With fall just around the corner, there's something about the gothic, or at least, dark atmosphere that is the backdrop to many dark academia novels that is just what we need. Coupled with the quarantine, there's nothing quite like settling in with a book with intellectual characters getting into all sorts of trouble.
Dark academia books to read right now
The (best) bad student booklist for anyone looking for dark academia reads.
Modern gothic to me aligns with dark academia, except its setting can go beyond those of an intellectual institution's. Even so, I tend to find modern gothic tales not quite as beguiling as those of the Brontes' or du Maurier.
There's no doubt the dark academia aesthetic is appealing to many intellectuals. But at its core, it includes mostly WASPs - White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant. However, the trend is moving towards inclusion, and with my love of all things dark and elite (in books), here's a (short) list of Arab Dark Academia books, since the subgenre is so limited.
It's fall, the season of witches, brews, potions, and dark academia. I've been in the mood to read all books set with those sepia tone students and suspicious professors, with languid days, and sharp-thorned nights.
A dark, foreboding read that drummed up feelings of being locked in beautiful, gothic architecture, so that at first your prison seems like a palace. A perfect read for the fall, and a nod to the great gothic classics.
Reading Between the Dunes 