This took me longer than I wanted/expected to finish. It started out so slow, with so much unknown and hidden. And it felt like it wasn't going anywhere. We were just introduced all the different characters, but so much was not being shown or told. It felt like a dark academia, but the magic angle was a surprise showed only about 30% in (if not more). The fact that this is about magic, and secret societies, and very dark goals, made this book better. The second half was completely different from the first. So much was happening and moving so fast, that I just had to finish and find out how all the characters will end up. However, the rushed second half felt like it wasn't completely ironed out. It wasn't as focused on the characters anymore, just making sure that all the action makes sense, and no mistakes were made, etc. For example. the pink suit case? It was so random, I kept waiting for something to pop out of that thing, and nothing. Just a material item that Lacey couldn't let go? Also, what about Ren, being so big and determined in one scene, becomes a cowering coward in the next? It didn't feel like her at all. And then Gideon, oh poor Gideon. They all stepped into the background for the MC to shine, and it doesn't feel natural, not with their ARCs so far.

I wanted to love this, but by the end I really didn't care. It was just too long, dragged out. The second half even though it was more entertaining, still didn't make it a great ending. The fantastical elements just felt unfinished, not completely thought out. The last twists especially felt unnatural to the whole plot. I wish the atmosphere and the character building have kept up to its promising beginning.

Page arrives at Agathion in Scotland following a disastrous incident at her school in Florida. There, Page hopes to put the chaos within her in order. But she also finds something unexpected, something she wasn’t looking for: being a part of a close knit group of friends. However, things are not right at Agathion - the school has a dark history and Page and her friends are caught up in it. There is something sinister at Agathion - will they discover what is happening before it is too late?

A dark and interesting novel that took a bit of time to get into at first. But the second half of the novel more than made up for it. Imaginative and eerie with great character development.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this title!

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Teen Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Page Whittaker has just received a scholarship from Agathion, an elite private boarding school in Scotland. Though she has no idea why she was chosen, she is only too happy to leave her small Florida town behind after an incident at her old school. And at first, Agathion seems perfect, a haven for intellectuals, and Page even feels like she might be making some friends, except that she’s certain they are hiding something from her – and so is Agathion itself. As Page begins to learn more about her new school, she will come face to face with the dark history behind it and unearth a conspiracy tied to a secret society that supposedly has ties to demons and magic.

I’ve been trying to read different types of books within my usual genres this year, and this fit the bill perfectly. Dark academia is something I’ve tried in the past a few times, and I’ve mostly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to returning to that genre again.

I know the synopsis of this book basically said ‘dark academia with demons’ but that definitely didn’t prepare me for it. The first half of the book certainly had a lot of dark academia vibes, and this was my favourite part of the book – introducing Agathion, a school that was mysterious and somewhat creepy, but at the same time appeared to be a cosy haven of learning, tons of Greek philosophy and weird rituals. The world building was excellent, it really brought the whole feel of Agathion to life and I felt like I was exploring those halls right alongside Page.

The second however, was very different, taking a sharp turn into dark fantasy and demons with a side of horror. It was an intriguing read, with some fascinating mythology to tie it all together, but I do wish the story as a whole was more cohesive. The book felt like it was in two distinct halves, which I found disappointing, as without the dark academia part, this would not have been nearly as appealing to me.

Despite my little disappointment with how the plot played out, the story had me completely hooked. It did take a little while for things to get moving, but once it did, it was one crazy roller coaster all the way to the end. The pacing was steady throughout and the writing was pretty good too.

Page was an interesting character with a pretty complicated past that she has never been able to explain. She was just as adrift as the reader throughout this book, so seeing things through her perspective and following along as she discovered not only Agathion’s secrets, but the truth behind the incidents she has experienced was great. However, her character arc was not the most realistic in my opinion, seeing as this entire book took place over six weeks or so.

The secondary characters, while they were likeable and the whole found family dynamic they had was lovely, I didn’t really connect to them as much. I think that’s just the nature of the genre though, because the plot held my attention so firmly that even if there were more POVs or backstory for these characters, I doubt it would have had much impact.

Honestly, there were at least three points in the book where I thought it was nearing the end, and then I checked the page count on my kindle and there were way too many pages to go. That said, I did enjoy the many plot twists that set the characters off on yet another tangent to handle some or the other unexpected event. It was all rather chaotic, but so much fun to read!

I felt the ending was a bit much, personally, especially with Page supposedly having these abilities all her life but never knowing, and then all of a sudden, being able to basically work all kinds of miracles. It required a significant suspension of disbelief, but if you can manage that, it was quite good.

Overall, I enjoyed Unhallowed Halls. It was an entertaining read, and it has also encouraged me to start reading dark academia again – I had quite forgotten how much fun it is! I would highly recommend this book for fans of the genre!

This YA romantasy is full of dark intentions, mysterious environs and complicated teen emotions. The centuries old school set in a Scottish castle was the real star, but the rest of the cast of characters was also great with tangled threads of loyalty and romance. I enjoyed the complex lore of the school and the land surrounding it as well as the layers of the mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and TBR & Beyond Book Tours for my copy. These opinions are my own.

