Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Bookish Wisdom earns from qualifying purchases. This doesn’t change our picks or your price.
Quick answer: If you loved The Secret History by Donna Tartt, try If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, The Likeness by Tana French, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, Bunny by Mona Awad and Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.
The Secret History opens with a confession: a group of classics students at a small Vermont college have killed one of their own, and the narrator, Richard Papen, tells us how it happened. Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut is the book that defined dark academia, a style full of old libraries, brilliant professors, tight friend groups and doomed ambition. If you finished it wanting more candlelit study sessions and quiet menace, the picks below share its elite settings, obsession with beauty and knowledge, unreliable loyalties and slow-building dread. Most are adult literary fiction or fantasy, with a few that lean toward thrillers.
Table of Contents
Why Readers Love The Secret History
Readers love The Secret History because it makes a murder feel inevitable. Tartt tells you what happens in the first pages and then spends hundreds of pages on why, and the answer lies in how clever, lonely people can talk themselves into anything. Richard is an outsider desperate to belong, the group members are charming and strange, and the Greek-obsessed professor who guides them gives the story its aura of beautiful danger. The prose is rich, the pace is patient, and the ending lingers. It’s often reread every few years, and it has shaped a whole generation of campus novels.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick below shares at least one thing readers loved about The Secret History: its characters, its mood, its setting or the questions it raises. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious choices, and we noted the genre and who each book suits best in the table, so you can scan for the right fit before you read the blurbs.
We kept every description spoiler-free and flagged mature content where it matters, since some of these books are written for adults and others suit teens. If you’re not sure where to start, the tips near the end of this list match each pick to what you loved most. The FAQ at the bottom answers the questions readers ask most often.
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Genre | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| If We Were Villains | M.L. Rio | Literary thriller | Theatre students and Shakespeare |
| The Likeness | Tana French | Mystery | A doppelganger and a house |
| Ninth House | Leigh Bardugo | Dark fantasy | Secret societies at an Ivy League school |
| The Atlas Six | Olivie Blake | Dark fantasy | Rivals in a secret society |
| Bunny | Mona Awad | Dark comedy | Weird, wicked cliques |
| The Goldfinch | Donna Tartt | Literary fiction | More Donna Tartt |
| The Magicians | Lev Grossman | Fantasy | College with magic |
| Brideshead Revisited | Evelyn Waugh | Classic | The original elite-friendship novel |
| A Separate Peace | John Knowles | Classic | Boarding school tension |
| Special Topics in Calamity Physics | Marisha Pessl | Literary mystery | Quirky, clever narrators |
| Babel | R.F. Kuang | Dark fantasy | Language and empire at Oxford |
| Black Chalk | Christopher Yates | Thriller | Games that go too far |
| The Maidens | Alex Michaelides | Thriller | Cambridge and classics |
| Never Let Me Go | Kazuo Ishiguro | Literary fiction | Boarding school with a secret |
| Catherine House | Elisabeth Thomas | Gothic fiction | A secretive, strange school |
1. If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Seven Shakespearean actors at an elite arts conservatory become entangled in a murder, and one of them, Oliver, tells the story after serving ten years in prison. It’s the closest modern match to Tartt’s tone, with intense friendships, rivalry and Shakespeare quotes woven through every scene.
2. The Likeness by Tana French
Detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover as a woman who looks exactly like her and has just been murdered, joining the group of friends who shared a rambling house. It’s atmospheric and slow, and it captures the same hunger to belong that drives Richard in Tartt’s book.
3. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Alex Stern, a survivor of trauma, is recruited by a secret society at Yale to police the occult rituals of the other societies. It’s gritty, complex and full of ghosts, magic and brutal secrets. Content note: sexual assault, drug use and violence. It suits adult readers.
4. The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Six magicians of extraordinary talent are chosen to compete for a place in a secret society that guards the lost knowledge of the ancient world. Only five will be admitted. It’s clever, moody and full of tension, with a cast of morally gray characters.
5. Bunny by Mona Awad
A lonely scholarship student at an elite writing program is drawn into a clique of rich, saccharine women who call each other Bunny, and finds the rituals they practice are disturbing. It’s surreal, funny and strange, and a stylish satire of campus life.
6. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
After surviving a museum bombing that kills his mother, thirteen-year-old Theo takes a famous painting and is drawn into a life of art and crime. It’s long and immersive, with Tartt’s detailed prose and a strong emotional core, and it won the Pulitzer Prize.
7. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Quentin, a brilliant but unhappy teen, discovers a secret magic college in upstate New York. It’s a darker, more realistic take on a school of magic, with great friendships and loss. It was adapted for television.
8. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
At Oxford, Charles Ryder befriends a charming aristocrat, Sebastian Flyte, and is drawn into his glamorous family. It’s a lush, nostalgic classic about friendship, beauty and loss that inspired many later campus stories.
9. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
At a New Hampshire boarding school during World War II, two roommates have a friendship that’s tested by jealousy and a terrible accident. It’s short and often assigned in schools, but still gripping.
10. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Blue van Meer, a brilliant teen, joins the clique of a charismatic teacher at a new school, and when a teacher is found dead, she starts to investigate. It’s full of footnotes, literary references and invention.
11. Babel by R.F. Kuang
At Oxford’s Royal Institute of Translation, students use silver and language to power an empire, and Robin Swift slowly learns what it costs. It’s a rich, angry take on the dark academia setting that adds colonial history.
12. Black Chalk by Christopher Yates
Six Oxford students invent a game with high stakes that spirals out of control, and years later one of them tries to find out what happened. It’s tense and gripping, with a group that falls apart.
13. The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
A grieving group therapist investigates a murder at Cambridge and suspects a charismatic classics professor and his group of devoted female students. It echoes The Secret History’s Greek-obsessed setting with a twisty plot.
14. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Three friends who grew up at an English boarding school gradually learn the truth about why they were raised there. It’s quiet, haunting and unforgettable, and deals with the nature of love and fate.
15. Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
At an exclusive, free college where students are cut off from the outside world, Ines grows suspicious of the school’s real purpose. It’s eerie, atmospheric and slow, and a fun pick for fans of the genre’s mood.
How to Pick Your Next Dark Academia Read
- Want murder at college? If We Were Villains and The Likeness.
- Want magic? Ninth House, The Atlas Six and The Magicians.
- Want classics? Brideshead Revisited and A Separate Peace.
- Want satire? Bunny and Special Topics in Calamity Physics.
- Want more Tartt? The Goldfinch is long but beautifully written.
- Check content notes. Ninth House and Bunny are the darkest.
What Is Dark Academia?
Dark academia is a literary and aesthetic style that centers on elite schools, classical learning and the dangers of obsession. It usually features a small group of intense students, a charismatic teacher, a secret or crime and a sense that beauty and knowledge are worth almost any cost. Visually it means tweed jackets, candles, old books and autumn rain. The Secret History is the genre’s cornerstone, and many newer books, from Ninth House to The Atlas Six, build on its mood. Once you know the formula, you’ll start spotting it in films, music and fashion too.
A Note on Content
The Secret History includes drug and alcohol use, a murder, emotional manipulation and some disturbing scenes. Several of the books on this list share these elements, and a few, such as Ninth House and Bunny, include sexual violence, graphic horror or dark humor that won’t suit every reader. Check reviews or content notes if a particular topic is hard for you. If you want the atmosphere without the darkest material, A Separate Peace, Brideshead Revisited and The Magicians are gentler, more classic takes on the same ideas.
How to Build a Dark Academia Reading List
A good dark academia season mixes classics, modern thrillers and fantasy. Start with a foundational pair such as The Secret History and Brideshead Revisited, add one thriller like The Likeness or If We Were Villains, and then try a fantasy twist such as Ninth House or The Atlas Six. If you like the setting more than the crime, look for campus novels. If you like the crime more than the setting, try literary mysteries. Whatever you choose, read it in autumn with a hot drink, because the mood is half the fun.
Why These Books Pair Well With Autumn
Dark academia has a seasonal pull. The genre’s best-loved scenes happen in October fog, in libraries with rain on the windows or in candlelit rooms after lectures, and readers often choose these books when the weather turns cold. If you like building a reading ritual, try a themed month: one classic, one thriller and one fantasy, with a hot drink and a playlist of classical music. Many book clubs do exactly that, and the conversation tends to be lively because these novels invite debate about right and wrong.
Related: books like The Silent Patient and books like Babel by R.F. Kuang.
Frequently Asked Questions
What book is most like The Secret History?
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio is the closest match, followed by The Likeness by Tana French. Both feature intense friend groups, elite settings and a crime at the center.
What is the best dark academia book to start with?
The Secret History is the classic starting point. If you want a faster, more modern read, try If We Were Villains or Ninth House.
Is The Secret History a thriller?
It is closer to literary fiction and a reverse murder mystery. We learn about the crime early, and the tension comes from why it happened and what happens next.
Is there a Secret History sequel?
No. Donna Tartt has never written a sequel. Her other novels are The Little Friend and The Goldfinch.
Are these books good for book clubs?
Yes. They raise questions about loyalty, ambition and moral responsibility, and many groups choose them in autumn.