Publisher: Allen & Unwin (ebook– 18 February 2025)
Series: Standalone
Length: 464 pages
My Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Prepare for magic and drama with the young adult, dark academia novel from the always entertaining Lili Wilkinson, Unhallowed Halls. Wilkinson is a pretty awesome Australian author, who has previously wowed me with some complex and memorable young adult novels, including the twisted The Erasure Initiative and the very impressive After the Lights Go Out. Unhallowed Halls was an interesting new novel from Wilkinson that followed a young protagonist who finds herself enrolled in a mysterious and isolated English boarding school.
Plot Synopsis:
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 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.
Unhallowed Halls is a great and compelling novel that quickly enchants you with its quirky mysteries and dark young adult content as the author produces her own take on the dark academia narrative. Wilkinson builds a great initial mystery around the secrets of the academy as the protagonist initially tries to understand the underlying weirdness of the place, which includes mysterious disappearances, strange professors, and even a demonic pig that seems to have it out for her. Things inevitably take a dark turn as the protagonist tries to work out who to trust, and the author does an amazing job building tension as you get closer to the reveal of what’s really going down in Agathion.
While I had fun with the first half of Unhallowed Halls, especially with its great gothic themes and slowly building dread, I must admit that it didn’t do a lot to stand out from other young adult novels set in mysterious school settings. However, a great and well built-up twist that reveals the plot of the antagonists, and an intriguing attempt to fight back against it, helped to enhance the overall narrative of this book, allowing for a very exciting second half. There were some great stakes for the characters here, as well as some truly dark moments related the compelling background fantasy elements. Readers come away quite satisfied with the result, and this worked out to be an excellent read.
Thanks to the clever storytelling of Lili Wilkinson, who excels at crafting intense and compelling young adult novels that can easily be enjoyed by readers of all age ranges, Unhallowed Halls proved to be an outstanding standalone novel. Featuring a cool story, a great setting, and some very dark moments, Unhallowed Halls is a fantastic 2025 novel to check out, especially if you like twisty, gothic reads with intriguing young protagonists.
The Unseen Library 