This book was amazing. I had very high expectations and it blew them out of the water. I never really knew where the plot was going (even when I thought I did) and the ending had me absolutely *screaming*

Lesbian dark academia is all I've ever wanted in the dark academia genre and Victoria Lee DELIVERED. Their combination of magic and ghosts all within this elite boarding school was so good and had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

Highly, highly recommend and I can't wait to read their future books.

Literary Merit: Excellent
Characterization: Excellent
Recommended: Yes
Level: High School

This book was an absolute roller coaster from beginning to end, and I'm still reeling from all the twists and turns it took. After a quick glance at the premise, I knew I had to give this one a shot, and I certainly was not disappointed. While there are a few ends I wish had been tied up in the end, I really appreciate Lee's ability to keep the reader hanging at the end of every single chapter. Seriously; once I hit the halfway point, I literally couldn't put this book down. I'll attempt to keep my thoughts brief, but knowing my track record, that's not likely to happen.

A Lesson in Vengeance follows the story of 17-year-old Felicity Morrow, who has just returned to her elite boarding school after taking a year to focus on her mental health. During her senior year, her best friend (and ex-girlfriend) Alex died in a terrible accident, and Felicity hasn't been able to forgive herself since. Upon her return to the legendary Dalloway school, Felicity sees Alex everywhere, fearing that her former best friend is haunting her out of vengeance.

Felicity then meets the mysterious Ellis Haley, a teen writing prodigy looking for inspiration for her next literary masterpiece. Ellis, like Felicity, is intrigued by the infamous Dalloway Five; five girls who died in brutal and mysterious ways years ago on the school grounds. Many feared the girls to be witches, but Ellis is determined to prove that it was murder - not magic - that led to their demise. Reluctantly, Felicity agrees to help Ellis recreate their "rituals" in an effort to gain inspiration for her novel, roping the other girls into their plot. As the two grow ever closer, painful memories begin to surface for Felicity, forcing her to confront her past while making sense of her chaotic present.

In her author's note, Lee mentions that she wanted to write a book about "lesbian dark academia," and after reading the book, I'd have to say she NAILED IT. This book was a beautifully written nail-biter from beginning to end, filling me with the desire to know more at the turn of every page. The novel begins with Felicity returning to school in a bit of a depressive funk. She still blames herself for her friend's death and has debilitating PTSD, but we don't learn exactly how her friend died until much later (or that they were much closer than just friends). Right off the bat, Lee is handing us a little bit of the info while leaving us with more questions, leading us to keep reading, and I LOVED that. There's nothing like a little suspense to motivate me to keep reading just one more chapter, and Lee handled this beautifully.

I also really loved Lee's writing style in general, which really puts the reader into the scene. Her descriptions are so vivid that you almost feel like you're there with the characters, seeing what they see and feeling what they feel. I got the creepy boarding school vibe almost immediately, as the atmosphere was set from the very first page. I can certainly tell that a lot of passion went into this book, which really came out in the writing and the realistic characters.

Lee tackles quite a few dark subjects in this book, from classism and white privilege to mental illness and murder. Each character plays a very important role within the story, whether it is establishing the bonds between the girls or showing the darker side of this elite boarding school. One poignant moment that stood out to me was the moment where Leonie (one of the other girls in Felicity's house) talks about being ostracized by some of the other girls at the school because of her skin color and background.

Leonie explains that she has had to be cautious from the very beginning, as most of the girls at Dalloway school can get away with whatever they want because they're rich and white. Felicity reflects on this later in the book while being interrogated by police, acknowledging that they would never suspect her of a thing because of her skin color and social status, and I thought this was a very important conversation to have in today's political climate. This is one of many moments in which a very serious issue is handled with care and subtlety, and I really appreciated Lee's willingness to tackle tough subjects in her work.

