@roach-works // Melissa Broder, "Problem Area" // Mary Oliver, "The Return" // @annavonsyfert // Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer // Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance // David Levithan, How They Met and Other Stories // Tennessee Williams, Notebooks
The title of this post is clickbait. I, unfortunately, have not read every book ever. Not all of these books are particularly “dark” either. However, these are my recommendations for your dark academia fix. The quality of each of these books varies. I have limited this list to books that are directly linked to the world of academia and/or which have a vaguely academic setting.
Dark Academia staples:
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum
Vita Nostra by Maryna Dyachenko
Dark academia litfic or contemporary:
Bunny by Mona Awad
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
White Ivy by Susie Yang
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
Attribution by Linda Moore
Dark academia thrillers or horror:
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
Dark academia fantasy/sci-fi:
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
Dark academia romance:
Gothikana by RuNyx
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Dark academia YA or MG:
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Crave by Tracy Wolff
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Dark academia miscellaneous:
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
Hi I’m really sorry to bother you! But I was wondering if you knew where one of the Percabeth fics went? I’m not sure if it’s gone or I just haven’t searched correctly for it…
It’s a fic where Annabeth and Percy are aged up and in college! Annabeth loves that they are um *intimate* in such a sweet way, but really wished that Percy would be a bit rougher sometimes…and he doesn’t disappoint.
Thank you! Love your blog ☺️
Hello, I found this. Not sure if this is the exact one but it sure has a lot of *intimate* Percabeth and darker, dominant Percy.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436266
Sometimes You Have to Lose the Game by orphan_account
Words: 4,493
Pairing: Annaberg Chase/Percy Jackson
Completed: yes
!Warning explicit content!
just some old percabeth smut. Some dom!Percy because this fandom pays him DUST!!
"My name's Dante," he said.
That made me laugh harder. "Sorry," I said.
"It's okay. People laugh at my name."
"No, no," I said. "See, it's just that my name's Aristotle."
His eyes lit up. I mean, the guy was ready to listen to every word I said.
"Aristotle," I repeated.
Then we both kind of went a little crazy. Laughing.
"In the best conversations, you don't even remember what you talked about, only how it felt. It felt like we were in some place your body can't visit, some place with no ceiling and no walls and no floor and no instruments."
-John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
"But when people understand one another without speaking, it can often leave them with very little to talk about, don’t you think?"
-Tove Jansson
Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman // The Voyage Out, Virginia Woolf// Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz//A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman// John Green, Turtles All The Way Down// David Augsburger// Tove Jansson// Meg Wolitzer
Two braids instead of one, I think, recalling Peeta’s first memory of me, when we were in kindergarten. I comb out my hair and plait it in a quick pair of braids, each tied with red ribbon. Our courtship is over, but these are staying.
Peeta wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my cheek. I smile at our reflection. Both of us barefoot on the hardwood, rumpled and happy. Held in amber.
I am beyond blown away by this absolutely breathtaking commission @little-lynx was so kind to accept from my story (read: self indulgent fic-baby) Hearthsong! I can’t thank you enough for this piece, darling! I can’t get over how many details you included! The bittersweet vine and the red candles!And the sweetheart ribbons! And Katniss and Peeta’s newlywed happiness … it just radiates comfort! I adore it so so so so much!
Ryan Hopkinson - Midsommar
i beg you to love me, say that i'm enough, but you tell me— why are you like this? i think there's something wrong with you.
for @shestrying
thanks to @acelania for finding the unknowns!
in image / desperation sits heavy on my tongue, tumblr user tullipsink / mary oliver, ‘north country’ / virginia woolf, letter to violet dickinson / in image / blythe baird, from if my body could speak / Alice in Bed: A Play' by Susan Sontag (link in comment) / lynee rae perkins, criss cross / elena ferrante, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay' (trans. Ann Goldstein) / rainer maria rilke, from rilke’s book of hours / in image/ in image
– multichapter:
can i go where you go? – unofficial college novella
its just wrong enough to make it feel right – princess diaries 2 au
– long aus:
tell me that i'm all you want (even when i break your heart)
you're all i want (so much it's hurting)
don't pretend (you're just a friend)
and when i'm feeling alone (you remind me of home)
why do i keep running from the truth (all i think about is you)
– canon compliant:
everybody wants you (but i don't like a gold rush)
my beginning, my middle, my end
my baby's fit like a day dream
your eyes looked like coming home
i'm just the underdog who finally got the girl
if there's a light at the end (it's the sun in your eyes)
but i want no one else
your love made me crazy
light up the world like only you can do
never knew i could feel that much
– non-canon, alternate universes:
you drew stars around my scars (now i'm bleeding)
tell me i've got it wrong somehow
now i'm missing your smile (hear me out)
you can see it with the lights out
i want you (bless my soul)
i'm so blue (know we're through)
you find all my fics under "#aya writes"! ✦
The title of this post is clickbait. I, unfortunately, have not read every book ever. Not all of these books are particularly “dark” either. However, these are my recommendations for your dark academia fix. The quality of each of these books varies. I have limited this list to books that are directly linked to the world of academia and/or which have a vaguely academic setting.
Dark Academia staples:
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum
Vita Nostra by Maryna Dyachenko
Dark academia litfic or contemporary:
Bunny by Mona Awad
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
White Ivy by Susie Yang
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
Attribution by Linda Moore
Dark academia thrillers or horror:
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
Dark academia fantasy/sci-fi:
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
Dark academia romance:
Gothikana by RuNyx
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Dark academia YA or MG:
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Crave by Tracy Wolff
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Dark academia miscellaneous:
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
“People are inherently terrible” no!!! Have you ever seen a child wait for their friend while they tie their shoelaces? Have you ever known someone who would bring hurt squirrels and rabbits and mice to the nearest vet just so it doesn’t suffer? Have you seen someone grieve? Have you ever read something that hit your heart like a freight train? Have you looked at the stars and felt an unexplainable joy? Have you ever baked bread? Have you shared a meal with a friend? Have you not seen it? All the love? All the good? I know it’s hard to see sometimes, I know there’s pain everywhere. But look, there’s a child helping another up after a hard fall. Look, there’s someone giving their umbrella to a stranger. Look, there’s someone admiring the spring flowers. Look, there’s good, there’s good, there’s good. Look!!!!
Although no one asked, here are my top favourite Anne Shirley-Cuthbert/Gilbert Blythe fanfictions:
1. all this time (how could you not know?) Rating: T / Status: unfinished
2. champagne problems Rating: G / Status: One shot
3. dancing with our hands tied Rating: G / Status: Ongoing
4. don’t kiss me (unless you mean it) Rating: T / Status: unfinished
5. drive me crazy Rating: G / Status: Completed
6. explain the infinite Rating: T / Status: One shot
7. in which anne socks billy Rating: T / Status: Completed
8. please don’t cover my barbed wires, untangle them Rating: T / Status: Ongoing
9. possibility and choice Rating: G / Status: Completed
10. say my name, don’t ever stop Rating: G / Status: Completed
11. spin that bottle (land on my heart) Rating: G / Status: Completed
12. strangely ours souls are constructed Rating: G / Status: Completed
13. the wee tragical love tales of saturn Rating: G / Status: One shot
(much of them, i realize now, are inspired by taylor swift songs)