This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is Fall-Themed Freebie. For me, fall still means back-to-school, so here’s a list, in no particular order, of books that fall into one of my favorite fiction categories: dark academia.
If you’re wondering what type of books count as “dark academia”, you’re not alone! Jared Shurin, the editor of a short story collection titled The Elements of Dark Academia, describes it like this:
Dark Academia stories are set in or around an elite institution, with a Gothic, macabre or otherwise sinister atmosphere. The central tension is often between those pursuing knowledge (for love, revenge, or other motives) and those (people or systems) that wish it to stay hidden.
Read the full article, and find out more about the book The Elements of Dark Academia on the publisher’s website here.
One of my favorite books, The Magicians by Lev Grossman – first in a trilogy – falls into this category. And it so happens that Lev Grossman has compiled a list of dark academia books, and written about the subgenre here. Check it out!
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
2. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (First in Scholomance trilogy)
3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
4. Katabasis
LibraryThing’s list of the month is Favorite Campus Fiction, so I looked at that list, too, to remind me what other dark academia books I’ve read.
5. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
6. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
7. Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
8. The Secret Place by Tana French
9. Bradstreet Gate
10. The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
11. If We Were Villians by M. L. Rio
#11 is the only one on my list I haven’t read. I’m planning to listen to If We Were Villains on audio in October!
I’m sharing this with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. You’ll find many other different Top Ten book lists there!
