What is Dark Academia?
Dark Academia is a literary subgenre and aesthetic that centers on higher education, the pursuit of knowledge, often with a moody, gothic, or tragic undertone. It typically features elite schools, academic rivalries, philosophy, or literature. Dark academia characters tend to be pretentious and morally grey. They experience obsessions, social isolation, moral decay and even murder.
Dark Academia Elements
- Found Family, more like exclusive cliques: A small group of students, generally sharing a class or a secret.
- A mentor: A professor who inspires deep devotion and often pushes students beyond ethical boundaries (murder and drugs, mostly).
- Setting: prestigious universities and libraries
- A secret: The plot usually revolves around a crime or a moral transgression that the group must hide. This secret is eating them from the inside.
The most popular dark academia books you probably have heard of:
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- Bunny by Mona Awad
Now here are 25 dark academia book recommendations you might have not heard about.
25 Dark Academia book recommendations
All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth
This novel is described as a mix of Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegsar and The Secret History
In the shadow of her mother’s disappearance, Charlie Calloway is invited to join a secret society at her elite boarding school called the A’s. To get in, Charlie must play The Game, which unravels secrets about her family’s past.
All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
A gothic dark academia novel where Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould.
Tara is offered a place in a secret society at Bristal College that promises academic greatness, but she soon learns it comes with a price. As the ghosts of the past close in, Tara must decide if her dreams are worth her soul.
Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari
Perfect for fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Audra Teddy has spent years planning her final thesis project to lure her professor, Max Durant, to a remote cabin in Maine. There, she stages a psychological confrontation to force him to face their shared history.
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
Cady Archer arrives at Harvard to find out why her brother, Eric, took his own life while he was a student there. As she follows his trail, she begins to hear voices.
The Hawthorne School by Sylvie Perry
Perfect for fans of Riley Sager
Claudia is a single mother who enrolls her son, Henry, in an unconventional school that promises a bright future. However, she soon discovers the school's charismatic leader has a sinister influence over her son and her own life.
Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight
Nell Barber is an expelled PhD student who continues her research in secret while becoming increasingly obsessed with her mentor, Joan Kahr.
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Perfect for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
Bodie Kane, a film professor and podcaster, returns to her old boarding school and finds herself drawn back into the 1995 murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith. She begins to question if the man convicted of the crime, Omar Evans, was actually innocent.
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
Joanna protects a collection of magical books in Vermont, while her estranged sister, Esther, lives in hiding halfway across the world. The two must reunite when their family's secrets and a dangerous organization threaten the magic they are sworn to guard.
House of Marionne by J. Elle
A young adult fantasy series perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Alex Aster
Quell has spent her life hiding her magic, but she seeks refuge at the House of Marionne, an elite academy for mages. To stay, she must pass three deadly trials while keeping her secret from her mentor, Jordan.
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
Chloe Sevre is a freshman and a diagnosed sociopath participating in a secret clinical study at an elite university. When students start being murdered on campus, Chloe must use her unique mind to find the killer before she becomes the next target.
The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith
Claire, the Head Librarian of Hell’s Unwritten Wing, must recapture an escaped Hero with the help of her assistant Brevity and demon courier Leto. Their mission spirals into a perilous hunt for the Devil’s Bible, a book that could alter the balance of Heaven, Hell, and Earth.
Neverthorn by Shannon Mayer
Sasha is thrust into the world of Neverthorn, a secret academy for the supernatural where the lessons are as deadly as the students.
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Wallace, a black queer biochemistry student from Alabama, struggles with isolation and the lingering impact of his troubled childhood while living in a Midwestern university town. Over one late-summer weekend, conflicts with friends and an unexpected connection with a white classmate force him to confront buried secrets and desires.
Shadow of the Lions by Christopher Swann
Matthias Glass returns to his old prep school as a teacher, years after his best friend, Fritz, vanished into the woods. When a reporter discovers new evidence, Matthias is pulled into a conspiracy that threatens the reputation of the school.
Smoke by Dan Vyleta
Perfect for fans of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Arcadia by Iain Pears
In an alternate England where sins appear as literal smoke from the body, Thomas and Charlie are students at an elite school who discover the ruling class is hiding something. Along with Livia, they embark on a journey to uncover the source of the smoke.
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
Clare Cassidy is a high school teacher whose life mirrors the gothic stories she teaches when her colleague is found murdered. The investigation turns personal when a mysterious stranger begins writing entries in Clare’s own private diary.
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
A young adult social thriller with horror elements, perfect for fans of Get Out and readers of Holly Jackson
Jake Livingston is one of the few Black students at St. Clair Prep and he sees the ghosts of the dead everywhere. His life becomes a fight for survival when the ghost of a school shooter, Sawyer, decides he wants to take over Jake's body.
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Ann Stilwell arrives at the Met Cloisters for a summer internship and becomes obsessed with the history of tarot and divination. When she discovers a 15th-century deck that might predict the future, she is pulled into a dangerous game of academic ambition.
The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
Alexandra Witt joins the faculty of Stonebridge Academy and discovers a Darkroom where male students trade secrets and exploit their female peers. Her attempt to disrupt this system sparks a massive rebellion among the students.
The Library of Shadows by Rachel Moore
Perfect for fans of Ninth House and Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Este Logano arrives at Radcliffe Prep to find the truth about her father’s death and discovers the school library is haunted. She teams up with her classmate, Mateo, to solve a centuries-old mystery.
The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee meets The Taking of Jake Livingston
Douglas Jones is a scholarship student at Regent Academy who witnesses a student’s death that the rest of the school immediately forgets. He must work with Everett, the groundskeeper's son, to stop a forest god that demands a blood sacrifice.
The Secret Place by Tana French
Detective Stephen Moran joins Holly Mackey to investigate a year-old murder after a photo of the victim is pinned to a school noticeboard. The investigation reveals the secret lives of two rival groups of girls at St. Kilda’s.
The Truants by Kate Weinberg
Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie
Jess Walker is a college student who falls under the spell of her charismatic literature professor, Lorna Clay. Her obsession leads her into a tangled relationship with a group of friends that results in betrayal and tragedy.
The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent
Perfect for fans of If We Were Villains
Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh looking for a fresh start and is quickly taken in by an elite group of wealthy students. She soon finds herself performing favors for her new friends that spiral into a dark psychological game.
We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan
At a prestigious MFA program, a group of students watch as their brilliant peer, Hannah, is betrayed by a famous professor. They decide to take matters into their own hands, orchestrating a revenge plot that spans several years.
I hope you’ll find your match within these dark academia book recommendations. But one last recommendation before you go: my personal favorite young adult dark academia novel, Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, a book between Gossip Girl and Get Out.
You can find all the dark academia books mentioned in this list on my Amazon Storefront:
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