hopeless romantic society discussion

Love this genre sm and want to read more of it but I feel like people always recommend the same five books. So any recs that aren’t super mainstream would be amazing

babel by rf kuang, jonathan strange & mr norrell by susanna clarke, the maidens by alex michaelides

if we were villains - m. l. rio !!

it’s like the secret history but better imo

The Maidens and The Picture of Dorian Gray!

gothikana by runyx

oh my godddd love this genre; here you go (basic ones first):
- the secret history
- if we were villains
- the picture of dorian gray
- ninth house
- the atlas six
- everything by donna tartt (incl. the secret history, the goldfinch, the little friend)
- a darker shade of magic series
- babel
- the inheritance games!!
- the night circus (in my opinion)
- a good girls guide to murder (kinda)
there’s more i just can’t think of any hahah

ohhh and apparently caraval!! haven’t read that yet though

I looooveee dark academia sm so these are great thanks for making this topic!
I'm going to add the inheritance games it's so good omgg

Love this genre! One that I haven’t seen mentioned is These Violent Delights (the one by Micah Nemerever). I’m reading it right now and I’m really into it :D it has a similar vibe to The Secret History, but only in the sense that it features semi-pretentious college students with highly questionable morals and very violent tendencies. Love it <3

oh yeah i’ve heard that the violent delights fits this genre very well; it’s been on my tbr for a whileee now. absolutely loved the secret history so that’s good to know :)

Ella⟢ wrote: "Love this genre! One that I haven’t seen mentioned is These Violent Delights (the one by Micah Nemerever). I’m reading it right now and I’m really into it :D it has a similar vibe to The Secret His..."

OMG these violent delights is like my favourite books of all time! I would constantly recommend it to anyone who wants to read more dark academia! Thinking about the ending just gives me chills everytime!!love it<3

Id also recommend Bunny by Mona awad, i haven't read it yet, people have really mixed reviews about it. Some love it some totally hate it. I cannot tell you much about it because i too don't have much idea. But i think you should pick it up sometime! I would definitely!!

I never see people recommend the binding by bridget collins but it's one of my all time favorites in this genre!

Zoey wrote: "The Maidens and The Picture of Dorian Gray!"

"The Maidens" is so underrated! ❤️‍🩹
I need to read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" ASAP!

One I read recently that was very gothic and isn’t very popular is Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid!

if we were villains, bunny

I’m about to read A Lesson In Vengeance, a mix of dark academia and witchcraft

I have heard that these violent delights has a lot of dark academia vibes!

Sofie wrote: "I’m about to read A Lesson In Vengeance, a mix of dark academia and witchcraft"

I HAVE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT IT! Pls let me know if it is worth it

Love dark academia! Definitely read if we were villains it is my fave book ever

-the picture of Dorian gray
-wuthering heights
-the tenant at wildfell hall

THE SECRET HISTORY!!! the mother of all dark academia

The strange cade of Mr Jekyll and Doktor Hide. It's a short but interesting classic book so it's perfect for beginners.

*case

riot house by Callie hart

so good I recommend, it’s like a dark romance with mystery. kinda like the ritual and inheritance game in a way

to kill a mockingbird and if we were villains reccs forever and always <333

No longer human by osamu dazai !! Its a great dark academia book :)

The Moth Diaries (by Rachel Klein)!!

"gothikana" by runyx, "journey to the end of the night", and one which is more on the fantasy side is "dark rise"

bunny by mona awad is really good!!

vita nostra is a great dark academia book

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid!!! It's an enemies to lovers dark academia book, and I fell in love! I hated that after I read it everything seemed so bright and cheery.

Spearcrest Kings series by Aurora Reed, just read it because it doesn't have a bad book and Aurora writes the dark academia vibe so well

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath definitely, but its not really overly academia in my opinion but it has the ✨vibes✨

just overall most classics, particularly English Gothic such as Brontë or Shelley, but also the Secret History, Black Chalk, the Book Theif, and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender.

A Deadly Education is overrated, controversial opinion!!!!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
If We Were Villians by M.L. Rio
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Macbeth by Shakespeare
Hamlet by Shakespeare
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum