Academia Book Reviews

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.

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.

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) !!