Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson. I enjoyed Wilkinson’s last dark fantasy release. So, I was very excited to see she was publishing a dark academia story. I jumped at the opportunity to read this one a bit early and had a great time buddy reading it with Dini. Read on to see all of my thoughts!

A teen girl travels to an exclusive boarding school located deep within the Scottish moorlands after a deadly incident at her old school, but the wood-paneled halls of Agathion are built over centuries of secrets—including an ancient society which may have ties to demonic magic—in this dark academia fantasy perfect for fans of Curious Tides.

Page Whittaker has always been an outcast. And after the deadly incident that destroyed her single friendship at her old school, she needs a fresh start. Which is why when she receives a scholarship offer from Agathion College, an elite boarding school folded deep within the moors of Scotland, she doesn’t even consider turning it down.

Agathion is everything Page has ever wanted: a safe haven full of dusty books, steaming cups of tea and rigorous intellectual debate. And for the first time in her life, Page has even managed to become part of a close group of friends. Cyrus, Ren, Gideon, Lacey and Oak help her feel at home in Agathion’s halls–the only problem is, they’re all keeping secrets from her.

Page doesn’t know it yet, but her perfect new school has dark roots–roots that stretch back to its crooked foundation, and an ancient clandestine society with rumored ties to demonic magic. Soon, Page will be forced to learn that not everyone at Agathion is who they say they are. Least of all, her friends.

Agathion claims to teach its students history…but some histories should stay buried.

***Thank you to Delacorte Press and Cate Turner at Nicole Banholzer PR for providing a copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I’m honestly not quite sure where to start when talking about Unhallowed Halls. SO MUCH happens in this book… It started off with a slow unraveling of the mysteries of both the school and the protagonist’s background. This first half of the book was full of dark academia tropes and leaned heavily into the school’s obsession with Greek philosophy. It was pretentious, unnerving at times, and progressed at a pretty leisurely pace. Once the masks came off, the plot became chaotic AF with things happening at breakneck speed. The last third was a WILD RIDE, and all I could do was hold on and compulsively read through to the end.

All that said, I really enjoyed both halves of the book. I’m a huge fan of dark academia. So, I ate up the mystery, Greek philosophy, and weird rituals of the first part. There were some really weird and borderline grotesque scenes, too. Here’s looking at you feast scene… Alternatively, the ending had so much happening that it was hard to keep up at times. I still loved the rush of it all and thought the plot made sense. It was just a lot to take in all at once, and I did need to go back to re-read some parts to make sure I didn’t miss stuff.

I also wish the two halves of Unhallowed Halls had been weaved together a bit more seamlessly. The dark academia vibes largely took a backseat to the dark fantasy and horror elements in the second half. I never really understood why the magisters of the school were so obsessed with Greek philosophy in the first place considering what we learned about the source of their power in the end.

The world-building in Unhallowed Halls was definitely one of the things I loved about it. The author did a great job of bringing the gothic dark academia atmosphere to life. I felt like I was exploring the castle alongside the protagonist. The descriptions just completely transported me into this world. The story also had some really cool mythology weaved into the plot. I can’t say too much about it because of spoilers, but I enjoyed learning about it and seeing it brought to life. The magic felt a bit basic and hand-wavey at times, often when things would come too easily. I still enjoyed it, though, and thought it all made sense.

I really related to the protagonist, Page, in Unhallowed Halls. She was an outsider who never felt like she belonged. She valued intellect and was cautiously optimistic about attending a school where her gifted nature might be nurtured for a change. Page began with the goal of learning to use logic to suppress her emotions and longings. She experienced major imposter syndrome from being around such smart people for the first time. As the story unfolded, she embraced connections with a new found family and discovered that just being herself in the moment was a powerful thing. I also appreciated the endometriosis representation, which is not something I see often, and liked how the condition actually played into the plot at times rather than just being there for the sake of it. All in all, Page was complex and grew into her own through her struggles.

I adored the found family in Unhallowed Halls. It provided a great character study in group dynamics. The members had a great deal of mistrust to work through before becoming a cohesive unit. I enjoyed seeing how they navigated the stages of group formation amidst the absolute bonkers situation they found themselves in. I do wish the characters other than Page had a bit more depth, though. They were all so interesting, and I just wanted a bit more from them. They spent so long hiding themselves and their true intentions from Page, but it meant hiding themselves from the reader, too.

Unhallowed Halls explored quite a few great themes. It touched on the seductive and corruptive nature of power. The imagery of the mythology also had elements that made me think of the historical role of the patriarchy, and academia, in keeping women down. The dichotomy between the soul and the body was another major theme. The story explored whether a person’s humanity comes from one or the other or an interplay of both. Finally, the adventure of the characters, especially Page, illustrated how a rejection of one’s emotional world in favor of pure logic is not healthy and stymies one’s growth as a person.

Overall, I had a great time reading Unhallowed Halls. The story provided plenty of moments that had my jaw on the floor and made me squirm in my seat. I also spent plenty of time screaming WHAT at all of the chaos. lol. The two halves of the story could’ve been weaved together a bit better, and the end could’ve used more breathing room. However, Unhallowed Halls cements Wilkinson as one of my new favorite YA fantasy authors. Therefore, I rate this book 4.25 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson. I really did have such a fun time reading this one and had a hard time putting it down. Do you plan to read it? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!