I recommend this one. It's a good book and everyone should read. Of course I would love to have this book in my bookstore.

Aesthetically, this book is wonderful, I loved the boarding school setting, the extremely dark academia, and the mystery aspect. The characters were interesting and the plot was definitely thrilling. I do agree with some of the representation concerns that other reviewers have brought up

Thank you to the publisher for an early EARC of A Lesson In Vengeance by, Victoria Lee, which I gave 4.5/5 stars. I absolutely loved this witchy, dark academia novel taking place at a boarding school. The gothic atmosphere along with the elements of witchcraft, had me turning the pages. I could not put it down!! The only issue I had with the book was the characters seemed to be written much older than they were in the book. If they were at a college level, the characters would have been a bit more believable for their actions. Also, I feel that if they were older, the story could have been a tinge darker which would have worked so well for the plot! But overall, I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a dark gothic witchy read.

A Lesson in Vengeance has so many of the elements I like in a book, including a boarding school setting, witchcraft, feminist themes, and a frenemy romance (f/f in this case). I also really enjoyed that Felicity was an unreliable narrator, that paired with the vibe of this story is what kept me sticking it out until the end. Overall, this was a lovely and entertaining read. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the characters and totally fell in love with the setting.

Dark Academia is a popular genre and I keep trying to get into it, but unfortunately it is just not my thing. I was hoping that Lesson in Vengeance would break the ice and be the book to draw me into the genre, but sadly it did not. The writing of the book in itself was good. But the plot just did not do it for me. The characters were decent and the romance was cute, but sadly that was not enough.

2 stars. Thank you Netgalley for the arc. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I was so intrigued by the taglines - Sapphic, Dark Academia, Witches. However, the whole story just wasn't believable nor were any of the characters likable. Also, this is supposed to be set a prestigious boarding school, these should be high school girls. There is no way in any universe that these are high school girls. I understand it is supposed to be elite but they act and talk as if they're graduate students. Older characters would've made this more believable. It was also very slow. There wasn't enough action to propel the plot.

Twisty, haunting, unsettling, lush--this is a marvel of YA fiction. I love how Lee balanced the occult aspects of the murder mystery with the themes of mental illness. It was fascinating and twisty enough to keep me guessing until the end.

One of my absolute FAVORITE reads. I read it six months ago, and I'm already contemplating a reread! I've become quite obsessed with dark academia as of late, but as with any beloved genre, this has only made me pickier about it. ALIV had everything I craved from a dark academia read (aesthetically, thematically, emotionally) while also bringing fresh ideas and much-needed representation to the genre. Felicity was a brilliantly unreliable narrator, and Ellis an intriguing love interest. Love love love!!!

I love this book so much that, despite barely buying any books this year (compared with previous years), I HAD to buy a copy for my shelves. In fact, long story, but...I accidentally bought two. WORTH IT.

Thank you Delacorte for providing a free advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

A Lesson in Vengeance by @sosaidvictoria is the September YA pick for @themacabrelibrary and boy am I glad I chose this damn book. I could NOT put it down. This Sapphic, dark academia murder/mystery/romance will hold your hand and pull you through a Wonderland of treachery, ghosts and witchcraft. Sadly, I can't even form the words to explain how much I adored this story. All I know is, you guys ALL need to read this. This will be a yearly reread for me to set the mood for Fall/Halloween.

I feel very “meh” about this. I was pretty hooked on the mystery at first, but near the end I just felt turned off by the book and it just didn’t mesh with me. It was somewhat interesting, I just don’t think dark academia is my genre.

Rating: 2*

I am here for EVERY SINGLE SECOND of this book. Every word. Every scene. Every character. This book gives me life. Everyone needs to read it - now. I just can't handle how unbelievably perfect this book was.

I wanted to love this so much but I did not. There were some parts I enjoyed, mostly I did not. I read it because I wanted sapphic dark academia and all I got were toxic and unlikable characters. The way they talk doesn't match their age. The pacing is too slow for my liking, too detailed most of the time, and TBH, the book just felt pretentious.

Then the good parts, beautiful cover, intriguing premise, good writing style, and the setting is atmospheric.

