dark academia recommendations

Hi friends!

I'm here today to discuss some of my favourite dark academia novels and give some recommendations too!

a short discussion on dark academia

Dark academia is a sub-genre that has become incredibly popular in the past few years. This sub-genre usually falls within the thriller genre. It is, typically, books with a school/academic setting where things take a turn for the worst. These books usually involve murder and mystery, and showing just how terrible academia can be and how knowledge can corrupt.

However, there's not a set definition on what dark academia really is. If you go into what is shelved as "dark academia" on goodreads, you'll be surprised to see the selection of books there - or at least, I was. Why are books like The Great Gatsby or Jane Eyre shelved in this section? Because some of us had to read it for academia?

For myself, I would define the genre as thriller/mystery novels predominantly set in an academic setting, in which the backdrop is important to the plot. So, you won't be seeing books like The Raven Boys in this post - because as much as I absolutely love that book, maybe only 25% of the book is actually set or related to Aglionby Academy.

I obviously don't have any ownership or domain on what makes a novel fit into the 'dark academia' category so take whatever I say with a pinch of salt !