If you’re looking to add some books to your TBR to help you get in the back-to-school mood and serve up some nostalgia, or you like reading about school reunions, professors, university life, academia, then this book list is just for you!  Check out some of the campus and academic novels released in 2021.

With the emotional power of Normal People and the reflective haze of The Girls, a magnetic novel that moves between present-day Los Angeles and a British boarding school in the 1990s, exploring the destructive relationships between teenage girls.

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All Girls by Emily Layden

All Girls follows nine young women as they navigate their ambitions and fears at a prestigious New England prep school, all pitched against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.

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The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Two former best friends return to their college reunion to find that they’re being circled by someone who wants revenge for what they did ten years before–and will stop at nothing to get it.

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Leda and the Swan by Anna Caritj

In a hothouse of collegiate sex and ambition, one young woman mysteriously disappears after a wild campus party, and another becomes obsessed with finding her.

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Madam by Phoebe Wynne

Discover the secrets of Caldonbrae Hall in this riveting, modern gothic debut set at an all girls’ boarding school perched on a craggy Scottish peninsula.

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For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

A sneaky thriller set at a prestigious private school–complete with interfering parents, overeager students, and one teacher who just wants to teach them all a lesson.

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In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down.

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Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study of psychopaths–students like herself who lack empathy and can’t comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. But when one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey.

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The Missing Hours by Julia Dahl

Claudia starts the school year resolved to find a path toward something positive, maybe even meaningful – and then one drunken night everything changes. Reeling, her memory hazy, Claudia cuts herself off from her family, seeking solace in a new friendship. But when the rest of school comes back from spring break, Claudia is missing.

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What do you think of the books on this list?

Have you read any of these books on our list?  What are some of your favorite campus or academic novels?  Let me know your thoughts, ideas, and book suggestions in the comments below!