Pull out your favorite tweed jacket and cozy up in your reading chair with one of these unputdownable dark academia books
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25 Dark Academia Books You’ll Be Totally Obsessed With
Updated on Aug. 19, 2024
Your essential guide to must-read dark academia books
If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably stumbled on photos and videos with a dark academia vibe. You know the aesthetic: moody lighting, autumnal settings and fashion that’s prep-school cool. But while the trend is relatively new, the literary genre goes back decades—even centuries. Dark academia books range from classics like Sherlock Holmes and The Picture of Dorian Gray to more contemporary bestsellers like The Secret History and The Atlas Six.
You’ll find some of the best fiction and mystery books in this subgenre, and they’ll suck you into worlds of academic achievement, introduce you to characters with sharp wits, toss you mysteries or magic (or both) and make you long for a spot in a quiet library where you can read undisturbed. (If you like Wednesday Addams’s aesthetic, you should know it is 100% dark academia.)
To come up with our list of the best dark academia books, we scoured shelves for bestsellers, award-winners and books with stellar reviews from critics, fans and even Reader’s Digest editors. And, of course, we made sure all fit the definition of dark academia books. The result? Some of the best books you’ll ever read.
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The Secret History by Donna Tartt
For fans of: The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon, We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan and Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
Still unclear on what makes a book dark academia? Read The Secret History. Donna Tartt’s 1992 tome has become the blueprint for dark academia books, with fans even coveting the appropriately academic clothing the author wears in photos. The story revolves around six friends who attend a small liberal arts college in Vermont and study the classics under a charismatic professor. Also, they commit murder. The Secret History became an instant classic and is still finding new audiences three decades later. The intellectual storytelling and themes of morality also make it an ideal novel for book club discussions.
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The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
For fans of: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
This 2022 New York Times bestselling novel has a backstory almost as compelling as its plot: Author Olivie Blake (a pen name for Alexene Farol Follmuth) couldn’t find anyone to buy her fantasy novel about six aspiring magicians who are forced to live together (like a magical Real World) and compete to gain admission into a secret society that holds the world’s knowledge. So she self-published. Soon, fans began touting the novel on #BookTok. Not only did a publisher snap up the story in a bidding war, but the book is being made into a series for Amazon Prime. Does The Atlas Six live up to the huge hype? Yes.
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If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
For fans of: These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever and They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
Shakespeare meets the whodunit in M.L. Rio’s 2017 dark academia book. Set in a conservatory, If We Were Villains is divided into five acts centered on seven actors who live, breathe and betray in Shakespearean proportions. The suspenseful novel opens with the main character, Oliver, being released after serving 10 years in prison for the murder of his classmate. But what really happened that fateful night? The dialogue, action and setting all make for the perfect darkly academic read.
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Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
For fans of: The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto and Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
From the award-winning author of Ace of Spades comes a new and riveting tale of boarding-school madness in Where Sleeping Girls Lie. Disappearances. Dark secrets. Homeschooling. Death! Indeed, this 2024 YA novel is a deadly delight, following new-girl Sade Hussein, who is starting her junior year at an exclusive boarding school. Her high anxiety levels settle a bit as she begins to make friends, but when her roommate disappears, everything starts to spiral. Fast paced and captivating, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s YA novel is a great LGBTQ book pick and a story you won’t want to put down until you hit the end.
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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
For fans of: Babel by R.F. Kuang and The Secret History by Donna Tartt
This 2019 adult debut from New York Times bestselling young adult author Leigh Bardugo cemented her place as a must-read author of adult fiction. Ninth House centers around Galaxy (“Alex”) Stern, who can see ghosts, or “grays,” as she calls the sometimes benign, sometimes dangerous spirits. Healing and reeling from a traumatic past, Alex gets the rare opportunity to go to Yale, but only if she keeps an eye on the secret societies that run the school—and the world. Both the writer (a Yale alum herself) and protagonist are wicked smart, offering keen observations about privilege and the patriarchy.
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The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
For fans of: Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
The 2019 sophomore novel from The Night Circus author Erin Morgenstern is a lush, fantastical book about books. The Starless Sea may take place in our world—Zachary Ezra Rawlins is the son of a fortune-teller and a student at a Vermont college (very dark academia)—but there are worlds and worlds of stories that will suck you in. As this fantasy novel unfolds, Zachary discovers a mysterious book in the library that tells a story from his childhood that nobody else could ever know. He soon finds his way to an ancient underground library filled with magic that some are trying to keep secret and others are hoping to destroy.
