Fresh Reads, Honest reviews, Educator-approved
Mean Girls meets The Craft in this surreal 5-star trip through the world of elite creative writing. Local author and Syracuse University professor Mona Awad crafts an unsettling, comical, and bizarre “fever dream” where a lonely grad student is pulled into a cult-like clique of “Bunnies.” It’s a masterful satire of academic obsession and the monstrous lengths we go to for belonging. Warning: Things are about to get weird.
R.F. Kuang delivers a haunting Dark Academia twist on Dante’s Inferno. In Katabasis, two rival students descend into Hell to rescue a mentor—not for love, but for their academic futures. Using only chalk, runes, and their wits, they navigate a monotonous yet terrifying underworld. It’s a 4-star exploration of academic trauma and the lengths we go for validation. Perfect for high schoolers who loved Babel or Piranesi.
A magical university where the only way to graduate is to kill your demon professor sets the stage for a dark, dangerous honors class. A sharp premise with high stakes, this fantasy pushes ambition to its deadly limits.
This action packed fantasy sequel delivers nonstop twists, deep worldbuilding, and characters you cannot stop thinking about. Fans of intense, high stakes stories will be counting down to the next installment.