Favourite Autumnal/Dark Academia Books To Read This Season

Hello everyone, and welcome to my very first blog post. I am so excited to share my favourite autumnal/dark academia book recommendations for this season. I currently write this on a very cold, wet, and windy day here in Scotland which helps to set the mood. So, I read autumnal books all year round but I do think there is a special atmosphere and magic when reading them in Autumn and Winter, so I try to keep them for then. Let's get started.

1. If We Were Villians

Now, I have just finished this book. I started the first half of the book in November of last year and got so overwhelmed with my TBR list that I never ended up finishing it, but I have read it now, and I'm here to tell you more about it. The story begins with a young student named Oliver Marks, the protagonist, being released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence. He meets with Detective Colborne, who wants to know the truth about what happened all those years ago. Through flashbacks, we learn about Oliver and his group of friends in their final year at Dellecher and about the events that led up to the incident.

So my thoughts. If you are a fan of Shakespeare then I think you will really enjoy this book as there are many references to his work as well as reenactments of some of his plays (as Oliver and his friends study at a drama school). The book kept me on my toes during the beginning and end of the book however the middle was slow so it was quite hard to get through. It fits the dark academia aesthetic perfectly and is very suspenseful.

2. Little Women

Little Women is the type of classic book you will want to keep coming back to year after year. This book follows four sisters' Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they each endure a number of struggles and hardships as they grow up. The sisters love each other dearly, however, there is some tension as is with all sibling relationships.

Overall, if you love classics I would recommend this book. It is a lovely and charming story and shows both the ups and downs of not only living in the 1800s as a woman but also family relationships.

3. We Hunt The Flame

This book doesn't scream Autumnal but for reasons unknown, I associate it with this time of the year. It is part of a duology called Sands of Arawiya with the second being We Free The Stars. The story follows a young woman, Zafira, who is the only one brave enough to travel in and out of the Arz (which is like a cursed forest), and a prince named Nasir who is also an assassin. Controlled by the king, his father. The magic of Arawiya has been lost for ninety years, and Zafira is charged with restoring it. However, Nasir is tasked with a similar mission and both find themselves on the island of Sharr ( an island where evil dwells). They have to learn to trust each other and work together in order to defeat the evil that has been festering for so long.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The character development and world-building were beautifully done. I loved how the author portrayed both the flaws and imperfections of each character, making them seem a lot more realistic. Even though it is quite a slow burner, it really picks up the pace when they arrive at the Sharr, but when it does, it's very action-packed.

Thank you so much for joining me on this week's blog post. Let me know your thoughts on these recommendations, and if you have any suggestions for future blogs, feel free to leave a comment. I hope to see you in my next blog post!