i miss her so much i think about her every single day (the local library)
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3rd re-read
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have you ever experienced anything as pure and soft as the first time you read ari and dante
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Benjamin Alire SĂĄenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
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âAnd perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.â
â Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles
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Sophieâs Dark Academia Rec List
In honour of my favourite genre, have a very personal, very subjective recommendations list!
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
The obvious choice, a classic. In my personal opinion, itâs not perfect and there are better dark academia books out there, but it has massively shaped the genre and therefore deserves recognition. Also, the aesthetic is on point! Read if you want to get a feel for the genre or if youâre simply curious.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â If We Were Villains (M. L. Rio)
Basically a newer, better The Secret History?? Plenty of similarities, minus certain problematic bits that were present in TSH. Amazing prose, incredible characters, absolutely worth the read. A prime example of dark academia! Read if you love Shakespeare and college settings and compelling characters and drama and just beautiful writing!
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Black Chalk (Christopher J. Yates)
Also a fairly good example of the genre, but tragically underhyped. Darker than, for example, If We Were Villains. Set at Oxford! Will mess with your head. The characters are not necessarily likeable, but interesting. The writing is fairly complex. Read for a dark academia thriller which takes the unreliable narrator to an impressive new extreme (in a good way!)
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Truly Devious (Maureen Johnson)
A rare YA dark academia book! Read for murder and mystery and a beautiful boarding school setting as well as a really likeable main character! Due to its nature less dark and somewhat less mature than most of the other books on this list, but if youâre looking for more of a quick and fun dark academia read, this is the one for you!
In a similar vain: The Vanishing Stair (Maureen Johnson)
Cannot actually vouch for this as I havenât read it yet, but itâs the sequel to Truly Devious and I have heard good things.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Secret Place (Tana French)
MASSIVELY underappreciated dark academia with (gasp) supernatural elements?! The most beautiful prose and funniest dialogue you will ever see. Incredible characters. Again, amazing boarding school setting and close group of female friends! (They will break your heart). Also murder. Also half of the story being told from a detectiveâs PoV. Read if you value good literature. Just. Read it.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Likeness (Tana French)
Actually, maybe I was kidding before, maybe this book is the most underappreciated dark academia book out there? Either way, itâs my favourite. Within dark academia and within ALL OF THE BOOKS. This is it. The perfect novel. Characters that own my hearts to this day. Writing so beautiful that it had me sobbing uncontrollably on several occasions. The university it is set in is Trinity College Dublin. (Cue me being bitter that I donât go there every single day for the rest of my life.) Very intriguing mystery, too. Hilarious dialogue. All the emotions. All the heartbreak. Just⊠I love it so much, okay? <3
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Lying Game (Ruth Ware)
Good, very good. Set in a boarding school near the ocean, but unfortunately, only the past tense story line is and we donât get to see too much of it. Very interesting characters. Much heavier on the dark than the academia. Read if youâre looking for more of a classic murder mystery/thriller and are not too focussed on the academia. Also read for an interesting group of female friends.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Basic Eight (Daniel Handler)
Very promising, but wasnât my cup of tea at all. The setting is an American High School on the West Coast. The murder isnât that much of a mystery. Iâm mentioning it here because I know that other people love this book, even though I really didnât. I would say donât read, but see for yourself, I suppose.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Lessons (Naomi Alderman)
Yes, okay, an interesting one. Set at Oxford, which was amazing. Interesting characters with interesting dynamics. I read it quickly and was quite entertained. But there were certain problematic bits (regarding LGBTQ+ representation and mental illness), so youâve been warned. Not my fave, but I mostly enjoyed it while reading it.
There are a few more dark academia books on my shelves, which I unfortunately cannot include on this list, as I havenât read them yet. One of them is âThe Lake of Dead Languagesâ by Carol Goodman. Another is âBrideshead Revisitedâ by Evelyn Waugh. Might edit this post later to add these and more. xx
UPDATE!! (With slightly longer descriptions this time, because people are actually reading this? Reblogging even? Wow!)Â
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Lake of Dead Languages (Carol Goodman)
THE ALL-FEMALE DARK ACADEMIA NOVEL WE ALL NEED AND DESERVE�? The setting is A++. An all-female boarding school in the Adirondack Mountains in New York! There is a lake that features so heavily in the story, it basically counts as a main character. Told from the PoV of a teacher who used to go to the school. There are two close groups of female friends, one in the present timeline, one in the past. Both have dark, dark secrets and both fit the dark academia genre so well! Also, heavy focus on Latin rather than Ancient Greek, which I have all the love for. This one is a gem, so give it a chance!
