Fall time is the perfect time to read Dark Academia books in my opinion. And after seeing a Goodreads post about 141 Dark Academia reads for this fall I was inspired to see which ones I had on my TBR. I have a couple of really popular ones that I still need to read haha. Hopefully I can pick them up this fall!
Katabasis – R.F. Kuang
This is my newest addition to my shelves. I’m really excited to dive into this one, although I have heard a lot of mixed things. Since I’m really tired at the moment, I feel like I should probably wait until my fall break before picking this up. That way I can give it a honest chance, and hopefully I’ll enjoy it as much as I think I will.
Arcana Academy- Elise Kova
I have an eARC for this one and I should really read it. Elise Kova is one of those authors I would love to pick up more from. I’m really excited about this one, but I have a feeling I will be saying that about all of the books on this list haha. This one has to do with tarot magic and that makes me curious!
The Raven Scholar – Antonia Hodgson
Another one I have an eARC for! And I have heard so many good things about this one. Everyone seems to love this book and I’m so excited to dive in. I love that this has a competition element, it’s one of my favorite things in books.
Legendborn – Tracy Deonn
This is another popular read and I have heard a lot of people say it’s one of their favorite books ever. I’ll admit, I didn’t have that many expectations of the book at first, but with all those raving reviews I think I might finally have to check it out.
The Atlas Six – Olivie Blake
A little while ago everyone seemed to have read this book, it was going all around booktok. There are a lot of mixed reviews, but I think I might still enjoy this one. This one has a bit of a competition element as well.
Babel – R.F. Kuang
Another R.F. Kuang! So far I have loved every book I’ve read by her and I think this one will be high on the list as well. It sounds like a book I would adore and I have really high hopes. The Tower of Babel has always been a favorite story of mine and I can’t wait to see how it is translated to this story.
Those are 6 Dark Academia books on my TBR! I’m really excited to dive into all of these and I really hope I can read some of them this fall. Have you read any of these? Which one should I pick up first? Let me know down below!
I’m currently an hour away from finishing the audiobook of The Raven Scholar and I gotta say, it’s become a new all-time favorite of mine! I highly recommend it, though I actually wouldn’t categorize it as “dark academia,” since the fact that Neema (the main character) is a scholar actually doesn’t play much of a role in the story and the setting isn’t an academic one. It’s much more political fantasy with a hint of murder mystery and a sprinkling of epic fantasy. Nonetheless, even though it may not check the box of “dark academia,” it still is an outstanding and phenomenal book, and if you enjoy fantasy—particularly, fantasy with intricate, complex plotlines following a cast of characters who are each incredibly developed in a beautifully crafted fantasy world where everything from the settings to the history to the mythology to the cultural background of the world is incredibly detailed but not in an info-dump way—then I think it’s safe to say you’ll likely enjoy this one! Also, if you enjoy audiobooks, I’d recommend listening to The Raven Scholar as there are some (sparingly used) sound effects and music and the narrator is top-notch!