This is an unsettling story that is creepy, enticing and well written. The atmosphere is masterfully created and I had a hard time putting this down. If you enjoy dark academia or horror, I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Lili Wilkinson,Random House Children's and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Delacorte Press and the author for a free advanced reader copy of this book.

3.5 ⭐️

This dark academia book has a very interesting premise. It felt like a YA version of the Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, but more supernatural. I enjoyed the found family in this, but also felt like I wanted to get to know some of the other characters more.

I love dark academia, especially when it doesn't feel like it's trying too hard to be "smart." This one is both fun and smart, and keeps you interested in the demonic fantasy of it all. Recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC gifted in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really interesting and at some times creepy read! I enjoyed it and I think students will enjoy the vibe of the dark academia mystery. The characters were good and Agathion was perfectly weird and I think this would be enjoyable to my students who like this style of writing and book.
I enjoyed the ending and that it sort of was a circle back to the beginning but obviously with a lot of consequences 😂 This did keep me guessing and I had no idea it would end up where it did, if you are looking for dark academia & a mystery this would be right up your street!

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc to preview.

Oh this was good. From the effortless weaving of queer stories to the easy insertion of classic references to the cast of characters I found myself genuinely connecting with, this is Dark Academia done right. The magic system made sense, and felt accessible as both a reader and as someone who rarely believes that teens can just easily get thrown into these things. The suspense was eerie and the plot twists were well timed.

I really loved this book, and I really think other people will too.

Unhallowed Halls
by Lili Wilkinson
Pub Date: Feb 18 2025


This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers..

Page Whittaker secretly longs for a place to fit in, and just maybe the exclusive Agathion boarding school might be the place. Set deep in the Scottish moors, the isolated school’s ideology of mind over body, and heavy Classical Latin and Greek and Roman philosophy make for the perfect dark academia setting. After a violent incident at her last school she excepts a scholarship to attend Agathion and hopefully have a new start. Once there she finds school a challenge, and just when she is on the edge of becoming excepted into a close nit circle of friends, she realizes that they and the school’s magistrates are keeping mysterious secrets from her.

I have been looking forward to this book ever since I heard about it because I enjoyed the last book I read by the author. I knew this book was likely to be the perfect mix of tense and atmospheric and it definitely lived up to those expectations.

The setting was fantastic a school in a secluded Scottish setting, so it’s mostly damp and cold, in an old building that happens to be built between a ring of standing stones. I could feel the chill in my bones just reading about it and of course, it added to this mysterious and elitist school, who seem to only deal with Greek scholars and doesn’t seem to have a set graduation.

I won’t lie a lot of the academic references on the different philosophers went over my head but I could feel the research in the pages and it helped to give the school its exclusive feel. It also adds to the mysterious quality that you feel as soon as Page arrives there because you feel like all the students are in on a way of life that the rest of us couldn’t comprehend.

That quality is what caught my attention and made me eager to devour this book, there were so many questions that I had and more unusual things kept happening which propelled me further into the story. There comes a stage, after a lot of strange occurrences, where the story adds some fantastical elements, which I enjoyed and gave me a lot more questions and a bit of a chilling feeling about where the story was headed.

I would never have predicted where this story was going there are so many twists and turns it certainly keeps you on your toes once the action starts to pick up. I won’t say too much about the plot because I don’t want to spoil it but I will say that the pace ramps up and there are a few things that happen that I felt I didn’t get enough time to digest before the next thing happened. I felt like I didn’t get the chance to invest myself as fully in the characters in the second half of the story because everything was happening so quickly.

The characters were all pretty intriguing, they all had a brilliance about them, I quite liked that in a school that is supposed to be an equaliser in terms of outside status and privilege, there still managed to be groups and some hierarchies.

I enjoyed the relationship between Gideon, Ren, Oak, Lacey, and Cyrus, they seem at the same time tight-knit but also very separate people, which makes for some interesting dynamics. Page is quite a curious and complex character we hear things from her perspective but she is also a bit of a puzzle, which makes for an interesting protagonist.

Unhallowed Halls is both a mysterious and exciting story, I almost read it in one sitting because I didn’t want to put it down. I’m looking forward to what the author comes up with next because I love the dark, chilling, and tense atmospheres that she creates.

You might need to pick this one up if you like dark academia, gothic boarding schools, strange magic, demonic rituals, plant magic, a touch of Eldritch horror.

I was hooked from the beginning when I started this, I’m always a fan of dark academia and the premise of this one sounded so good I couldn’t turn it down. From the gothic feel to weird happenings, the author did a good job keeping me on my toes and trying to figure out what was really going on.

I loved the ancient magic that was intertwined through the story and the relationships between the characters. My absolute favorite part was the backdrop of the Scottish highlands

I received a gifted copy of this, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don’t read a ton of fantasy but the draw in of dark academia, demons, and queer rep - I had to give this one a go - and I’m so glad I did. This book was intriguing from the start and I continued to be interested throughout, making this a fairly quick read despite the longer chapters and 464 pages. The ongoing twists and turns were great at keeping the pace. I think the author did a great job describing the setting and characters and made it all very unique and really brought me inside the book. I also really enjoyed all the philosophy and mythology discussion throughout!

