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.
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