Nocticadia

Devryck is the primary love interest of Lilia Vespertine and the secondary narrator. He is a professor at Dracadia and a member of the school’s secret society, the Seven Rook Society, which includes many wealthy and powerful people who kill or break laws as needed. His father and another ancestor were both researchers of a local parasite on the island, like him, and he carries on their work in the hope of curing his rare disease. Severe abuse from his father, Warren, triggered a chronic illness that brings on seizures, which could stop his heart if severe enough. It also leaves him broadly unable to register sensation or touch in his limbs, giving him a complicated relationship with physical intimacy and subsequently romance. This emotional stunting pairs with the fear of vulnerability that he developed as a result of the abuse, as his father outright claimed to love his supposedly deceased brother more and frequently locked Devryck in a closet with gruesome scientific specimens.

This distance that he keeps from others is challenged by Lilia. She’s determined to know more about her mother’s death; while Devryck doesn’t know the depths of the conspiracy that his father, Lilia’s mother, and other school staff were involved with, he knows more about her mother’s death than Lilia. He recognizes how intelligent, capable, and beautiful she is, and her sympathy for him helps him overcome the shame surrounding his illness. Though he is reluctant for half the novel to accept her company, let alone her help in researching the parasite, his feelings eventually win out.

Their dynamic explores Forbidden Romance and Its Consequences, as both his and Lilia’s broader ambitions in life are threatened by their relationship. They’re forced to accept which is more important and why. They ultimately accept that their romance is what makes their efforts to live and make discoveries worth it; they are stronger together than apart, despite the risks. They also enable each other to understand and move beyond The Impact of Past Trauma on Present Actions. Lilia is haunted by her family’s history, as is Devryck, and they both encourage each other to accept that what happened wasn’t their fault. Their mutual acceptance and love for one another helps them reconcile with their circumstances and more joyfully prepare for the future.

Lippincott is one of several antagonistic characters in the book, and he is later revealed as the primary villain. He was once a researcher before moving into the administrative side of the university, something that Devryck disdains early in the novel. It’s later revealed, however, that Lippincott was initially meant to be the lead researcher in the Crixson Project, a study of the Noctisoma parasite’s toxin’s effect in a group of women. He learned that Devryck’s father, Warren, both became the lead researcher and had an affair with Lippincott’s wife, resulting in Spencer Lippincott. The provost hates Spencer since he is a reminder of his wife’s infidelity, though he pretends to be Spencer’s father.

As revenge for his wife’s cheating, Lippincott also cheated—with Vanessa Corbin, a member of the study and Lilia’s mother. Vanessa ran off and took the false name Francesca Vespertine before Lippincott could go on to botch the project’s results. First, he secretly kidnapped Warren’s son and Devryck’s brother, Caedmon, holding him hostage in exchange for Warren’s research. He knew that the findings could be sold on to pharmaceutical companies and make him richer. When denied, he infected the participants with actual Noctisoma larvae, instead of just their toxin, resulting in the death of every woman infected. He let Warren take the blame and manipulated Devryck into bending to his will, allowing Devryck to think that he had to make up for Warren’s failures. He hid his many crimes and misdeeds to gain power, as his wealth solely comes through marriage; his exposure would mean the loss of his wife’s wealth, his position at the school, and his membership with the powerful Rooks society.

Lippincott, in many ways, represents How Harmful Power Structures Shape Scientific Research, as he is only involved in the current-day Noctisoma research for the potential to increase his wealth. He doesn’t care about the reasons for the study, the protection of research subjects, and the potential benefits that the discoveries could hold for real people. He makes this clear when a donor to the research project sexually harasses Lilia and is threatened by Devryck. Lippincott says that he doesn’t care what a donor does, as long as they give the school money. This apathy and hunger for power delay the progress of the research for decades, from Warren’s time through Devryck’s.