Dark Academia Fantasy Books Like Leigh Bardugo's 'Hell Bent'

Simwan Deavy’s life isn’t normal. Literally. 

His family is non-Ord, or non-ordinary: His uncle is a ghost, his cat talks, and he and his sisters learn normal subjects like history and math, and non-Ord things like hexing and enchanting. But when a bottle of Truth is stolen things start going wrong. 

The life of Simwan’s mother depends on the Truth, and its absence is making her weak. With the help of their cat, the Deavys head to New York to track down the Truth. But the city is full of traps, making their journey dangerous. For them to succeed—and survive—they’re going to have to stick together or lose the Truth forever.

Romantasy lovers will enjoy Sav R. Miller's Monsters Within series, which takes place at the dangerous Avernia College. Jealous Rage is the second standalone entry in this fictional, gothic universe, inspired by the Greek Furies. It follows 25-year-old freshman Elle Anderson, enrolling in college after failing to find fame in Hollywood, and tenured professor Sutton Dupont. They know that the sparks flying between them are forbidden, but they're also irresistible…

For years, Robin Swift studied Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese. His goal is to enroll in Babel, Oxford’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, the world’s center for translation—and magic. Oxford is a utopia for where he can pursue knowledge. 

But as a Chinese boy raised in London, serving Babel is a betrayal. Robin finds himself caught between Babel and a society determined to stop Britain’s imperial expansion. 

When Britain engages in an unjust war against China, Robin has to finally choose: Can he change the institution from within, or do revolutions always lead to violence?

Outside of Edinburgh is an eerie estate where grizzled detectives bring children with mysterious powers. Known as the Talents, the two newest recruits have been brought from the streets of London. 

Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid’s body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe glows with a slight bluish light and can heal or melt flesh. As they learn how to control their powers at the Institute, the truth about their abilities unfolds. 

In the shadows, a monster lurks. 

Vivi Deveraux is hoping that being a sister at Westerly College’s Kappa Rho Nu sorority will redefine her life. It’s not just that their parties are notorious, or that their fundraisers are elaborate. The sisters are a coven of witches. 

Scarlett Winters is joining the sorority to uphold her mother’s expectations and become the new president. Scarlett is the perfect candidate. At least, if you ignore the human-sized skeleton hidden in her closet. 

When Vivi and Scarlett are paired for initiation, they have no idea how sinister the blood oaths and betrayals are actually going to be.

Will Chen is a senior at Harvard. He upholds the perfect standards his parents hold for him until a mysterious Chinese benefactor offers him an impossible proposition: lead a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures taken from Beijing hundreds of years ago. 

Each member of Will's team has a complicated relationship with China and their identity as Chinese Americans. If they succeed, they earn $50 million. 

If they fail, they don’t just lose everything they’ve dreamed. They lose against the forces of colonialism that have looted their people's treasures for hundreds of years.

When graduate student Zachary Ezra Rawlins finds a mysterious book hidden in the stacks, he’s drawn into the stories—until he finds one from his childhood. 

Desperate and bewildered, he tries to figure out how he ended up in a book and uncovers three clues: a sword, a bee, and a key. They lead him to a masquerade party, a secret club, and to a doorway to an ancient library deep underground. 

There are many who have guarded this sacred realm, and many who seek to destroy it. Together with two companions, one a fierce guardian and the other with flexible loyalties, Zachary searches to understand his purpose, in both the book and his life.

One year ago, Felicity Morrow left Dalloway School after her girlfriend died. Now she’s back and ready to graduate. 

Everything is mostly the same, including her room … the one rumored to be haunted by the Dalloway Five, girls who died mysteriously, one after the other. The ones who were witches. 

Witchcraft was fun to whisper about before, but Felicity is determined to put all that behind her. When newcomer Ellis Haley asks Felicity for help researching her book, however, Felicity can’t say no. History soon starts to repeat itself, and Felicity must face the dark side of both Dalloway and herself.

