Academia Book Reviews

Hi, I’m Anna Louise, I’m 25 and I am an insomniac. As much as I loathe insomnia, it provides great time for reading! Here are the highlights of my reading

[academiaatitsfinest]

A throe upon the features- A hurry in the breath - An ecstasy of parting Denominated "Death" - — Emily Dickinson

[insomniacreading]

Lady Chatterley's Lover < Mediocre Dramione Fanfiction

I finally read this expecting it to have some intellectual value to warrant being a classic, and instead I come away with a list of similarities between this and the majority of extremely mid dramione fan fiction. Here goes:

FMC and MMC go from being hardly civil to having sex in the span of 30 seconds

MMC refers to FMC using something considered to be a slur 

while they hate each other they describe feelings in a manner such as “he looked at her and felt a stirring in his loins”

Copious and gratuitous trashing of the FMC’s former partner 

A truly unnecessary number of smut scenes 

All sex scenes described using super vague and strange terms

MMC is emotionally unavailable more or less the entire time - we only know he actually likes the FMC from his POV 

Random 1000 word description of a setting in england that feels irrelevant to the plot 

Ends with a bunch of formal lunch and dinner meetings for the FMC’s friends and family to meet her partner who they ultimately disapprove of but sort of accept.

Honorable mention: main character looks in the mirror naked and complains about how thin she’s gotten. Has “large round eyes”

I'm sure this has value for the cultural disruption it caused, but none of its reflections on class dynamics in england are particularly enlightening either. Save your time, go read a fanfiction written by a teen.

[insomniacacademic]

Dark academia reading suggestions, beyond The Secret History: A Separate Peace

From an atmospheric perspective, if you're looking to capture the autumnal, back-to-school spirit of an elite New England school, I recommend this novel. While the characters may not be as intellectual as those in other Dark Academia works, their athletic pursuits convey many of the same themes.

I debated for some time whether this was truly "Dark Academia" or simply a boarding school novel. Ultimately, I chose to include it due to its key theme: the stark mental and physical separation between academia and the "real world." In Dark Academia literature, we often encounter intense, sometimes toxic friendships that thrive within the academic bubble but are short-lived and unsustainable outside of it. These friendships foster radical ideas that similarly cannot endure in reality. A Separate Peace explores this very direct through Finny’s belief that World War II isn't real, and through Leper’s dramatic transformation over the course of the novel. What makes this book particularly compelling is its exploration of how the pressure of a global event manifests within the insulated world of an all-boys boarding school.

[insomniacacademic]

[insomniacreading]

One of the first “Dark Academia” books I read after The Secret History, and still one of my favorites!

On the surface, this book appears to be a murder mystery about cops, as it is part of a larger series that definitely fits that description.

However, one of the cops lives a very dark academia coded life for the majority of the book, and the aesthetics and themes definitely rival those of the Secret History. We see a friend group that is so idyllic from the outside but so close knit it’s toxic. Much like the Secret History, the precariousness of these relationships and the temporary nature of DA friendships is a theme.

Cassie gives us a very careful breakdown of the psychology of all of the group members, and she, a woman and a cop, is a MUCH more reliable narrator than Richard Papen, offering a new opinion and perspective on a group that is admittedly modeled after Donna Tartt’s characters.

Additionally, there is a fair amount of irish history and politics, as well as many beautiful dark academic descriptions of the friends’ home and time spent on the PhDs at Trinity.

I have definite appreciation for fantasy dark academia, but if you’re looking for something grounded in the real world, look no further!

[insomniacacademic]

Dark Academia books, because we can’t only read The Secret History…

[insomniacreading]

This book just scratches the itch in your brain in a really specific way. I highly recommend!

While there are many scenes and settings of the story that can be described as “dark academia”, I classify it as such because of its themes and characters.

This book follows the birth, life, and death of Francis Cornish, an english-canadian from an extremely wealthy family. Throughout all of the seasons of his life, we see both “what is bred in the bone” or Francis’ past experiences coloring his current identity, and we see him being shaped by new experiences that affect the chapters to come. It is a masterpiece of characterization, and it is helped by the fact that Francis’ life is just really interesting. The most “dark academia” part is definitely when he studies art restoration. Francis doesn’t simply do anything, he does everything contemplatively and with philosophy, and the philosophical nature of the work is further aided by the narrators, who are classical daemons (this is not a supernatural story) !!

Anyway, after reading the Secret History, I got really fed up with 90% of suggested dark academia novels being fantasy. i just wanted to read about someone as interesting as Henry Winter! This gets closer to that than many other things I’ve read.