allie| xxiv |Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw," that shadowy crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? Also owner of http://theloving.tumblr.com
Alignment chart of dark academia books, emphasis on the academia. I have read them all and this is my take on it all.
Is the novel a dark academia because it takes place in a school and there are a lot of "dark" themes or is it a dark academia because the atmosphere is grim and the characters are pursuing knowledge.
Also book recommendations, I think people would like the books that fall in the same quadrant.
Books under the read more.
Top Left: My favourite corner where I just want the author to flex their niche knowledge.
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
If We Were Villains - M. L. Rio
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies - Heather Fawcett
Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo
The Raven Boys - Maggie Steifvater
The Secret History - Donna Tarte
Babel - R. F. Kuang
Bottom right: The intersection between lots of deaths and some niche knowledge. This one is a bit more hand wavey so here are some explanations.
Blood Over Bright Haven - M. L. Wang: Often compared to Babel but has way less niche knowledge and more transactional deaths.
Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir: This one is a sequel but the convoluted plot lives in my head rent free and it’s Dark (Goth) Academia.
Bunny - Mona Awad: Lots of allusion to literature and mythology. Also lots of dark, bunnies and swans.
Bottom Left: Takes place in a school that people are trying to survive.
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Vicious - V. E. Schwab
Legendborn - Tracy Deonn
Ace of Spades - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Atlas Six - Olivie Blake
Deadly Education - Naomi Naovik
Top Left: Happens in a school and pretty light on death but has “dark” themes.
The River King - Alice Hoffman
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson
The Initial Insult - Mindy McGinnis
A Study in Drowning - Ava Reid
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath - Moniquill Blackgoose
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
You Feel It Just Below the Ribs - Janina Matthewson and Jeffrey Cranor
“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.”
this site definitely doesn't allow you to paste the link to any article blocked by a paywall (say, a NYT article) so that you can read it free of charge! that would be illegal and would benefit broke college students too much. it definitely does not do that. promise.
stormborns
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
prguitarman
