10 Must-Read Dark Academia Books Like Zodiac Academy

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

If you loved the competitive, cutthroat atmosphere of Zodiac Academy, The Atlas Six will feel like coming home.

Six magically gifted young adults are recruited to join the mysterious Alexandrian Society, but only five will make it through initiation. Someone has to die. The academic setting centers on a secret library containing lost knowledge of the ancient world, and the characters must prove their worth through intellectual and magical prowess. Like Zodiac Academy’s heirs, these characters are morally complex, ambitious, and willing to make dark choices for power.

The enemies-to-lovers tension, particularly between certain characters, rivals anything in Zodiac Academy, and the slow-burn romance elements are woven seamlessly into the larger plot about power, knowledge, and what people will sacrifice to obtain both.

Tropes: Found family, enemies to lovers, morally grey characters, secret society, dark academia, slow burn romance, Only one bed, competitive academics

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo is a dark, atmospheric fantasy set at Yale University, where secret societies practice dangerous occult magic beneath the veneer of elite academia. The story follows Alex Stern, a sharp-tongued outsider with a traumatic past who is recruited to monitor these societies and keep their rituals in check. As Alex digs deeper into Yale’s shadowy underworld, she uncovers corruption, murder, and powers far more sinister than she was warned about. Gritty, smart, and unsettling, the novel blends ghostly horror with social critique and a slow-burn mystery.

The romance develops slowly across the series, and the academic setting is steeped in privilege, danger, and the kind of ancient traditions that hide terrible secrets.

Tropes: Secret societies, supernatural, slow-burn mystery

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series is perhaps the closest match to Zodiac Academy in terms of vibe. This is a magical school where the institution itself is trying to kill you.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is a dark fantasy set in the Scholomance, a brutal magical school where survival matters more than grades and graduation is never guaranteed. The story follows Galadriel “El” Higgins, a prickly, powerful young sorceress destined for dark magic who is determined to use her abilities to stay alive, and maybe help others along the way. Cut off from teachers, parents, and safety, the students must constantly fend off deadly monsters while navigating treacherous alliances. Sharp, funny, and subversive, the novel turns the magic school trope inside out with high stakes and biting wit.

Tropes: Survival above all, dark academia setting, dark magic, young adult

Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen

Dire Bound is an age-turning romantasy set in a brutal world where humans and direwolves form powerful, unbreakable bonds, and only the strongest survive. Meryn Cooper, a poor commoner who despises the elite Bonded warriors, is forced into the deadly Bonding Trials when her sister is kidnapped by immortal enemies across the border.

Thrown into four months of ruthless training, Meryn must survive a feral direwolf who won’t speak to her, hostile rivals eager to see her fail, and a merciless instructor who hunts weakness. As dangerous alliances, simmering romance, and dark secrets emerge within the castle walls, Meryn must risk her life, and her heart, to bond or bleed, and fight for everything she stands to lose.

Tropes: enemies to lovers, bonds with direwolves, deadly trials

Unbound by Penelope Bloom

Unbound by Penelope Bloom is a dark, high-stakes romantasy set at Confluence Academy, where students wield elemental magic and bond deadly beasts to become the Empire’s most feared weapons. Nineteen-year-old Nessa Thorne expects to die when she volunteers for the selection, but instead discovers she bears the forbidden mark of the unbound, a power believed to have been eradicated centuries ago.

Forced to hide her true nature in a castle where betrayal is currency and failure means death, Nessa must survive brutal trials, ruthless rivals, and a dangerous connection to Raith Hollow, a powerful fire wielder with secrets of his own. As alliances fracture and forbidden desire ignites, Nessa must choose whether to suppress her power or unleash it, and risk burning the world that wants her erased.

Tropes: Military academy, elemental magic, deadly trials, forbidden romance

Dark Fae by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Dark Fae is a dark, ruthless romantasy set at Aurora Academy, where power, violence, and vengeance rule. Vampire Elise Callisto enrolls in the academy to hunt down one of its four kings. Each a dangerous shifter and each a suspect in her brother’s murder.