Another thing I really appreciated in this book was the diversity. Not only are there characters of color, but there are also lesbians and a non-binary character as well. Felicity and Ellis form a relationship as the novel progresses, but it is also revealed that Ellis and her non-binary sibling Quinn were raised by two mothers themselves. While Felicity has not felt comfortable outing herself to her housemates or the rest of the school, the LGBTQ+ characters in the book are not sensationalized or used as trauma porn or tokens.

The LGBTQ+ relationships are instead normalized, presented the way any heterosexual relationship might be - flaws and all. As much as I appreciate coming out stories, I appreciate casual representation much more. While Felicity's sexuality is important to her character, it is not the sole focus of the book. Instead, the book focuses far more on her mental health as she struggles to separate fiction from reality and come to terms with her ex-girlfriend's death. When she does finally come out to Leonie, her friend is entirely supportive, telling her she's sure the other girls wouldn't think anything of it either. I appreciated the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in this book, and appreciated it even more because it was primarily a mystery/thriller that just happened to include LGBTQ+ characters.

As someone who suffers from a mental illness, I also liked how this book handled mental illness. It is mentioned many times throughout the book that Felicity has seen both a psychiatrist and a therapist for her mental illness, and even takes medication to help her cope. The book also acknowledges, however, that some people do not like taking medication because it alters their personality so drastically. While Felicity does not actively seek help from a therapist during the novel, she is very clearly working towards healing in her own ways.

With the aid of Ellis, Felicity begins to unravel what is real and what isn't, and eventually confronts her own guilt and shame over what happened to Alex. By the end, she isn't completely healed (mental illness is usually far more complicated than this), but it's clear she's in a better place emotionally than she was at the beginning of the novel. Mental illness can be a difficult subject to tackle, but I think Lee handled it with grace and understanding.

My only real gripe with this book is that it left some of the plot threads unfinished, likely on purpose. We meet several characters throughout this book, and many of their stories are left open-ended. For example, we never learn what happens with Clara (I'm purposely leaving out details so as not to spoil the plot twist), and we also never see what becomes of the other girls in the house. The novel also hints that Felicity will likely face scrutiny and backlash for revealing the true nature of her thesis to her professor, and this looming threat is never resolved. We never learn if she was allowed to complete her thesis as she wished, or forced to scrap it in favor of a different topic. These are minor details, of course, but I would have liked to see these plot threads resolved.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm not usually a fan of mysteries and thrillers (I much prefer fantasy and light-hearted romance), but this book really hooked me from the very beginning. The twists and turns are incredible, and I truly didn't see the final twist coming at all. I loved not knowing whether Felicity could truly trust Ellis, or what her true motives were throughout the story. Lee truly has a way with words, and the end of almost every chapter had a cliff-hanger that left me wanting to read more.

I think fans or horror, mysteries, and suspense will really enjoy this novel, particularly if they enjoy discussions about the occult or books set in mysterious boarding schools. As an added bonus, the cast of characters is diverse, and none of the characters every feel like a token or caricature of the community they're representing. I look forward to reading more of Lee's work in the future, as I think she's an extremely talented writer with a knack for descriptive storytelling. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

A sapphic dark academia book with witches and murder? Yes, please!

A Lesson in Vengeance follows Felicity Morrow, who returns to Dalloway School (and her former room at Godwin House) one year after her girlfriend tragically dies. Godwin was the home of five Dalloway students who dabbled in witchcraft and then died violently on Godwin grounds centuries ago, though the school does not acknowledge that part of its history. After getting caught up in the history while working on her senior thesis and taking things too far, Felicity has decided to leave that life and research behind her. After all, it’s for the best.

Enter Ellis Haley, a famous 17-year-old novelist. She is a method writer who wants to learn more about the Dalloway Five for her next novel, which brings her closer to Felicity, the expert on campus. As the two work through their research, the parallels between Felicity’s life and the Dalloway Five become too obvious for her to ignore.

