Class reunions, frenemies, rumors, sex scandals, and murder. College helps people realize who they are and the company they want to keep. But most importantly, college helps some people realize their lust for vengeance is their best career choice. Their need for revenge is far more severe than their lust for the next football tailgate or studying for their econ test at 10am.
Between the cobblestone walls and uniform desk-chairs, the air is thick with grudges. Bursting with secrets. Subdued in higher education, the setting for these murders and scandals is a supporting factor rather than the larger scope.
These book recommendations explore an academic setting with female leads. Where vengeful people are pushed too far, former acquaintances are unwilling to let go of the past, and spite is the plus-one guest at a class reunion. These picks will make you wonder, “Okay, some points were made. Others? I’m not so sure…”
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of Sexual Assault and Violence. Read with care.
Reputation by Sara Shepard
From the author of Pretty Little Liars comes the email hacking scandal at a prestigious college, and the murder of Dr. Greg Strasser. Investigative reporter and sister-in-law to Strasser, Willa, comes back to the hometown she fled 15 years ago for the funeral. While here, she must face the newfound scandals from the countless email leaks, the suspicious murder of someone close to her family, and a traumatizing past she would much rather forget.
Note: Reputation is not a YA novel like the series Pretty Little Liars. It details sexual assault on college campuses and the injustice for victims. The darker themes are not meant for a younger audience, and I don’t want to lead you astray in your expectations of its graphic content.
They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
English professor Scarlett Clark goes on a yearly hunt for terrible men to kill on the college campus, but her latest plan finds her navigating a criminal investigation too close for comfort. She must find a way to charm herself out of suspicion. On the other side of campus, meek freshman Carly Schiller becomes obsessed with making the perpetrators responsible for sexually assaulting her roommate pay for what they’ve done.
With a cynical vigilantism, this is a “good for her” book for all of my man-haters out there. If the television show Killing Eve (2018) met the movie Promising Young Woman (2020), you end up getting They Never Learn by Layne Fargo.
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
Jumping between timelines, this Soap-opera-esque thriller surrounds a group of six friends at an elite southern college, the unsolved murder of their seventh friend, and all the secrets and romantic pairings they never told each other while in school. Ten years later, they have graduated and are brought together for a reunion to show their favorable legacies and loyalties. However, there are people who refuse to disregard the impact of their friend’s murder a decade prior, and they are determined to air out everyone’s dirty laundry if it means justice (and vengeance) is served.
Although it is a Mystery/Thriller, the subplot in In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is a fun one for lovers of romance, as well.
The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
On par with the ten-year reunion of college classmates, two former friends, Amb and Scully, realize they are being hunted for a wrong they committed during their time in school. The butterfly effect is in full swing, and the consequences of the two women’s actions approach with a swiftness. If I can say one thing about The Girls Are All So Nice Here without incriminating my opinion with spoilers, it’s that fighting over a guy is so embarrassing.
This book exemplifies how being a former mean girl doesn’t wash away the cruelty of your past if you never showed remorse for your actions in order to change.
Confessions by Kanae Minato
Okay, this one might be a little darker than the others on the list…but it fits the theme and is a stellar Japanese cult classic from the late 2000s.
Confessions follows unreliable narrators as they recount the events leading up to a grieving mother whose young daughter drowned in the school swimming pool earlier in the year. As a teacher at the school, Yuko Moriguchi finds out her daughter may have actually been killed by some of her own students. With one final classroom lesson in mind, she wants them to pay for taking everything from her.
This schoolteacher revenge story has a unique writing style and perspective, and the content is not as much “good for her” as it is social commentary on issues regarding HIV, severe bullying, and stigmas.
Tell Them You Lied by Laura Leffler
Anna is trying to get her footing in the cut-throat art scene of New York and becomes obsessed with the mysterious and radiant classmate Willow. With a muse in mind and a desperation for success in the arts, Anna will do anything to gain some mental power back, even if it means setting Willow up for a staged mugging on the street. Things don’t go as planned when this prank lands on the morning of September 11, 2001…
Now, Willow is missing, the city is reeling, and Anna must come to terms with the decisions that have led her to this point of disaster.
Bunny by Mona Awad
When scholarship student Samantha gets invited into the fold of a strange rich girl clique, whom call each other Bunny, she jumps on the opportunity to be a part of their group. But the further she gets into the Bunnies’ rituals and sees the world they have created for themselves, powerful imagination and ambition threatens to jeopardize more than just Samantha’s college experience.
Bunny is a wickedly fun read that pushes the boundaries on the dark academia genre.
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
In a gender-bending story about the exploitation in the arts and predatory intentions, Irina is a fetishist photographer that targets average, nerdy men to be the object for her art. Following her hardcore lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and extremist media consumption, we come along for the ride as she spirals, trying to be accepted into the prestigious art scene after graduating.
As a “pitch-black” comedy, Boy Parts deals with disturbing themes surrounding sexual predators, misogyny and — the reaction to it — misandry, and the exploitative nature of extreme media.
Daphne by Josh Malerman
A high school girl’s basketball team is in their last year when the twisted tale of a murdered girl named Daphne surfaces again in their hometown. Once she’s spoken of, once they think of her, Daphne comes from beyond the grave to kill her summoner. The spark of reality comes in the shape of vengeful murder, and when each of Kit’s teammates is picked off one by one by this force, she must find a way to stop Daphne before she’s next.
The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Charlie comes back to her hometown and becomes the first witness on the scene of a horrific crime at a school. Tethered to the gruesome home invasion that took her mother and sister 28 years ago, she is reminded of the past she fled from and is thrown into the center of some dark secrets. With her father’s reputation following her and the sins of nearly three decades ago on her trail, she cannot afford to miss the clues this time.
We hope you enjoyed our recommendations and look forward to finding more niche picks in this subgenre.
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