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Back to School with 33 Tales of Campus Life
It's the season of sharpened pencils, syllabi, and…maybe a few murders here and there? That's right: Dark academia is all the rage when it comes to campus fiction these days.
If you're into that kind of thing, we've put together a reading list of recent and upcoming adult and young adult fiction (and a tiny bit of nonfiction) that features a prominent academic setting and has at least a 3.5-star average rating. So bid farewell to kindly teachers and idyllic school experiences and say hello to shocking secret societies, beleaguered graduate students, professorial power imbalances, and murderous mayhem.
Scroll over the covers below to learn more about each book, and be sure to add the titles that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf!
Adult Fiction
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Young Adult Fiction
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Nonfiction
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Which are your favorite dark academia reads? Let's talk books in the comments!
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I’m a big fan of campus novels, and I do enjoy dark academia, but I wish there were more campus novels that just followed normal college life without the now-expected cults and murders. I’m always looking for more books along the lines of The Art of Fielding, Starter for Ten, or the university sections of Brideshead Revisited and The Female Persuasion, but they seem few and far between. Would love a list of non-dark academia campus novels!
I am absolutely pleased to see These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever and Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo on this list! They're both spectacular, one of a kind books that explore masculinity and queerness in a very refreshing narrative (with the most gorgeous prose) and deserve more recognition!!! Of course, other honorable mentions include Ace Of Spades, A Lesson In Vengeance, and How We Fall Apart!!!
Dark Academia art institutions, industries and intellectuals— all working to a whole world o’ dark age.
I love "dark academia" novels, but I gotta say, The Maidens is, in my opinion, hot garbage, I would very much not recommend it to anyone.
Amanda wrote: "I love "dark academia" novels, but I gotta say, The Maidens is, in my opinion, hot garbage, I would very much not recommend it to anyone."agree 100%
please skip this one
Ronan wrote: "Argh – not syllabi, please. Syllabus is not a latin word and has a remarkable history. It is a misreading of "sittyba", which is greek for a book-label. It is the only misprint I know that has beco..."I haven’t been taking Latin very long, but is the correct plural mons venerium? I think it is the genitive in the third declension, but please correct me if I’m wrong.
I would add The Likeness and The Secret Place by Tana French and The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.
N.P. By Banana Yoshimoto and The Secret History by Donna Tartt are ny favourite campus novels and both are missing from this list.
Ronan wrote: "Argh – not syllabi, please. Syllabus is not a latin word and has a remarkable history. It is a misreading of "sittyba", which is greek for a book-label. It is the only misprint I know that has beco...""Syllabus" is a misreading of Latin "sittybas." Syllabi is just as correct as syllabuses; any dictionary you grab off a shelf or bring up on a web page will verify this.
The Greek word for labels is "sittuba," from which the Latin word arose. Sittuba --> sittyba/sittybas ---> syllabus/syllabi/syllabuses
Amanda wrote: "I love "dark academia" novels, but I gotta say, The Maidens is, in my opinion, hot garbage, I would very much not recommend it to anyone."Agreed.
If We Were Villains was really good!
Molly wrote: "I would add The Likeness and The Secret Place by Tana French and The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides."Agree, love those two books by French!
Ronan wrote: "Argh – not syllabi, please. Syllabus is not a latin word and has a remarkable history. It is a misreading of "sittyba", which is greek for a book-label. It is the only misprint I know that has beco..."You forgot to capitalize "Greek."
Sid wrote: "Not to be THAT person, but a novel set on a campus isn't necessarily dark academia. I'm having a hard time seeing how Transcendent Kingdom and Real Life - both closer to traditional lit fic than an..."Exactly! They did also use the words "campus fiction" and say say that upcoming titles featured "a prominent academic setting".
I don't like that dark academia is becoming an umbrella term because it sets up the wrong expectations. For example, someone had pitched a YA dark academia and I was so excited until I read the synopsis and turned out to be a thriller set at a private school.
Some people are starting to consider the Harry Potter series to be dark academia and it's middle grade!
To me, dark academia is character-driven while thrillers are largely plot-driven. Maybe it doesn't have to be but some of these are just plain old thrillers.
Molly wrote: "I would add The Likeness and The Secret Place by Tana French and The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides."YES!
Others to include:- Ninth House
- A Discovery of Witches
- A Little Life
- Norwegian Wood
- Never Let Me Go
- The Secret History
- If We Were Villains
- Truly Devious
- Black Chalk
- The Ancient None
- The Incendiaries
- We Wish You Luck
- Catherine House
- Bunny
- They Never Learn
- A Light Amongst Shadows
- The Magician's
Some are more relevant than others...
Amanda wrote: "I love "dark academia" novels, but I gotta say, The Maidens is, in my opinion, hot garbage, I would very much not recommend it to anyone."Amanda wrote: "I love "dark academia" novels, but I gotta say, The Maidens is, in my opinion, hot garbage, I would very much not recommend it to anyone."
Why not? I'm excited to read it but decided to wait to do so, could you maybe explain why you think it's bad? Thanks!
English plurals are with an s. If you want to use latin plurals, you have to pass a short test : give the correct plural for "mons veneris".