The Dark Academicals

We discussed Phoebe Wynne’s debut novel, ‘Madam’, in the very first season of the podcast and it’s a favourite book of both of ours. The vibes were immaculate and so we had to give ‘The Ruins’ a go too. There’s something about the way that Wynne crafts setting and atmosphere which screamed dark academia in ‘Madam’ so we can’t wait to see her turn her hand to a sun-drenched setting and see what bri...

We are tackling a sequel for the first time on the podcast this week, because who can deny the world a trip to Hell with Leigh Bardugo. It’s time to head back to Yale and fall in love with Alex and Darlington all over again. If they make it out alive, that is… There will be spoilers for book one, ‘Ninth House’, in this week’s episode and the information below so please tread carefully if you haven...

It’s happening. We’re finally doing it. The book launching Season Five (!!) of ‘The Dark Academicals’ is RF Kuang’s huge 2022 release, ‘Babel’. We’re both new to Kuang and have been completely intimidated by the hype for ‘Babel’, but it’s time. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. Oxford, 1836. The city of dreaming spires. It is the centre of all knowledge and...

‘My Dearest Darkest’ seems to have flown a little under our dark academia radar and it’s one of those novels that I’ve seen people haul, but never actually read and review. We’re giving it it’s moment today. ‘Wilder Girls’ meets ‘The Craft’ in this Sapphic horror debut that asks: what price would you be willing to pay to achieve your deepest desires? Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student...

This debut is one of our most anticipated books of the year and we jumped at the chance to get it on the line-up for season 4. I mean, have you see that cover?! Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to find the right people and reinvent herself. And then she meets Tabitha. Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon...

It’s already time for our dark academia adjacent title for season 4! And we’re going in BIG. Confession time: Sophie had somehow got to the ripe old age of 30 without reading ‘Interview With the Vampire’, or any of Anne Rice’s novels, so this one was at her request. Sarah has been a fan since her teen years so she was more than happy to indulge the request. In this episode we discuss: The language...

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a completely beloved author of sumptuous, historical novels so maybe you’re wondering why we’re tackling one of her novels for ‘The Dark Academicals’ - well, stick with us. Gothic fantasy can be dark academia, plus it’s set in a big mansion, the summary speaks of secrets and mysteries and we’re a sucker for beautiful writing. Now, Sophie has a tricky relationship with histo...

Our second episode of the season tackles a book that has been on our radars for a really long time - ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’ by Victoria Lee. This book had some real buzz on TikTok last year and it pushed it even higher up our lists. With a boarding school, the possibility of haunting witches, and child novelist prodigies, I’m not sure how it could be anything less than brilliant fun. Or is it way...

We’re back for season 4! You’ve missed us, right? We’ve missed recording the podcast so we’re so pleased to be back. Our first title this season is Kelly Andrew’s debut, ‘The Whispering Dark’ and what a book to kick off the new season with! This hauntingly atmospheric novel delivers endless vibes and a love interest that threw us right back to the bad boys with bad attitudes of Golden Age YA of ol...

It’s the finale of Season 3 of ‘The Dark Academicals’ and we’re hoping to end on a dark academia induced high. Now don’t be put off by the UK paperback cover of ‘The Swallows’. It really looks nothing like a dark academia novel, it looks more like a gritty thriller, but the American cover was what caught our attention and prompted us to see what it was all about.

‘Vicious’ in the first book in a much-loved duology by and even more loved author, VE Schwab, and we’re super excited to tackle it for ‘The Dark Academicals’ this week. Melding brilliantly clever university students, toxic relationships, danger and mysterious Extraordinaries, it already seems to tick some of our boxes. But does it pass the dark academia vibe check?

Oh, this book. Are our hearts ready for the dark academia adjacent title for season 3? Unsure, but we’re doing it anyway. We put the book for this episode to a vote by your guys, our lovely listeners, and this novel won by a landslide! ‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller retells the kind of story from the worlds and legends that captivate the protagonists of dark academia novels, and it’s th...

