The halls are hushed, the shadows deep, the ivy clambering up the walls hides secrets here and the lingering scent of a just-snuffed candle curls through the library. Dark Academia is collegiate, gothic, atmospheric, often sinister, occasionally Romantic, sometimes but not always magical. Here there be sinister happenings and sharp intrigues.
And, of course, style.
Books which can be called Dark Academia can take place in boarding schools or universities. Books which can be called Dark Academia straddle a wide range of moods and genres and, as the season turns and so many of us go back to school, why not take a little tour of these lovely fictional schools and the stories which happen because of them or within them. This list has new titles, old titles, mystery/thriller, fantasy, horror, literary fiction, works in translation, and young adult.
A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK • INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Goldfinch.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.
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Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.
"Enthralling...irresistible." ––New York Times
"A standing ovation to this debut." ––E! News
A dark, twisty thriller about a centuries-old, ivy-covered boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past. The dangerous romance and atmospheric setting makes it a perfect read for fans of dark academia.
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
"Alex Michaelides’s long-awaited next novel, 'The Maidens,' is finally here...the premise is enticing and the elements irresistible."
—The New York Times
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022
A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee
The much-acclaimed viral sensation from Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six—now newly revised and edited with additional content.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
"A raw, painful, and tender portrait of adolescent misery... This book is very likely to make you cry."--Lily Meyer, NPR
Two former best friends return to their college reunion to find that they’re being circled by someone who wants revenge for what they did ten years before—and will stop at nothing to get it—in this “propulsive” (Megan Miranda, bestselling author of The Girl from Widow Hills) psychological thriller.
A lot has changed since Ambrosia Wellington gradu
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“Legitimately unputdownable. It’s a scathing critique of toxic masculinity wrapped up in a gorgeously written prep-school mystery.”—Becky Albertalli, NYT bestselling author of Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling trilogy continues in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education.
"The Witchery is a dark, delicious delight. S. Isabelle is a debut to watch." -- Justina Ireland, New York Times bestselling author of Dread Nation
The Haunting Season is here and the Wolves are awake.
Haelsford, Florida, is a hellmouth.
** NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ** The Tonight Show Summer Reads Winner ** A New York Times Notable Book of 2021 **
"Insanely readable." —Stephen King
Hailed as "breathtakingly suspenseful," Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a propulsive read about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.
FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Paste, Publishers Weekly
TEEN VOGUE BOOK CLUB PICK • A Harvard freshman becomes obsessed with her schizophrenic brother’s suicide. Then she starts hearing voices.
The New York Times Best Thrillers of 2021
"Steamily atmospheric . . . A twisted Gothic tale, emotional in its language and febrile in its atmosphere, and it will appeal to readers who love to hear about obsession, repression . . .
*Now a six-part TV series starring Natalie Dormer, from Amazon Prime*
A 50th-anniversary edition of the landmark novel about three “gone girls” that inspired the acclaimed 1975 film, featuring a foreword by Maile Meloy, author of Do Not Become Alarmed
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One of Vanity Fair's 21 Best Books of 2020 (So Far)
A Vulture, LitHub, and PureWow Most Anticipated Book of 2020
"As precise as any scientific observation and far more tantalizing." --Vogue
An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award
Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, powe
Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series—“a wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People).
Look for the hit series “A Discovery of Witches,” now streaming on AMC+, Sundance Now, Shudder, and Max!
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
"The perfect kind of story for our current era."—Hypable
Featured in Vulture’s "11 Books to Read If You Already Miss Yellowjackets"!
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
The award-winning author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post makes her adult debut with this highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered around a cursed New England boarding school for girls—a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love, and the rebellious female spirit.