I read this A Lesson in Vengeance in only a few sittings, which is rare for me these days. Felicity was such an interesting main character, and I found myself appreciating her because of her flaws. And because Felicity’s perception is sometimes unreliable, I began to question everything presented to me. It took me most of the book to fully decide how I felt about Felicity’s blossoming relationship with Ellis. I often wondered if they were kindred spirits who were simply misunderstood, or if Ellis had something more sinister in store.

Speaking of Ellis, she was every bit as complicated as Felicity. I constantly questioned her intentions, which only added to the tension throughout the story.

The book’s greatest strengths are its vividly spooky atmosphere, a slow, but intensifying pace, and morally gray characters. Lee also included representation from their own experiences with psychotic depression in this book, which added to the complexity of the plot.

I highly recommend A Lesson in Vengeance for readers looking for a new dark academia novel with sapphic characters and a discussion of witches in a historical context. Readers who expect something fast-paced, action-packed, and a hard magic system should look elsewhere.

This novel was slow to start, dragging a bit, and was hard to follow. But we do get a great setup to what makes our protagonist tick. When the story kicks into gear, it's a tad too late IMO. For a great idea and a superb writer, I did not feel this met expectations. The characters felt empty and I didn't feel myself cheering for them. I'm bummed this wasn't what I thought it would be.

Set in the Catskills, the Dalloway School's history hosts a legacy of writers and ghosts when five girls--rumored to be witches--mysteriously die on campus. In the present day, Felicity returns to the school after a year away when her girlfriend dies on campus. Felicity needs to stay away from the stories and the magic, but she can't seem to steer clear especially when transfer student and best-selling young prodigy novelist, Ellis Haley, begins to connect with Felicity. A method writer, Ellis is planning on writing her book based on the Dalloway Five and recruits Felicity's help. The two girls grow closer and Felicity's shame and secrets begin to emerge...but so do Ellis's.

This book is written from Felicity's perspective and she is an unreliable narrator. Steeped with mystery, horror, and suspense, this book builds around the legend of these five women and how the story affects Felicity. The mystery and witchcraft were both built around Felicity's own belief in magic, which works well with the narrative. I was, at times, taken out of the narrative just because of how pretentious the girls were and it always throws me off reading books with youths play-acting as adults. The side characters were just...there and I couldn't tell one apart from another. I definitely saw the twist at the end with how creepy a character was in a particular situation (no spoilers) and learning more about her own traumatic experiences. The atmosphere was creepy and gothic. Great for fans of Shirley Jackson.

I think this book really delivers in terms of a dark and spooky setting. I also enjoyed its sapphic representation, but I feel like a lot of the focus was on the “aesthetic” instead of the plot which dragged in many places. Nevertheless, this is a great addition to any school library or classroom library and is a perfect recommendation for anyone looking for a new mystery.

I did actually finish reading A LESSON IN VENGEANCE prior to its publication on August 3rd…but truly, I’m still trying to wrap my thoughts into something coherent. This book was incredible. Easily my favourite read of the entire year. It pulls you under with lyrical prose, and then sinks in with talons and refuses to let you go.

It’s been weeks now, and I am still thinking about this book. Victoria Lee accomplishes so much. On the surface, they have written a successful sapphic thriller. There is a mystery to unravel, made all the more complicated because Felicity is one of the most unreliable narrators—in the best way. There’s also an element of horror that left me genuinely fearful, looking over my shoulder and making goosebumps prickle up along my arms (and I am someone who does not scare easily). It’s also so unapologetically queer!

And then, woven through all of that, are the additional layers that make the story all the more enjoyable. The work is deliciously self-referencial, and blew me away on a craft level. It’s also a scathing exploration of academia, and pedagogy, and a critique of how those systems fail the marginalized.

I keep wanting to find eloquent ways to put into words my absolute adoration of A LESSON IN VENGEANCE…and I keep finding myself coming up short.

So really? Just know—you want to read this book. You NEED to read this book.

Unreliable narrator, dark academia, witchy vibes, sapphic relationships. I AM IN. I really really enjoyed this one, and highly recommend it!

