I think that YA books set in boarding schools might be one of my favorite thing ever.
There’s something about this setting that I find so… intriguing and exciting, all at once. Whether it ends up being a sweet contemporary read with romance or a mystery, with lots of secrets and messed-up things happening, I just… I love it, okay.
If you’re anything like me and love these boarding school stories, please shout some recommendations at me in comments, I’d love love love to hear them! In the meantime, here are some of my own recommendations, books I enjoyed and some I want to read, too.
Always looking forward to your thoughts on these and your own recommendations in comments, friends!
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10 YA Books Set in Boarding School I Recommend
Tiny Pretty Things, Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton
Tiny Pretty Things is about three top students at an exclusive ballet school in Manhattan. This addictive story has its share of secrets, drama and scandal… and it’s also the exclusive boarding-school like setting that makes it all the more exciting to read!
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XOXO, Axie Oh
Boarding school adventures and secret romances: that’s what you’re getting with XOXO. It’s a super fun YA rom-com with a random meeting between Jenny and Jaewoo in Los Angeles. Months later, Jenny moves to South Korea and realizes that Jaewoo is a member of one of the most popular boys band here. Filled with heart, moments that will make you swoon and a boarding school/academy of arts, this book is definitely a contemporary read I recommend!
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Girls With Sharp Sticks, Suzanne Young
Beautiful and well-behaved girls at an exclusive Academy hidden in the woods… If you’re looking for a book to make your jaw drop, try this one. I personally loved it! The twists and turns made me dizzy, the uniqueness of the story and the fierce characters made me LOVE it. 200% recommending this.
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Girl Gone Viral, Arvin Ahmadi
At a boarding school for tech prodigies, Opal tries to forget about her father’s mysterious disappearance, so many years ago… up until a contest, hosted by the world’s biggest virtual reality platform, might give her the answers she needs. It’s a rollercoaster of a read, filled with mystery and great friendships!
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The Ivies, Alexa Donne
They’re called The Ivies: girls on the same mission, to get into the Ivy League… no matter what. This addictive YA thriller set at an exclusive academy has highly competitive girls, complex friendships, twists and turns and overall, it’s a LOT of fun!
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All These Beautiful Strangers, Elizabeth Klehfoth
I don’t know a lot of people who has read this book… but I will mention it, because it’s really good okay. Still struggling with her mother’s disappearance, Charlie throws all of her attention back into her prestigious school’s life… and the school’s secret society. Told between past and present, filled with mystery and drama, this book had me hooked from page one!
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The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks, E. Lockhart
Frankie’s boyfriend is a member of an all-male secret society, one that pulls off the biggest pranks ever. Sick of being cast aside and not knowing what really happens in there, Frankie decides to take matters into her own hands… This is a fun, exciting boarding school YA book with a unique, bold, fresh protagonist you’ll either love, or hate, not going to lie. I did love her!
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Sanctuary Bay, Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz
Sanctuary Bay is, if you ask me, a way too underrated YA thriller. It’s about Sarah Mercer, getting the chance to attend the most prestigious boarding school in the country… and slowly uncovering the school’s dark secrets. It’s addictive, atmospheric and I couldn’t stop reading it!
A Lesson in Vengeance, Victoria Lee
Back at Dalloway School after the tragic death of her girlfriend, Felicity wants to focus on her senior year… but the ghosts of the past and her attraction to darkness might not let her. This was a thrilling, dark academia story with a chilling atmosphere and an unreliable narrator. Loved it!
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Noteworthy, Riley Redgate
Jordan Sun dreams of being cast in her school’s musical, but her low Alto 2 voice gets her turned down. Again. Determined to prove herself, she manages to get into the all-male Kensington’s elite a cappella octet… Noteworthy explores what it means to be a girl and a guy in a gender-normed society and, most of it all, what it means to be yourself.
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Looking for Alaska, John Green
Miles heads off to Culver Creek Boarding School, where his life completely changes. Between making new friends, meeting the utterly fascinating and equally mysterious Alaska Young, pranks and drama… a lot of things happen in Looking for Alaska and it’s, for me, a classic YA boarding school read!
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Bright Burning Stars, A.K. Small
In the same vein of Tiny, Pretty Things, Bright Burning Stars is about two best friends at the Paris Opera School and their bond, threatened by their own ambition. It’s a dark, twisted story about the lengths you’ll go to to be the best, with an interesting focus on a complex friendship!
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We Set The Dark On Fire, Tehlor Kay Mejia
At the Medio School for Girls, young women are trained to run their husband’s household or raise his children. Daniela, top of her class, is hiding a dark secret… This exciting YA dystopia story has an incredible world-building, fierce characters, slow-building romance and twists and turns that I LOVED.
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Romancing the Throne, Nadine Jolie Courtney
If you’re looking for a quick, fun YA contemporary read set in boarding school, this one might be for you. The Weston’s sisters are at the same boarding school for the very first time, the same place seventeen-years-old Prince Edward is at. This had quite a bit of drama, but it was really entertaining!
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YA Books Set in Boarding School I Want To Read
People Like Us, Dana Mele
People Like Us is boarding school + Means Girls and apparently I am HERE for it okay. Kay is going to an all-girls boarding school, filled with secrets and a dead body’s blackmailing her from the grave… this sounds like a thrilling read!
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Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson
A prestigious boarding school, a years-old, unsolved murder mystery and a true-crime fan trying to get to the bottom of it all… I’ve heard amazing things about Truly Devious all around and I’m excited to finally give it a try!
