As daylight hours wane, the transition to fall is the perfect time to get absorbed in a novel that matches the energy of an eerie evening walk. The literary subgenre of dark academia explores themes of power and deceit, using the shadow of the ivory tower to set the tone for murders, hauntings and speculative thrillers.
Whatever kind of experience you had in school, these four novels will make you feel grateful you weren’t battling literal demons, clearing your name in a classmate’s murder or aiding a plot to kill the vice president’s daughter just to fit in. You may even be so enthralled that you won’t need to grieve that summer is over.
“We Are Villains” by Kacen Callender
This thriller takes place at an elite boarding school months after the mysterious death of Arianna Reynolds. The story is told from the perspectives of Liam, Milo and the recently deceased Ari.
Callender creates a jarring, disorienting world with blunt dialogue that entrenches you in the chaos of Yates Academy, an upstate New York boarding school best described as “Lord of the Flies” meets “Gossip Girl.” Callender’s work doesn’t back away from naming colorism, homophobia and the routine physical and psychological violence of hierarchical high society.
The real jewels of this book are characters like Milo, an autistic trans teen. His problem-solving abilities keep him alive after he’s marked enemy number one when he returns to campus.
“A Darker Mischief” by Derek Milman
Power and status are central to this story about queer, working-class Mississippian Cal Ware, who gets a scholarship to Essex Academy after being the victim of a hate crime known only as “The Incident.”
Cal’s queerness is not a problem at the elite New England boarding school, but his accent, modest clothing and first-generation iPhone are. Cal’s main goal is to become a member of the “Seven Eyes,” a secret society made up of future politicians, billionaires and media executives. Signs, symbols and subtext give the reader as many puzzles to solve as the protagonist.
Milman’s characters are complicated, toxic and hedonistic, and the book explores the messy relationships and problematic behavior that come with the time in your life when you are beginning to step into your identity. As Cal finds acceptance and a romance with brooding sophomore Luke Kim, he may be losing his sense of self. Is it worth having a seat at the table if your hosts would kill to keep you out?
“Batgirl: Possession” by Jade Adia
This DC Universe novel follows Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, as she investigates a string of murders at the prestigious Gotham Academy.
Gotham City is wrought with crime, corruption and endemic poverty. But observations on inequities do not hold much weight when coming out of the mouth of mega-billionaire Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. Adia’s Batgirl is a Black teen entirely too aware of the problems facing her city, marginalized by the same forces she seeks to root out.
Whether it’s sexism that paints her as second to her sometimes partner Robin, or racism that pushes her to be “twice as good,” often at a deadly cost, it’s impossible not to cheer on Batgirl as she takes on a powerful demon targeting Gotham Academy students already harassed for their lack of wealth and whiteness.
“The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s” by Hanna Alkaf
This haunting novel examines trauma and the crushing weight of patriarchal expectations and violence that girls are conditioned to accept, and that young women are forced to stay quiet about.
Fits of hysteria have been infecting students at St. Bernadette’s, an all-girls school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for over a century. Students Khadijah and Rachel, each dealing with their own bitter flavor of family misogyny, try to find whatever or whoever is causing their classmates to abandon their voices.
Any great writer can create a particular world while using that specificity as a vehicle for universal truth. Alkaf is brilliant at it. In a story vivid with cultural references and Malay phrases, Alkaf’s characters and their motivations — including Khadijah’s desperate need to protect her younger sister and Rachel’s desire to be enough despite her imperfections — will stick with you long after you put this novel down.
– Aaliyah D.
This column was originally published in the Seattle Times as part of our monthly column, and is reprinted here with permission.