The moment I realised this was a story told by an unreliable narrator, I was in. This book was so interesting in the twists it kept throwing out

I think dark academia might be one of my favorite sub-genres, especially when it’s YA.

I went in blind to this book - without reading the blurb/synopsis first - and I think it really enhanced my experience, so I won’t say toooo much in my review, but I will say that A Lesson in Vengeance was the sapphic, witchy, dark academia book I didn’t know I needed. I loved the magical vibes, the dark and atmospheric aesthetic, and the morally gray characters that we somehow rooted for anyway? Incredible.

The setting of Dalloway School was almost a character in and of itself. I loved how Dalloway created the perfect atmosphere for a story like this to take place. The occult mythology surrounding the campus, and Godwin House in particular, made me wish I could go back in time and study literature at an all-girls boarding school. It felt so cinematic and it pulled me completely in to the story. I finished this book in two sittings because I just did not want to leave Dalloway. This book gave me The Secret History vibes in a big way, and I was NOT mad about that

5 stars

Victoria Lee really did have to go THAT hard with A Lesson in Vengeance, but they did. They did that for US.

Wow, this book was phenomenal. You could practically feel the dark academia seeping off of the pages and the crisp chill of fall hanging in the air. I honestly have a little bit of a book hangover coming out of this incredible world. From the mysterious first chapter to the chilling conclusion, I was entranced. It is the perfect fall read, but honestly don't wait until then to pick up a copy. I'm telling you, order this ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

*Thank you to the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read and review. Quotes used in this review are from the ARC and may not be the same in the finalized version of this book.

This book had so many things that I love in books....
- Dark Academia
- Witchy vibes
- Lesbian romance
- Dead ex-girlfriends who may be haunting the MC

....and I was so excited to read it! But truth be told though, I was bored as hell for 75% of this book and then the author dropped a complete ah ha moment with this conversation in the book:

"Mostly how depictions of mental illness are used to build suspense by introducing uncertainty and a sense of mistrust, especially with regard to the narrator's perception of events, and the conflation of magic and madness in female characters."

Like that isn't what the author has been doing this whole time throughout the book! I was completely gobsmacked, and was 100% pumped for this book to get really good and crazy now that the author was dropping hints like that. It did improve marginally but not enough that I was blown away by the end but enough that I didn't end up rating this one star....

To be fair there is a lot that I did like about this book. I really jive with the authors writing style, I just feel like I went into this book expecting it to be super spooky and less slow build suspense. This book was like a slow decent into madness, but for me it was too slow. I needed something more to help keep me engaged in Felicity's narrative. I also really enjoyed the diversity present in this book, I found Quinn (Ellis' trans sibling) and Kajal to be fascinating characters and I loved all their interactions with Felicity.

Overall, I had high expectations for this book. I amped it up in my head so much that I think I killed what could have been an enjoyable reading experience. I am not giving up on this author though. I have heard amazing things about their previous duology, so I will definitely be checking that out. I will also be rereading this book, in like a year or so to see if maybe I just read it at the wrong time and it truly is amazing.

This book was everything I wanted and so much more. A Lesson in Vengeance is a dark academia novel set at Dalloway School. Dalloway, which has a dark history of its own surrounding the Dalloway Five. Five girls who were considered to be witches and who each died unexplainable and mysterious deaths. Enter Felicity Morrow, who is writing her thesis on the witches and returning to Dalloway after the tragic death of her girlfriend.

ALIV is told through the eyes of Felicity Morrow as she navigates her return to Dalloway, and explores the occult history surrounding the school and its students. Through her we meet Ellis Hailey, a literary prodigy who has come to write a book about the Dalloway Five. Felicity and Ellis form an unlikely friendship with a slow burn of potential for something more.