“Brimming with glorious descriptions that add magic to the tale, the book is a book lover’s dream,” says Reader’s Digest Books Editor Tracey Neithercott. “Pick this one up when you want a transportive story that brings to life a world you’ll want to live in.”
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The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
For fans of: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
Called the bible of dark academia books, this 1891 classic novel by Oscar Wilde is perennially entertaining and horrifying. The Picture of Dorian Gray is Wilde’s only Gothic novel, and it centers on a young man, Dorian, who trades his soul for eternal youth and beauty. While Dorian stays endlessly young decade after decade, the portrait of him hung in his attic grows older and crueler until he finally makes it stop. The cautionary tale still resonates centuries later with themes of morality, evil and death.
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A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
For fans of: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
A finalist for the National Book Award and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 novel, A Little Life, is a powerful, emotional story. But know what you’re getting into before you pick it up: One reviewer called it “the saddest book I have ever read,” and indeed, you’ll probably cry. In this novel about four male friends who attended a small school in Massachusetts together, the protagonist, Jude, suffers terrible childhood trauma. As the flashbacks play out (trigger warning for sexual abuse), it’s the enduring friendships of the group that help balance the book’s heartbreak and darkness with a thread of hope.
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An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
For fans of: A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher and The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
This September 2024 release by Alexis Henderson takes place at a small college of magic in Savannah, Georgia—Deep South and old magic territory. In An Academy for Liars, our primary protagonist, Lennon, is selected to study at the prestigious and secretive college, falling in love with its enchanting campus and enigmatic, fascinating professors—especially one of them. But as she pursues her rigorous training and undergoes tests, she has to wonder what exactly her powers are being honed for … and that is only the starting question. Once she opens Pandora’s box, can she ever go back to simply being a good student at a magical college? If you gobble up dark academia books, you’re going to want to add this one to your bookshelf.
Bunny by Mona Awad
For fans of: Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Like a lot of other dark academia books, 2019’s Bunny by Mona Awad takes place at a university—in a prestigious New England MFA program, to be exact. Scholarship student Samantha Heather Mackey disdains the cliquey girls she calls the “bunnies.” That is, until she befriends them and falls down a dark rabbit hole of twisted friendships, magic and deadly rituals.
Need another reason to pick up this tale of female friendship and power? Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, tweeted her love for the book, saying, “Jon Swift + Witches of Eastwick + Kelly ‘Get In Trouble’ Link + Mean Girls + Creative Writing Degree Hell! No punches pulled, no hilarities dodged, no meme unmangled! O Bunny you are sooo genius!”
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The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
For fans of: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
This 2005 modern classic is a wonderful read for lovers of both historical fiction and vampire books. In it, the studious narrator stumbles upon an old book with the word Drakulya on the cover. So begins her search for clues about Vlad the Impaler (on whom Dracula is based) and information about how his dark history entwines with her own family secrets. The exciting history and gorgeous locales make this a vibrant read you won’t forget.
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Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
For fans of: The Night Climbers by Ivo Stourton and In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
This 2020 novel has all the makings of the best dark academia books: an academic setting (Harvard, of course), paranormal activity (ghosts!) and a murder mystery to boot. Ghosts of Harvard follows Cady, whose schizophrenic brother committed suicide at Harvard the year before. Trying to understand what led to her sibling’s demise, Cady enrolls in Harvard too, and armed with her brother’s notebook of dark writings, she endeavors to understand what really happened—even if it costs her her life.
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A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
For fans of: The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven and The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
A 2021 young adult novel, A Lesson in Vengeance takes readers to the Dalloway School, an old boarding school in the Catskills where, years before, five students died mysteriously—possibly because they were witches. Felicity Morrow has taken a year off school after the untimely death of her girlfriend. Now back at Dalloway, she gets caught up in the scary search for the truth about why so many students here end up dead.
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A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
For fans of: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth and The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
From Allison Saft, the bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic, comes this September 2024 noir mystery-adventure meets fantasy-romance. A Dark and Drowning Tide features a folklorist named Lorelei Kaskel, who sets out with a small crew to find a magical spring that is said to hold untold power. But when a murder takes place on the voyage and everyone except her beautiful rival has a motive, the sapphic story takes an unexpected turn. Mystery, mayhem, murder and myth come together in a story that will keep you turning pages until the very end.
