I love a good secret society at a private boarding school. This dark academic setting is wonderfully realized, and I loved watching the depths the main character would sink to in order to gain access to the society and wield that power. At times, I did feel like the voices of some of the characters were pretty similar, but those were small moments. I just had a lot of fun with this one, all the lies and the secrets and the culty vibes. Also, the cover is absolutely stunning!

This is an intriguing story of a secret society at a private boarding school and how far our MC will go to gain access to the society and the influence it can provide him. The dark academia setting is wonderful and the unveiled secrets about the characters and the society are fascinating.

This book is definitely written for teenagers and felt a bit juvenile at times. The dialogue was odd at certain points and it could be confusing who was talking sometimes, but the story was compelling enough for me to push past that.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Book Review


Title: A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman


Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Dark Academia


Rating: 4.25 Stars


I have read from Derek Milman before when I picked up Swipe Right for Murder which I adored despite the slow start. one thing to note before I get into my review is that I love how Milman’s characters are queer, but his books aren’t about their queerness, it is simply a part of the character themselves which was the case in Swipe Right and this book. While Swipe Right was more of a murder mystery, this falls more into dark academic which is something I really enjoy when it is done right.




Our protagonist, Cal Ware has been sent to Essex Academy as a punishment for things he has been getting up to prior to the beginning of the story. At the school he gets into all sorts of mischief and gets tied up in the school’s secret society and the mysterious Luke. Cal also has a disability as he only has one eye after he was the victim of an acid attack and because of this has a glass eye. While i can’t speak to the accuracy of the representation, I was glad that Milman was choosing to represent an issue that is ongoing in society and often happens for petty reasons such as a jealous lover or ex as was the case with Cal.


Cal was an interesting character because he goes from small town misfit to essentially a prep school boy but he doesn’t fit in because of his economic-social status compared to the other students. I adored how Milman expresses Cal’s struggles with identity in various forms and what it means to truly belong somewhere, making him a very relatable character since we have all struggled with things like this in our lives. In Milman’s classic style he crafts a narrative that is full of twists and turns, almost to the point you lose track of what is going on and with who, but he brings it to starling clarity in the end.


Another point for this book would be the atmosphere as it really captures that almost gothic feel of boarding school and secret societies and we see this from the very beginning to the thrilling climax of the book. The integration of the secret society into the fabric of the story felt seamless, adding layers of intrigue to an already captivating narrative. Despite this one issue I had was that the dialogue was sometimes a little off, feeling unrealistic and sometimes disjointed to the point it broke the immersion of the story for me.


Overall, A Darker Mischief was an intriguing and captivating story that sucks you in from the very first page. It pulls you into a world filled with secrets, lies, intrigue and so much more. if you’re a fan of dark academia and secret societies then definitely give this one a try, especially if you are a fan of authors who don’t take their stories too seriously.

If ypu like dark academia and YA mysteries i think you will really enjoy this one. Easy and fast to read.

A DARKER MISCHIEF by Derek Milman is a dark academia thriller with a twisted romantic subplot. The concept is strong with the boarding school's secret society, which may or may not have a dark side, and an outsider with a lot of trauma who will do anything to be part of it. The twists, turns, and reveals compel a certain amount of page turning, and some passages and one-liners feel inspired and original. However, the elements of the book never quite cohere, and the first person narrator feels too distant. Plausibility is also severely lacking.

I’ll be honest: I just didn’t vibe with this book. It’s got all of those genuine dark academia vibes I love (not just in aesthetics!), which made for a compelling and entertaining plot, but I wasn’t vibing with most of the characters and got the ick a few times while reading, which affected my enjoyment of the story as whole.

I’d love to say that I have a whole lot to say about this book, but I don’t. If the plot had been any less compelling or entertaining, or the dark academia vibes had been any less on point, I’d have DNFd this book. The fact remains that I kept reading it because the vibes were there and I was entertained enough that I found the book to be an average read by the end.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or below, so it will not appear on my social media. Thank you.

File Under: YA Fiction/YA LGBTQ Romance/YA Thriller

The premise is intriguing. A young man with a shadowy past at an elite boarding school seeking a place in a secretive club. But it’s kind of boring. The pacing isn’t great and I just don’t know enough about the characters to care about them.

This book might strike a chord with someone but it’s not for me.

A DARKER MISCHIEF is a queer YA thriller that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. cal ware, a transfer student at a new england boarding school, is hoping to leave the skeletons in his closet back home in mississippi. when he stumbles upon a secret society lurking in the shadows of his school, he fixates on getting in and using it as a chance to reinvent himself and gain respect among his classmates. but the deeper he gets, the more he discovers that the society is a lot riskier and more nefarious than he ever imagined it would be.

i don't frequently read thrillers so i'm not the type to be guessing plot twists or predicting what's coming, so take my words with a grain of salt. but i was really hooked to the story crafted by milman and i finished the book in one sitting because i absolutely needed to know what was going to happen next! i don't want to say anything too specific and give anything away, but i loved this book and definitely recommend it!

read if you like:
- dark academia
- life and death brigade (but make it dark)
- morally grey teenagers

thanks to netgalley and scholastic for the advanced copy! A DARKER MISCHIEF comes out july 2.