In ALIV, Victoria Lee weaves together a story of witchcraft, murder, and the dark side of boarding schools. This book is a combination of dark academia and a dash of the unreliable narrator trope. It is a psychological thriller with an occult twist and I found myself captivated and continually guessing at what was going to happen next. I loved all of the literary references and descriptions in this novel. This book is one I will definitely need to read again in the fall or winter and I can’t wait to experience it again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Dalloway School is haunted by the spirits of the Dalloway Five, girls rumored to have been killed for being witches. It's a history Felicity Morrow is all too familiar with as she returns to Dalloway to finish her senior year after taking time off after the death of her girlfriend. She's determined to stay away from the occult, but Ellis Haley, a mysterious new student who lives in the same dorm as her, is equally fascinated with Dalloway's history and recruits Felicity to help her research material for her new novel. But the more they dive into history, the more Felicity feels that history is about to repeat itself...

A Lesson in Vengeance is dark, atmospheric, and a wonderful new voice in the dark academia genre. The backdrop of Dalloway School and Godwin House was beautifully crafted and perfect for setting the tone of the book. It was almost too easy to believe that secret societies, magic, and murder could all happen at their relcusive school.

Felicity herself is a great character to follow and at times we're left wondering just how unreliable of a narrator she is. She's passionate about her studies and her thesis about the intersection of witchcraft in literature and misogyny, but at the same time is dealing with mental health issues and secrets that can bring down her entire world.

Ellis is an enigma, almost unlikable because of how intense and pretentious she can be at times, but it is undeniable she's a genius. She posits the question of whether we are all capable of killing, a question that haunts both Felicity and the reader as we dive deeper into the mystery of the Dalloway Five.

The supporting cast is also riveting, whether it's the recently deceased Alex, Felicity's secret girlfriend, or the supposed ghost of Margery Lemont, one of the Dalloway Five.

A Lesson in Vengeance is haunting and eloquent, and you'll be unable to put it down until you get to the bottom of Felicity's mysteries.

I couldn't put this one down. The Craft meets the The Secret History. The YA take on Dark Academic vibes were what originally drew me to this, but it completely sucked me in as a truly mind-bendy psychological thriller. Lots of mysteries here, both past and present, and along with a slightly unreliable narrator, and an increasingly intense game of cat and mouse - all within the setting of a boarding school and more specifically Dalloway House (Is it haunted? Cursed?) - made this a surprisingly twisty page turning read. Not to mention that Lee's writing was excellent, she pulled off an intelligent and intricate thriller plot with lyrical grace, making it both dreamy and cut throat.

The Lowdown: The Dalloway Five - thought to be witches - all dead over one hundred years ago, all killed under mysterious circumstances one after the other. But despite its history Dalloway house has survived as the preeminent House at ritzy boarding school. And returning to repeat her senior year is our protagonist Felicity. Who after the tragic accidental death of her best friend and girlfriend, Alex, had a hiatus in a mental institution. Now she's determined to stay away from all the things that she believes contributed to Alex's death, namely the Dalloway Five, ghosts, and Witchcraft. However her plans go awry almost immediately when the already published literary prodigy Ellis Hailey arrives at Dalloway determined to write a book about the Dalloway five. The two girls enter into an unlikely friendship (will or wont romance blossom?) which becomes a game of cat and mouse as both girls dance around the mysteries and truths of writing, witchcraft, and murder.

With a thesis like this, our student Felicity is the perfect vehicle for this plot:
"How depictions of mental illness are used to build suspense by introducing uncertainty and a sense of mistrust, especially with regard to the narrator's perception of events, and the conflation of magic and madness in female characters."

Definitely recommended to fans of Dark Academia and thrillers with an occult twist, this will appeal to not only Teen readers, but new adult, and adult readers of psychological thrillers as well. A fun original twisty read. I can definitely see it being turned into a movie or TV series.

This book is smart, wicked and completely suspenseful. The characters and their relationships are complicated brilliantly crafted. The halls of the boarding school are creepy, well lived, and add to the gothic atmosphere. The story is dark and kept me guessing until the stunning conclusion. If you like your witches with a side of murder and mayhem this book is for you.

