Dark Academia

Yesteryear

Caro Claire Burke · Literary Fiction

'A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE' NITA PROSE 'SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS' CLARE MACKINTOSH…

dark academia · psychological thriller · twist ending · unreliable narrator · gothic atmosphere

Nowhere Burning

Catriona Ward · Literary Fiction

Nowhere Burning is a harrowing tale of survival that places the dark fairy tale of Peter Pan and the ruthless dangers of Lord of the Flies into the…

dark academia · coming of age · survival · morally grey character

The Secret History

Donna Tartt · Literary Fiction

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of…

dark academia · psychological thriller · morally grey character · found family

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Heather Fawcett · Fantasy

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the…

dark academia · cozy vibes · fae · slow burn · found family

Katabasis

R.F. Kuang · Fantasy

'a formidable, timeless work, destined to be a modern classic' OLIVIE BLAKE 'A novel to savour.

dark academia · grimdark · morally grey character · found family · twist ending

Babel

R. F Kuang · Fantasy

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…

dark academia · political intrigue · morally grey character · revenge plot · magic academy

Mad Mabel

Sally Hepworth · Mystery & Thriller

Meet Mad Mabel. Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street, Kenny Lane, for sixty years--longer than…

psychological thriller · dark academia · twist ending · morally grey character

If We Were Villains

M. L. Rio · Literary Fiction

Entreated to tell his side of the story to a detective who put him in prison a decade earlier for a murder he may not have committed, Oliver Marks…

enemies to lovers · friends to lovers · dark academia · obsessive love · found family · revenge plot

Weavingshaw

Heba Al-Wasity · Fantasy

In this debut gothic fantasy, a young woman who can see the dead strikes a deal with the magnetic and dangerous Saint of Silence, a purveyor of dark…

dark academia · gothic atmosphere · forbidden romance · dark romance · morally grey character

Half City

Kate Golden · Fantasy

**Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense.

dark academia · enemies to lovers · slow burn · chosen one · magic academy · found family

Legendborn

Tracy Deonn · Fantasy

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants to escape.

dark academia · urban fantasy · found family · chosen one · magic academy

Phantasma

Kaylie Smith · Fantasy

Welcome to Phantasma. There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love. When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one…

enemies to lovers · dark academia · haunted setting · forbidden romance · quest · twist ending

I, Medusa

Ayana Gray · Fantasy

From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek…

dark academia · coming of age · redemption arc · morally grey character

Immortal Dark

Tigest Girma · Fantasy

Nineteen-year-old orphan Kidan Adane, heiress to a fallen House of humans tethered to vampiric creatures called draniacs, navigates her duty to…

paranormal romance · dark academia · vampires · quest · found family

Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir · Fantasy

"The Emperor needs necromancers.

dark academia · gothic atmosphere · locked room · found family

The Will of the Many

James Islington · Fantasy

The Catenan Republic—the Hierarchy—may rule the world, but they do not know everything.

dark academia · chosen one · quest

Her First Lie

Lucinda Berry · Mystery & Thriller

In this chilling prequel to The Perfect Child, USA Today bestselling author Lucinda Berry plunges readers into the dark origins of a family's…

psychological thriller · dark academia · redemption arc

The Raven Scholar

Antonia Hodgson · Fantasy

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, the reign of Bersun the Brusque has come to an end.

dark academia · slow burn · found family · twist ending

A Game of Thrones

George R. R. Martin · Fantasy

***A Game of Thrones*** is the inaugural novel in ***A Song of Ice and Fire***, an epic series of fantasy novels crafted by the American author…

political intrigue · dark academia · morally grey character · revenge plot

Shadow and Bone

Leigh Bardugo · Fantasy

Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and her only friend, Mal, to become the protegé of the mysterious Darkling, who…

enemies to lovers · dark academia · chosen one · slow burn · love triangle

Nevernight

Jay Kristoff · Fantasy

"In a world where the suns almost never set, a woman gains entry to a school of infamous assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers that…

grimdark · coming of age · revenge plot · dark academia · chosen one

Ninth House

Leigh Bardugo · Fantasy

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class.

dark academia · urban fantasy · trauma recovery · ghosts · demons

Nightshade

Autumn Woods · Fantasy

“I’ll love you with the same intensity that you hate me.” At elite Sorrowsong University, hidden in the misty Scottish Highlands, Ophelia Winters…

dark academia · enemies to lovers · slow burn · forbidden romance · revenge plot · gothic atmosphere

The Red Winter

Cameron Sullivan · Fantasy

A bewitching historical fantasy from a debut author.

dark romance · historical fiction · forbidden romance · revenge plot · dark academia

Heartless

Marissa Meyer · Fantasy

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere.

enemies to lovers · dark academia · slow burn · forbidden romance · redemption arc · morally grey character