Hello, everyone! Today I’ve got a review of another dark academia fantasy book, Thoughts Be Bloody by Auden Patrick. Dark academia is one of my favorite subgenres, especially when paired with fantasy. So, I couldn’t pass an ARC of this one up since it fit both my interests and the current season so well. Did I love it? Read on to find out!
A struggling student, a resident golden boy, and the curse that will bring them this queer, trans retelling is Hamlet as you’ve never read it before.
Exploring classism, identity, and the true meaning of revolution, this dark academia novel is perfect for fans of R. F. Kuang’s Babel and S. T. Gibson’s An Education in Malice.
The summer before his sophomore year, Horatio Bithersea walks into the university library to find Carson Hamlett, resident golden boy and master magician, cradling his father’s dead body. Life at Elsinore, one of the most prestigious universities in the secretive magical world, simply goes on when the professor’s death is ruled an accident—despite the mysterious circumstances and the bloody scene.
A year later, Horatio is keeping his head down, attempting to graduate without his out-of-control magic harming his classmates. That changes when the ghost of Hamlett’s father appears and places a curse on Horatio and avenge his death by destroying Elsinore and its heart, lest the ghost robs them of their minds, memories, and their very souls.
Elsinore has given Horatio everything—knowledge of his magical ability, an escape from his abusive family, and freedom to pursue his life as a transgender man—and now he’s to be its doom. As the two uncover more of Elsinore’s secrets Horatio finds himself becoming more and more ensnared in Hamlett’s dark but charismatic web.
The question is not if Horatio will manage to destroy Elsinore. The question is if Hamlett will destroy him first.
***Thank you to DAW for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***
Huh. Even after sitting with it for a few days, I’m still not quite sure what to think about Thoughts Be Bloody. The whole thing felt a bit like a fever dream, which was possibly the point? The writing was very stream of consciousness from Horatio’s POV. He would often interrupt himself, get confused, and repeat himself over and over. The approach to the storytelling made sense in the end, but it was confusing and frustrating at times to get there. I did really appreciate how the writing conveyed emotion, though, and seeing everything so closely through Horatio’s recollections was a huge part of that.
The vibes of Thoughts Be Bloody reminded me of The Atlas Six and The Secret History. This book wasn’t quite as good as them, but the plot had a lot of the same dark academia elements. The murder mystery was interesting despite the culprit being fairly obvious. I was surprised by the motivations for it, though. The claustrophobic nature of the magic school and the enmeshment of the cohort felt familiar but well-executed. I also really enjoyed the impending sense of doom that built steadily from the very start of the story, and it paired well with Horatio’s slow discovery of his magical abilities and the potential consequences of them. All of that to say, this story did a really great job of utilizing dark academia elements to convey the outright tragedy of these characters.
Speaking of the characters in Thoughts Be Bloody, they were my favorite thing about the book. Horatio, in particular, was such a compelling character. He started out as an outcast plagued by past trauma who had difficulty using his magic. He craved belonging and the power to change his circumstances. In Hamlett, Horatio saw everything he wished he could be, and he coveted it so much. As the story unfolded, Horatio learned that power corrupts and the things he wanted so badly may not actually be worth everything he had to give up in order to get them. Don’t even get me started on Hamlett. He had me fooled at first since Horatio described him through love-tinted glasses, but that man was a monster. His grief was all-consuming and filled him with rage, which led to him using his power in horrible ways. He was manipulative, selfish, and the embodiment of corrupted power. That being said, I enjoyed hating him by the end. I think it’s important to note that none of these characters were good people. They made horrible choices and were so wrapped up in themselves that they lost sight of everything else.
There were lots of great themes explored in Thoughts Be Bloody, as well. It leaned heavily into discussing whether power/wealth should be gatekept and hoarded. In the story, magic was a heavily guarded secret, which meant many things that could be fixed got ignored to keep the secret. It was clear that hoarding this power for the purposes of the elite harmed everyone else, and there are plenty of apt parallels to the real world. The story also illustrated how power corrupts and how longing for belonging and acceptance by others can be a destructive force. Poor Horatio learned these lessons the hard way.
All in all, Thoughts Be Bloody was a solid dark academia fantasy story. The characters were complex, and the story did a good job of integrating themes about criticizing power and hierarchy that are staples of the subgenre. The writing style might throw some people off, but I thought it worked well for the story the author was trying to tell. Therefore, I rate the book 3.75 out of 5 stars.
There you have it! My thoughts on Thought Be Bloody by Auden Patrick. Are you a fan of dark academia? Do you plan to pick this one up? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!