Category: dark academia
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R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis May Be My Most Disappointing Read of 2025
Katabasis has been the most anticipated release within dark academia fiction in 2025, and honestly it has been one of the most anticipated books of the whole year overall. Unfortunately, R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis completely missed the mark for me, and I might shock you in saying I have DNFed it. Two graduate students must set…
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Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six Finally Makes an Appearance
I finally read The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake which has been a dark academia staple and book recommendation for years now. It feels like everyone and their dog has read this on bookish social media, which is certainly true among the accounts I follow who read DA, so it was about time I picked…
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Tantalising Dark Academia in An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
I don’t quite know how to word this, so let me word vomit for a bit to get my thoughts across. I have just finished An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson and my head is a bit everywhere. This dark academia novel laced with horror and supernatural elements has held my attention for a…
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My Brain Hurts After Reading Janice Hallett’s The Examiner
I’m in shock after reading Janice Hallett’s The Examiner, in part due of how creative and immersive it is and in part because of all the layers and how they culminate in a wild, tension-filled conclusion. I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this dark academia crime novel, but it certainly wasn’t…
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Deborah Harkness’ Lush Adult Fantasy World Expands With The Black Bird Oracle
And the wonder continues within the All Souls universe. Deborah Harkness’ The Black Bird Oracle is the fifth instalment in the All Souls Series, following the events of the original three books A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life, and we cannot forget about Time’s Convert. With so much more…
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My All Souls Trilogy Review
Possibly my favourite historical fiction fantasy series ever, the All Souls Trilogy had me hooked from A Discovery of Witches and refused to let me go until I closed the back cover of The Book of Life. Deborah Harkness has created a magnificent. richly detailed, layered story world with incredible characters and conflicts that feel…
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The Dark Academia Read of the 2020s is R.F. Kuang’s Babel
Dark academia is a popular genre among young readers, and it has made a resurgence over the last decade or so. Babel, R.F. Kuang’s powerhouse of a novel published in 2022, is the dark academia book of the 2020s, sitting next to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and M.L Rio’s If We Were Villains of…
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Deborah Harkness’s The Book of Life Is Not The Conclusion I Expected
After the incredible introduction into the supernatural story world in A Discovery of Witches and the mesmerising follow up in Shadow of Night, I thought I knew what direction Deborah Harkness’s The Book of Life would take. I was wrong. Not only was a given a read that would continue to surprise me, but I…