A wonderful new adult, fantasy web serial updated weekly from authors Jasmine Jenkins and Sophie Suliman. I think Carmilla and Val are also intriguing characters and I would like to read more about them on book 2: why Val regrets getting the star (bc his brother died) but because I am noisy I want to know how it happen. I want to thank Jasmine Jenkins, Sophie Suliman, and Luna Fox Press for giving me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. I would like to apologize for how late I got it in. I have to begin this list with the aforementioned novel that started it all. Well, sort of. There are older books on this list and in the dark academia genre, but The Secret History is responsible for popularizing the trend. The 1992 novel by future Pultizer winner Donna Tartt had a cult following from the beginning. It follows a college student named Richard Papen who transfers to an elite east coast college called Hampden. (Tartt based the school on her own alma mater, Bennington College.) There, he gets involved with five other students who exclusively study Classics under the tutelage of a professor named Julian Morrow.

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It’s a bit predictable. Like soap opera predictable. I’m usually a fan of Insta love but eh, it was a bit over the top. Also there was enemies to lovers pushed for this book but honestly I don’t see it; you might’ve set it up but I don’t think it should be marketed as enemies to lovers like it is. (It also shouldn’t be marketed as spicy; I can count how many spicy scenes there were on one hand. Just saying someone was turned on doesn’t count as spice, it’s just writing for mature audiences. But again could have gone without and still had the same story) Now about the plot itself: I love it. I think it's unique and different from a lot of NA books nowadays. I liked the world building too, it's mostly straight to the point and I didn't feel confused. However I think it's only the beginning and I hope it will be more developped later because there's definitely potential. The Den is the Evening Star’s common room, a place where all the change-makers of the Academy can rest…though more often than not, they are found practicing their magic. Like the pegasus who was born to fly, Evening Stars can’t help but push the boundaries they were born with. I wasn’t sure if this book qualified as dark academia at first, but I’ve seen it on a number of lists and aesthetic inspiration boards for the genre, so I feel OK with including it. And selfishly, I’m more than happy to, because wow, this book. Madeline Miller first wooed me with her beautiful, intricate novel Circe. Naturally, I had to read everything she’d written after that, which led me to The Song of Achilles, her debut novel. Like the best of dark academia, it is itself deeply infatuated with the Classics.The All Hallow's Eve Ball told through Khalid's point of view, including an argument with Valentine Sun. Here are eight dark academia novels that explore queer themes, have LGBTQ+ characters, and/or dig deep into the trenches of sexuality and our complicated relationships with identity. If you’re anything like me, these books are not only entertainingly delectable. They also help us look inward and feel seen. If you have drop caps, there needs to be enough minimum space around the drop capped letter that it doesn’t cover any of the surrounding text. This book is genres as adult/mature. The art style is, let’s be honest, middle grade vibes and quite rough/draft-like in my opinion. It’s not the right mindset. Not the right style. If you’re wanting mature vibes, find an artist with the accompanying style. I think that having the pictures at each chapter confused me a lot too; I didn’t picture the triplets the way they’re drawn and I think a small motif would have been nicer designed to represent each triplet (similar to the swashes used to separate sections of text).

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The concept laid out here is really cool and interesting. I found this book to be very full of promise, and yet there was something not quite fulfilled here. It feels like there was more story to be told before this first volume of the series concluded. Across the plot, the characters, and the world building, I felt like there was so much richness swirling just under the surface, but they just did not quite come to the fore. I was looking forward to reading the New Adult aspects of the book but honestly they were fairly basic scenes with a lot of build up that didn’t really add to the relationships of the characters or leave anyone feeling satisfied. The book reads more like YA, except for the language and intent during these (few) scenes. I hope the next book allows the characters to explore their desires and relationships more than this one did and lives up to the expectations held for a “New Adult” novel. Themes, Tropes, & Warnings: Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, Blood, Murder, Discrimination, War, Parental Death, LGBTQ+, Vampires, Magic, Bullying, Magic Academy, Children of Gods, Multiple POVs If you like The Secret History and want a story even more explicitly queer, I can’t recommend Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines enough. The book is equally intoxicating and way more sapphic. It’s set in Rhode Island at Brookhants School for Girls in two timelines: 1902 and present-day. The 1902 plot centers on two female students, Clara and Flo, who are in love with one another. Tragically, the girls are stung to death by wasps. Several other students also die, leading the school to shut down five years later.

