Dark Academia Vibes
#deconstruction
I am an avid reader and often the media and "news" that is shown to me on my phone's news tab is related to books. One article caught my eye this weekend "Best Dark Academia in Science Fiction and Fantasy". I recently read a dark academia book and just bought the sequel - it turns out that this post was sponsored by the publishers of the sequel.
Rachel Brittain
Who created this message?
Rachel Brittain through BookRiot. BookRiot is an independent editorial book site that has book suggestions, book reviews, reading challenges and author interviews. This post was sponsored by Flatiron Books.
What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
For me what caught my eye was the mention of the specific genre, "Dark Academia" that I enjoy reading from time to time. There was also a picture of a book I just bought - so I figured if I like that book, I may like the other suggested books. I also like lists like this - easy to read a digest with a short summary for each book.
How might different people interpret this message differently than me?
I think this could be a pretty niche article. There could be people who don't know/aren't interested in dark academia books, or fantasy books for that matter. There could be readers who really dislike books from this genre.
What viewpoints or world views are included or left out of this message?
I did some digging into the authors featured in this list, and it's very inclusive of gender identities, cultures, and abilities. There are authors from all around the world, one of the books is translated into English, and Deaf and autistic authors. There are a lot of books with occult themes that could be disagreeable to some, and people who don't read often for pleasure would not find any meaning in this article.
Why is this message being sent?
I think the message of this article is purely for pleasure. It was curated by someone who enjoys this subgenre of books, and suggested books from authors of many backgrounds. I didn't feel like I was being "sold" anything perse, but I would be willing to bet that there were affiliate links (I didn't click on any). The fact that this article was sponsored by a book publisher also makes me think their intention was to sell more copies of their "dark academia" book.