, but also so many things that I think could’ve been fixed with more edits, perhaps. The ideas are strong, the atmosphere can be compelling, and there are glimpses of something deeper and more thought-provoking, but the execution never really comes together. I think readers who are drawn to the premise and atmosphere might enjoy this more, especially if they’re already fans of Sydney J. Shields’s writing, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work for me.
These days, magic schools can be pretty hit or miss for me, but I found this particular premise very promising. The hidden and exclusive nature of this school and the celestial magic--especially the fact that the celestial magic was considered “lost” and not studied anymore--really stood out to me, and I thought Shields executed these elements well. I also found myself really intrigued with the focus on rhetoric, and the philosophical, discussion-based classes we attended with our protagonist, Claudia, were particularly well-written. All of these things together gave the book some needed depth and really hinted at there being so much more in this world and story beneath the surface.
At the same time, I felt like this book was trying to do a lot, between the things I just mentioned as well as some academic rivalries, a burgeoning romance (of sorts? I’ll get into this), a bargain with a demon, and more threads of mysteries here and there, it all just felt like a lot. While I think these all could have worked together, I think they never really all came together in a way that felt satisfying.
The Claudia that we are first introduced to at the start of the book felt very different to the one that was in the rest of the story. While she seemed somewhat more mature and responsible at the beginning of the story, it ended up feeling incredibly hard to believe that she was a 23 year old woman, as she--and many of the students around her--acted much more like teenagers. There was a lot of potential to have her go through some strong emotional development and I think we lacked that, which left her feeling a bit underdeveloped for me.
She’s a bit bull-headed, but that’s not necessarily something I’d consider to be a bad thing, and I think she did have some aspects of her personality that made her feel capable and intelligent. However, I also found her a bit inconsistently portrayed throughout the story. At times, she seemed impulsive and almost abrasive in her actions, but at other times she seemed almost detached and passive. While these shifts in personalities could be done intentionally to show that a character is confused or struggling, these didn’t feel like they were done with that type of intent, but rather just the result of inconsistent writing and a struggle to make Claudia seem both capable and outspoken, but also still somehow… not.
I will say that I enjoyed aspects of the friendships that are depicted in this book that Claudia develops with her fellow students. There was a nice variety in the friendships and how they were formed, such as some that were formed almost by chance and some that grew much more gradually and showed some real growth and transformation from this involved. I really appreciated seeing these different dynamics and thought Shields did a great job with these.
What didn’t work as well for me was the romantic relationship. It felt a bit sudden with its intensity and sudden acceleration, and the rather abrupt inclusion of BDSM elements felt forced and just didn’t work with the rest of the story. I can almost see where Shields was going with the idea, but it came across more like it was added in just to add to this being an “adult” story.
I think Shields builds atmosphere really well, and I really loved the moments in this book when things felt genuinely dark and ominous and magical. There was a hint at something malevolent beneath the surface that I loved and found compelling. Unfortunately, this was often interrupted by some abrupt shifts into lighter scenes that didn’t feel like they were built in for levity, but rather just odd tonal shifts that felt scattered.
This leads into some of my issues with Claudia’s reactions to some pretty emotionally intense things that happen. There’s one particular scene at the start of the book where Claudia does something pretty, uh, intense (you’ll know if/when you read it), and it ended up feeling weirdly minimized somehow. I kept expecting to return to it in a way that felt like it was really addressing it and Claudia’s emotional consequences, but it just never felt like we dug into it much, which felt really weird, and it didn’t feel like Claudia really cared that much. There were also a few smaller plot elements, such as some diary entries that involved Claudia’s pet snake, that felt a bit convenient and under-explained and just left me feeling a bit unsure of things.
All of that being said, I do want to note that somehow I found the pacing to be quite solid. This is a surprisingly long book with clearly a lot going on, but it never really dragged too much and felt very accessible to get through.
The biggest issue for me, though, was probably the dialogue. It often felt unnatural, overly modern, and at times almost juvenile, which I felt clashed heavily with what was described as a historical fantasy. I also felt like a few lines seemed more like chat speak that would be used when talking to a friend online or texting, and that felt oddly jarring. There were times when I felt genuinely pulled out of the story because the phrasing or delivery of something felt so out of place. I don't have a finished copy so I can't quote some of the exact things that bothered me, but I would be curious to see if there are any adjustments in the final.
Overall, this is a book that, for me, felt like it was constantly almost getting it right. It has so many great things about it, but also so many things that I think could’ve been fixed with more edits, perhaps. The ideas are strong, the atmosphere can be compelling, and there are glimpses of something deeper and more thought-provoking, but the execution never really comes together. I think readers who are drawn to the premise and atmosphere might enjoy this more, especially if they’re already fans of Sydney J. Shields’s writing, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work for me.
*I received a copy of An Arcane Study of Stars courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*
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