Teenage Page Whittaker thinks "it feels too romantic to be real" after she accepts a scholarship to attend prestigious Agathion College, a boarding school for "gifted" kids located on the Scottish moors, in this expertly crafted dark academia fantasy novel by Wilkinson (Deep Is the Fen). Obsessed with gothic literature, Page finds Agathionwith its tall spires, gargoyle statues, and student body fluent in Latin and Greekto be an academic's dream, especially after the nightmare that was her former school, where she was involved in a deadly incident. But the timing of her scholarship is suspicious, and Page starts to wonder if sheand all the other students with their troubled pastswas brought here for a reason. Covert clubs, dangerous tests of wits, and a mystery shrouded in dark magic and strange and ancient secrets unfurl in this stunning foray whose skillful plotting is reminiscent of Donna Tart's The Secret History. Painterly descriptions of a rainy gothic atmosphere punctuated by suspense, horror, and humor as experienced by a dynamic and intersectionally diverse found-family cast feel at once as classic as its inspirations, and as an invigorating reinvention of the genre.

In Wilkinson's dark-academia novel, a Florida teen accepts a scholarship to a venerable boarding school in the Scottish moors, only to find that the school's leaders have sinister plans for her. Page Whittaker wants to live a life of the mind, and Agathion College promises just that: a challenging education debating great works of literature in a place steeped in gothic romance. Grand and enigmatic, Agathion is everything Page dreamed, though she is unprepared for the rigorous education and lifestyle; the magisters are so deeply immersed in Greek philosophy that their outdoor education even includes charioteering. Page is welcomed by a tight-knit group of students who hint at Agathion's roots in ancient magic, but they don't fully trust her. Instead, they're keeping an eye on Page, wondering why the magisters wanted her. Wilkinson skillfully creates an atmosphere of dread and mystery as she gradually reveals the horrible truth of the magisters' labyrinthine plot and Page's past. Mixing classical literature, folk magic, and a bit of cosmic horror, this novel will appeal to fans of dark magic and atmospheric settings.