Khalid single-handedly carries this book for me - or am I saying this because he is my favorite character? 😂😂😂 I can’t wait to read more about him in the next book.

Wicked Academia by Jasmine Jenkins, Sophie Suliman - Waterstones

From what I gather, the authors drew the art themselves? Some of which are fine, cute, but again, middle grade vibes. Then there are some art pieces that genuinely detracted me from the story that was happening because all I could think about was how this book did not look adult. Please understand that designers and artists are literally trained to receive, interpret and deliver on a brief. If you want these characters, you can bring these sketches and ideas to them and get a final product that is more worthy and succinct with the book that’s being written.) I am however also a strong believer of putting things and designing things where and how they make sense. I absolutely love the world building, along with the three houses, Morning Star, Evening Star and Dark Star 👀👀 I requested an ARC for this book and was granted one by the authors - thank you so much! It comes out on April 27th of 2022. Despite the circumstances, it will be an honest review as always. I especially love the characters 🥰 they were delightful to read about along with some of the side characters 🤌

And the insta love!!!!! Oh my gods I hated that so much. Viv and Darius (I think that's their names) fell in love and were ready to die for each other after 1 day of having met, and it's not like they spent the entire day together or spent hours talking..nooo! They had like 3 conversations that lasted for about 10 minutes each. I'm not even going to lie to you—this was a mess. In fact, I'll lay it out simply and hopefully never speak about this book again: I absolutely ADORED this book. It was an adventure from start to finish. I can’t even explain the felling it me. The characters? The world? The magic? Amazing!! Insta-love. Hate that trope. Insta-attraction and insta-connection, sure! Those are fine, and more realistic. Marion and Khalid’s immediate attraction and Timothée and Val’s instant hate-like connection are more realistic. But Vivian and Darius falling in love at first sight? I like them as characters and I can see them together, but to have them be in love immediately ruined their relationship for me. I can see if their instant attraction was the foundation for the development of a bond that became a relationship that had to battle through Vivian’s curse and Darius’ prejudice. But I’m a firm believer in letting love grow over time. the only thing I have to say about the book is that it felt more like a YA book than an adult one except for certain scenes you wouldn't see in adult books. I hope this will change in the following books.

Dark Academia Novels You Should Read ASAP - Nerdist 8 Queer Dark Academia Novels You Should Read ASAP - Nerdist

Also that the art was all the same made it a bit hard for me to picture the characters as I wanted to. Some books I’ve read that have included art tip-ins have had art of the same character is different (but still cohesive) styles which have not been all exactly the same but have also worked to support the book itself, not just be thrown in for the sake of it. Some of the characters descriptions in scenes didn’t even match the images drawn (Marion seemed to be described as a lot fuller than the image drawn of her with Khalid??) You could see right from the beginning, and even more so after getting to the Celestial Academy, that the triplets each have their own very different personalities and each gravitated towards a different falling star and their students at the academy. Giving them that independence from one another made them a better trio in my opinion. It also made the sow of their loyalty to one another more significant. Having a twin sister, I adore the triplet sibling dynamic/situation: they are stubborn and dorky at times but they ultimately love each other and the sibling love in this book made my heart full ☺️♥️ it was really cute.My first criticism, however, comes along-side the double edged sword of those well loved fantasy tropes. Our initial introductions to both characters and love interests felt very rushed and painfully predictable. It necessitates, but the level of affection between Darius and Vivian especially, feels almost unwarranted despite the insistence of Fate playing part. I was sent an ARC of this book (I read it before getting the arc, when it was online if that changes anything) There were also so many moments throughout the book that caught my attention, hinting at past events or foreshadowing future ones, and has me looking forward to the next book to see those things being elaborated on. I really enjoyed the story and all of the characters introduced so far. I was happy with the world building and how it was written into the story without slowing things down or stopping the narrative. I am not a fan of a romance, love at first sight and all that, but I am lenient towards the enemies to lovers/love hate trope, like Khalid and Marion's relationship. They have me rooting for them like British lads at Wembley, and THAT ONE SCENE! I was reading it on the Underground and my face went like :-O.