The Afterdark (Review)

Information:

• Author: E. Latimer
• Genre: Horror, Romance
• Page Count: 400
• Year Published: 2025

Read this If You Like:

• Dark Academia
• Queer Romance
• Creepy Forests
• Secret Societies
• Dual POV
• Dark main characters who make morally questionable decisions sometimes
• Obviously toxic but also really passionate and enjoyable romances
• Weird endings

Synopsis:

A new year has just begun at Northcroft, an elite, secluded boarding school which may or may not have a few secrets. Evie Laurent suddenly got sent there after some… bad decisions, but her perspective on the matter is instantly shifted when she sees Holland Morgan, a friend of Evie’s sister, who is also a famous child actress who will be Evie’s roommate and guide to Northcroft. And it turns out that Northcroft is not what Evie expected- the principal is avoiding Evie as much as possible, there’s a mysterious society that seems to control the entire academy, her roommate Beth is eerily paranoid about something, and Evie finds evidence suggesting that there may be something going on in the woods behind the school, where students are strictly forbidden from entering at night. And while all this is going on, Holland and Evie find themselves strangely attracted to each other, even as they theorize that they could be each other’s downfall. Especially when the two girls learn there may be something stranger than they expected going on, something dark… and it’s calling them.

Review/Opinions:

Ah, dark academia. The genre that I will consume obsessively, but also heavily criticize at the same time. Mostly, the issues I have come down to the stories being too slow and not containing enough of the bloody, shocking horror elements I desire, or trying too hard to make social commentary in a way that it outshines the entire horror and makes the thrills have no purpose. So, I thought, instead of reading a dark academia praised by critics for emotional impact and commentary, how about I read The Afterdark, which Kirkus Reviews wrote a rather negative review for, claiming the book was “overstuffed”, that it was “difficult to enter the novel’s world and connect with the characters”, and contained “sex scenes [that] feel unnecessarily redundant”? And now as a totally independent reviewer, rather than a large corporation, I give my own thoughts on this book, which are… considerably more positive.

One of the main marketing points for this novel was the romance, and it was quite interesting. I don’t think Holland and Evie are the most likeable characters, as their characterization is heavily centered on them making terrible decisions and having dark impulses, with Evie’s first scene definitely being a perfect example of that. But it wasn’t unlikable in a way that the characters were super annoying and made you want to kick them, it was more in the somewhat evil characters that you are intrigued by. And this definitely isn’t a cute and fluffy romance. Holland and Evie were simply addicted to each other in a way that isn’t common for YA- they yearned for each other and their main priority was keeping their romance stable. Well, sort of. There was quite a bit of miscommunication, bickering, and “I think avoiding each other for a few chapters is a good idea” moments. Now, some of it was just the girls acknowledging their obsession and how it could end up ripping them apart, but a decent amount was also really annoying, especially because since the romance started really early into the story of the 400 page novel, it just got repetitive and sloggy. But overall, when the romance did happen, it was the perfect embodiment of the passionate romance that you only read for fun and not to learn anything from it, even if you really loved it. And about those sex scenes that Kirkus mentioned? They were actually mild and not too bad, but maybe that’s just because I’m a person who mostly reads for fun, or because even in the niche subgenre of YA dark academia, I’ve read worse.

I have mostly positive, but also mixed opinions on the creepy scenes in this book. I wasn’t expecting the pacing to be as slow as Kirkus mentioned, but it still wasn’t the best paced book- most of the horror at the start is just mild, light moments to induce a small sense of paranoia, such as some tiny creepy thing being found on campus or a character exhibiting paranoia. There are some more thrilling moments that are meant to connect to the overall plot, but they weren’t the most exciting, and the main focus here was the romance. But then about halfway, things suddenly get insane- there’s a scene where things suddenly intensify in darkness and shocks, and no one knows if the characters will get out safely. And from this point on, as Holland and Evie realize their obsession with each other, they also start to notice the darkness and how they might become drawn to it. It all builds up to one of the best dark academia endings I’ve read- it’s not exactly what you wanted to happen, but it also fit the story perfectly and was really unexpected, with the final chapter providing a satisfying enough resolution. So there’s definitely fun horror stuff and thrills for the dark academia fans- it just takes some time to get there.

I think another issue was how bad this book’s official synopsis/blurb was compared to the book. Normally, I’m not too critical of book synopses- after all, they’re pretty much the most reliable way to get someone to read your book if you’ve never heard of it before. And I also know that they’re almost always written by the publishers and not the authors to ensure the most readers, and therefore money- but I felt like this one was a good example of issues that can pop up when writing a synopsis of anything. The central issue? It gave away too much. A major chunk of the blurb is explaining, in the context of the story, why the book is called “The Afterdark”, as well as what exactly is going on in the forest at night. But the thing is, the characters don’t know all of this right away- they have no idea of the existence of the word “Afterdark”, let alone what it references, or the truth of the forest, until 200-300 pages in, and it’s treated as this major twist. However, because I read the official blurb, I knew about what “The Afterdark” meant before I even finished page 1, and I was really annoyed with the fact that the characters spent a lot of the book not knowing things the readers already knew, and not because they took so long to find out- it’s because the blurb handed us this knowledge before we should’ve had it. Plus, the first chapter is a great example of an early shocking moment that keeps us invested in Evie’s character and hooks us in on the story, but it wasn’t as impactful as I made it sound- because while it should’ve been a major twist that we could’ve never expected, the synopsis simply gives away what Evie does. So yeah, that’s why in my version of the synopsis, I left out so much of this stuff- because I hated how the synopsis revealed so much information. If you’re planning to read this, please avoid reading the official blurb even if it’s right in front of you, and just read the book. It will make the reading experience so much better.

Anyway I just spent a lot of time writing about a blurb, which is just barely connected to the actual story, so did I like the actual content of The Afterdark? Overall, I think it was a nice addition to the realm of YA dark academia. Yes, there were pacing issues, and there were romance issues, but it came with a passionate, enjoyable romance and some awesome twists and dark atmospheric vibes. I’ve definitely read some slightly better dark academia, and this one definitely doesn’t have any deep social commentary or likeable characters, but this is the book for you if you want a fun thrill ride with a passionate (but a little bit toxic) romance. Plus, maybe this review is a sign to not judge a book by its negative Kirkus review.