The Reader’s Guide to Dark Academia
-Exploring the sub-genre of literary works and a suggested reading list.
Dark Academia (DA) has definitely been doing its rounds all over bookstagram, booktok or whatever social media website you use to obsess over books. Everyone seems to have jumped aboard the wagon, embracing the aesthetic of expansive libraries, dim-lit corridors, pursuing the arts and losing themselves in the unending labyrinth of words and stories. Dark academia romanticizes the pursuit of knowledge, the passion for growth and learning. A borderline unhealthy obsession for reading helps if you are looking to break into it.
But when it comes to reading about dark academia, there are two ways you can go about it. You could either read about characters who live and experience the dark academic setting or you could try to recreate the aesthetic for yourself.
Exploring it as an aesthetic
As an aesthetic, DA revolves around Greek and Gothic architecture, the arts, writing & poetry, and higher education. So, when reading for the aesthetic, venture into the classics. Since DA is mostly Eurocentric, Greek tragedies and mythologies are common. There’s also a lot of room to explore by delving into philosophy, poetry as well as the classics. Some hail The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (who was a prominent leader of aestheticism) as an essential read for DA. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller which is a retelling of the Iliad is also popular among DA enthusiasts, although I neither support nor refute its inclusion.
Exploring it as a literary subgenre
While reading for the aesthetic is vast, varied and flexible, exploring dark academia as a literary subgenre is limited and pretty straightforward. Starting with a basic literal definition, dark academia novels take place in an ‘academic’ setting- boarding schools, universities, colleges, etc., starring an ensemble of characters who explore their darker urges as they grow up. These characters are smitten with knowledge and learning; we see them take classes and question the meaning of life and existence. Of course, not all campus novels are dark academic, so DA novels usually have gothic themes and tragedies are bound to occur. Usually, a murder happens although it is not a necessity.
Suggested Reading List
The books mentioned hereafter belong to the dark academia subgenre.
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt : You are not talking dark academia if you don’t discuss The Secret History, which is credited to be the founding novel of the genre.
“When Richard Papen joins an elite group of clever misfits at his New England college, it seems he can finally become the person he wants to be. But the moral boundaries he will cross with his new friends — and the deaths they are responsible for — will change all of their lives forever. The Secret History recounts the terrible price we pay for mistakes made on the dark journey to adulthood.”
The book is beautifully detailed and has an enchanting prose, drawing you in. Although I did lose excitement at chapters six and seven, the ending was spectacular and had me gaping at what the hell just happened.
Dark Academia Rating: 10/10 | Overall Rating: 8/10
- If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
“Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail — for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.”
This is my favourite dark academia novel out of all that I have read. Although the characters may come off as stereotypical, but I loved this book for its obsession with Shakespeare. Also, it’s gay!
Dark Academia Rating: 10/10 | Overall Rating: 10/10
~This is the point in my list where the books stop being solely dark academic.~
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
“Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom and with a shady past, Alex is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.”
This book was Bardugo’s first foray into adult novels, and is the first book in a series. This book entwines DA with fantasy, exploring the magic of Yale’s various secret societies. It is atmospheric. It definitely takes time to get into this book and wrap your head around everything, but Darlington is such a… well, darling! And the action really picks up as the story progresses, ending on a mind-boggling cliff-hanger.
Dark Academia Rating: 08/10 | Overall Rating: 08/10
- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
“The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.
Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes, Nico de Varona, Reina Mori, Parisa Kamali, Callum Nova, and Tristan Caine. When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will. Most of them.”
I didn’t even know this book existed until it got all the hype. This book has one of the most complex magical systems I have ever read. The characters and their powers are so different from each other and a lot of scenes are gripping. There’s a particular mental battle scene between the empath and the telepath, which left me stunned.
Dark Academia Rating: 09/10 | Overall Rating: 08/10
- Vicious by V. E. Schwab
“Victor and Eli started out as college roommates — brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find — aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge — but who will be left alive at the end?”
I’m adding it here, because I saw it on multiple websites, but honestly, it does NOT qualify for dark academia. The book doesn’t have an academic setting, it only has a few scenes set in college. Although, the characters do hunger for power and eventually gain them, becoming ExtraOrdinaries. So, this has more sci-fi, less DA. So, read this if you are looking for a sci-fi fantasy novel. Don’t read it for dark academia alone.
Dark Academia Rating: 05/10 | Overall Rating: 07/10
- The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
“Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike — particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything — including her own life.”
This book is more of a thriller than a DA novel, so the Cambridge setting is barely relevant. Although, the book does have some quotes from Tennyson as well as some in Greek, the rest of the writing felt a bit too bland for my likes.
Dark Academia Rating: 04/10 | Overall Rating: 06/10
These are all the books I read while exploring dark academia. Here’s a further list of titles for you to try which can expand on the genre-
- Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (promises POC and Queer rep!)
- The Truants by Kate Weinberg (Agatha Christie fans might like this!)
- Bunny by Mona Awad (The Blurb mentions a smut salon if that’s your thing.)
- A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee ( Sapphic dark academia with witches!)
- A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid (Architecture dark academia although, I’m not sure about the setting.)
- The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian.
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (I guess this counts as DA, but personally I’m not a huge fan of the book. It’s more YA fantasy than academia, for sure.
- The Truly Devious trilogy by Maureen Johnson (They take place at Ellingham Academy, which only takes in brilliant students and revolves around a 100 y/o unsolved murder mystery. They’re pretty decent, actually.)
Even with all the hype, the genre of dark academia is not without its faults, lacking diverse narratives whether it is in race, sexuality or geography. It is found to be Eurocentric and sport a predominantly white cast. Although, this may yet change, with the new wave of upcoming authors ushering in representation and conversations of status and discrimination.
With all the fuss around DA, the genre may feel overhyped to some, with its snobbery and pretentiousness, but isn’t that kind-of the point? Fan or not, Dark academia continues to grow, enveloping more and more readers into its aesthetic. Its flexible definition leaves room for interpretation, so what one reader may consider as DA may not be agreed upon by others. But, that’s okay. It’s your aesthetic to practice. You do you.