100 books like Summer Sons

This YA novel is unquestionably one of my all time favourite reads. It’s about an asexual Apache girl with her ghost-dog sidekick in a world full of magic including faeries and vampires. The prose, the plot, the characters, the narrative structure—it was all brilliant and brought to life the story of a girl who can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill from her Lipan Apache family. A story that could’ve remained delightfully cute and sweet takes a decidedly darker turn when Elatsoe’s cousin is the picture-perfect town of Willowbee. As Elatsoe begins to investigate, she uncovers some seriously gruesome secrets in an alternate version of small-town America shaped by magic and monsters.

There is so much I can appreciate about this book and its craftsmanship. It is filled with beautiful imagery, an almost poetic message about life, love, family, and what really matters. It’s one of those books that makes you think about the world and life. It made me consider whether I would make such a deal with the devil where I could live forever, but no one would remember me.

I tried to imagine what it would be like to form a relationship with someone one day, and then the next day, when I saw them, they would have completely forgotten who you were. I would never be able to make long-term friendships. The fact that my life would really be one of solitude was quite frightening. I would never have anyone I could turn to in times of need. This book really made me think. It’s also the first… show more.

This book is a lot like The Craft only queerer and so much cooler. The story features an eclectic group of teenagers who come together, despite their differences, to form a badass coven to perform even more badass magic, be that casting curses on annoying dudebros or love spells for the lesbian main character, all while trying to evade a vicious group of witch hunters determined to steal the coven’s magic. If you loved films like the aforementioned Craft or even Lost Boys, then you’ll enjoy this book that subverts the mean-girls trope while giving readers a story that is as horror-tinged as it is dark humor-filled.

Despite being a spin-off of the equally gruesome but less queer Something is Killing the Children, this graphic novels stands all on its own and deserves a spot on the list. Although, please consider yourself warned, as this is not a story for the faint of heart. This graphic novel is very much the origin story of a character who is mostly portrayed as more of a villain in the main series. This installment, however, is just as harrowing, and terrifying as the original, with gorgeous, vibrant panels that somehow manages to turn gore into fine art. 

We’ll start with another novel (there are many) inspired in part by the Leopold and Loeb crime. This one swaps Chicago for Pittsburgh, and changes their mismatch in IQs for a stark class divide.

One of the variations I most enjoy in this retelling is that university students Paul Fleischer and Julian Fromme are both damaged when they meet. Julian is scarred physically from a car crash in his youth, and Paul is still recovering emotionally from the death of his father.

Additionally, since the book is set in the 1970s, their sexual involvement with one another is more explicit than the original story could allow (though it still comes with social stigma).

A captivating work of dark academia and crime, the obsession between these two compels them to court their own ruin.

There has to be a Greek or Roman classic on this list if it’s going to feel like dark academia. Homer’s Iliad is great, but I went off the beaten path. I read this collection of dialogues in college, and my favorite is definitely the Phaedo, which recounts Socrates’ death. It’s short, dynamic, and easy to follow. Some philosophy is tough for non-philosophers to wrap their heads around, but Plato’s dialogue style of writing and Socrates’ clear arguments make it easier.

I’m always struck by the contentment Socrates finds, even though his death is unjust. I’ve never forgotten some of the things he says to his friends at the end.

The Girls Are All So Nice Here uses one of my favorite literary devices: dual timelines.

We bounce back and forth between Ambrosia (Amb) Wellington’s freshman year of college and her ten-year college reunion, where she is confronted by the secrets she has been keeping for the last decade. I’m a sucker for dark academia, and this book’s setting felt so real, it could have been my own alma mater.

John Keats is one of my all-time favorite poets. It breaks my heart to think of how many poems were left unwritten when he died young. The ones he left behind are melancholy and absolutely gorgeous. The language tastes like chocolate. He’s a master of using sound to evoke nostalgia (for people who care about the mechanics of these things. It’s okay if you don’t.) His poetry speaks for itself. Read one of his poems slowly, and you’ll feel like you’re lying in a moonlit meadow with a glass of wine, pondering eternity. 

I love how Megan Abbott combines beautiful writing with deeply chilling subject matter in all of her novels. In this book, she showcases her talent for exploring female ambition, friendship, and rage—that leads to murder.

As a teenager, Diane Fleming’s twisted relationship with both her parents and her drive to succeed is counterbalanced by her yearning for intimacy with her best friend, Kit Owens, the first-person narrator of the novel.

However, when Diane divulges her terrible secret, the aftereffects ripple in Kit’s life. As young women working together in the same science lab, the past catches up with both of them—in the bloodiest ways—binding them closer together. This is a page-turner that focuses on brilliant, passionate, troubled women.

Okay, technically, this is not a book. But it is the greatest work in the English language. When I do public speaking, I like to say my ” favorite mystery is Scandinavian.” Everyone nods. “There’s a questionable murder to begin, then a suicide, an attempted kidnapping, and a big fight when the two main characters die.” People nod again. “It’s called Hamlet. Have you ever heard of it?” And everyone laughs. 

I then ask the question: what is the difference between a mystery and a thriller? I believe in a mystery the protagonist is ahead of the reader. (Think classic detective novels such as The Big Sleep). But in a thriller, the audience is ahead of the protagonist. (Think a movie such as Wait Until Dark). In Hamlet, we have both. The first half is a mystery. Was his father really murdered? But in the crucial midpoint,… show more.