Dark academia with secret societies will always be my weakness, so I knew off the bat that A DARKER MISCHIEF would be a book I enjoyed. Atmospheric and cloaked in mystery, the setting of the prestigious Essex Academy drew me in from the beginning. I loved the secret society that Cal is desperately trying to join, and the twists and turns throughout had me turning the pages and guessing until the end. ⁣
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The characters were all interesting and well-developed, and I really liked how both Cal and Luke have their own set of issues and personal problems that they’re sort of working through. There are some themes throughout the book that offer plenty of thinking and talking points, especially when it comes to Cal and his journey to finding where he fits in this world. I really enjoyed his relationship with Luke and I was rooting for them all the way to the end. ⁣
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All told, this was my first book from this author but it certainly won’t be my last. I really enjoyed this one and will happily be devouring anything else with this author’s name on it. Some of the things I loved about this one are:⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ The academy ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ M/M romance/fantastic LGBTQIA+ representation⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Atmospheric setting ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Secret societies ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Twists and turns ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Dark academia vibes

A fresh chance to start at an elite New England boarding school turns into something much darker as one boy is pulled into the school's secret society, twisted games, and and a doomed romance. Cal Ware has won a scholarship to an elite boarding school, it's the opportunity that he's been waiting for, to leave behind his past and escape "the incident." Yet he's a fish out of water and compared to all the other wealthy privileged students, he's seen as a hick and an outsider...until he is invited into to join the secret society on campus. if he passes all the tests and manages to win a spot he'll be royalty on campus... but everything has a price and the deeper he gets entangled in the society the more he is beginning to realize that they will ask things of him that might be impossible... and that he might not be an initiate but a sacrifice. All the while he meets Luke, a handsome jock who has his own secrets and reasons for being part of the society... but has begun a relationship with Cal... but when Cal discovers his secrets it might destroy everything. First secret society, first love, and most of all an endless lists of betrayal and devastation await Cal. This book was definitely a book that leaned heavy on the dark academia secret society and queer romance, which is fantastic, however the things that happened and the actual characters were a bit of a miss for me. I really started off enjoying the book but the further we got in it the less I actually liked it. Not to say it wasnt an interesting read overall and that I would definitely recommend it for anyone who likes dark academia queer romance novels with a bit of a thriller aspect to it though. The relationships in the book were twisted and the actual ending left me wanting for more and I just kind of felt meh with it all. However, yes i would say that it is a book for anyone who enjoys dark academia to at least give it a go. I think it should be added onto people's tbr who enjoy dark academia, twisted romances, and queer romances!

3.75 stars
There is a secret society at Essex Academy boarding school. It's called Society of Seven Eyes (SoSE) and the members are dedicated to exploring the school. They don't damage and they don't steal. But they do enter/break into lost and forbidden areas of the school with the goal of unearthing secrets that will be passed down through the generations. This society has a very deep and very dark influence, and it's the place where Cal Ware feels most at home. He's a sophomore transfer from Mississippi hoping to reinvent himself.

Those first few pages had me hooked!
I love the dark academia vibe and the secret society on campus. A club that teaches you how to sneak into buildings so you can explore? Yeah, that sounds really cool to me. This whole story was a wild ride, sometimes to the point of edging on ridiculous, but I still enjoyed the entire thing.
Unfortunately Luke and Pinky were not my favorites and they both played large roles in the story.


*Because I was reading an eARC, the formatting was very very off. It made for a difficult reading experience. There were many instances when I had to reread pages to figure out what was happening, and I do think this was due to the formatting and not a fault of the author

ARC REVIEW: A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman

Genre: YA Thriller/Dark Academia
Format: eBook
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Book # for 2024: #59

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

SYNOPSIS: A boarding school thriller about a queer teen, Cal Ware, from Mississippi, who finds himself swept up into a world of old money, privilege, and a secret society.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a wild ride. I absolutely loved this book for the first 100 pages or so. Then it sort of went off the rails. This book includes a glass eye, an arm amputation, a lot of mysterious deaths and kidnappings, a flood, ghosts, and the kidnapping of the Vice President’s daughter. And the secret society is at the center of almost all of it.

