If you've encountered the term 'dark academia' online or in bookshops and wondered what on earth it means, wonder no more! This guide is hear to give you a crash course on the increasingly popular subgenre and help you find the right book to get you started.

Dark academia, like 'cottage core' is often used to describe a particular aesthetic – picture sweater vests, classical statues and handwritten notes stained with black coffee – but it's also a term for a subgenre of books that has been around for decades but has become increasingly popular in the last few years. As the name would suggest, these books involve some sort of academic setting and sinister or perilous situations, like a murder to be investigated, or perhaps covered up . . .

But there are other common themes you'll see across dark academia books: elite, scholarly institutions are a great setting for exploring the privileges of class and the classism faced by those without wealth or status; physical and social isolation are recurring motifs, which often lead to intense, all consuming and ultimately fraught friendships; and readers are often faced with revelations of the lengths someone will go to to protect their place in the social hierarchy.

There are dark acamedia books across realist ficton, fantasy, young adult and adult fiction, so no matter your preference, there'll probably be a title that will tick all your boxes. So check out the recommendations below and begin your journey into the sinister, twisting world of dark academia!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If you look up 'dark academia', you'll almost certainly be met by a recommendation for The Secret History. And there's a reason – this is an absolute powerhouse of a novel that launched Tartt onto the American literary scene in the early nineties. And in the more than 30 years since it was published, it has become a modern classic.

The Secret History has a lot of the hallmarks of the dark academia genre – really the addition of supernatural elements is the only notable difference between it and the latest dark academia books coming out today. I'm not going to tell you too much about it, because really you should just find a copy and start reading – don't ask questions, just do it!

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

This is the other cornerstone of the genre, and a book almost guaranteed to be listed in search results for ‘dark academia’. If We Were Villains is the story of the fraught senior year of seven students at an elite acting college.

Now at the end of a prison sentence, the protagonist, Oliver, recounts that year and the tragedy that lead to his arrest. It’s gripping and emotional, and you really feel the intensity of the characters’ friendships, while at the same time seeing their grief, suspicion and rivalry create cracks between them. It’s also a must-read for Shakespeare fans – the acting college specialises in Shakespeare, and the plays the actors perform and the roles they’re cast in are cleverly used to demonstrate the relationships and years of history between the main players.

It's been seven years since If We Were Villains was first published, and M.L. Rio is finally releasing another book! The Graveyard Shift is out in September and follows five strangers as they come together to investigate a strange occurrence in the local college’s ancient cemetery. I’m incredibly excited for this new addition to the dark academia canon, and it means this is a perfect time to discover the power of Rio’s iconic first book.

Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress

Sirens & Muses is a female-led, queer drama following four art students in New York. While the rest of America grapples with a recession, the students of Wrynn College of Art paint, sketch and sculpt in rarefied comfort.

When Louisa earns a scholarship to the elite school she struggles to fit in with her classmates. But soon, she’s drawn into an intense, sensual relationship with her wealthy and mercurial roommate and a forms wary friendship with an outspoken senior.

Sirens & Muses is about the struggle to define yourself and find your identity, both as a young adult and an artist – where behind every object of beauty is an artist drawn taut by a cutthroat world.

Bunny by Mona Awad

Bunny is the Heathers of dark academia fiction; it follows Samantha, the lone outsider among of group of close-knit rich girls who all call each other ‘Bunny’. Samantha and the Bunnies are the are the only students in their select writing program, and while Samantha holds them in contempt, they also have an undeniable allure. So, when they unexpectedly invite Samantha into the fold, she accepts in spite of herself – a decision that has consequences darker and more wild than she could ever have anticipated.

This is a darkly funny satire crossed with intense thriller, about the joy and horror of having friends you would die for.

The Four by Ellie Keel

The Four is a newer addition to dark academia canon, coming out earlier this year as part of the genre’s rising tide of popularity. It has all the quintessential elements: an exclusive boarding school, scholarship students who are social outsiders in this privileged world, and a shared secret that binds them together but may also tear them apart.

This was released as adult fiction, but it’s particularly good for the ‘new adult’ niche – those in their late teens or early twenties, looking to expand their reading beyond the YA shelves.

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Babel by R.F. Kuang

Fantasy and historical fiction collide in Babel, set in a magical version 19th century Oxford. we follow Robin, an orphan from Canton who’s adopted by an English professor who promises to help Robin learn how to turn silver into magic, through the power of translation.

This is a thoughtful exploration of language and translation, as well as an unflinching depiction of the violence inherent to every aspect of Empire. Class is a common theme in dark academia books, but Babel specifically explores the colonial foundations of the 'civilised' upper-crust, and how the power of the British Empire was built on the exploitation and dismissal of so many other countries.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

If you’ve read Naomi Novik’s fairytale inspired Uprooted or Spinning Silver, you know how imaginative and enthralling her writing is. And if you haven’t, then trust me – she's an author worth reading!

Unlike her other high fantasy books, A Deadly Education is urban fantasy, bringing magic to our everyday world. It follows El, a student at a magical school, who over the years has slowly gotten used to her status as the friendless, intimidating loner. Until a series of misunderstandings make people believe she’s dating the school’s golden boy, and suddenly things start to change.

But this isn’t as twee or heartwarming as it might sound – Novik isn’t just telling an unlikely romance, this is a dangerous, deadly and often unpleasant world, where cunning, power and skill are the only way to survive. El is doing her best to navigate the many dangers of the school, and trying to work out if the next attack will come from a monster in the walls, or from one of her new so-called friends . . .

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Six follows the six proteges of Atlas Blakey, a mysterious figure high-up in the magical Alexandrian Society. The six have the chance to prove themselves over a single year of study, but only five of them will survive to claim a place within the elite society.

You may have already heard of this book, because it gained a cult following after Olivie Blake self-published it in 2020, and it took TikTok by storm when it was republished in 2021. It’s a dark, page-turning read that is equally beloved and divisive, so I recommend picking it up, if only to get involved with the Discourse™.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House is another book you may have already heard about on TikTok, but if you haven’t already read it, it’s a must for dark academia fans!

Alex is a freshman at Yale, but unlike her classmates she’s a dropout, a scholarship student and has been tasked with reporting on the school’s secret societies. If ‘Yale’ and ‘secret society’ makes your mind immediately go to The Life and Death Brigade from Gilmore Girls, you’re on the wrong track – these societies are sinister groups dabbling with black magic, and Alex believes they’re behind a horrifying murder on campus.

There are also plenty of dark academia options for YA readers: start with Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross for an incredible enemies-to-lovers romance that is sure to have you in a chokehold; or Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, a contemporary high school thriller about two Black students battling to hold their rightful place at an exclusive private school. There are also two titles coming out later this year that I'm particularly excited about: Immortal Dark is the start of a new trilogy combining vampires with dark academia (from a debut Australian author!); and Don't Let the Forest In is a queer, gothic take on fairytale horror at an elite boarding school.

For more adult reading, once you've finished the books above, try A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, following Diana, a witch and historian at Oxford University, as her studies draw her into a complex power struggle between vampires, witches and demons. I also have to recommend Plain Bad Heroines – it's rarely on shelves these days, but it's one of my favourite books of all time, and an incredible combination of ghost story, sapphic romance and hollywood tell-all.