Wow. Definitely a lot going on here.

So, the good: quick moving, lots of action, and fairly varied rep (queer characters, disabled characters, BIPOC characters). I'm not positive if we are supposed to think the main romance subplot is toxic but if so, that was really well done with how unhealthy it is at every step along the way. It highlighted the deep insecurities of the main character and how he keeps coming back to men who treat him like an afterthought or a secret or just a convenient option. Cal generally made a decent protagonist and I liked how the book went into how isolated he felt among the wealthy elite at his school.

The not so good: So much of the writing and dialogue was very cringy. The use of nicknames between Cal and Luke was a little irritating but the insults were worse. At one point the text described a character tapping an exclamation mark reaction to a text message and it just felt so weird in context. There were a bunch of scenes were I kept asking myself, "why is this happening?? has any human ever acted or spoken like this before?" The plot itself is completely unhinged. I think if you need a book to be at least a little plausible, this isn't it, but if you are okay with just wild twists and turns for the sake of edginess, you might enjoy this. The secret society was particularly confusing to me. It was hard to wrap their actual purpose around their actions, to reconcile the focus on architecture with their purpose. Most of the facts and info about the various buildings and alumni don't really come into play later in the book so I don't know what the point of it was.

I think someone would enjoy this book; probably someone who really values a shocking thriller with lots of twists and turns.

This book was a wild ride. I don't think one person in this book was okay at any point, maybe even ever in their lives (besides Nisha). I don't know if I was supposed to like any of them? Because I didn't really.

Definitely a page turner. I had to suspend my disbelief at times. This was definitely a dark one, but the darkness that got to me was more from the past and present of the characters in their personal lives, and less to do with the Society being awful. Because don't we always expect the powerful secret society to also be selfish and cruel? Of course it was all interconnected, and some of their pain was caused by Society, but these kids were going THROUGH IT.

This book has lot of secrets and lies that keep you guessing, and a super toxic relationship that was very 16 and codependent, red flags all over the place. Two queer kids from very different backgrounds with their own trauma. They were both trying to get out of difficult situations, and ended up hurting people in the process. Every time I thought Cal had enough, something else happened to him. What a rough go of it.

The dialogue was not my favorite, and too many exclamation points and sometimes cringy. It was kind of a ridiculous book at points. I also didn't feel super satisfied with the ending/epilogue overall.

A fascinatingly dark and twisting take on dark academia and secret societies - secrets both personal and historical abound, and the balance between which ones have to be brought to light and learned by whom and which are better left untouched tips back and forth as Cal is pulled deeper into Society and Essex.

I loved the take on Society on the surface (and for many of the members) being about exploration and about uncovering the secrets of the past (though having gone to a university with a flourishing urbanex community, I found it odd to have just /so/ many abandoned and unused buildings, especially just on the campus), obviously, though, being a secret society, also doing its fair share of manipulation and covering up of secrets (if at times the reach and caliber of the secrets felt more aligned with a college than a high school, but).It really spoke to the slippery slope of morality from "social engineering" and lockpicking just to uncover the school's secrets to using those skills for personal use or at the request of those more powerful.

Like the secrets uncovered, the writing takes a jagged pace, jumping from topic to topic and scene to scene until everything finally fits together at the end. Cal, who has had more than enough trauma in his life already, desperately wants to belong, dismissing red flags to the point of becoming an unreliable narrator. There are moments where you aren't sure what is a dream and what is real, who is saying what out loud and what is imagined. At times, this makes conversations and the point needlessly difficult to follow, but overall I did enjoy piecing everything together slowly, flipping back and forth as new nuances were revealed.

Almost everyone here is damaged, vulnerable in some way - early on, someone states that Society has a type they like to tap, and Cal thinks it's a certain socioeconomic, physical type, but we quickly learn there's two types: those with secrets to protect or traumas that make them easy to manipulate, and those with secrets to protect or traumas who will do anything to not be manipulated. And the line between who is who isn't as stark as any of them would like.

It's a page-turner for sure, and while not perfect by any means (though that cover comes close), its jagged edges get under your skin.

I love secret societies. Whenever I read a book set in a school, that is one of my biggest hopes – that there is some sort of secret society involved in the plot. Well, with A Darker Mischief, that hope is definitely fulfilled.

This book is definitely a slow-burn type of book. It will take a while to fully get into the story. It will also take a while to start understanding the characters presented A Darker Mischief. This is not one of those books where you get the characters’ life story at the beginning. Even our main character, Cal, largely remains a mystery until later in the book. And if someone’s story isn’t important to the plot? Well, their story remains untold.