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
An actual classic, as in⊠first published in 1945. And it reads like it. The beginning came with beautiful vibes! Our young boy Charles starting his time at Oxford, meeting a lot of pretentious people, including one Lord Sebastian Flyte, who Charles is suspiciously fascinated by. Sebastian is the biggest dork to ever dork, carries around with him an actual teddy bear named Aloysius, the absolute madmen?? But itâs all downhill from there, with alcoholism and war and depressing times⊠And Oxford only really features in the first half or less.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â People Like Us (Dana Mele)
Another rare YA dark academia!! Features a group of Mean Girls who one day, when out at night to go swimming, find one of their classmates floating dead in the lake. Which is an excellent dark academia set-up, letâs be honest. Also, sapphic girls, incredible sapphic girls with really complex relationships! Bi main character! A fun and quick read, much like âTruly Deviousâ. More descriptions of the beautiful boarding school buildings would have been welcome, but at least we got a few! Anyway, go forth and enjoy this little beauty.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Party Girls Die in Pearls (Plum Sykes)
Umm⊠I barely even comprehend this bookâs existence? Has a prime dark academia set-up with a murdered girl in Oxford, but I still somehow DNFâd it after about 20 pages?! The main characterâs name is Ursula Flowerbutton, and if you think thatâs quirky and funny⊠good for you, you might actually enjoy this book. But youâll also have to endure descriptions of clothes, oh, so many descriptions of clothes! And for anything unique to Oxford that might make the book fun because only those who know will know⊠youâll get a footnote. So actually, everyone will know, with zero effort. Definitely not for me, but if you want to read a glossy magazine style dark academia, knock yourself out, friend!
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Night Climbers (Ivo Stourton)
Breath-taking! A piece of beauty! Set at Cambridge (and the campus features heavily!), a main character reminiscent of Richard Papen, an intriguing group of new friends that he would do anything to belong with. Including⊠climbing the buildings of Cambridge at night? Without proper equipment, just with his hands and feet?? Honestly, out of the books on this list, this one is the closest in style and maturity and characterisation to The Secret History! The writing is absolutely gorgeous, the plot fascinating. And itâs dark academia that features a non-violent crime, which works surprisingly well. All in all: A STUNNER THAT FANS OF THE SECRET HISTORY SHOULD CHECK OUT!!
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â As I Descended (Robyn Talley)
A queer, sapphic Macbeth retelling?? Also a rare YA dark academia with strong supernatural elements?! The representation is on point, with two hispanic main characters, wlw, mlm and one of the girls in the main couple being disabled! The boarding school setting is also on point (and uniquely different as the school building is actually a former plantation in Virginia). This book is so different and so spooky! It wasnât perfect and some say the retelling didnât work 100% (I, personally, felt that the plot slowed down a bit), but the atmosphere is amazing and the characters are pretty cool, too!
Not to worry, my quest to find and read as many DA books as possible isnât over. So this list might be updates again some time in the future! :)
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Me, rereading Carry On for the 446324567th time:
âThen he kisses me.â
Me:
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20 books everyone needs to read at least once because people will reference them in front of you your entire life:
âthe faerie queene,â by edmund spenser. this poem is both an epic and an allegory, written in (mostly) iambic pentameter. it is divided up into six books (plus a little bit of a seventh) which you should read, if for no other reason than the fact that thereâs supposedly an exclusive book club at harvard university for the select few people who have finished all six sections
âromeo and juliet,â and âothello,â both by shakespeare. these plays both involve two lovers who die because of communication issues. and theyâre both super important to read because there are so many references to them, both in other pieces of classic lit., and in modern culture
âthe picture of dorian gray,â by oscar wilde. if you canât tell, this is my favorite book ever. if you can get past the purple prose, itâs one of the most âdark academiaâ books ever. itâs got references to other famous pieces of literature (which iâll include on the list), lots of gay shit, a dramatic young adult who loves shakespeare, and ofc, murder
âthe brothers karamazov,â by fyodor dostoevsky. actually started reading this one to impress a boy; i think that perhaps he and i have different concepts of what is considered impressive, but the book has turned out amazing, so iâm happy. it has lots of wonderful philosophical and theological discussions. the one thing you may not like is that Dostoevsky constantly goes off on little tangents (like Herodotus). it simultaneously fascinates me and makes me want to smack him with a stick
âthe prince,â by niccolo machiavelli. this isnât classic literature so much as it is political science, but honestly, so many people talk about âmachiavellianismâ without ever having read the original Machiavellian treatise, and it would be so much better to just read the book and then be able to cite machiavelli himself at your next political-philosophy discussion.
