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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
!!A lot of these stories are really dark, so check TW's!!
In These Hallowed Halls is a dark academia anthology. It contains 12 Dark Academia short stories by 12 different authors. I was most excited about Olivie Blake and M.L. Rio's stories, because I already know and LOVE both authors. They did not disappoint. It's quite hard to write a review about 12 different stories haha, so I'm not even going to try, sorry not sorry. For me, it was also quite difficult to connect with the characters when they’re only present for a short period of time. With a collection of different short stories, there's always going to be some that you don't like that much, but that's fine! I wouldn't recommend this one if you're never read dark academia books before, cause I feel like it doesn't do the genre any justice. Go for If We Were Villains if you wanna get into that, or if you just wanna read an amazing book in general 👀. If you've read dark academia before, then I think you'll appreciate this one a lot more.
In These Hallowed Halls is a dark academia anthology. It contains 12 Dark Academia short stories by 12 different authors. I was most excited about Olivie Blake and M.L. Rio's stories, because I already know and LOVE both authors. They did not disappoint. It's quite hard to write a review about 12 different stories haha, so I'm not even going to try, sorry not sorry. For me, it was also quite difficult to connect with the characters when they’re only present for a short period of time. With a collection of different short stories, there's always going to be some that you don't like that much, but that's fine! I wouldn't recommend this one if you're never read dark academia books before, cause I feel like it doesn't do the genre any justice. Go for If We Were Villains if you wanna get into that, or if you just wanna read an amazing book in general 👀. If you've read dark academia before, then I think you'll appreciate this one a lot more.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A mixture of intriguing and engaging stories. I wanted some
Of them to keep going.
Of them to keep going.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Some stories were well written and grabbed my interest immediately. Others failed to interest me at all and I rather pushed through than enjoyed the story telling.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I would’ve given this a slightly higher rating if not for the last story. One of the dumbest shorts I’ve ever read. The majority of this book of short stories was so incredibly mid that it got frustrating. Even the good shorts, were just good, not great. The writing was fine, but the plots were just bland. And… I’m not with the genre/trope police, but to call 80% of these stories DARK ACADEMIA is a fuckin stretch and a half. It takes more than a vague connection to school to be dark academia. ugh just writing this makes me wanna lower my rating (i just did).
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Went from horrible to great to horrible to great.
I adored some of the stories in this anthology, and I hated others. I guess that makes sense, but I wished there were more good stories in it. The star rating I've given this book is the average of all the individual ratings, and I wished it was higher.
1000 ships (2/5 stars): I probably would have read this and enjoyed it more if it was a full book. While it worked within the genre of dark academia, I'm definitely not a fan of student x teacher romantic!relationships that are not handled at all. This story made it seem like it's okay, especially since it was written from the student's perspective. And yes, it's made clear that the teacher is not a good guy, but more in a he's-an-attractive-morally-grey-genius kind of way. It was just not addressed how fundamentally problematic the relationship was.
Pythia (1/5 stars): I will start by saying no, I'm not a fan of Olivie Blake. I really wanted to rate this story higher, but I can't. There's a good idea and some potential in it somewhere, but it just felt like one big infodump without a point that doesn't even explain anything. Open endings are great, but this just didn't work, because the plot was all over the place, so you're just left with a pile of information that doesn't make sense.
Sabbatical (2/5 stars): This was an amazing story and had an amazing set-up, and then the end ruined it all. It was so abrupt and, again, made zero sense.
The Hare and the Hound (5/5 stars): Absolute perfection. Dark, magical realism, open ending that perfectly tied up the story, perfectly dark academia. Might just pick up one or more of Andrew's books sometime.
X House (4/5 stars): I almost rated this five stars. This was perfectly dark, culty, half-resolved half-open ending. Just- yes.
The Ravages (3/5 stars): I was disappointed thatthere turned out to not be any ghosts , but I loved the revenge plot.
Four Funerals (5/5 stars): First of all, ouch. Especially in our current time and in America, this is such an important story to tell. The only reason I didn't cry was because I was in public transport.
The Unknowable Pleasures (1/5 stars): There was no plot and it was just a disgusting story. Again, student x teacher relationship that wasn't handled well at all.
Weekend at Bertie's (2/5 stars): Other reviews I read before I started this book kinda scared me but I still held my hopes high. I was unfortunately disappointed. There wasn't much of a plot and it wasn't really dark academia. Rio's writing style never fails to disappoint though. I'm sad to rate this story so low, since If We Were Villains remains my favorite book of all time.
The Professor of Onthology (2/5): The plot started on the last page, which was really sad, because the writing and the set-up of the story were great. It read more like the first page/teaser of a book than a short story. This would've worked so well as a full book.
Phobos (4/5 stars): TEA. Loved it. This is what dark academia is about. It felt a little stretched out though, as if there was a minimum amount of pages/words to reach and Bovalino was struggling to meet it.
Playing (4/5 stars): A perfect example of what dark academia should be. Deliciously dark. The writing was a bit hard to follow from time to time though.
February 8th, 2024 - February 14th, 2024.
I adored some of the stories in this anthology, and I hated others. I guess that makes sense, but I wished there were more good stories in it. The star rating I've given this book is the average of all the individual ratings, and I wished it was higher.
