This week we have something a little different for ‘The Dark Academicals’: dark academia…smut? Yep. ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ is the first book in a super spicy dark academia series by a TikTok fave author. Sarah has already read and loved the book so we’re both ready to delve into something fun:Twelve years ago, I left Thornchapel—and the two boys I gave my heart to—behind. And now I've returned, hopeful...and wary. Because it's so very easy to be drawn back into the world of the seductive and elegant Auden Guest . . . and into the world of his worst enemy, St. Sebastian Martinez. The beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian is as irresistible as he ever was, and Auden is just as handsome and arrogant, and the three of us can't seem to unknot ourselves from each other. From the hasty promise we three made all those years ago.As Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around us, our reluctant threesome starts unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together we've awakened a fate that will either bloom like a rose . . . or destroy us all.From the author of the USA Today bestselling New Camelot series comes a gothic, dark academia fairy tale full of lantern-lit rituals, hungry desire, and obsessions that last for lifetimes...Doesn’t it sound like the perfect book to dive into for the podcast? We have brooding and beautiful boys, the mysterious Thornchapel and the promise of secrets and lies galore. But is that enough for us to give it the seal of approval?In this episode we discuss:- How erotic elements effect the dark academia vibe- The power of weather in creating atmosphere