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A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
For fans of: How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao and The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl
“I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.” So reads the first line of this New York Times bestselling YA novel from Naomi Novik (best known for her standout Temeraire fantasy book series for adults). Published in 2020, A Deadly Education is the first in a trilogy set at Schoolmance, a black magic school for wizards that’s full of secrets and danger. There, Orion Lake has made a name for himself by saving his fellow students from the dark forces of Schoolmance, evil spirits of “maleficaria” that feed on the magic energy of the student body. Protagonist Galadriel (“El”) Higgins—a half-Welsh, half-Indian sorceress with a famous healer for a mother—is less than impressed. She’s also well suited to surviving the place … if she doesn’t kill everyone in the process. The genius cliffhanger ending will have you eagerly seeking out the next installment.
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Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
For fans of: These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever and If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang
Catherine House is a fictional university set in rural Pennsylvania that has graduated prize-winning authors, artists, Supreme Court justices and presidents. But things are strange from the very beginning. For one thing, tuition is free. In return, every student admitted to the school has to cut all ties to the past for three years, including summers. No friends and family can visit, and no personal belongings or even clothing are allowed. In this 2020 book by Elisabeth Thomas, wild child Ines yearns for a home yet finds shocking discoveries in these hallowed halls.
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Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
For fans of: Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda and People Like Us by Dana Mele
Dark academia has been (justifiably) accused of being Eurocentric, which is why Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s 2021 YA novel, Ace of Spades, reads like such a breath of fresh air. At the Niveus Private Academy, two students are being framed by an anonymous bully who goes by the nickname Aces. It’s up to our two protagonists to stop Aces and save their reputation before things get even uglier. Smart and suspenseful, this stands out among dark academia books for tackling important topics like racism while also being wickedly entertaining.
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Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
For fans of: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
We had to wait 16 years for another novel by Susanna Clarke (of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell acclaim), but Piranesi is well worth the wait. Published in 2020, the novel is a fantastical take on the dark academia genre. The protagonist, Piranesi, lives in a labyrinthine house of endless halls and impossibilities (think indoor oceans), keeping a record of his explorations of his contained world. He’s alone, except for an occasional visitor he calls the Other, and if that all sounds very mysterious to you, that’s because it is.
Piranesi is at once a fantasy novel and a compelling mystery that’ll have you working to discover Piranesi’s real identity and how he came to live in the house. The surprising ending will make you wonder what is real, what is magic and what is created when we’re trying to survive. “I’ll admit I spent the beginning of this book wondering what was going on. But I beg you: Stick with it,” says Neithercott. “Wholly original and extraordinarily imaginative, Piranesi unfurls slowly but purposefully. When I finished the last page, I was stunned—and a little sad I’d never be able to read this book for the first time again.”
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
For fans of: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
If you’re hungry for more vampire novels that veer into dark academia, Tigest Girma, an Ethiopian writer based in Melbourne, Australia, has you covered with this September 2024 release. Girma has also gifted the painfully White genre with a great gift: Black vampires—and you’ll want more of them by the end. Immortal Dark poses a simple question—What would you do to save a sister?—then explores that to the deepest reaches of the human (or not-so-human) soul.
When main character Kidan’s sister disappears, she goes undercover in a quest for the truth in this powerful, imaginative and absolutely riveting story, complete with a morally gray character (we know you love them), a villain you’ll love to hate and a delicious romance that doesn’t overwhelm the plot.
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Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
For fans of: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor and The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
More than a few people have wondered whether J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter books actually qualify as dark academia, so we’re here to set the record straight: They do. Think about it. Much of the story centers on learning, and the later books get fairly dark in tone. Plus, if you’ve ever seen the movies, you know the series fits the aesthetic visually, no matter the wizard’s robes. Start with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, first published stateside in 1998.