Caught between rival gangs, the Lunar Brotherhood and the Oscura Clan, Elise must navigate blood-soaked hallways, shifting alliances, and simmering desire while hiding her true purpose. Fierce, seductive, and revenge-driven, the novel blends reverse harem romance with a twisted murder mystery in a brutal fae world where love is a weakness and survival is never guaranteed.

This is perfect for readers who want to stay in the Peckham & Valenti universe while exploring a different corner of their fae worlds.

Tropes: Reverse harem, murder mystery, vampires and fae

On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn

On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn is a dark, high-intensity romantasy set at Bloodwing Academy, a brutal school ruled by highblood vampires where weakness means death. Medra Pendragon, a half-fae and the last of the legendary dragon riders, is captured and forced into the academy as little more than a pawn in vampire power games.

Surrounded by deadly trials, political cruelty, and secrets that could get her executed, Medra must survive while hiding the truth of what she is, and what she may become. Bound by an ancient ritual to the cold, dangerous Blake Drakharrow, Medra is pulled into a volatile mix of rivalry, desire, and destiny that threatens to awaken a power the academy can’t control.

Tropes: forced betrothal, enemies to lovers, vampires and dragons

Avalon Tower by Bree Moore

Avalon Tower is a fast-paced romantasy set at Avalon Academy, an elite training ground for spies where deception is survival and temptation is dangerous. Nia, a book-loving bookseller with no combat skills and a bad case of asthma, is ripped from her quiet life when she’s kidnapped by Raphael, a lethal, tattooed fey bent on revenge against a corrupt king.

Forced to train at Camelot’s academy after discovering she has rare magical abilities, Nia must survive brutal lessons, deadly missions, and a constant threat to her life. As sparks fly between her and her dangerous captor-turned-handler, Nia is drawn into a world of secrets, betrayal, and desire, where trusting the wrong person could get her killed, and falling in love might be even more dangerous.

Tropes: Spy academy with fae, forbidden romance, brutal competitions

Gothikana by RuNyx

Gothikana is a dark, gothic romantasy set at the isolated University of Verenmore, an ancient castle steeped in secrets, death, and long-buried truths. After losing her mother, outcast Corvina Clemm accepts an unexpected admission letter that draws her into a chilling world of mystery and disappearance.

Vad Deverell, a guarded and enigmatic professor who knows the castle’s dangers better than anyone, recognizes Corvina as a threat the moment she arrives, both to the secrets he protects and to his own carefully controlled life. As a century-old pattern of vanishings resurfaces and forbidden attraction ignites, the two are pulled into a haunting mystery where curiosity is deadly and love may be the most dangerous thing of all.

Tropes: Forbidden love, murder mystery, gothic romance

Legendborn by Tracy Deem

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is a bestselling contemporary fantasy infused with secret societies, and Arthurian legend. After her mother’s sudden death, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews enrolls in a residential program at UNC–Chapel Hill, only to witness a magical attack that exposes a hidden world of demon hunters known as the Legendborn.

When a failed memory wipe unlocks Bree’s own powerful magic—and a buried truth about her mother—she infiltrates the society to uncover what they’re hiding. As an ancient war looms and the Legendborn reveal their ties to King Arthur’s knights, Bree must decide whether to dismantle the system that excluded her or claim a power that could change everything.

Tropes: Arthurian retelling, chosen one, secret societies love triangle

Why Dark Academia Hits Different for Zodiac Academy Fans

There’s something about the combination of education and danger that creates irresistible tension. Whether it’s a magical boarding school or a gothic university, these settings force characters into close proximity while raising the stakes of every interaction. Failure doesn’t just mean bad grades—it means death, exile, or losing everything you’ve worked for. Dark academia books also tend to feature:

• Morally grey characters: Just like Zodiac Academy’s heirs, dark academia protagonists often make questionable choices in pursuit of power, knowledge, or survival.
• Intense rivalries: Academic competition becomes personal, and enemies often become lovers as characters see beyond their initial prejudices.
• Institutional corruption: The schools themselves are often complicit in maintaining harmful hierarchies or hiding dangerous secrets.
• Forbidden knowledge: Characters are drawn to things they shouldn’t know or powers they shouldn’t have, creating delicious tension.
• Gothic atmosphere: Dark hallways, ancient buildings, and the weight of history create mood and tension.