Dark Academia

Dark Academia is a subgenre of books that features an academic setting and usually has a dark twist or sinister undertones. Books in this subgenre are often either fantasy, mystery, thrillers, or literary fiction.


Updated August 21, 2024
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I have some questions for you
Makkai, Rebecca
Stand-alone player
Catherine House : a novel
Thomas, Elisabeth
Paper Book
"[A] delicious literary Gothic debut." -THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, EDITORS' CHOICE "Moody and evocative as a fever dream, Catherine House is the sort of book that wraps itself around your brain, drawing you closer with each hypnotic step." - THE WASHINGTON POST...
They never learn
Fargo, Layne
Paper Book
From the author of the "raw, ingenious, and utterly fearless" (Wendy Walker, USA TODAY bestselling author) Temper comes a dynamic psychological thriller about two women who give bad men exactly what they deserve--perfect for fans of Killing Eve and Chelsea Cain.
Bunny
Awad, Mona
Paper Book
"Jon Swift + Witches of Eastwick + Kelly 'Get In Trouble' Link + Mean Girls + Creative Writing Degree Hell! No punches pulled, no hilarities dodged, no meme unmangled! O Bunny you are sooo genius!" --Margaret Atwood, via Twitter "A wild, audacious and ultimately unforgettable novel."...
If we were villains
Rio, M. L.
Paper Book
"Much like Donna Tartt's The Secret History, M. L. Rio's sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession...will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments." --Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The...
The secret history
Tartt, Donna.
Paper Book
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME * INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch. ...
Babel : or the necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford translators' revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Paper Book
" From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool...
Ninth house
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
"The best fantasy novel I've read in years, because it's about real people... Impossible to put down." --Stephen King Enter a mesmerizing world of power, privilege, and dark magic among the Ivy League elite in the first book in the Alex Stern series. ...
A deadly education : a novel
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
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. FINALIST FOR THE LODESTAR AWARD * "The dark...
My dark Vanessa : a novel
Russell, Kate Elizabeth
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  "[An] exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power." --The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice "A lightning rod . . . brilliantly crafted."--The Washington Post Recommended by The New York Times...
Piranesi
Clarke, Susanna
Paper Book
The award-winning, New York Times bestselling fantasy sensation that Madeline Miller called, "a miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling," Piranesi is an intoxicating, hypnotic novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality from the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.<...
The historian : a novel
Kostova, Elizabeth.
Paper Book
The record-breaking phenomenon from Elizabeth Kostova is a celebrated masterpiece that "refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle).  Breathtakingly suspenseful and...
The starless sea
Morgenstern, Erin
Paper Book
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. "[A] gorgeously written epic love story, filled with magic and...
Vita nostra
Di︠a︡chenko, Marina
Paper Book
"Vita Nostra" -- a cross between Lev Grossman's "The Magicians" and Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian" [...] is the anti-Harry Potter you didn't know you wanted." -- The Washington Post "Vita Nostra has become a powerful influence on my own writing. It's a book that has the potential...
The magicians : a novel
Grossman, Lev.
Paper Book
Lev Grossman's new novel THE BRIGHT SWORD is out now! The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY "The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of...
The likeness
French, Tana.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter, is "the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years" (The Washington Post) and "inspires cultic devotion in readers" (The New Yorker). ...
Plain bad heroines : a novel
Danforth, Emily M.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "A delectable brew of gothic horror and Hollywood satire . . . [and] what makes all this so much fun is Danforth's deliciously ghoulish voice . . . exquisite." --Ron Charles, THE WASHINGTON POST "A multi-faceted novel, equal parts gothic, sharply funny, sapphic...
Ghosts of Harvard : a novel
Serritella, Francesca Scottoline
Paper Book
TEEN VOGUE BOOK CLUB PICK .A Harvard freshman becomes obsessed with her schizophrenic brother's suicide. Thenshestarts hearing voices. "A rich, intricately plotted thriller . . . Serritella, who is a Harvard grad herself, writes about the campus with an insider's...
Magic for liars
Gailey, Sarah
Paper Book
A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in Magic for Liars, a fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey. Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it....
An education in malice
Gibson, S. T.
Paper Book
Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood.  Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua's College...
A discovery of witches
Harkness, Deborah E.
Paper Book
Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series, from the author of The Black Bird Oracle. Look for the hit series "A Discovery of Witches," now streaming on Netflix "A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry...
A discovery of witches
Harkness, Deborah E.
Paper Book
Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series, from the author of The Black Bird Oracle. Look for the hit series "A Discovery of Witches," now streaming on Netflix "A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry...
The Divines : a novel
Eaton, Ellie
Paper Book
The Elin Hilderbrand Literati Book Club Pick! Recommended by Entertainment Weekly * CNN * Harper's BAZAAR * E! Online * Refinery 29 * Bustle * Shondaland * Vulture * The Millions * Lit Hub * Electric Literature * Parade * MSN * and more! "For when you want a coming-of-age...
The maidens
Michaelides, Alex
Paper Book
A deliciously dark, elegant, utterly compulsive read--with a twist that blew my mind. I loved this even more than I loved The Silent Patient and that's saying something --Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List Alex...
The maidens
Michaelides, Alex
Paper Book
**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 "A deliciously dark, elegant, utterly...
The reformatory : a novel
Due, Tananarive
Paper Book
*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award * "You're in for a treat...one of those books you can't put down...Due hit it out of the park." --Stephen King ...
The St. Ambrose School for Girls
Ward, Jessica
Paper Book
The newest student at the elite St. Ambrose School for Girls must navigate a sinister social clique and the treachery of her own mind in this "complex psychological thriller" (CrimeReads) that is perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Layne Fargo. When Sarah Taylor arrives...

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