The 2024 songs of Lila, Gabe, Val, and Marina from School of Shadows

Today, we're pretending that School of Shadows (The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters: Book One) takes place in fall 2024. In reality, it takes place in fall 2016, and the events between then and now would have changed what each character's favorite song would be in 2024.

(Or maybe not! I feel like we all have a bit of our former, younger selves in us at all times and maybe that former, younger self would have chosen these songs anyway, but I digress.)

Here are Lila's, Gabe's, Val's, and Marina's favorite songs of 2024.

Quick note: Many of these songs have explicit lyrics. So only hit the links if you're okay with explicit lyrics in your songs. 

Lila: "Pink Pony Club" 

Sung by Chappell Roan on the album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Island Records, 2023.  Listen to "Pink Pony Club" on YouTube here.

“I know you wanted me to stay

But I can't ignore the crazy visions of me in LA

...

Oh mama, I'm just having fun

On the stage in my heels”

In School of Shadows (and in the series in general), Lila longs to leave all her cares away and sing and dance on a stage, just like this song sings about.

And because she ran away to Eversfield Academy after it became clear that her parents are about to divorce, the line "I know you wanted me to stay but I can't ignore the crazy visions of me in LA" speaks to her.

In general, Lila loves to sing and dance to this song and pretend she's as free as the singer is.

But she only does so alone in her room where no one can see.

For now.

Gabe: "Too Sweet"

Sung by Hozier on the album Unheard, Rubyworks Records, Island Records, 2024.  Listen to "Too Sweet" on YouTube here.

“I take my whiskey neat 

My coffee black and my bed at three 

You're too sweet for me”

Okay, to be clear, Gabe does not take his coffee black and he doesn't drink whiskey.

He does often hit his bed at three, though, thanks to all those vampire-hunting duties.

For him, this song is mostly about that line of "You're too sweet for me." 

After Gabe meets Lila in School of Shadows, he discovers that she's a breath of fresh air and that she lightens his spirits and makes him feel good and hopeful.

Which he hates. 

He is not hopeful or good. He cannot afford to be. If he is, others may die.

As the First of the Eversfield Academy Training Cell of vampire hunters, he's not allowed to hope or feel good or even have a romantic relationship. Gabe must focus on leading the other Eversfield Academy Warriors and Diviners, on hunting vampires, and on doing well enough in high school to graduate. That's it.

Until Lila throws a wrench in his plans.

But that doesn't matter. He doesn't deserve her, and he can't have her even if he did.

She is "too sweet" for someone like him.

Val: "Taste"

Sung by Sabrina Carpenter on the album Short n' Sweet, Island Records, 2024.  Listen to "Taste" on YouTube here.

“I heard you're back together and if that's true 

You'll just have to taste me when he's kissin' you

... 

And singin' 'bout it don't mean I care 

Yeah, I know I've been known to share"

The songs of Sabrina Carpenter's album Short n' Sweet strike me as the popular girl's soundtrack.

And Lila's best friend Val is just that, a popular girl (even if Lila is far from that).

So Val loves Sabrina Carpenter's album. And "Taste" is her favorite song.

Why?

Because that's how she endeavors to be with her boys. Short, meaningless, fun relationships that she won't mind when they end.

But her boys will mind and remember her every time they're with their new girls.

Or that's Val's goal anyway.

Marina: "thanK you aIMee"

You didn't think we could get away without a single Taylor Swift song in here, did you? 😂 

Sung by Taylor Swift on the album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, Republic Records, 2024.  Listen to "thanK you aIMee" on YouTube here.

“All that time you were throwing punches 

I was building something 

And I can't forgive the way you made me feel”

As covered in School of Shadows, Val and her friends bullied Lila's new roommate at Eversfield Academy, Marina.

So when Marina hears "thanK you aIMee" for the first time, it speaks to her. 

To her, it tells the story of someone like her being bullied over and over but rising above it.

By the end of the song, the victim has risen so far above it that everything about that bullying looks small and insignificant.

And the victim thanks her bully.

Marina doesn't think she'll ever thank Val and her cronies for bullying her, but she hopes she can rise above it one day like the victim in "thanK you aIMee".

There you have it, the songs Lila, Gabe, Val, and Marina would have loved from 2024 if School of Shadows took place in 2024 instead of 2016.