1000 ships (2/5 stars): I probably would have read this and enjoyed it more if it was a full book. While it worked within the genre of dark academia, I'm definitely not a fan of student x teacher romantic!relationships that are not handled at all. This story made it seem like it's okay, especially since it was written from the student's perspective. And yes, it's made clear that the teacher is not a good guy, but more in a he's-an-attractive-morally-grey-genius kind of way. It was just not addressed how fundamentally problematic the relationship was.
Pythia (1/5 stars): I will start by saying no, I'm not a fan of Olivie Blake. I really wanted to rate this story higher, but I can't. There's a good idea and some potential in it somewhere, but it just felt like one big infodump without a point that doesn't even explain anything. Open endings are great, but this just didn't work, because the plot was all over the place, so you're just left with a pile of information that doesn't make sense.
Sabbatical (2/5 stars): This was an amazing story and had an amazing set-up, and then the end ruined it all. It was so abrupt and, again, made zero sense.
The Hare and the Hound (5/5 stars): Absolute perfection. Dark, magical realism, open ending that perfectly tied up the story, perfectly dark academia. Might just pick up one or more of Andrew's books sometime.
X House (4/5 stars): I almost rated this five stars. This was perfectly dark, culty, half-resolved half-open ending. Just- yes.
The Ravages (3/5 stars): I was disappointed that
Four Funerals (5/5 stars): First of all, ouch. Especially in our current time and in America, this is such an important story to tell. The only reason I didn't cry was because I was in public transport.
The Unknowable Pleasures (1/5 stars): There was no plot and it was just a disgusting story. Again, student x teacher relationship that wasn't handled well at all.
Weekend at Bertie's (2/5 stars): Other reviews I read before I started this book kinda scared me but I still held my hopes high. I was unfortunately disappointed. There wasn't much of a plot and it wasn't really dark academia. Rio's writing style never fails to disappoint though. I'm sad to rate this story so low, since If We Were Villains remains my favorite book of all time.
The Professor of Onthology (2/5): The plot started on the last page, which was really sad, because the writing and the set-up of the story were great. It read more like the first page/teaser of a book than a short story. This would've worked so well as a full book.
Phobos (4/5 stars): TEA. Loved it. This is what dark academia is about. It felt a little stretched out though, as if there was a minimum amount of pages/words to reach and Bovalino was struggling to meet it.
Playing (4/5 stars): A perfect example of what dark academia should be. Deliciously dark. The writing was a bit hard to follow from time to time though.
February 8th, 2024 - February 14th, 2024.
"Do you think it's okay that I remember him as a young boy, when he was happy, and not like he was the last few years?"
"You should remember him however you want." - Four Funerals.
"We all burn ourselves up," he said. "We consume ourselves, constantly. And for what? I'm no better a scholar than you are. Proctor - fuck Proctor - is probably no better thanthe poor freshman he killed . It doesn't matter. None of it's good, none of it's right." - Phobos.
It's amazing what you could get used to, she thought, how automatic terrible things can become. - Playing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I’m sorry some of these were so boring. The idea behind this collection is literally all I could ever ask for so I’m not entirely sure how it missed the mark so bad. Some of these don’t even feel like dark academia (looking to you, Olivie Blake). Might revisit one day if the mood strikes to check out the last few stories I didn’t get to, but as of right now I’m not interested.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
No1000 ships (Kate Weineberg) - a prequel, nothing got resolved - 2/5
Pythia (Olivia Blake) - oraculum that needs therapy, I loved it - 5/5
Sabbatical (James Tate Hill) - a blind teacher that gets pulled into a mystero of a missing person, 4/5
The Hare and the Hound (Kelly Andrew) - this was dark, but what about academia 3/5
X House (J. T. Ellison) - murders in elite girl school 3,5/5
The Ravages (Layne Fargo) - Revenge on a cheater, 4/5
Four Funerals (David Bell) - this was depressing, school shootings always are 3,5/5
The Unknowable Pleasures (Susie Yang) - forbidden romance or was it? I wanted to know 4/5
Weekend at Bertie’s (M. L. Rio) - I read it only because of this author and I am not sure - a lot of Poe references, but a bit ambiguous - 3/5
The Professor of Ontography (Helen Grant) - mystery university department - the consequences of curiosity can be quite dreadful 4,5/5
Phobos (Tori Bovalino) - secret society and some next level hazing 4/5
Playing (Phoebe Wynne) - murders in a university community - I knew, who done it almost straight away 3,5/5
It comes to 3,66, so I am going to round it up.
Pythia (Olivia Blake) - oraculum that needs therapy, I loved it - 5/5
Sabbatical (James Tate Hill) - a blind teacher that gets pulled into a mystero of a missing person, 4/5
The Hare and the Hound (Kelly Andrew) - this was dark, but what about academia 3/5
X House (J. T. Ellison) - murders in elite girl school 3,5/5
The Ravages (Layne Fargo) - Revenge on a cheater, 4/5
Four Funerals (David Bell) - this was depressing, school shootings always are 3,5/5
The Unknowable Pleasures (Susie Yang) - forbidden romance or was it? I wanted to know 4/5
Weekend at Bertie’s (M. L. Rio) - I read it only because of this author and I am not sure - a lot of Poe references, but a bit ambiguous - 3/5
The Professor of Ontography (Helen Grant) - mystery university department - the consequences of curiosity can be quite dreadful 4,5/5
Phobos (Tori Bovalino) - secret society and some next level hazing 4/5
Playing (Phoebe Wynne) - murders in a university community - I knew, who done it almost straight away 3,5/5
It comes to 3,66, so I am going to round it up.