This week we have something a little different for ‘The Dark Academicals’: dark academia…smut? Yep. ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ is the first book in a super spicy dark academia series by a TikTok fave author. Sarah has already read and loved the book so we’re both ready to delve into something fun: Twelve years ago, I left Thornchapel—and the two boys I gave my heart to—behind. And now I've returned, hop...

We are both so excited and so nervous to dive into this weird and wonderful novel for the podcast. ‘Bunny’ by Mona Awad is our second pick for this season and what a novel! This has been on our radar for a little while already, but the love and buzz it’s been receiving from BookTok recently has pushed it higher and higher up our priority list. It sounds like the perfect read for ‘The Dark Academic...

We’re back! It seems like we only closed out Season 2 with the wonderful ‘The Raven Boys’ only days ago, but it’s been seven weeks! Autumn is now in full swing here in the south of England and it’s dark academia season bby. It’s only right to start the season with a bang. It’s time to bring a Leigh Bardugo novel into our little universe and we’re diving into ‘Ninth House’ ahead of the release of t...

The season 2 finale is upon us and we’re rounding off the season by revisiting a favourite of both of ours, the first book in Maggie Stiefvater’s ‘The Raven Cycle’, ‘The Raven Boys’. We adore this book and had to squeeze it in the line-up. Making it the last book of the season means we’re ending on a real high. We know ‘The Raven Boys’ is magical realism, but can it also be considered dark academi...

If a book gets tagged as ‘Dark Academia’ then heck yes we’re going to scope it out. That goes for YA titles like Goldy Moldavsky’s ‘The Mary Shelley Club’ which we are featuring on this episode of ‘The Dark Academicals’ podcast.

It’s that time in the season where we explore what we call a “Dark Academia Adjacent” title. For season 2 of The Dark Academicals, that’s Oscar Wilde’s memorable Gothic classic ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. For an “adjacent” title we discuss how or why a certain title can be attributed the “Dark Academia” title, or recognise how it has influenced and informed the genre as it has grown and develope...

Alex Michaelides took both BookTok and Bookstagram by storm with 'The Silent Patient', and now with 'The Maidens' the "Dark Academia" buzz that has surrounded this book has us wondering if it can truly live up to the hype. Is 'The Maidens' a Dark Academia read? Or is it simply borrowing enough from the genre to slide by? Let's explore!

The second episode of season two heads to Swarthmore College with Meg Wolitzer’s debut novel, ‘Sleepwalking’. While Wolitzer is more famous for her more recent novels, ‘The Female Persuasion’ and ‘The Interestings’, we follow Claire Danziger and the other ‘death girls’ as they obsess over the work, life and suicides of three famed female poets: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Wolitzer’s creation, Lu...

We’re back! And we’re starting off with a bang with dark academia TikTok fave ‘The Atlas Six’ by Olivie Blake. This book has been all over your socials from Bookstagram to BookTwitter to BookTok, you know you’ve seen it and you’ve been intrigued by it, at least. The term “dark academia” has become synonymous with it, it seems. But is it really a Dark Academia title? Listen as we dig deep into the...

The season one finale of ‘The Dark Academicals’ sees us exploring ‘Catherine House’ by Elisabeth Thomas about a forboding university full of secrets, surpises and a shockingly sinister purpose as our protagonist, Ines, grapples with what Catherine wants from her. We loved ‘Catherine House’ and we’re so happy to end the season on such a high.

This week’s episode of ‘The Dark Academicals’ took us to an exclusive private school with an anonymous texter attempting to bring down the school’s only two black students with escalating methods of cruelty in Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s dark academia social thriller, ‘Ace of Spades’.

In this episode we explore F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous book 'The Great Gatsby'. This American Classic is being featured as a 'Dark Academia Adjacent' title. This means it might not seem like it fits under the Dark Academia umbrella, but we're going to show you how and why it does! Plus, we discuss the wider criticisms within the text as well as deep dive into some of the characters.

Welcome to The Dark Academicals. The podcast that delves into the mythos of Dark Academia, one book at a time. Episode information and transcript Instagram