I have to say that I actually liked Luke more than I liked Cal. He seemed more genuine than Cal did. But Cal had his moments. Now for some reason, I’d suspected one of the secrets Cal held, but when it was revealed, I was still surprised. And no, I won’t tell you what it is, you’ll have to read the book to find out.


I loved the Society of Seven Eyes. For me, it is what made A Darker Mischief a four-star read. I loved the parties, the mystery, and the fact that the society’s main “raison d’être” is to explore the grounds of Essex and dig up all of the history about the school. Including, perhaps, some secrets that pertain to Society.

The ending for A Darker Mischief was great. It perfectly closed out the book – and even left the book open for something of a sequel if perhaps a certain character wanted revenge on those who’d “wronged” him. I mean, the book ends perfectly as is, but a sequel could be fun as well.

If you are a fan of books that contain secret societies, I guarantee you’ll want to read this book. Society of Seven Eyes features prominently in this story but so do the characters, which is important. I gave this one four-stars and hope to read more books from Derek Milman in the future.

Thank you Colored Pages Book Tours, Derek Milman, and IRead YA for a copy of A Darker Side of Mischief in exchange for an honest review. The story follows Cal Ware, a queer teen from Mississippi, as he navigates a world of old money and privilege at Essex Academy. Cal’s initial excitement about reinventing himself is quickly dashed by his classmates’ cruelty, but the discovery of a secret society offers him a chance to belong. With the help of the enigmatic Luke Kim, Cal is drawn into the society’s dangerous allure. As initiation rituals become increasingly sinister, Cal must confront the limits of his ambition and the cost of his desires. The book deftly explores themes of identity, love, and sacrifice, creating a suspenseful and emotional journey. The character development is rich and engaging, making the reader deeply invested in Cal’s fate. Derek Milman’s masterful storytelling keeps you on the edge of your seat, blending mystery, romance, and a critique of privilege into a compelling narrative. This novel is a must-read for fans of YA, dark academia, and LGBTQ+ fiction.

"well, don't look so homosexually disappointed"

thank you to net galley for the uncorrected e-arc!

this was a fascinating read, one that certainly left me feeling many conflicting emotions. milman came up with an exciting concept for a novel that could thematically and aesthetically align itself with books of the dark-academia-boarding-school-secret-society variety, such as the secret history and if we were villains. unfortunately, this may have just missed the mark for me.

in terms of strengths, I found that the world-building, exposition, and intricacies of the setting were thoroughly described. the details surrounding the secret society and campus history were written with complexity and exceptionally well-thought-out precision. these descriptions were my favorite bits of the novel, in all honesty. milman painted vivid, rich depictions of the history and tradition of the setting that will transport readers into Essex. I also found that the discussions on old academic prestige, privilege, and elitism, specifically in the form of old-money legacies were well done.

I do have a couple of qualms, however. I found myself longing for the same attention to detail given to the setting to have also been paid to the pacing of the plot and the characters themselves. often it felt as if we were told rather than shown the complexities and nuances of our leading characters. both cal and luke felt somewhat one-dimensional and devoid of fully flushed character arcs. the readers are told how intricate of people these characters are, but their conversations, both with one another and the supporting characters, can feel disjointed and sometimes unnatural. on the other hand, certain characters such as pinky were fascinating and multi-faceted.

the story contains twists and revelations that are interesting and earn a few well-earned gasps, but it would have been nice to have seen these moments contain further exploration.

the sexual content, in my opinion, tiptoed on the line between appropriate for YA and better suited for adult fiction. this could be subjective, but if you are sensitive to the level of sexual content discussed, it's just something to consider.

overall, my opinion is that the concept and groundwork were engaging and solid, but the execution was slightly lacking. the work just needed a little extra time to marinate in order for the characters to emerge fully flushed.

if you are looking for expertly woven tales of secret society lore and intriguing campus history, this is absolutely for you!

"A Darker Mischief" by Derek Milman is a riveting thriller that masterfully blends psychological tension with dark humor. The narrative follows the protagonist through a labyrinth of deceit and danger, making for a gripping read from start to finish. Milman’s skillful character development and sharp dialogue bring the story to life, keeping readers on edge with unexpected twists and turns. The novel's atmospheric settings and intricate plot weave together seamlessly, creating a compelling and immersive experience. Fans of suspenseful, character-driven stories will find "A Darker Mischief" a satisfying and memorable read.

I read this book as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours. Special thanks to Scholastic Press for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 1.5 stars rounded up.

