42 Dark Academia Books: The Ultimate Reading List
Maybe you’ve seen the Dark Academia aesthetic floating around, maybe you spotted our article on it, and maybe you now feel like it’s a bit of you. Or, at least, you want to read more books that can be shaded under this umbrella…
You’ve come to the right place, friend.
Here’s a quick crash course, in case you’re still a little hazy on the details (would HIGHLY recommend this Insta):
I would also like to point to these notes from the Aesthetic Fandom Wiki:
https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Academia
I’ve made an effort to include more culturally supportive titles within this list, however it is by no means definitive. This is like the starter pack. If you want to pick up the expansion pack (and I sincerely hope that you do) then this is a great place to start:
https://sappylittlebitch.tumblr.com/post/620401404176154624/cultural-dark-academia
There are a couple ways you can approach reading within this aesthetic. Some books are more focused on the overall “feeling” you get from Dark Academia. It’s a vibe thing. Whereas others are focused on the bigger questions and thematic concerns.
This is why you’ll find some titles might not be set at on campus, or feature characters who are students. But if we’re using ‘The Secret History’ as a benchmark, the protagonists will be having the same struggles of intellect.
So, without further ado, here’s your Dark Academia reading list. I hope you’ve got a big book bag and a strong shoulder… (listed in no particular order)
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
- The O.G. in my opinion. This is the book I always point to if someone asks me what I mean by Dark Academia‘If We Were Villains’ by M. L. Rio
- The obvious place to go after ‘The Secret History’‘Ninth House’ by Leigh Bardugo
‘Black Chalk’ by Christoper J. Yates
‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller
- And maybe this one seems like a curveball. But it’s the preoccupation with Classics. Like… Ancient Classics, and Ancient Greece in particular.‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh
‘Gentlemen and Players’ by Joanne Harris
‘Maurice’ by E. M. Forster
‘Loner’ by Teddy Wayne
‘Sleepwalking’ by Meg Wolitzer
‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro
‘The Oresteia’ by Aeschylus
- A personal fave of mine. This trio of Ancient Greek plays are really something!‘Catherine House’ by Elizabeth Thomas
‘Special Topics in Calamity Physics’ by Marisha Pessl
‘Vicious’ by V. E. Schwab
‘Dead Poets Society’ by Nancy H. Kleinbaum
‘Trust Exercise’ by Susan Choi
‘We Wish You Luck’ by Caroline Zancan
‘Plain Bad Heroines’ by Emily M. Danforth
- This book! Both of us are excited to read this one (at the time of writing, it has not yet been physically published in the UK)‘Memoirs of a Woman Doctor’ by Nawal El Saadwari
‘The Tale of Genji’ by Murasaki Shikibu
- an immaculate piece of literature from 11th century Japan. Yes, you saw correct. The 11th century. Often cited as the world’s first novel.‘In Search of Lost Time’ by Marcel Proust
‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley
‘The Satyricon’ by Petronius
‘Bunny’ by Mona Awad
‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Everyone should try to read this book at least once in their life. Or watch the film with Leo in it... No judgements here.‘The Lie Tree’ by Francis Hardinge
‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman
Complete Poems by John Keats
‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony Snicket
- A little self-indulgence, but it has the right vibe.‘Les Miserable’ by Victor Hugo
‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare
- There were many Shakespeare plays that fit the bill, but this one tops it, I think? I was torn between Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. The soliloquies are fabulous in each.‘Ariel’ by Sylvia Plath
- But make it the newer version (published 2004). This includes the poems as Plath wanted them; the original publication saw her estranged husband Ted Hughes drop 12 poems and rejig the configuration of the collection. No. Just no.‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde
‘The Truants’ by Kate Weinberg
‘A Lesson in Thorns’ by Sierra Simone
‘The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories’ by Angela Carter
- Life changing reading.‘Carmilla’ by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
‘Perfume’ by Patrick Suskind
‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara
‘We Were Liars’ by E Lockhart
‘Love Letters: Vita and Virginia’ by Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf
This list is by no means complete. It needs more diversity. It needs more female representation. It needs more Own Voices. However, it should be enough to excite your imagination and get you started engaging with the literature within the aesthetic.
Please do list any titles you feel should make it onto the list and I’ll add them!
Written by Sarah
