It’s the finale of Season 3 of ‘The Dark Academicals’ and we’re hoping to end on a dark academia-induced high!

Now don’t be put off by the UK paperback cover of ‘The Swallows’. It really looks nothing like a dark academia novel, it looks more like a gritty thriller, but the American cover was what caught our attention and prompted us to see what it was all about.

GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS

What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want?

It starts with this simple writing prompt from Alex Witt to her students at Stonebridge Academy. When their answers raise disturbing questions of their own, Ms. Witt knows there's more going on at the school than anyone will admit. She finds the few girls who've started to question the school's `boys will be boys' attitude and incites a resistance that quickly becomes a movement. As the school's secrets begin to trickle out, the skirmish turns into an all-out war, with deeply personal - and potentially fatal - consequences for everyone involved.

A girl-power-smash-the-patriarchy twist on dark academia? Sign. Us. Up.

In this episode we discuss:

• The harmful and stereotypical portrayal of feminists

• How important a setting is to create a dark academia atmosphere

• How the structure and number of perspectives in a novel shape your experience of characters

• ‘The Swallows’ by Lisa Lutz

• ‘Madam’ by Phoebe Wynne

We also announced the line-up of titles for Season 4 which will begin streaming on 7 February 2023 so give it a listen for a sneak peek! Everything will be officially announced here on ‘Books, Burgers and Backpacks’ in the New Year.

You can grab a copy of ‘The Swallows’ from bookshop.org and support both us and independent bookshops. A win for all, with no extra cost to you!

You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!