âthe canterbury tales,â by geoffrey chaucer. these are classics. theyâre filled to the brim with medieval language and sexual innuendo, but thatâs part of what makes them so wonderful. if thatâs not enough of a selling point, âthe tale of the deathly hallowsâ from âharry potterâ is super similar to âthe pardonerâs taleâ from this book.
âthe divine comedy,â by dante alighieri. includes a crap ton of great history references and some super sick burns directed towards the corrupt people of danteâs time.
âmeditations,â by marcus aurelius. the original metaphysical journal. probably the epitome of âlight academiaâ if iâve ever read one
âthe great gatsby,â by f. scott fitzgerald. jay gatsby is low-key super relatableâŠand so is nick, the third wheelâŠand so is daisy, who feels like women are forced by society to be âbeautiful little foolsâ
âthe iliadâ and âthe odyssey,â by homer. i will never ever be able to read âthe iliadâ again without sobbing hysterically. :â((
âfrankenstein,â by mary shelley. not only is this a great book in terms of philosophical potential, but there are so many great things to debate about in it. and, itâs written by a woman :)
âoedipus rex,â by sophocles. my favorite book in 9th grade, though god knows why my mother let me read it then
âmetamorphoses,â by ovid. a collection of my all-time favorite myths, which every single person needs to read because it explains how the ancient romans believed the world operated, from the way the sun rises, to the reason we hear echoes.
âthe aeneid,â by virgil. suggested by @catilinas :) the final addition to the holy iliad/odyssey/aeneid trinity, written hundreds of years after the last part, by a different author, and in latin instead of the original greek. chronologically ocurrs at about the same time as the odyssey, although from the trojan perspective.
â1984â (suggested by @alexickotowaffle) and âanimal farm,â both by george orwell. iâm sticking them together because although the plots are completely different, they both remind me of todayâs culture in rather unfortunate ways. but theyâre very well written, and i do adore orwellâs style :)
âdon quixote,â by miguel de cervantes. an absolutely hysterical book; i kept laughing out loud the entire time i was reading it. it satirizes getting wrapped up in the world of books, to which iâm sure we can all relate.
âhamlet,â by william shakespeare. finally crossed this off of my âto readâ list and i absolutely loved it. hamratio (is that the ship name for hamlet x horatio?) is wonderful, the whole play is excellent, and i would highly recommend it
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âGo,â she says. âHe waits for you.â
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His face had healed. In the evening light, he was perfect again.
âI went swimming today,â he said.
âHow was it?â
âI love swimming.â
âI know,â I said.
âI love swimming,â he said again. He was quiet for a little while. And then he said, âI love swimmingâand you.â
I didnât say anything.
âSwimming and you, Ari. Those are the things I love the most.â
âYou shouldnât say that,â I said.
âItâs true.â
âI didnât say it wasnât true. I just said you shouldnât say it.â
âWhy not?â
âDante, I donâtââ
âYou donât have to say anything. I know that weâre different. Weâre not the same.â
âNo, weâre not the same.â
I knew what he was saying and I wished to God he was someone else, someone who didnât have to say things out loud. I just kept nodding.
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
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Walking/Running
Amble - walk leisurely
Careen - move swiftly in one direction
Falter - move hesitatingly; start to lose strength and momentum
Flounder - walk with great difficulty
Limp - walk with difficulty, normally due to injury
Lumber - move heavily or clumsily
Lurch - walk as if unable to control oneâs movements; an unsteady tilt or roll
Meander - walk aimlessly or with little purpose
Parade - march in a procession
Prowl - move about in or as if in a predatory manner
Ramble - move about aimlessly or without any destination
Saunter - walk in a slow, or relaxed manner, without hurry or effort
Skulk - move stealthily; keep out of sight
Stagger - walk or move unsteadily, as if to fall
Stalk - walk stiffly
Stride - walk with long steps
Stroll - walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
Strut - to walk with a lofty proud gait
Stumble - miss a step and fall or nearly fall
Swagger - walk with confidence, arrogance or aggressiveness
Totter - move in a feeble, unsteady way
Waddle - walk with short steps and a clumsily swaying motion
Wade - walk through shallow water
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How I turned an idea into an outline
With NaNoWriMo around the corner, I thought I might show you how I plotted my novel.