It’s the children’s book that launched the worldwide phenomenon and introduced our favorite characters, including Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore. It’s nostalgic and good fun to reread (see if you can find the hidden messages this time around!), and there’s no better place to indulge your love for dark academia than the imagined Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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Confessions by Kanae Minato
For fans of: Out by Natsuo Kirino
Buckle up for a book that’ll grip you from the start and stick with you long after you turn the last page. Penned by Japanese writer Kanae Minato, part of a new wave of acclaimed Asian authors finding success stateside, Confessions became an international sensation that was later turned into a movie. First published in 2008 in Japan and 2014 in the United States, this gripping tale of tragedy and revenge begins as a lecture. Yuki Moriguchi, who has just lost her only child in a playground accident at the middle school where she teaches, is addressing the students. Ultimately, she accuses two students of killing her 4-year-old daughter and sets her revenge plans in motion.
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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
For fans of: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
This 2020 bestseller, which the New York Times lauded as “Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America,” is an instant classic that’s being made into a Hulu TV series. Set in 1950s Mexico, Mexican Gothic centers on fiercely independent Noemí Taboada, who’s tasked with saving a cousin who is being poisoned and held against her will in the family mansion. Gothic horror with a twist (the book pulls in elements of feminist fiction and dark academia), the thriller is, as NPR noted, “an inspired mashup of Jane Eyre, The Mysteries of Udolpho, Dracula, Rebecca and The Blob.”
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Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
For fans of: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown and This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
An immediate New York Times bestseller and winner of the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent, Tracy Deonn’s 2020 YA novel Legendborn centers on Bree Matthews, who is reeling from her mother’s accidental death. Looking for escape, she enrolls in a teen program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where an incident unlocks Bree’s magic and the truth about what really happened to her mother. With its university setting, a secret society, diverse characters and a mystery to pull you along, this is a dark academia book that’ll appeal to teens and adults alike.
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A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
For fans of: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson and The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
You’ll no doubt find yourself itching to visit the hallowed halls of Oxford’s Bodleian Library by the end of Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches, the 2011 start to her All Souls book series. When scholar Diana Bishop comes across an alchemical manuscript long thought lost, she’ll have to tap into the witchy powers she’s pushed aside to solve a mystery that holds the supernatural world in its grip. And she’ll have to do it alongside a vampire geneticist who’s as tempting to her as she is to him. Harkness is a scholar of history herself, bringing realism and depth to the story.
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The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
For fans of: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Maggie Stiefvater’s 2012 YA novel The Raven Boys will launch you into the spellbinding world of The Raven Cycle book series, and there’s a good chance your mind will never leave that magical place. The first book introduces readers to Blue Sargent, who comes from a clairvoyant family and has a prophecy hanging over her head: With a kiss, she will kill her true love. That setup has a long (long) payoff, but you won’t mind waiting as you follow Blue and a group of private school boys on their quest to discover and wake an ancient Welsh king.
This YA story simmers with magic, has just enough romance—including a dash of forbidden love—to be exciting but not too much that it draws from the plot and brings with it a strong found-family feeling. It might be hard for you to stop reading after the first book, so our advice? Just keep going.
What is the dark academia book genre?
There isn’t one clear definition of the dark academia book genre, and trying to define it can lead to intense debates. But hey, intellectual pursuits are on theme, so we’ll give it a try.
What is dark academia? As the name implies, “dark academia” books are those that tend to (but don’t always) have an academic setting—like a prestigious university (say Harvard or Oxford) or a boarding school—where something sinister or strange, like a murder or fantastical magic, usually happens. You might love dark academia because it often includes something poetic or beautiful amid the darkness. Some people love dark academia books because they really like the academic aesthetic in general.
Dark academia books can slot neatly into a handful of genres. You’ll find fantasy and mystery books, literary fiction, LGBTQ books, books for women and even romance novels with dark academia vibes. It’s got something for everyone as long as you can handle a serious dose of noir, maybe some murder and a side of academia.
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At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite books for over 100 years. We’ve worked with bestselling authors including Susan Orlean, Janet Evanovich and Alex Haley, whose Pulitzer Prize–winning Roots grew out of a project funded by and originally published in the magazine. Through Fiction Favorites (formerly Select Editions and Condensed Books), Reader’s Digest has been publishing anthologies of abridged novels for decades. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in fiction, including James Patterson, Ruth Ware, Kristin Hannah and more. The Reader’s Digest Book Club, helmed by Books Editor Tracey Neithercott, introduces readers to even more of today’s best fiction by upcoming, bestselling and award-winning authors. For this piece on the best dark academia books, Robyn Moreno tapped her experience as a longtime journalist who covers books for Reader’s Digest and the author Get Rooted to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
