2025 Dark Academia releases to add to your TBRs
because we just can't podcast them all
I wish we could record a podcast episode for every dark academia release coming up in 2025, but alas, time.
Though we can’t record for every book, we can read them, we can share them, and we can recommend them here and on the blog, and make sure they find dark academia loving readers.
I have a habit of keeping a running list of new releases that pique my fancy and that I think our readers and listeners will be interested in, and there seems to be another surge of dark academia releases coming this year after a bit of a lull in 2024 and it makes me very, very excited because these all sound so much fun and I’ve excitedly added them to my list.
I know this isn’t something that we do in this space very often, but I’d really like to test out doing some more casual written pieces here so please do let us know if that’s something that you’d be interested in, or if you’d prefer us to stick with our usual content. Until then though, it’s time for some upcoming releases.
(All of the releases are from Amazon UK so details for your country may vary!)
2025 Dark Academia Releases
‘A Language of Dragons’ by SF Williamson (Harper Fire, 2 January)
Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
‘The Afterdark’ by E Latimer (Tundra Books, 7 January)
Queer horror at a boarding school with a Lovecraftian twist in this new YA novel from E. Latimer.
Northcroft is an elite boarding school with a deadly secret. Each night as the bell tolls and the shutters slam down, cutting off the outside world, the Afterdark descends, turning the surrounding old growth forest into a macabre copy of itself. A negative photograph crawling with horrors.
‘And He Shall Appear’ by Kate van de Borgh (Fourth Estate, 16 January)
In the hallowed halls of Cambridge, a dangerous obsession takes hold…
When a young man arrives in Cambridge as a first-year student, he finds himself an outsider. Then he falls under the spell of Bryn Cavendish. A notorious party boy and skilled magician, Bryn is magnetic. To be in his circle is to revel in clouds of ecstasy, untouched by the rules.
‘I Am Not Jessica Chen’ by Ann Liang (HarperCollins, 28 January)
Jenna Chen has spent her life in the shadow of her flawless cousin. Jessica Chen is so smart she gets the top score on every test. Jessica Chen is so beautiful people stop in the hallway to stare at her. Jessica Chen is so perfect she got into Harvard.
So when Jenna makes a desperate wish to become her cousin, the last thing she expects is for it to come true—literally. All of a sudden she gets to live the life she’s always dreamed of . . . but being the model student at cutthroat Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she’d imagined.
‘Voice Like a Hyacinth’ by Mallory Pearson (47North, 1 February)
Five young women eager for success rely on the unspeakable to make their dreams come true in a chilling novel about martyrdom, ritual, and obsession.
Art student Jo Kozak and her fellow classmates and best friends, Caroline, Finch, Amrita, and Saz, are one another’s muses—so close they have their own language and so devoted to the craft that they’ll do anything to keep their inspiration alive. Even if it means naively resorting to the occult to unlock their creativity and to curse their esteemed, if notoriously creepy, professor.
‘The Girl You Know’ by Elle Gonzalez Rose (Hodder Children’s Books, 20 February)
An unputdownable and utterly compulsive dark academia thriller about who is allowed to break the rules and who suffers the consequences, perfect for fans of ‘Ace of Spades’ and Holly Jackson.
The week before Luna's twin sister Solina was supposed to head back for her final term at the prestigious Kingswood Academy, she told Luna she was dropping out. Twelve hours later, she was dead.
‘Lovely Dark and Deep’ by Elisa A. Bonnin (Fiewel and Friends, 25 March)
Hidden off the coast of Washington, veiled in mist, there is an island that does not appear on any map. And on that island is Ellery West.
The acclaimed school for magic has always been home for Faith. After an international move and a childhood spent adjusting to a new culture and a new language, Faith feels like Ellery is the only place she can be herself. That is, until Faith and another student walk into the forest, and only Faith walks out.
‘Boys With Sharp Teeth’ by Jenni Howell (Scholastic, 10 April)
‘We Were Liars’ meets ‘The Raven Boys’ in this steamy, mind-bending tale of revenge, sinister privilege and forbidden desires set at an elite boarding school.
Seventeen-year-old Marin James has spent her entire life living in the shadow of the exclusive Huntsworth Academy. So when her cousin’s dead body is found in a creek on school property, Marin knows exactly who’s to blame: Adrian Graves and Henry Wu, the enigmatic, yet dangerous leaders of the school's ecosystem.
‘The Incandescent’ by Emily Tesh (Orbit, 13 May)
Dr. Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.
Walden is good at her job - no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It's her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. But it's possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from, is herself . . .
‘Arcana Academy’ by Elise Kova (Hodderscape, 22 July)
A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling fantasy romance series.
Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?
‘A Mastery of Monsters’ by Liselle Sambury (Margaret K McElderry, 29 July)
When August's brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.
The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realises that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.
‘Katabasis’ by RF Kuang (HarperVoyager, 28 August)
Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek. The story of a hero's descent to the underworld.
Two academic rivals from Cambridge must travel to hell to rescue the soul of their advisor. Getting there was easy. Surviving it – and each other – is another thing entirely.
Writing all of these out has made me so excited about what’s coming up this year - this is literally just the dark academia-related releases! Sarah and I have already bookmarked a few of these to feature in upcoming seasons this year.
If you have any specific picks from these books that you’d love us to feature, please let us know!