This book drew me in from the start, but it didn't really keep me immersed the way I wanted it to. The writing is lush, bordering on (a very merited) purple, and the pretentious teens at the book's core are well-developed and incredibly fun to read. However, I didn't love all the plot twists--for me, it seemed like too much setup and not enough payoff. I wish I felt differently, and I know many will find the dark academia novel of their dreams in this. I think dark academia just isn't my genre, unfortunately.

Read if you like: gothic stories, academia/on-campus stories.
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Felicity is back at Dalloway School after being away after the death of her girlfriend. Felicity is haunted by her death, along with the Dalloway Five, who are young women who had been murdered at the school in the 1700s.
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The author does a really good job of setting up the creepy vibes with witchcraft, murder, and bad intentions. I also loved the literary vibes as the main character is studying horror classic novels, and another is a famous teen writer!
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CW: death, murder, mental illness.

I wish I had words to adequately portray how much I loved this book. How this book filled a gap in my soul I didn't know I had. This is a book I will turn to again and again in the fall and deep winter for a fun, dark, twisty, witchy read. It had all of my favorite elements of all of my favorite books. I already can't wait to reread it.

A Lesson in Vengeance is a story about friendship, grief, death, love, finding oneself, all wrapped up in a beautiful little dark academia (my new favorite genre) package. Felicity Morrow is returning to Dalloway School to redo her senior year. She was forced to take a leave of absence after her best friend/ex-girlfriend died the year before. Felicity loves the history of the school, and knows that while it will be difficult, she'd rather be in the confines of her favorite place, Godwin House where she lives on campus, than anywhere else. There are only four other girls that live with her in Godwin House, one of which, Ellis Haley, immediately catches her attention. Ellis is working on her new novel and is fascinated by the history of Godwin House, where five witches all died in mysterious ways a few hundred years ago. As Ellis and Felicity begin to work out how they may have died, they become enraptured in this witchcraft and in each other.

Like I said, I don't have words to explain my deep and undying forever love for this book. The writing was gorgeous. The characters all flawed, but deeply relatable and well-rounded. The world-building was impeccable. But my favorite thing about this book were all of the literary references all over the place. I took notes as I read of all of the books and authors listed (all female, all fantastic) and plan to compile a "Lesson in Vengeance" reading list and go through all of the books alluded to. Many of them are old favorites and some of them I haven't heard of before, but I'm planning to find copies of all of them to add to my own personal collection. I know I'm not doing it justice but I can't get enough of this book, and plan to recommend it to everyone I know.

I finished this book and didn't even realize it was a mystery until I was done with it. That's how good this book was.

A Lesson in Vengeance is a great novel.

We follow the journey of Felicity Morrow on her last year at Dalloway School, in fact, she is repeating the year after failing the first time, because last year her best friend, Alex, died. And she was very devastated by it. She’s doing research on the history of the school, particularly the Dalloway Five, five girls who died at the school and that people suspect of doing witchcraft.

Dalloway school is a boarding school for only girls, so yes this book is a sapphic dark academia! The girls study literature, in fact, the MC’s love interest is a writer and I found this part of the book to be very well done, especially the early chapters of the book that really set the foundation for the whole novel.

This is a very devourable story, the writing is good and compelling and I was really invested in the story. I think that the only downside for me was the ending, particularly the last 20% that felt a bit rushed. And not all things were too believable, I mean they were believable but I felt that if there was a little bit more time to construct them it would really be a masterful ending.

Something I loved was the relationship of the two girls, and the construction of their personalities, and of their relationship with one another. They are very three-dimensional characters and felt really like real people to me, especially Felicity and her trauma and the way she navigates the world. I also felt that the relationship between them portrayed a bit of abusive relationship, more specifically psychological abuse, and it was done really well.

This is the type of stories, that draws inspiration from gothic narratives, that creates a lush and dark atmosphere that keeps you guessing until the end. If the protagonist is losing her mind or if this is really happening. If she is truly being haunted by something supernatural. I loved this ambiance and the dubiety that was present in this story.

Overall this was a great book and I recommend it a lot!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.