Big thanks to Delacorte Press/Penguin Randomhouse for the galley. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

I really am fasicanted by this read.It was a nice mix between both potential supernatural but also plays much more as typical thriller. I also loved the school elements and reminds me so much of the college that i atended. I also had lgbtq main character and it was really fast pace read. It was quick read, but this book def did not play out the way i expected!! I liked this book but i struggle a bit with the characters at the end! It was fast pace thriller and i would def read more by this author in the future.

while there are things to enjoy in this dark gothic mystery (thriller??) unfortunately i can't get past how much i felt like nothing happened the entire book.

the strengths include the writing style, description and atmosphere of the new england boarding school setting as well as the developed history of the school. for me the weaknesses were the extremely slow pace and the character development of every single other person than the main character, who also didn't blow me away.

other people seem to be enjoying this so if the synopsis catches your fancy, might as well try it out, but to me i'm just a bit underwhelmed.

This was twisty, spooky, haunting and the perfect dark academia book to read during Spooky Season.

The beginning was a tad slow for me, and it took me longer than usual to get through the whole book (almost three weeks when usually something this length would take me a week at most), but I read the last two thirds in a day. Once the story really got going, I was hooked!

I LOVED Felicity, the most unreliable narrator, and honestly a really broken and confused character. The story from her point of view was just so off the rails and I never knew what was true and what wasn't. And then Ellis was a tangle of contradictions and wicked surprises herself.

I don't want to give anything away, but I really loved the twisty turns of the plot, and I was so engrossed in the story despite the slow beginning. I would have given it 5 stars if the first third of the book had moved a little faster.

I also am glad I read this before buying it for my library, because this is definitely upper YA. High school and older, I'd say. The MC is 18 and re-doing her senior year of high school after a tragic accident, so I think putting this in a middle school library might be pushing it a bit (although I have no doubt there are middle schoolers who would devour this book!).

I truly could not get through this one. There mystery and intrigue seemed a bit forced and an unreliable narroator is my least favorite plot twist.

I just found this book to be sooooo slow. 10/10 for the fall academic feel - the author NAILS the atmosphere of a snooty girl’s prep school; you can particularly taste the pretension (in the best way). However, this book struggles to hold attention and build suspense. It has an unreliable narrator but the way pieces of the puzzle are revealed don’t carry the sense of a character losing control - though there were some interesting twists, I was never really on the edge of my seat, and I was never sure what kind of book this was going to be. The characters are also not very dynamic, except for the occasional personalizing moment. It’s also possible this book was not for me - some of the writing was a bit prose-y, especially when writing the two leads and their connection to each other, and maybe I would have believed it more if I liked the style. Alas, this wasn’t it for me.

Um. Damn. I really don't know how to articulate my feelings about this book but it was absolutely phenomenal! I might return with more thoughts later, but for now I'll end with: anyone who complains about Felicity or Ellis being "bad rep" just because they're morally grey, complex, traumatized queer characters with mental health issues can meet me in the pit ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edit: Realized I should touch on content warnings, because A Lesson in Vengeance includes some heavy, difficult topics. I didn't keep track of them as I read because I was so engrossed and will probably miss some, so make sure to check out other reviews if you want to make extra sure you're prepared for everything! I have lots of notes/content for the warnings I am listing, though, so warnings will be in bold and qualifiers will in parentheses following the warning.

Content Warnings: Graphic depictions of struggles with mental illness (including psychosis, delusions, taking yourself off your meds, suicidal thoughts, etc - MC has psychotic depression), death (graphic descriptions, several of which include body horror/gore), animal death (past, but described fairly graphically on page), child neglect (referenced briefly, in the past), substance use & abuse (to me these are 2 different things but the book includes both), gaslighting & emotional abuse (graphic, on page),

I really wanted to love this book, but it just fell flat for me. The pitch for this sapphic, dark academia thriller hooked me instantly, but when I actually went to read this book I was unimpressed. Maybe I went in with too high expectations.

Dark academia, witches, and murder, oh my! Felicity Morrow feels ready to return to school after a tragic accident, but when she finds herself tangled up with the elusive teen prodigy Ellis Haley, Felicity will have to face the darkest parts of herself before moving on. Between the atmospheric setting and gorgeous writing, I couldn’t put this book down. Part fantasy, part thriller, A Lesson in Vengeance is guaranteed to lure you in and keep you entranced.