I don't know where to begin because I'm struggling to find something positive to say. I thought this would be outside my comfort zone because the spookier side of dark academia always creeps me out too much but I was willing to give it a chance. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this at all and by the 30% mark, I spent every moment reading it thinking about DNFing and wishing it was already over. I don't know if it was because this book suffered from trying to do too much or if it was simply the writing that made everything come across poorly, but I found the characters irritating, the plot underwhelming, and it wasn't a satisfying conclusion or explanation of the Society and their purpose. In the end, nothing was challenged, so much was excused away, and I found myself thoroughly confused as to what I had just finished reading.

I'm not going to spend too much time going into what didn't work for me but ultimately:

To put it plainly, the writing was bad. It was choppy and disjointed and made for such a poor reading experience. Not only do we jump from scene to scene with nothing to differentiate the breaks, but I felt the author tried too hard to make the writing poetic and mysterious only to fall short of the mark. Throughout the read, I found myself constantly confused and asking: what does this even mean?! What am I even reading? How does this even make sense? There was little atmosphere and a distinct lack of emotion which made it difficult to connect to the setting and the characters. Despite being inundated with an overabundance of historical facts and figures about Essex, from the abandoned buildings and secret locations, I would not be able to tell you how the school was laid out or what even the structures looked like as a whole. It was too much context that was not well explained.

I actively disliked the characters. There were moments I did feel for Cal because what he went through was horrifying and heartbreaking and it's not something anyone should have to experience. Despite being sent away from home, it's clear how much he loved and missed his parents. By the time he stumbles across Society, he's desperate and would do anything to find his place in this elite boarding school because he's tired of being a pariah everywhere. That said, everything that happened with him was so convenient—he so easily solves all the mysteries and puzzles and very quickly excels at everything he tries even once. I ultimately grew frustrated with the way his story was told. I think it's just that I never really understood who he was, what he stood for or what he even wanted in the end. As the story progresses he makes increasingly stupid and irritating decisions that don't make sense for his "careful" character, especially when it comes to Luke, who I'm sorry to say, I detested. There are a lot of secondary characters introduced, many of whom are insignificant and disappear after being part of the story for a section and others who remained one-dimensional and had such toxic personalities that I couldn't care less about them. In particular, Luke and Pinky were two characters I couldn't bear and I didn't understand what we were meant to think of or feel for them. I don't know if this was intentional by the author but having to endure repeated appearances of these two as the "main secondary characters" made this an even more trying reading experience.

Finally, I didn't think there was more for me to dislike but I loathed the romance. I'm so sorry—that wasn't romance and it was completely unbelievable. Simply because Luke was such an awful one-dimensional character who didn't seem to have redeeming qualities and who treated Cal like an afterthought. There was no chemistry and quite frankly, no romantic vibes. I'm quite sure Cal also didn't understand Luke either, and he often mentioned how little they knew each other, so it was hard to believe for even a second that they were in love. It honestly made me angry and while I'm all for romance subplots, this was not it.

Overall, I'm genuinely disappointed by how much I didn't enjoy this and I'm confused by all the people who are giving it high ratings because did we even read the same book?

After an incident involving his father Cal is offered the opportunity to attend a prestigious boarding school in New England. He's pretty excited maybe this will give him a chance to start over and finally make friends. He will have the chance to be who he wants to be unfortunately things don't work out. While he is not bullied to the extent he was at his old school he feels lonely and craves to belong to something. He discovers a secret society in the school. He also meets Luke Kim a handsome jock who seems to have taken a liking to him for some reason. Now Cal feels like he has something to look forward to and puts all his efforts into making into the secret society all the while growing closer with Luke.

I quickly learned as I read the book that not everything is as it seems and I started paying closer attention to what the characters were saying and to what was going on around them. This is a fast paced book with enough descriptions to give you an image of what the setting looks like. There are so many interesting characters and you really grow to like some of them. There are others that make you not trust them from the beginning and their ending may surprise you. Another thing I want to add is the cover art gives you so many tiny details if you really look at. Not only is it a gorgeous cover there are so many hidden little messages in the artwork.

Definitely check this out if you want to read a fast paced thrilling queer YA book!

Thanks to @coloredpagesbt and @ireadya for the arc and physical copy!

***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.

A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman has characters that I loved to hate. There’s a lot of telling and not showing. I never was entranced by the plot or characters. I liked how the school’s history is tied together with the secret society and I think that’s the strongest part of the book. ARC was provided by Scholastic Press via NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Derek Milman's A Darker Mischief offers a fast-paced thriller with a unique premise and plenty of twists to keep readers engaged. The protagonist's voice is sharp and witty, adding a layer of humor to the dark events unfolding around him. The plot unfolds with enough suspense to maintain interest, though some elements feel overly contrived or predictable. While the characters are well-drawn, their motivations occasionally lack depth, leaving the emotional impact somewhat muted. Overall, 'A Darker Mischief' delivers an entertaining read with a refreshing blend of mystery and humor, but falls short of leaving a lasting impression.