The Secret History is boarding school camaraderie meets Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. 

Tartt’s novel is a spine-chilling page-turner, packed with suspense and mystery. It follows a closely-knit friend group whose love for dead languages and recreating ancient Greek rites leads them on a downward spiral of death and debauchery. 

The tale is narrated in the form of an “inverted detective story” from the point-of-view of Richard Papen, who joins a Classics class comprising a clique of five wealthy and elitist students. Through Richard's struggle to befriend and be accepted by them, and to hide his own poverty, Tartt insightfully highlights how issues of class, gender, sexuality, and religion insidiously color all such interactions.

With the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone receiving rave reviews, Leigh Bardugo’s popularity continues to rise. Known mostly for the intricate fantasy of her Grishaverse novels, she’s also written a #DarkAcademia-themed book called The Ninth House, which is the first in a series. It's best described as The Secret History, with magic. 

Galaxy “Alex” Stern, the novel’s protagonist, has been through a lot — drugs, abuse, neglect, a multiple homicide — before attending Yale University. But being an Ivy League student has its fair share of trouble, and soon Alex becomes embroiled in a plot involving Yale’s secret societies and cults, occult rituals, and a whole lot of violence.

Lovers of alternate history and Victoriana will absolutely adore Clarke’s 1,000-page tome, which richly reimagines England with a magical fey past. 

The story follows the friendship of two magicians—the older “bookish” Mr. Norrell, and his younger and charismatic apprentice Jonathan Strange. The pair use their occult skills to defend England during the Napoleonic wars and raise the dead, even as the shadowy figure of the Raven King looms in the darkness.

Written in a Dickensian tone, accompanied by academic footnotes, and interspersed with references to Arthuriana and fairy lore, Clarke’s debut novel makes for an incredibly satisfying read.  

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is the first of a fantasy trilogy, and was also adapted into an acclaimed television series. The novel follows Quentin Coldwater, a talented but jaded student who is still obsessed with a fantasy series he read as a kid, and disappointed at how mundane real life is. 

All that changes when he is suddenly enrolled in a secret school for sorcery in New York. But learning the craft of magic and meeting new people doesn’t re-awake Quentin's sense of wonder and adventure, and instead reveals that the world is much darker than he’d imagined. 

Think of The Magicians as an adult version of Harry Potter meets The Chronicles of Narnia. It's filled with nostalgia for an idyllic fantasy world, and the profound disillusionment that comes when your fondest childhood wishes come true — but not in the way you imagined they would. 

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel is as deeply relevant today as when it was first published. 

In the story, young Victor Frankenstein finds a way to imbue an inanimate object with life. He refuses to take responsibility for his creation, and unwittingly unleashes a monster. Told in a series of letters, the novel contains different narratives embedded within each other that the reader must piece together.

Much like the dark academic’s relentless pursuit of knowledge, Frankenstein is concerned with exploring the forbidden in the name of science, with no regard to the consequences. Hugely influential, it has spawned countless adaptations and discussions on the ethics and morality of scientific experimentations and the limits of knowledge. 

Vampires were definitely the original dark academics, with their love for decadence, cultures of the past, and blood-soaked murder. 

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice is the second novel in her Vampire Chronicles series. As the title suggests, it is an autobiography of the charismatic Lestat de Lioncourt, one of Rice’s most popular characters. He was first introduced as an antagonist in her previous novel Interview With A Vampire, and was played by Tom Cruise in its movie adaptation. 

The tale is a wild ride through history, traversing Parisian opera houses, New Orleans architecture, the mysteries of ancient Egypt, and the thrills of twentieth century rock-n-roll, as Lestat details his childhood, his transformation into a vampire, and the slow coming to terms with his immortality. 

Even so, he wrangles with questions of morality and his search for beauty, in a world consumed by death and decay. This is an engrossing novel, with lush, meditative prose and an unreliable narrator.