As summer transitions into fall, I find myself on the hunt for books that capture the seasonās vibes. For me, that means dark academia, fantasy, and mystery books that keep me engaged when I find the time to relax amidst the chaos of the fall semester.
- These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
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A compulsive, obsessive, and, as the title suggests, a violent novel following two boys named Paul and Julian at university in 1970s Pittsburgh. Paul is insecure coming from a working-class family, and Julian is confident, charming, and wealthy.
Regardless of their differences, theyāre drawn to each other as intellectual equals, but āAs their friendship spirals into an all-consuming intimacy, Paul is desperate to protect their precarious bond, even as it becomes clear that the pressures from the outside world are nothing compared with the brutality they are capable of inflicting on one another.ā
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
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Look, Iāll admit Iām not a huge fan of classics, but Oscar Wilde made The Picture of Dorian Gray incredibly worth the read. Hedonism, corruption, beauty, youth, the list of themes goes on. What more could you want? This fall, Iām planning on reading Wildeās The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray to get the full extent of the āindecentā content that was censored when it was published in 1890.
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
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The full title of this book, Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution, is a historical fantasy novel set in Oxford, England about language, colonialism, and revolution. The main character, Robin, is taken away from China by an English professor who puts him in different prestigious language lessons to prepare him to enroll in Oxfordās Royal Institute of Translation.
Kuang dives into the impacts of how language can uphold an empireās supremacy, and after reading this book for the first time, I immediately turned back to the first page and started it again.
- If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
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Dark academia at its best. If We Were Villains follows seven students, who tend to justify their corruption through Shakespeareās work, studying theater at a fictional conservatory. As the book progresses, the murder mystery surrounding one of the seven students unravels, and the other six āface their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.ā
- Any book by Ava Reid
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Ava Reid is well known for writing gothic fantasies. Sheās the author of A Study in Drowning, Juniper & Thorn, Lady Macbeth, and The Wolf and the Woodsman. My favorite of her works is The Wolf and the Woodsman, where the main protagonist is the only woman without power in her pagan village, making her an outcast. After being offered up as the kingās blood sacrifice by her village, she is surrendered to the Holy Order of Woodsmen. When a slaughter during their journey to the capital leaves her and only one other member of the Woodsmen alive, she has to do what she can to save herself, resulting in a tentative alliance between the two.
While The Wolf and the Woodsman is my favorite of her novels, any Ava Reid book you pick up is perfect for fall. Just make sure to check trigger warnings, as sheās known for diving into darker themes within her writing.
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
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Sharp Objects follows Camille Preaker, a journalist returning to her hometown to cover the murder of two girls. As this case goes on, secrets from her past start to unravel, revealing many dark truths.
I went into this one blind, and I canāt say I regret it one bit. Thrillers arenāt usually my go-to genre, but this changed the game for me, and I ended up going down a Gillian Flynn rabbit hole last fall.
In my humble opinion, these should all be moved to the top of your TBR immediately. Happy Halloween, and happy reading!
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