Kept getting better and better
I went into The Boyfriend Academy not really knowing what to expect. It is a dark academia dystopian romance, set in a future based on events and circumstances happening in our present life. The storyline just kept getting better and better as all of the different layers were revealed, making it very hard to put the book down.
Just when I thought I had figured things out, a new twist or piece of information was introduced. This happens right until the very end. I am pleased with how everything wrapped up but I will be mulling the entire last quarter of the book in my head for quite some time.
Liked the dystopican setting and the dark academia
This dystopian dark academia novel takes place in the year 2105. At the academy, boys are forged into the men society demands – strong, obedient, perfect. Graduate, and the world is yours: a home, a career, a wife. But fail… and you’re no longer useful to society. Dylan Cecil is just trying to keep his head down and graduate and be the kind of man his parents would have been proud of. But when his friend, Blake, disappears, Dylan can’t silence the questions gnawing at him, even as whispers of danger shadow the school’s gilded halls. In order to graduate, they must pass eight tests that will decide who is worthy of manhood . Dylan is paired with Roman Edwards, a boy as magnetic as he is unknowable. In a world rebuilt on order and obedience, Dylan must decide: will he become the man the academy wants – or the man he really is?
I enjoyed this, although not as much as I thought I would. I liked the dystopian setting, and the dark academia is almost always a hit with me, but I didn't like that there was only one "acceptable" type of man, and that was a straight man. Anything else was unacceptable, so if you were having feelings towards other men, that would come out during one of the trials they had to endure - there was no way around it. Overall, I give this a 3.5 rounded up to a 4.
I found this book to be an interesting read. It's set after a time when many people die. So the king decides that men and women should have a place in the world to make children to repopulate. They must go to these special schools to learn how to behave properly. This book was a hard read. It felt like we went back in time, where queer and trans people had to pretend to fit into society. Dylan Cecil is gay. He has to navigate his feelings for the new guy and make a choice that will improve the future. I was a little surprised by the ending, considering how much they wanted to fight back. I could say more on this, but I'm going to leave this here. I enjoyed this book for what it is.
A
Arlene Mullen
April 17, 2026
So Dylan arrives at boarding school and his life changes drastically. He's trying to figure out what is going on at this school, while also passing so he can become societies perfect man. The boys all get set up with a perfect women, but Dylan has a secret that will make him have to decide what he will do. Stay with the status quo or run away with who he loves.
This was a very interesting premise. My issues is that it was to long. The book kept repeating everything over and over. While I appreciated what the author was trying to do, it was alot of telling what happens and less showing the reader.
A really good queer MM dark academia dystopian book
I was completely pulled into The Boyfriend Academy. On the surface, Ganymede’s feels like one of those elite boarding schools where perfection is the goal, but the more you read, the more you realize how dark and controlling this world really is. Boys aren’t just being “educated,” they’re being molded into a very specific version of manhood, and the consequences of failing are terrifying.
Dylan’s story really stuck with me. All he wants to do is keep his head down, graduate, and earn the future he’s been promised, but when his friend Blake disappears, it’s like a thread gets pulled loose, and suddenly he can’t ignore how wrong everything feels. And then there’s Roman, who is magnetic, mysterious, and impossible for Dylan to stop thinking about. Their connection adds this aching layer of longing and confusion that feels so real, especially in a place where love is forbidden and being yourself is dangerous.
The constant pressure of the trials, the whispers about what happens to boys who don’t measure up, and Dylan’s growing fear and doubt make the book feel tense in that slow, creeping way. But it’s also about identity, courage, and choosing who you want to be, even when the cost is high. It’s unsettling, emotional, and really thought-provoking, with a quiet tenderness beneath all the darkness.
