The Rose and the Serpent: A Gothic Dark Academia YA Fantasy Romance (The Mortal Souls)

Name: The Rose and the Serpent: A Gothic Dark Academia YA Fantasy Romance (The Mortal Souls)
Author: Lyndsey Hall

Lyndsey Hall

Book 1 in the The Mortal Souls series · Reading order →

SpiceDarkness

How we rate spice & darkness

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Why we recommend it

Gothic spires, mortal stakes, and a forbidden pull. The Rose and the Serpent blends dark academia atmosphere with fantasy romance — secret power, dangerous alliances, and a slow-burning bond that defies the rules. For readers who want their dark academia immersive and their romance laced with myth. The opening of the Mortal Souls world.

At a glance

The Rose and the Serpent is a dark academia romance by Lyndsey Hall. It rates 2/5 for spice and 3/5 for darkness, on the lighter side for dark academia romance: almost none of the 191 dark academia romance books we rate are lighter on either scale. Tagged tropes include slow burn, enemies to lovers and forbidden romance. It runs to 222 pages. 1 content warning is listed below, hidden until you tap.

Tropes

Enemies to Lovers Forbidden Romance Slow Burn

Book details

Pages: 222
Published: June 2025

The Rose and the Serpent spice level

The Rose and the Serpent is rated 2/5 for spice on Readark’s scale: brief and fade-out, meaning scenes begin on the page but stop short of explicit detail. Its darkness rating is 3/5: genuinely dark, meaning violence, coercion or captivity drive the plot, not just the mood. How we rate