This book was one I preordered months before I was approved for the ARC. It appealed to me because the cover is gorgeous, the main character is from Mississippi, and it involves a secret society. I was extremely excited to read this ARC. It just wasn’t exactly what I expected, but I still enjoyed it. If you’re looking for something super realistic, this is not the book for you. If you’re looking for a fun book about a sketchy secret society, this is for you. There’s also a love story thrown in between Cal and Luke, another boy who is rushing the secret society.

Side note: There were A LOT of exclamation points and all capital letters that felt unnecessary and were distracting to me.

Top 5 Reasons to Read
1.
It's Derek Milman! There aren't many authors whose every single work I've read (just for lack of time!), but Derek is one of the few I have. I did a blog tour for his first book and never looked back. His writing is magical, truly special in a way that's hard to quantify, and his focus on LGBTQ+ kids will help readers feel seen.

2. It's dark academia! There's just something about YA dark academia that has me hooked, despite the fact that I finished all of my own academic pursuits almost two and a half decades ago.

3. There's a secret society! "Society of the Seven Eyes" -- just sounds creepy and magical, right?? But would Cal do absolutely *anything* to fit in and gain entry into this elite society?

4. The campus of Essex Academy is so cool! It's got a lot of gothic architecture, which reminded me of Duke, where I went to school. Also, something like half of its buildings are abandoned, having sprung up as part of and around a college from the 1700s that didn't last very long. And the tasks to get into the society require explorations of the unused buildings on campus, which is fun to read about.

5. It's got first love! I can't quite describe how reading this made me feel, other than to say "tender"...like I wanted to just gather Cal into my arms and hug him, to mother him (and Luke, too). Cal has experienced multiple traumas in his short life, and his move to Essex Academy from small town Mississippi may allow him not only to reinvent himself but to find that first love. But is Luke truly what he seems?

I highly recommend this book, as with all of Derek's incredible works. If you're at all a fan of dark academia, secret societies, and reading about LGBTQ+ characters, I hope you'll pick this one up!

Rating: 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

In the kindest way possible, this was an incredibly rough read. The plot felt like it was happening at a breakneck speed, but the plot was sandwiched in-between passages that felt like Wikipedia entries about the school. This made passages in the book feel very jarring. The idea of the secret society is hard to describe to other people and I honestly don’t understand what the draw would be to busy, overworked teenagers. Cal makes sense as someone who would join because he is ferociously lonely and looking for something in which he can succeed. However, I struggle to understand the rationale for other people to be interested. For instance, the society emphasized the importance of knowing and cataloging the art and architecture of all the different buildings on campus. Why would a secret society exist around cataloging the style of beams and buttresses in a building, especially when the secret society has been around for over 200 years? One would presume that these topics had already been covered, or that the society was around during the time the buildings were built so that this information would be redundant at best. The “secret” society on campus has actual ties into actual money and power, but many of the members are in the dark about this. So, then what is the draw to join this society? To break into buildings at night and talk about their history? To learn how to lockpick? Get practice in their breaking-and-entering careers? To get access to alcohol at their random get-togethers?

The romance plot was also strange, and I hated the epilogue’s resolution. What a lackluster way to deal with a complex relationship. I feel like the story did not delve into Cal’s trauma or resolve it either, which feels like a missed opportunity. I think that there was more that could have been addressed about young love, the complexities of being closeted in a homophobic environment, and the ways that reinforcing heteronormativity can be extremely violent. Instead, the relationship between Cal and Brent felt underdeveloped.

That is the crux of my issues with A Darker Mischief; it is underdeveloped. A lot of the story feel very juvenile, regardless of the setting, because of how over-the-top it is. The plot feels insane. The dialogue is wacky. By the end of the story, I still don’t understand the character motivations, or the plot in general for that matter. I don’t understand the resolution or the epilogue. All I am is frustrated and confused. My problems are certainly not helped by the book’s formatting. I don’t know if the copy I was given ended up messed up somehow from file formatting, but the text was barely readable with odd paragraph breaks throughout. It was difficult to figure out who was speaking in a conversation and gave the book an even sloppier feeling. Hopefully the published copy received more intense editing, but I wouldn’t recommend other people to read the edition I was given.

