Giving Dark Academia One Last Shot - If We Were Villains Reading Vlog

After reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt, I thought I liked dark academia. But I've never liked another one since. This is dark academia's final chance for me.
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[@Morgan0912]

Have you read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova? I haven't ever looked for books to specifically read dark academia, but this one has mystery, suspense, and brief scenes at Oxford. It's about a woman who slowly discovers her own family history that involves Dracula/Vlad Tepes. It's not a weird vampire book, but it's so good!

[@manuscriptsmusickandmore7901]

That's so funny that you mentioned that book… I actually started reading it years ago and only read about 2/3 of it! I didn't put it down because I didn't like it, but somehow I got distracted with something else. I still own the book, so I really need to pick it back up again! Thanks for the push to do so.

[@tamarasoares8967]

See, I think the ending is not hopeful at all, it's pretty much the worst tragedy of it all. Oliver will obsess with finding James, who may or may not be alive, while Meredith loses him again. And James, if he's dead, then it's in vain and an endless pursuit that will drive Oliver crazy, but if he's alive, what then? James, who cowardly ran away, after Oliver did all of that for him. I don't see that particularly as hopeful, to be honest. As for TSH comparisons, it's not that I think it's unfair, I just think it makes no sense when we think about the core of both stories. Yes, the inspirations are there, and ML Rio at that time wasn't as brilliant as Donna Tartt, but aside from the setting and archetypes, what do they have in common? For one, Rio isn't actually afraid of making people bisexual, which is great, but that's not the point. When they decide to kill Bunny in TSH is because he's annoying, and they can get away with it, because they think they are above it all, above common things such life and death. They are a bunch of miserable young adults that only have in common their shared passion for the classics, but even that passion is just a way to position them in a higher place in the world, they use their love for the classics to get away with being awful (and insane) people. When Richard decides to join in their plan to kill Bunny it's not done out of desperation, but a want to be part of something, to be in the group, to be like them. It's wild, but you get it, you see why Richard thinks like that and for me, I even thought to myself "I'd kill too, to belong". Murder in Villains is much more compassionate, it comes from a place of desperation, of being ostracized, of being constantly hurt by a person you once loved as a friend. The main difference about both books, imo, is that in Villains they are proper friends. They like each other, even if they like Shakespeare more. But they are so socially inadequate, they can only navigate the world through the words of someone else. They borrow from him what they cannot convey by themselves, when in Secret they use the classics to distance themselves from others. Of course, both books deals with the cult-like mentality and the alienation. But in Villains you get a sense those kids only know Shakespeare and that's how they relate to the world. So, yes, of course James killed Richard because James is the only person Oliver would ever take the fault for. But that, too, is done out of love. When I think about both books, their themes are so distinct, History is ugly and truly devastating because in the end, Henry isn't happy, but it's not like Richard is much better, but Villains is devastating in another way, because love couldn't save them, and it was love that brought them to that place. We can go into actual writing merits, and yes, Donna Tartt was more skilful with it than Rio, that's true. But other than that, comparing them, to me, diminishes what they both accomplished best. I do understand it comes with the job, because I've read Villains some many years ago, and people were already saying this. But also! I don't like "Dark Academia" as a type of genre, because it's more about the setting than the themes? Like, I understand where it comes from, and why people use it to categorise, but I think it unfortunately sets a lot of people up for disappointment. Anyway, sorry for the long rant! It's more about my interpretation of things than to say you're wrong (which isn't the case at all!). If you feel like, Rio's newest novella Graveyard Shift is short and fun, nothing memorable, but a fun time and I think she does the atmosphere in that one so well.

[@manuscriptsmusickandmore7901]

I totally agree that the two books aren't even really that similar! I don't know why everybody wants to compare them. Isn't that funny we had such different thoughts about the book! That happens to me all the time when I talk to my students at school about books we have read. I really appreciate your comment! I might try Graveyard Shift as well!