“Does such a thing as ‘the fatal flaw,’ that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature?” Avid readers might recognize this line from the beginning of Donna Tartt’s infamous novel, The Secret History. Fans of the book deem it as the dark academia Bible, a blueprint for new authors to the genre. Murder, the arts, pretentious college students- what more could one want? Are you wanting new dark academia book recs or looking to get into the genre? Search no further. Here are five dark academia novels to add to your TBR.
- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
In dark academia, there is a large emphasis on knowledge, hence the name. The motto of Olivie Blake’s bestselling novel The Atlas Six is that knowledge is carnage. This story follows six magical students invited to join the Alexandrian Society, a group of the best magical academicians in the world. An invitation is only sent out every ten years to half a dozen people. If accepted, the students have access to an immense amount of knowledge that only they and the others in the Alexandrian Society can access. The catch? One of the six will be eliminated by the end of initiation. This year’s prospective members include Libby Rhodes, Nico Ferrer de Varona, Reina Mori, Parisa Kamali, Callum Nova, and Tristan Cane, each incredibly powerful and worthy of acceptance. Who will be eliminated? What does initiation entail? What happens when the five are accepted into the Alexandrian Society? Read The Atlas Six to find out (before the sequel, The Atlas Paradox, comes out on October 25th).
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
This list would be incomplete without Wuthering Heights by literary icon, Emily Bronte. Published in 1847, this Victorian novel is the pinnacle of dark academia. As a large part of the theme is a yearning for the past, what is better than a gothic novel from the 19th century? Wuthering Heights follows the decades-long love story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, from their childhood running on the English moors to their marriages and children to their deaths. It is a tragic romance that weaves an eloquent tale of passion, desperation, and agony. A note of advice: do not expect to like these characters. They are meant to be irritating, which only lends itself to tragedy in unexpected ways. Including a bleak British setting, lyrical language, and even a ghost, Wuthering Heights is a quintessential dark academia novel to pick up this fall.
- Bunny by Mona Awad
Want to read something a bit more unhinged? Stop the search at Bunny by Mona Awad. This novel follows Samantha Mackey as she attends the prestigious Warren University to participate in their MFA program. The only other members in her cohort are a group of girls who call themselves the Bunnies, who are so close that it verges on disturbing. They cling to each other in class, address each other by the epithet “Bunny,” and do everything together. After a year of being an outsider from this cultish clique, she receives an invitation to what the Bunnies call a “Smut Salon.” We get to see Samantha attend these bacchanalian meetings and become a Bunny. But as Samantha and the readers will soon come to discover, things are not quite what they seem. Bunny is perfectly suited for lovers of the more chaotic and sinister aspects of the dark academia genre.
- Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Dark academia also appears in young adult fiction and can, often, be just as chilling. A prime example of this is Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. This novel is told from a dual perspective by the only two African American students at Nievus Private Academy, Chiamaka Adebayo, and Devon Richards. Chiamaka is at the top of the Nievus food chain, having manipulated her way to being the #1 predator. If Chiamaka is a tertiary consumer, then Devon is much lower on the food chain. He does not have many friends and likes to keep his head down, preferring to focus his Julliard application. The two are forced to work together, however, when an anonymous person, who uses the names Aces, begins to send out text messages to the entire school, revealing sensitive and confidential information about the two’s personal lives. Chiamaka and Devon must stick together to reveal who Aces is and why this person is trying to ruin their lives. Called a mashup of Get Out meets Gossip Girl, Ace of Spades is a thrilling novel you will not be able to put down.
5. If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” Shakespeare fanatics will love this next book. If We Were Villains tells the tale of seven theater students at Dellecher Conservatory. Now, in their final year, the troupe puts on a fall production of Julius Caesar. Tensions heighten between the cast and reach a breaking point when one of the seven is found dead after a drunken night of revelry. The remaining six are now forced to take on an additional role: innocent bystanders. Told from the perspective of Oliver Marks (one of the troupe’s extras), ten years after being released from prison for the incident, the reader will learn what happened during that seasonally warm autumn a decade ago. If We Were Villains weaves tragedy, murder, and desire in a way that would make the bard proud.