I loved the start of this book. Reading about Cal finding his place in the school was interesting but at around halfway through the book things start to shift. As the story progressed it felt less and less realistic. By the end I had a hard time believing anything that was happening. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around kids in any school having that much power. The writing was good but that ending made the story sorta fall flat. 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This personally wasn't really for me. I find that I love the idea of dark academia, but I struggle with the execution of it in book form. I find that I am far more successful when I watch a t.v. show or a movie with it. That being said, I found that this book did it quite well. Well then why wasn't this for me? I didn't find myself as attached to the characters and their relationships as I wanted to be. I wanted to feel things that I just didn't. Also, I found the pacing and where the author chose to place importance wasn't maybe always in the right place. I appreciate the explanations of the tasks and their answers, but as I don't know all that much about the school to begin with I feel like some of that time would have been better spent on character development. I did find this to be interesting in flashes, but ultimately struggled to get all the way through it. However, I think that I am probably just not the right reader for it.

Holy mackerel. I knew Derek Milman was good, having read Scream All Night and Swipe Right for Murder. How do you get darker for abusive parents and grooming behind closed doors?

With preppy teens being monsters.

Cal is a sophomore transfer to Essex, an East Coast prep school. He stands out like a sore thumb, being from the South and not rich. His friend group makes fun of him behind his back, but similar parties at home also made him feel unwelcome.

An invite to a secret society provides hope of a different year. It means time with a boy that likes Cal the person while drawing inside and outside the lines, literally since he's a tagger. He'll have friends that actually like him. Or so he thinks, as the society's demands of its members may become more harrowing for innocent parties.

I was hooked reading this story, and wincing at the familiarities. Some things never change about going to private school.

3.5 stars When Cal (Calixte Ware) gets into Essex, a north-eastern prep school, on scholarship as a sophomore transfer, he finds that it isn't easy to find friends when you're from Mississippi and poor. This desperation drives him into rushing a secret society and into a relationship with a fellow rushee, Luke, even though he knows they both have their own damage and secrets.

Although I appreciate a good dark academia novel and felt like the end was really good, I found the middle dragged slightly. However, I liked Cal even with his damage (maybe because the reader is in his head), and rooted for him even when he made dumb choices (but didn't we all as teenagers?). The epilogue left me with a bittersweet feeling.

A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman is a dark academia thriller about a queer boy (Cal) from a small town in Mississippi who has been sent to a boarding school full of secrets.

First off, the setting for this was immaculate! I really felt transported to this creepy private school with its long halls and dark windows. It was giving The Skulls vibes (reference for any of you 90s kids).

I found Cal to be a great MC. I loved the representation of his disability. It didn’t feel gratuitous and felt very authentic. What didn’t feel so authentic was the immediate love story. I could have gone with some more back and forth. The writing feels EXTREMELY YA, and I know it’s YA, but that took me out of the story a bit.

Overall I enjoyed the book. If you like dark vibes and YA is your safe place - this is the book for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the digital ARC!

I heard queer, thriller, and dark academia and I knew I needed to read this book ASAP. This is exactly what I wanted it to be. I loved the setting, the characters were interesting, and I was incredibly suspicious throughout my reading. I found I absolutely could not put this down until I had finished. I will absolutely be recommending this to people!

This was a thrilling, queer dark academia novel, full of self discovery. Cal is from Mississippi and there is a lot about him that doesn’t fit in in his new school. His accent, his clothes— oddly enough, the one thing that’s fine is that he’s queer, which doesn’t help him back at home in the South. He’s itching to find a place he belongs, which is when he starts to notice “eyes” around campus, specifically the abandoned parts, and finds himself going through “rush” for a secret society. He meets Luke, who comes from a troubled past and can best just be described as “a lot”. He’s also rushing to society, and they both get in. Luke is also queer and they have almost an insta love, but it’s tainted by all the red flags and toxic behavior and secrecy that Luke exhibits. A lot of that secrecy has to do with the society, because even when you’re in, there’s stuff not everyone knows, and the society’s secrets grow even darker the further Cal dives into his research of their past. As much as Luke messes up, Cal keeps taking him back, the way one does with their toxic first love, but he does end up learning a lot about himself and freeing himself. I loved the confidence arc he had in the book as well.
Also, Mr Milman, I have questions about that ending!!!

Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for sending me a review copy of this amazing book! Definitely recommend for any dark academia lovers out there.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

A Darker Mischief follows Cal Ware, a queer teen whose efforts to join a secret society at his new posh boarding school ensnare him into a twisted, dark game where everything he holds dear is at risk.

A Darker Mischief didn't give dark academia the way I hoped, but it did certainly give dark. The stuff these boys got entangled in was wild, and it was a fun time watching everything spiral out of control. There were some choices that were absolutely insane, especially the connections of some of the members of the secret society. A lot of these choices made this book feel incredibly original and interesting, and some of them made me question whether I really wanted to keep reading. All said, though, I did ultimately enjoy myself, and I'll certainly pick up another Derek Milman book in the future.

I really enjoyed this book! It kept my attention the entire time. This was a new to me author and I really enjoyed the writing

A Darker Mischief is a queer dark academia novel about a teenage boy from the middle of nowhere just trying to fit in at his new boarding school. As the other students continue to mock him for his southern accent and his "poor" clothing, Cal realizes he won't ever belong. Just as he's resigning himself to his fate, he discovers a secret society behind the scenes, and he wants in. Along the way, he starts to fall for an artist in his year who's determined to prove himself. Not everything is as it seems, however, and he must decide how far he's willing to go to be part of something bigger.
This book was very intriguing from the start. I've always loved dark academia, but I haven't read much in that genre. After this, I definitely need to pick up some more. The twists and turns kept me interested, and I was as determined as Cal was to find the answers.
Luke and Cal's relationship was complicated. They tried so hard to hold onto each other, even in the midst of secrets and lies. Their time together was as much about them as it was the secrets they held. It was impossible to separate their love and their duties.
I really enjoyed puzzling out how I thought things would go, and while I managed to solve a few things, the end still managed to take me by surprise! I'd definitely read this author again.

3.5
This was an interesting read and different than a lot of what I’ve read before. While I was intrigued for most of the book, I also felt confused for most of it too. I felt that this went beyond the regular “air of mystery” that I should have been feeling, which made me feel disjointed from the story.
It was still an enjoyable read, but I wish I moved through it more seamlessly

I will admit up front that I was not the intended audience for this book. I do love LGBTQ YA and LGBTQ romance but this book was way too dark; with no characters that I cared about; lots of violence and other extremely bad stuff happening to kids in high school; a depressing ending where no one really learns anything, and finally a plot that made me keep going "hunh?"

The setting is bizarre--what private school has that many Halls and SO many buildings that are either abandoned or in disrepair? Even the "hero's" name: Calixte (means "cup"), but why on a boy from a stereotyped Mississippi small town? How does Cal get all As when he hardly ever studies? Cal's motivation in the climactic scene with Luke in the tunnel made no sense to me--and the violence did not end there! The epilogue is kind of snarky/sweet but seems tacked on to try to make some sense of what went before. The book was like a car crash but, without having to write this review, I would have easily turned away from it.

The writing is middling for LGBTQ YA--there are odd jumps in time--the author seems to want to rush through some things yet we spend endless time and detail on the "explos." Kind of just one bad thing after another instead of an actual plot. An unpleasant book in my view but others may love it.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book grabbed my attention right away, held it for awhile, lost it a bit, and then went totally off the rails at the end.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the way everything played out. The premise sounded like a lot of fun - a queer dark academia tale featuring a secret society. And it was at times. The characters were shady in an entertaining way. They were also frustrating. I feel like the story would've worked better if they were at least a year older. I didn't really like the main relationship either, especially the instalove part of it.

That said, this was definitely an interesting read that left me reeling in the end.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF at 60%. I was hoping to enjoy this book, but I just did not like any of the characters and the story did not hold my interest. I’m interested in reading this author’s other books, but this book was not for me.