Dark Academia

Wikipedia defines Dark Academia as "a social media aesthetic and subculture concerned with higher education, writing/poetry, the arts, and classic Greek and Gothic architecture." Here are the books that fit its bill.
Updated September 19, 2022
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
The Secret History
Donna Tartt
Paper Book
If We Were Villains
M.L. Rio
Paper Book
Plain Bad Heroines
Emily M. Danforth
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...
Ninth House
Leigh Bardugo
Paper Book
Ace of Spades
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Paper Book
How can you play the game when the cards are stacked against you? AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE 2021 BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS' AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT FICTIONNOMINATED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022"One of 2021's biggest books." gal-demACE OF SPADES is Gossip Girl meets...
The Atlas Six
Olivie Blake
Paper Book
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake is the runaway TikTok must-read fantasy novel of the year. If you loved Ninth House and A Deadly Education, you'll love this. Originally a self-published sensation, this edition has been fully edited and revised, including gorgeous new illustrations. Secrets. Betrayal....
Catherine House
Elisabeth Thomas
Paper Book
Bunny
Mona Awad
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."...
The Raven Boys
Maggie Stiefvater
Paper Book
An all-new series from the masterful, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.His name is Gansey,...
The Maidens
Alex Michaelides
Paper Book
We all keep secrets. Even from ourselves. 'A thrilling, heart-in-throat ride' STEPHEN FRY'An absolute jaw-dropper' LUCY FOLEY'Elegant, sinister, stylish' CHRIS WHITAKER'Grips from start to finish' HARRIET TYCE* * * * *YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE...
The Plot
Jean Hanff Korelitz
Paper Book
A thrilling new page-turner from the author of The Undoing, the major series on HBO.
A Lesson in Vengeance
Victoria Lee
Ebook
Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro
Paper Book
As children, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy attended an exclusive boarding-school in the English countryside. Idyllic in some ways yet vaguely sinister, 'Hailsham' was a place of intense friendships, mysterious rules, and 'guardians' who constantly reminded the students how special they were. Now thirty-one,...
How We Fall Apart
Katie Zhao
Paper Book
In a YA thriller that is Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying, students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead. Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at...
These Violent Delights: A Novel
Micah Nemerever
Paper Book
A Literary Hub Best Book of Year * A Crime Reads Best Debut of the Year * A Newsweek 25 Best Fall Books * A Philadelphia Inquirer 10 Big Books for the Fall * An O Magazine.com LGBTQ Books That Are Changing the Literary Landscape * An Electric Lit Most Anticipated Debut * A Paperback...
The Grimrose Girls
Laura Pohl
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller Four troubled friends, One murdered girl... and a dark fate that may leave them all doomed. Once Upon a Time meets Pretty Little Liars in this ...
Legendborn
Tracy Deonn
Paper Book
SOME LEGACIES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN. "I love the feeling of a magical world existing just beneath the surface of our own and this story gave me everything I wanted: incredible characters, ancient lore and secret societies - all grounded in our very real, very flawed world...
Ghosts of Harvard
Francesca Serritella
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...
The Starless Sea
Erin Morgenstern
Paper Book
The spellbinding new novel from the Top Ten bestselling author of The Night Circus. 'Radiates with the excitement of someone discovering a magical world within the pages of a book. An enchanting read... an ode to stories and storytelling itself, and the joy of reading'...
Dead Poets Society
N.H. Kleinbaum
Ebook
Todd Anderson and his friends at Welton Academy can hardly believe how different life is since their new English professor, the flamboyant John Keating, has challenged them to "make your lives extraordinary! Inspired by Keating, the boys resurrect the Dead Poets Society--a secret club where, free...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.