I’m noticing some New Trends in Dark Academia Books for Fall 2025, so I decided to make an update to my popular Dark Academia Fiction post. What is changing for this subgenre of suspense that is perfect for your Fall 2025 reading? Let’s explore!
New Trends in Dark Academia Books Fall 2025
If you want to know “What is Dark Academia?” then check out my master post on Dark Academia Aesthetic and Fiction, which covers what Dark Academia is (and is not) and highlights some top adult and YA Dark Academia books and movies.
This post will track some new trends I’m seeing in Dark Academia that follow trends in fiction in general:
More fantasy and romantasy in Dark Academia
I reviewed a Dark Academia fantasy with academic rivals called A Study in Drowning back in 2023, but with the huge success that year of The Fourth Wing and the stratospheric rise of the new romantasy subgenre, fantasy and romance are heavily represented in Dark Academia books.
A continued focus on social justice and equity issues
As I discussed in my main Dark Academia post, modern Dark Academia has done a lot to question and challenge some of the elitism, mysogyny, classism, and racism in higher education. These themes continue in realistic Dark Academia fiction.
NEW Dark Academia Fiction for 2025
This list is divided into adult Dark Academia fiction (fantasy, historical and realistic) and YA Dark Academia fiction, all new for Fall 2025
Fantasy and Romantasy Dark Academia for Fall 2025
Wicked Onyx by Debbie Cassidy (2026)
This highly anticipated Dark Academia Romantasy title takes place at Nightsbridge Academy, a sinister and magical place.
Arcana Academy by Elise Cova (2025)
A girl is sentenced to prison for creating tarot cards, but is allowed a reprieve to work at the secretive Arcana Academy.
Oxford Legacy series by Roxy Sloan
For fans of spicy books this Dark Academia series set at Oxford has a dark romance element.
Bound in Blood (Broken Bloodlines series) by Sadie Kincaid (2025)
Orphan Ophelia Hart is invited to attend elite Montridge University, then inducted into the Red Dragon Society.
Historical Fiction Dark Academia for Fall 2025
The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans
In The Dark Library a young woman is forced back to the college where her father taught and her best friend disappeared.
This 1950s set Dark Academia follows a young woman who becomes part of a secret society of women that might actually be more deadly than friendly.
New Realistic Dark Academia Fiction for 2025
The Rabbit Club by Christopher Yates
By the author of Black Chalk, another Dark Academia title, this book follows a young Californian who is accepted at Oxford University and into a secret society. I’m reading this soon and will report back!
When We Were Killers by C.F. Barrington
This Scottish title is set at St. Andrews University and sounds pretty fun: a group of history scholars obsessed with ancient Scotland have wild adventures, midnight rituals, and search for a long-lost hallucinogen.
NEW Young Adult Dark Academia for 2025
That Devil Ambition by Linsey Miller (2025)
An elite society of thirteen students is ordered to kill their professor.
Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson (2025)
2010s YA author is back with a new Dark Academia about an ancient boarding school society tied to demonic magic.
For fans of A Great and Terrible Beauty and The Ravens!
A Mastery of Monsters by Liselle Sambury (2025)
August’s brother disappears in college and she must join a secret society to investigate.
The Girl You Know by Elia Gonzalez Rose (2025)
When a Luna’s twin disappears from her boarding school, she decides to take her sister’s place to get to the truth. A Lying Game Dark Academia!
A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman (2024)
Cal leaves Mississippi to attend Essex Academy, an elite New England boarding school. When he decides to rush a secret society, he enters a new world of romance (with handsome Luke Kim) and danger.