Hey, I’m looking for books with a dark academia vibe! I’ve read The Secret History, If We Were Villains, Babel, Ninth House, and Bunny. I’m having a hard time finding other dark academia books because when I search for them, the same 5 or 6 books pop up and I can’t really find much else.
If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
by littlebabymegan
10 Comments
Without me going and having to look up all those books, what exactly is this genre?
The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik is really good.
have you read the sequel to ninth house, hell bent? i’d also reccomend:
the swallows by lisa lutz
my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell (read the trigger warnings beforehand)
goddess of filth by v. castro
the mary shelley club by goldy moldavsky
catherine house by elisabeth thomas
*The Cartographers* is this year’s new magical realism journey book, but this time we feature a group of people who find mysteries within maps. This book you’ll either adore for it’s unique premise or completely loathe because of plot holes and a weird romance sub-plot.
*A Deadly Education* is a school for magic that is much darker than Harry Potter. Basically the school itself is a character and tries to kill the students on the regular. While still reads a bit YA, it has plenty of tense moments.
*Every Heart a Doorway* by Seanan McGuire starts a YA series about supernaturally gifted children who have “disappeared” from their real lives. The sequels follow various characters deeper into their backstories and experiences of how they became who they are.
*Wilder Girls* by Rory Power is dubbed as a “Lord Of The Flies for girls” and features a boarding school whose students are plagued by mysterious disease. The writing and clever use of descriptive language shines here.
*Catherine House* is about a mysterious magic school. A cool sandbox of ideas with lyrical and pretty use of wording, but very little actually happens in the plot.
*Atlas Six* is a sneaky Dark Academia book. You get comfortable that it’s filled with the standard tropes only to have it reveal itself as a carefully planned trap. For a book I wanted so desperately to hate, this one might end up as one of my favorite “20-somethings with powers” series.
*Ordinary Monsters* is historical fiction set in 1882 featuring a mysterious school that is trying to track children with “talents” before a dark force finds them first. While not a completely original take, the setting and worldbuilding is star here.
{{Vita Nostra}} by Dyachenkos
Have not read it yet, but it is on my short list. It always gets recommended in dark academia threads: These Violent Delights: a novel by micah nemerever (not to be confused with the chloe gong one by the same name)
The Likeness by Tana French is in this vein and to my mind an homage to The Secret History.
The Girls Here Are All So Nice by L E Flynn
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
People Like Us by Dana Melee
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
*Special Topics in Calamity Physics* by Marisha Pessl is also in line with what you’re looking for.
The Betrayals – Bridget Collins and another vote for Vita Nostra