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The Similars, Rebecca Hanover
When six clones join Darkwood Academy, they’re all anyone can talk about… When Emma comes face to face with one and realizes he’s the exact replica of her deceased best friend, things get even harder. A lot of secrets, an elite boarding school, clones? I don’t know, this sounds super exciting and I’ve been wanting to read this for a while, now!
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Very Bad People, Kit Frick
Very Bad People has secret societies, a girl trying to uncover her mother’s death by going to the same elite boarding school as she did… this dark academia book sounds exactly like the kind of read I’ve been falling for lately and… I guess there’s a good reason it’s one of my most anticipated reads of this year!
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Of Curses and Kisses, Sandhya Menon
Apparently, this is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast set at an elite, international boarding school so, obviously I am here for it. Two families, a quest for revenge turning into an enemies to lovers romance? This sounds super exciting and unique!
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A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro
I’ve been into mysteries a lot, lately and A Study in Charlotte sounds like so much fun. This is a retelling of Sherlock Holmes, with two main protagonists, descendants of the actual characters, find themselves together at boarding school, framed for a murder they did not commit. This sounds so, so good!!
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Enjoyed this list? See a book you’d like to read? Order them through these retailers below!
For more YA book recommendations, check out these blog posts:
- 10 YA books with writing and bookish settings
- 16 Exciting YA Books About Royalty (Fantasy & Contemporary) I Recommend
- 18 YA Books Like Heartstopper To Read Next (ft. Soft Romances, Great Characters & More!)
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What are some of your favorite books set in boarding school? Give me your recommendations so I can add them to my TBR please?
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I love a good boarding school setting but I have only read two books on this list! I have some catching up to do!
Ohh, if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them! 🙂
Truly devious is definitely worth checking out! It’s a huge addicting series
I love boarding school settings too, I can’t believe I’ve only read Noteworthy from this list!
Ahh hope you can read some of these soon! 🙂
Gail Carriger, 4 book series Etiquette and Espionage is the first. Steampunk YA.
I love boarding school books. I don’t know what it is about them, but they pull me in. Especially the mystery/thriller ones.
YES me too! There’s something about this setting that’s so exciting! 🙂
It’s odd because I’m not sure why I love that setting. Maybe because it’s just so different than public school where I went.
Yes! I think that’s why I love it so much, because it’s so different! 🙂
Great list! Several of these I’ve already read.
Thank you so much!! 🙂
Truly Devious and Very Bad People are both on my TBR! I recommend When All the Girls Are Sleeping. It’s a murder mystery set at an all girls boarding school, involving ghosts.
Oooooh this sounds REALLY good, thank you so much for the recommendation! Adding it to my TBR! 😀
I’ve only read 2 of these, so I am going to have to check out the rest. I did just read one from Ginger Scott called Loner. It’s the start of a series set at a boarding school in Boston.
Ohh that sounds fun, I’ll have to check it out! Thank you for the recommendation! 🙂
Well, well, I know you love this setting! I’ve only read two books (Frankie Landau-Banks and Alaska), but I always WANTED to read A Study in Charlotte. Present day YA Sherlock adaptations are my jam. Thanks for another great post!
Ahh, I feel like you’d LOVE this book. If you read it before me, please let me know!!
Thank you so, so much for your support always, Kat, it means so much. <3
Great post, I really need to read more boading school books! 😄 I’m super excited for XOXO, We Set the Dark on Fire and The Ivies 🥰 I also hope to read Very Bad People, it sounds intriguing 😊
Thank you so much!! I hope you’ll read all of these books someday! 🥰
I love boarding school settings so much! There’s something so fun! One of my fave YAs this year is THINGS MAY END BADLY by Samantha Markhum! Loved the boarding school setting in that one.
Ooooh, just looked it up and it sounds lovely, on my TBR it goes, thank you so much, Nick! <3
Loved reading this list Marie, so fantastic! 😍😍 Never realized how many YA mystery books were set at boarding schools. I liked the boarding school in Grimrose Girls, I finished the book wanting to know more about it.
Ahh thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed it! I need to read Grimrose Girls, it sounds like such a good book 🙂
Ever since I read the St. Clair’s series by Enid Blyton as a child, I wanted to go to a boarding school! I really loved the concept even though I’m now not unhappy about not having gone there 😀
I also really enjoy the concept of boarding schools and academies in sci fi books and fantasy, and one I really enjoyed was Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan, it was so much fun 🙂
Ahh same here, I don’t remember THE book that made me want to go to a boarding school, but… It’s been on my mind for a while as well! It’s such a fun concept to read about, even if, I guess, the reality’s completely different!
Ooooh! It’s been a while since I heard about Ignite the Stars. I need to check it out again, see if I’d like it! Thank you, Kat! 🙂
i forgot xoxo was set in a boarding school! that makes me want to read it even more now haha. and i think you’d absolutely love people like us, whenever you get the chance to read it!! <3
Ahh that’s so good to hear, people like us really sounds fantastic. I need to get it soon! <3 and I hope you can read xoxo sometime soon, it was so lovely :)
Surprisingly, I haven’t read almost any of these. Guess I need to catch up on my boarding school books!
Ahh yes you do! I hope you’ll find some new favorites here 🙂
I love books that take place in a school. I feel like it leaves room for so many different dynamics! Great list xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
Yes me too! Thank you so, so much! <3
Best boarding school series ever – Crooked Sinners by Callie Hart. Book #1 is Riot House, and I’m in love with Wren Jacobi!! Can’t count how many times I’ve read this series.
Ohh thank you for the recommendations, I’ll have to check these out! 🙂