Books that feel like being a tired, slightly unhinged princess wandering a dark castle at night?

Hey everyone,

I’m in a weird reading slump and trying to find books that actually pull me in again, so I’m looking for something super specific in terms of vibe:

• dark fantasy + dark academia energy

• castles, royalty, princess (but not in a cliché way)

• dragons are a huge plus

• slightly gothic / eerie atmosphere

• main character who feels lost, messy, misunderstood, and tired of routine

• bonus if they’re older (or just mentally older) but still have that chaotic, questioning, “what am I doing with my life” energy

I don’t want anything too slow or overly dense, I need something immersive but still kind of addictive/easy to get into.

Not really looking for:

• heavy politics with zero emotional depth

• super tropey YA romance (unless it’s actually well-written and a bit dark)

• anything that takes 200 pages to get interesting

Open to:

• morally grey characters

• soft chaos energy

• slightly unhinged narration

• tragic or bittersweet tones

Basically something that feels like wandering through a castle at night questioning your entire existence lol.