I really thought I would like this more, but the plot kinda started to unravel in the second half. It was still intriguing, like I famously put books down forever even if I still kinda want to know what's going to happen, so the fact that I did want to finish this one is telling.
What I liked:
-The setting! If a book is set in Scotland, I will at the very least pick it up. Add in a boarding school with mysterious goings-on and I'm sat.
-The inherent magic of nature.
-Most of the characters. I especially liked the established relationships: Ren and Gideon and Lacey and Cyrus
-I LOVED that Cyrus got to say goodbye to Lacey. It's been a full 12 hours and I still want to cry about it.
-Speaking of Lacey, I loved her and wished we got more of her. I was also primed to like her because her tarot card was the Queen of Swords and that's a special card to me.

What I didn't like:
-I didn't feel like the 'how' was explained very well. Like, how did part of the goddess get separated from her, how did the body swapping start in the first place... etc.
-Oak and Page's relationship felt forced to me. He was kinda mean at first and it didn't quite make sense that she would have a crush on him.
-Page's name was hardly ever mentioned to the point where anytime someone actually called her by her name I was like "oh yeah, that's her name."
-Also the piglet thing disappeared pretty quickly? What happened to "you're piglet until there's a newer student"?
-Didn't Page go to class like, three times? She was there for a little over a month...

Overall I did like it, I just thought I would like it more than I actually did. 3.5/5 stars

This deeply atmospheric gothic fantasy gave me a new appreciation for Dark Academia novels. Set in the Scottish highlands, the rich descriptions of sights, smells, and tastes completely pull you into the story.

I loved everything about this book — the setting, the mystery, the found family. It features a fully Queer cast and an MC with Endometriosis. I've never seen a book with Endo rep before, so I was incredibly excited to pick this one up, and I feel like it captured the details of the condition perfectly. The book openly discusses periods and chronic pain, showing how resilience can grow from chronic pain.

Between the haunting setting and the secrets everyone is keeping, I was drawn into the mystery and fantasy of the novel. The secrets unfold slowly, like a tangled thread, and I loved the fantasy elements. Despite a complex plot, the story was easy to follow and balanced logistics with emotions. The book does get quite dark at times, with moments seeming quite bleak and hopeless for our protagonists!

I also adored the soft romance between Oak and Paige. Even when things felt dire, I was rooting for them every step of the way.

I really enjoyed Unhallowed Halls. It was a mix of dark academia and cosmic horror. Themes of friendship and trust were explored. It did get a little confusing toward the end, but was still a satisfying read. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This book just didn't really click with me, I think I'm not the dark academia reader. I love the Gothic vibes of the dark academia genre but for some reason I just don't devour the books like I always think I will. I know there is a huge reader base for this book and it will do amazing!

I read a good portion of this while getting an allergy test done and honestly? It did not take my attention away from the itching spots on my arm.

I kind of knew going in that this would be just a classic YA Pick Me novel, especially since it's an American girl going to some prestigious almost secret school in Scotland where magic happens and people focus solely on ancient classical literature. She spent a good bit at the beginning whining about the lack of Jane Austen.

I don't know. I gave this the honest shot I could, but it wasn't for me. Doesn't mean it can't be for others.

Unhallowed Halls was an absolutely unexpected adventure! It started off full of suspense it felt very *the beginning of a gothic horror movie, you know something is wrong and a few weird things happen but you still have no idea what is going on*. 25% in I started to get some answers but there were still SO many mysteries. Halfway through this book took a turn and I was shocked! I had no idea *that* was coming, now you may figure it out sooner but I don’t read this genre very often and I loved being flabbergasted! After the twist things get progressively unhinged in the best way and it was practically impossible to put the book down. I expected to enjoy this book I did not expect the genre blending quest I got and it was worth every page! Content wise this is on the more mature side of YA. There is angst, struggle with identity and belonging, and difficult past’s. They are older teens and sex is mentioned but all the on page romance is strictly pg, there is cursing but it isn’t pervasive, a SA from the past is alluded to but not graphically. There are a litany of murders, mostly of children, violence, violent wounds, horrible adults, someone gets eaten but the violence isn’t terribly graphic. If you feel like revisiting the angst of your teenage years with the picturesque backdrop and moody vibes of Scotland give this one a try! Thank you Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this arc, all opinions are my own.

I just don't know if this one was for me, you know? From the first page, I thought that the language was a bit overwrought, the mentions of classic literature a bit egregious. I think one less mention of the copy of Middlemarch she was holding would have been plenty. I think part of what makes gothic literature and dark academia work so well is the atmosphere, the near palpable tension, and I think unfortunately for me, even at the outset, I felt like the book was trying too hard and nothing pulls me out of a book faster than that. This is not a fault that belongs solely to Unhallowed Halls. It is a critique I have with many horror and suspense novels.

I did my best to give the book a fair shake, but I think unfortunately it never quite found its footing for me. I can see why other users would rate it highly however, and I would recommend this book to younger readers or perhaps those newer to the genre.