Gothikana: A Dark Academia Romance Quiz

How Well Do You Know the Secrets of Verenmore?

Tread carefully—the woods are listening, and nothing at the castle is as it seems. This quiz covers the entire novel, from the first prophecy to the final return. Answer eight plot-based questions, five on character motivation, four on themes and symbols, and three that ask you to connect the novel’s echoes. Some are multiple-choice, some short-answer.

The Questions

1. What prophecy did Old Zelda give seven-year-old Vad?
   A) He would find buried treasure in the Slayers’ ruins
   B) He would go to a castle where no one goes and find purple eyes
   C) He would become the youngest board member at Verenmore
   D) He would free the ghosts of Snake Lake

2. Which item did Corvina discover under her bed that belonged to Alissa?
   A) A silver key
   B) A black ribbon
   C) A jade ring
   D) A Tarot card

3. How many skulls were eventually recovered from Snake Lake?
   A) Ten
   B) Fifteen
   C) Fourteen
   D) Twenty

4. What phrase was written on the note Vad pulled from the tower roof after Troy’s death?
   Short answer: __________

5. Who is revealed to be the real murderer behind the staged suicides?
   A) Dr. Kari, the psychology professor
   B) Ajax Hunter, Troy’s investigator brother
   C) The fake Jade, granddaughter of a Slayer witch
   D) Kaylin Cross, the recruitment specialist

6. What name does Corvina give the voice she hears inside her head?
   Short answer: __________

7. What gift did Vad give Corvina at the Slayers’ ruins during the Black Ball?
   A) A leather-bound copy of Dracula
   B) A platinum “nevermore” ring
   C) A crow-shaped silver mask
   D) A teardrop amethyst ring

8. Where did Corvina and Vad share their first sexual encounter?
   A) In the library before dawn
   B) In the tower attic under the piano
   C) In his car, trapped by a storm
   D) In the Vault after her first panic attack

9. Why did Corvina accept the University of Verenmore’s odd acceptance letter?
   A) She wanted to study literature away from her mother
   B) She saw it as a sign and a chance for a new beginning
   C) The Morning Star Institute forced her enrollment
   D) She was following a crow to the mountain

10. What motivated Vad to live incognito at Verenmore as a teacher?
    Short answer: __________

11. What was the impostor‑Jade’s primary motive for killing Alissa and Troy?
    A) She wanted to protect the Slayers’ curse
    B) She was eliminating rivals for Vad’s affection
    C) She was taking revenge for her grandfather’s lynching
    D) She was trying to keep the lake’s secret buried

12. Why did Vad reverse his vasectomy five years after leaving the castle?
    A) A routine medical procedure forced it
    B) He and Corvina wanted to start a family
    C) The Verenmore board required an heir
    D) Corvina asked him to undo a past mistake

13. After the tower incident, why did Corvina leave her degree unfinished?
    Short answer: __________

14. What did Corvina’s mother teach her about crows?
    A) They are omens of the Black Ball
    B) They carry the spirits of ancestors and are sacred protectors
    C) They guard the entrance to the Vault
    D) They appear only to those who will die on the mountain

15. The repeated phrase “devil, madness, mountain” functions as:
    A) The motto carved above the Verenmore gates
    B) Vad’s pet names for Corvina
    C) Corvina’s private affirmations when she calls Vad by who he is to her
    D) The three lines of the Slayers’ rhyme

16. Which Tarot card did Corvina find face‑up after her first night ritual?
    Short answer: __________

17. What is the Ink Moon in the novel?
    A) The new moon that marks the start of the academic year
    B) A rare full moon occurring every five years, under which Corvina was born
    C) The blood moon that shines only on the night the Slayers were lynched
    D) A term for the dark water of Snake Lake

18. How does the “purple eyes” prophecy connect to the novel’s closing chapter?
    A) Vad finds Corvina, and the curse immediately lifts
    B) The prophecy leads Vad to Corvina, and the two ultimately decide to return to Verenmore together
    C) The prophecy was never fulfilled; purple eyes turned out to be Jade’s
    D) Old Zelda reappears to tell them the prophecy was a lie

19. What does the note “Danse Macabre” combined with the fourteen skulls in Snake Lake imply about the disappearances?
    Short answer: __________

20. Why does Corvina write the novel Gothikana five years later?
    A) To expose Verenmore’s board to the authorities
    B) To process her unanswered questions and make sense of her haunting experiences
    C) As a birthday gift for Vad
    D) To fulfill a publishing contract C.V. Deverelld had signed

Answer Key

1. B – Old Zelda tells young Vad he will go to a castle where no one goes and find purple eyes (Chapter 4, and confirmed by Ajax in Chapter 22).

2. C – While unpacking, Corvina finds a jade ring beneath her bed, a clue that once belonged to Alissa (Chapter 9).

3. C – Divers retrieve fourteen human skulls from Snake Lake, plus hundreds of fragmented bones (Chapter 27).

4. Danse Macabre – Vad finds a folded paper with the words “DANSE MACABRE,” linking Troy’s fall to the Dance of Death motif (Chapter 19).

5. C – The fake Jade, granddaughter of a Slayer witch, used Devil’s Breath to stage suicides and eliminate perceived rivals for Vad (Chapter 33).

6. Mo – Corvina names the voice “Mo” early in the story and hears it throughout, most notably during moments of danger (Chapter 7 and later).

7. D – At the ruins, Vad gives her a teardrop amethyst ring engraved with a Dracula line, promising not to let her go into the unknown alone (Chapter 31).

8. C – Their first time occurs in the driver’s seat of Vad’s car when they are trapped by a fierce storm on the mountain road (Chapter 16).

9. B – Corvina interprets the unexpected letter as a sign and decides to leave her isolated life for Verenmore (Chapter 6).

10. To investigate the disappearances and the Slayers curse tied to his family – Vad reveals to Corvina that he came to Verenmore secretly to find answers about the hauntings and his grandfather’s crimes (Chapter 24).

11. B – The impostor-Jade admits she killed Alissa and Troy to remove anyone who came between her and Vad (Chapter 33).

12. B – After years of healing, Vad and Corvina decide they want children and he reverses the vasectomy (Chapter 36).

13. To recover at the institute and study at her own pace without a rigid curriculum – After the seizure, Corvina leaves the degree behind and later builds a life around candle-making, jewellery, and tarot reading (Chapter 36).

14. B – Corvina’s mother teaches her that crows are intelligent beings that carry ancestral spirits and should be fed and respected (Chapter 5).

15. C – During moments of fear, Corvina asks Vad, “Who am I?” and he leads her through “my devil, my madness, my mountain,” grounding her in their bond (Chapter 35).

16. Death – After her first night ritual, Corvina notices the Death card turned face‑up, an early omen of the story’s darkness (Chapter 7).

17. B – The Ink Moon is a rare full moon that appears every five years; Corvina was born under it and the Black Ball falls on the same night (Chapter 5 and Chapter 29).

18. B – Vad follows the prophecy to find Corvina, and the epilogue shows them deciding to return to Verenmore together, facing what remains (Chapter 36).

19. It suggests the disappearances were part of a ritual Dance of Death, with victims killed and their remains hidden in the lake. The note links Troy’s staged suicide to the medieval Danse Macabre, and the fourteen skulls confirm a pattern of sacrificial disposal.

20. B – Corvina pours her unanswered questions into a manuscript, transforming her fear and loss into fiction as a way to process what happened at the castle (Chapter 36).

Want to revisit the mystery? Take a look at the full book page, dive into the questions and answers, or uncover every clue in our ending explained.