Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman, which will be published on July 2, 2024. I’m a sucker for anything dark academia, and this cover just immediately captured my interest. I just wish the story was as good as the artwork.

The Honeys meets The Secret History in a work of dark academia like no other — a boarding school thriller about a queer teen from Mississippi who finds himself swept into a world of old money, privilege, and the secret society at the heart of it all.

When Cal Ware wins a scholarship to an elite New England boarding school, he’s thrilled to leave his past behind. Back home in Mississippi, he was the poor, queer kid who never fit in. But at Essex Academy, he’ll be able to reinvent himself. Or so he hopes…

But at Essex, Cal’s classmates only see his cheap clothes and old iPhone. They mock his accent, and can’t believe he’s never left the country, or heard of The Hamptons. Cal, at his breaking point, is about to give up and return to Mississippi when he learns about a secret society on campus — the key to becoming Essex royalty.

Cal knows he’s not exactly secret society material, but to his surprise, he finds an unlikely champion in the handsome, charismatic, and slightly dangerous Luke Kim. As they get swept up in the mystery and glamour of the Rush process, Cal finds himself falling in love for the first time.

But as the initiation rituals grow riskier — and increasingly nefarious — Cal must decide how far he’s willing to go, and how much of himself he’s willing to sacrifice, to save everything and everyone he cherishes most. Because nothing at Essex — not even Cal’s first love — is quite what it seems.

***Thank you to Scholastic Press for providing a copy of A Darker Mischief via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

A Darker Mischief was a wild ride but not in a good way. I HATED the writing style. It was extremely choppy and irritated me from the first page. It felt a bit like reading a rough draft of someone’s journal and largely relied on telling rather than showing. This style limited the ability of the writing to create the type of atmosphere I’ve come to expect from dark academia stories.

The plot of A Darker Mischief was absolutely bonkers. So many of the main events felt overly contrived, and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief enough to really care about what was happening. For example, the background of the main character’s father was possibly one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read. The main character was also a little too good at solving seemingly nonsensical puzzles, and everything just always seemed to fall into place a little too easily.

The premise of the secret society in A Darker Mischief didn’t really interest me either, which was a shocker because it is one of my favorite tropes. Their goal of uncovering the school’s history and secrets was kind of cool, but I still don’t get how there was that much left to discover at a school that’s been around for hundreds of years. I also don’t understand how the society was able to stay “secret” for so long. It seemed like pretty much everyone knew about it, and their exploits and parties were obvious. The main character stumbled onto one of their parties without even trying, and I don’t know how every kid in school didn’t do the same.

The world-building in A Darker Mischief also let me down a bit. I love a good boarding school setting, and this one was interesting. The story had tons of detail about the architecture of the campus. However, I had a really hard time picturing the places and found that the descriptions just didn’t take me there. They were mostly focused on facts about the buildings rather than providing a good scaffolding to create them in the mind. I also found it odd that Cal spent time at the beginning of the book bemoaning all the strict rules of the school only for none of them to apply to him or lead to any real consequences for his misadventures.

I appreciated the themes and main character of A Darker Mischief, though. Cal was such an interesting protagonist. His journey was all about figuring out his place in life and deciding what he was willing to compromise to achieve his goals. He started out as an outcast, a poor, queer country kid trying to find a place to fit in at the school full of elites. He was an excellent avatar for exploring how the rich and powerful gatekeep access to their world, and his story illustrated that power is almost always gained and maintained via means that exploit others. He struggled with the morality of his choices, and it was the one thing about this book that felt authentic.

Overall, A Darker Mischief just wasn’t for me despite having so many elements I usually love. The irritating writing, bonkers plot, and one-dimensional supporting characters just made this story much less enjoyable than I expected. The main character was relatable, though, and I did appreciate the themes explored in the story even if the messaging was a bit on the nose. Therefore, I give A Darker Mischief a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars.

There you have it… my disappointing thoughts on A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman. Have you read the book? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!