This is the story structure I used:
0% inciting incident
0%-20% introduction in the world, ends with a point of no return
20% first plot point: the hero receives his marching orders
20%-50% response to the first plot point
35% first pinch point: reminder of the nature of the antagonistic force
50% midpoint: big fat plot twist that changes the heroâs AND readerâs experience
50%-80% attack: the stakes are higher now
65% second pinch point: again reminding the reader of the antagonistic forces at hand
80% second plot point: the final injection of new information into the story to give the hero everything she needs to become the primary catalyst in the storyâs conclusion (no new information past this point)
80%-100% resolution + final conflict + return home
I didnât make this up. I think itâs by Larry Brooks, if The Internet informs me correctly. Fun Fact: once you pay attention to it, youâll see this structure everywhere. Just take a look at any Harry Potter book, for example.
These points are the âbonesâ of my story. Next, I decided what âfleshâ to put on them.
I simply made a list of things I like to read about:
Books about books and libraries
Magic
Quirky characters
Intelligent, fast-paced and sometimes silly
So, I combined this list and the structure points into a story that makes sense. Because I donât want to spoil my plot / I am still to shy about my wip, I will make up a new plot for this post, so I can show you.
0%: The hero does something magical without knowing how she did it. She discards it, because everybody knows it canât have been real.
0%-20%: We see the daily life of the hero: she is unhappy because all she wants to do is read, but she is not allowed to. She reads in the dead of night and is punished for it by her evil stepcousin. She finds a book on magic.
20% It all clicks together: she can do magic!
20%-50% The daily life for the hero changes. Instead of reading all night, she practices magic. She now loves books even more. She has little victories over her evil stepcousin, but hasnât won yet.
35% The evil stepcousin finds out that she can do magic and takes away the magic book.
50% She discovers she can do magic without the book.
50%-80% The hero is not the only one who is bullied by the evil stepcousin. Her younger cousin is a victim as well, and he doesnât have magic to defend himself. The stakes are raised, this is bigger than herself now. The younger cousin also wants to read, so they have several bonding moments over reading.
65% The evil stepcousin hurts the younger cousin, heâs in a coma now.
80% The hero discovers the evil stepcousin could do all these evil things because he knows magic too.
80%-100% The hero confronts the evil stepcousin, fights him off, nearly loses but wins in the end. He gives up and releases his power over the younger cousin who wakes up from the coma.
Itâs not the most genius plot ever, but I literally made this up in minutes. So can you! And imagine the genius plot you can come up with if you spend more than a few minutes on it.
Then I calculated how many scenes I need in which part of the story. My wip is a YA or 12+ book, so I want it to contain about 75,000 words in total. I want my scenes to be around 1,000 words long to keep it snappy, so I need 75 scenes.
Scene number 1 (0%) is the inciting incident, scene number 15 (20%) is the first plot point, scene number 26 (35%) is the first pinch point, scene number 37 (50%) is the midpoint, scene number 49 (65%) is the second pinch point, scene number 60 (80%) is the second plot point and scene 75 (100%) is the last scene.
Some sidenotes on the 1,000-word scenes:
Thatâs more of a vague rule of thumb than a strict rule. If your scene needs to be longer or shorter, make it longer or shorter of course. My wip has some 2,300-word scenes as well.
Having 1,000-word scenes does not mean I have 1,000-word chapters, that would be really short. I will divide my novel into chapters after Iâm finished writing my first draft.
For NaNoWriMo, maybe you could write scenes of 1,667 words, so you do one scene per day. A 50,000-word novel has 30 scenes of 1,667 words. Inciting incident is at scene 1, first plot point at scene 6, first pinch point at scene 11, midpoint at scene 15, second pinch point at scene 20, second plot point at scene 24 and scene 30 is your last scene. Thatâs just an idea, you got to see what works for you.
Then I made up in one sentence what will happen in every scene. For example: âThey meet the dragon and he sends them on a sidequest.â Now my outline consists of 75 one-sentence scenes. This way, I prevent the problem of the sagging middle and other pacing problems and I still get to surprise myself when writing.
From those one-sentence scenes, I flesh out every scene into a first draft, using the process I described in my post How I never have to face an empty page when I write.
And thatâs my first draft! I hope everything is clear. Feel free to ask me questions if it isnât.
Iâm gonna tag a few people I admire, who I hope are interested. If you arenât, feel free to ignore me, or message me to take you off my tag list. If you would like to be added to my writing advice tag list, let me know.
Keep reading
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