41+ Dark Academia aesthetic books with a rich boarding school vibe (fantasy magic schools)

What is dark academia and why is it trending? It’s basically a classical gothic aesthetic, with a classic university vibe – often but not necessarily blended with magic and suspense. Inspired by Oxford and Ivy League schools, YA dark academic books are kind of a reboot of the “magic academy” trope from a few years ago, just darker – they may include school uniforms, rich handsome bullies, classes and lectures, eccentric professors and mystery.

Netflix’s new “Wednesday” fits, along with some other uber popular media like Harry Potter (hogwarts vibes) or a Discovery of Witches or Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. A Golden Compass kind of fits too.

As defined by Reddit,
“It’s an aesthetic, think classical piano and violin music, dark shades of brown, plaid, old books, brown leather satchels, libraries, antique chess boards, etc. there’s a focus on learning in it too.”

“In terms of books precisely, they are moody and mysterious narratives that take place within an academic environment such as universities and/or boarding schools that are held to a certain upper standard. The elements of arts (which can be anything: painting, theatre, music, classic literature etc) are throughly present combined with a touch of Gothic-feel to the atmosphere overall. The books tend to fall on the darker side since sometimes there will be a plot about deaths/murders/mysteries/pursuit of something that could be considered twisted and odd in an everyday sitting.”

Here’s a nice youtube aesthetic with rain and classical music so you can feel the vibes.

Dark academia wallpapers

I do have a book list down below, but just for fun I made these dark academia artwork you can use as desktop wallpapers (they’re a little messy actually, I’ll make some cleaner high-res versions soon).

Best Dark Academia Books with a brooding vibe (YA/NA)

Kind of funny story, I was putting this list together and trying to remember a book I read decades ago that had a really strong impact on me. I thought it was some lesser known author that only appealed to me because of the focus on Greek studies and mythology (I studied greek in malta and italy, at classic ancient universities…) but the book also connected with me as an introvert and loner, desperate for belonging.

Turns out it’s the #1 book recommendation, a defining piece in dark academia literature: