Boy howdy, I loved this book. A Dowry of Blood was alright, but Gibson really got me with this one. There’s sapphic vampires, there’s healthy exploration of submission/domination dynamics, there’s critique of unhealthy power dynamics in academia. It’s a Carmilla retelling. It rules. Some of my friends now think I’m weird because I won’t shut up about the dark academia sapphic vampires but jokes on them, I’ve been weird all along.
I loved Laura finding both her confidence and voice without needing to lose her softness. I appreciated that Carmilla never truly finds a healthy dynamic with De Lafontaine but is still able to move forward. I love what a pretentious little shit Carmilla can be and how her growing feelings towards Laura express themselves through academic jealousy and poetry critique.
It’s really good. There’s a certain scene at a party that just had me floored. Gibson writes tension so well and paces the romantic scenes in a way that made me kick my feet. As someone who’s just left college and has always felt that terrifying need to please authority figures, Carmilla’s dynamic with De Lafontaine was both so real and so heartbreaking. By choosing to depict De Lafontaine as more pathetic than evil by the end of the story, I think Gibson actually does a great job in defanging her (pun intended). Carmilla discovering healthier love was beautiful and I loved how her dynamic with Laura subverted my expectations.
It's not perfect- the over-arching danger/mystery element wasn’t always well paced- but I still loved it. Definite recommend if you don’t think it’s weird to love the unhinged poetry-writing vampires.

I had such high expectations for this book based on my first read from this author; Dowry of Blood, and it saddens me to say that this was not what I wanted, at all. We start out with an enemies relationship between Carmilla and Laura and this was enjoyable, until the sudden switch to admiration started out of nowhere and for absolutely no reason. The relationships were not believable and the way their professor, De Lafontaine, acts just gives me the goosebumps. I did not like it and do not see anything resembling a Carmilla retelling either. I hope the next read from S.T. Gibson is one that I enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ☆

Saint could probably contribute to the yellowpages and I'd gladly pick it up. It's not what they write, but more so HOW they write it. Their stunning, elegant, and haunting prose lends very well to dark academia and gothic vibes. This sapphic, dual POV, academic rivals to lovers, fantasy romance retelling of Carmella can stand on its own without reading the original work. As with Dowry, the book is written with an undercurrent of lust, longing, jealousy, obsession, and an amazing slow descent into the darkness of the vampire world. Overall, an amazing experience.

This is a story about love, obsession and the primal need to be desired by another and I ate it up. This story follows academic rivals Laura and Carmilla who have an (unhealthy) obsession with their poetry teacher De Lafontaine. Relationships are tested and their world as they know it is flipped upside down in this dark academic retelling of Carmilla.

I felt that as we progressed through the book, we strayed away from the friendships that Laura made but maybe it’s relevant in the sense that sometimes once you get into a relationship, it’s all-consuming and nothing else matters. Not even your friendships.

This book is perfect for you if you love:

* dark academia
* Rivals to lovers
* LGBTQI+ representation

This story is primarily character-driven and the world-building took a bit of a back seat. Getting more information on De Lafontaine’s character would have been interesting.

The writing was beautiful and elegant and made me want to go to a poetry reading and obsess over other gothic fantasies.

I will warn the story is slow, nothing happens until about 30-40 percent into the book when the relationship of our main characters starts to develop. After this though, the story picked up!

Thanks again to NetGalley, Redhook Books and S. T. Gibson for this ARC!

After this read any S.T. Gibson novel has a place on my bookshelf. With immersive scenes from roof tops to underground tunnels you step into Saint Perpetua’s college. Laura and Carmilla are an unlikely duo from opposite sides of the world who delve into the underbelly of the undead hand in hand, while still being fraught with the reality that is being teenage girls. With an antagonist you love to hate, suspense is waiting for you around every corner.

3.5 stars
I've heard incredible things about A Dowry of Blood and am a huge fan of Carmilla, so when I heard that S.T. Gibson was writing a dark-academia based Carmilla retelling I was over the moon. However, when I realized the book featured a professor x student relationship and polygamy I wasn't sure how I was going to enjoy it. Overall though, it ended up really impressing me, and I think that is largely due to S.T. Gibson's writing style. Admittedly, I found the first third or so of this book to be quite slow, but once the vampire antics picked up and Laura and Carmilla's relationship began I really enjoyed it. I wasn't a huge fan of De Lafontaine's role in the story, but the rest of the story was so good that I couldn't stop reading. Laura and Carmilla's relationship dynamic is quite complex and interesting, and I really enjoyed how S.T. Gibson portrayed it. It also helps that the author's prose is absolutely breathtaking. And while I generally don't care whether the books I read have sex in them or not, S.T. Gibson writes eroticism incredibly well. And not just in the actual smut. I'm talking about the tension and quiet conversations between Carmilla and Laura. I took an erotic literature course in university a couple years ago that had an entire unit dedicated to vampires in erotica, and while I was reading this book all I could think about was my professor's reaction if they read this. Anyway, as I was saying, I had a really good time with this novel, especially the second half. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for some more sapphic romance or vampire recs.

4/5 star read!

I'm dipping my toes into more sapphic books and this was the PERFECT book for that. This is a fantasy romance with dark academia vibes and vampires. We follow along the stories of Laura and Carmilla, who are two girls attending a prestigious school for poetry and writing. Laura gets swept up into a web of secrets between Carmilla and their teacher.

This story was so poetic and I really enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to reading another S.T. Gibson book.

-gothic
-dark academia
-vampires
-academic rivals
-blood lust
-dark elements
-twists and turns

thanks to NetGalley for this arc!

I believe I set the bar too high for myself with my absolute obsession with S.T. Gibson's first book. I went in wanting to love this. Thats not to say it isn't beautifully written. I just didn't fall in love like I did with A Dowry of Blood.
Set in the same vampiric world, attempting the same mysterious allure Camilla has, this fell flat. The dual POVs took the mystery away.
The writing was moody but the characters were a bit annoying.
There's just so much left to be desired.

In the gloomy courtyards and seminars of St. Perpetua's Woman's College, students are desperate to earn the admiration of the elusive Professor De Lafontaine. Professor De Lafontaine is infamous for the rigour of her poetry seminars. She is beautiful, exacting, and reticent to bestow praise onto any of her promising students, yet she takes a liking Carmilla and invites her to participate in special one on one tutelage. Carmilla grew up bouncing between on European boarding school and the next. She is emotionally neglected by her parents, thus she makes it her mission to earn the the affection and attention of the cunning professor who she has idolized since she was a girl. The two of them develop a complex friendship that only becomes more complex with the coming of Laura. Laura and Carmilla are rivals from the first moment they meet. Both desperate for their teacher's praise, De Lafontaine thrives of their competitiveness and uses it to push each of the women to produce the best poetry. Laura may be a small town southern girl, but she is just as competitive and determined to succeed as her more "sophisticated" classmate. Together Laura's determination, Carmilla's jealousy, and De Lafontaine's narcissism create a toxic maelstrom that eventually might just turn lethal. St. Perpetua's Woman's College has secrets written into its foundation and those secrets just might mean the end of Laura, Carmilla, and their rivalry.

This book includes:
- a dark academia aesthetic set in a New England university
- sapphic characters
- vampires, bloodshed, and rivalries both ancient and new
- complicated emotional entanglements
- Carmilla retelling
- tantalizing and torturous suspense
- desperate pining
- a string of murders
- sisterhood and friendship in the 1960s

"An Education in Maice" is phenomenal. The prose is gorgeous, the atmosphere is tangible, and the complicated relationships amongst the women stole my breath away. I read this book in one sitting and the moment I finished it I had to text my friends and demand they give it a read, it is just that good. Each aspect of the story was so well placed in order to create delicious suspense and I caught myself holding my breath through some chapters.

If you love suspense, vampires, fantastical lore, sapphic pining, poetry, or a good university setting you will love this book. I will call this a must read for fans of:
- A Feather So Black
- The Cruel Prince
- Carmilla
- Frankenstein
- A Dark and Drowning Tide
- Thornhedge
- Twilight (lol)
- Dead Poets Society

I received this ebook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, S. T. Gibson, and Redhook Books for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863

A dark and twisting story, full of secrets and lies. Told from the alternating points of view of Laura and Carmilla, this story develops quickly while still having enough twisting elements to not seem rushed. I really enjoyed this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this I really do love dark academia tales. It was a little spicy which I enjoyed as well..

3.75+ stars

Well, that was an adventure. Dark academia + sapphic vampires are certainly a fun combination, and although I wasn’t sure of what exactly to expect going into this book, I wasn’t disappointed. I didn’t always like the major characters and some of their motivations, but I enjoyed the story consistently, and the ending more or less felt right. I liked this one and will be waiting (im)patiently to see what kind of dark, magical fantasy the author creates next. Also, the cover of this one is beautiful!

A dark, gothic academia novel that explores the lengths that obsession can ultimately take you through a modern retelling of the infamous lesbian vampire story of Carmilla. This book is told through alternating POVs of the two main female characters, Laura and Carmilla. I found the two girls' personalities to be a bit annoying and the rivals to lovers transition to be incredibly quick. De Lafontaine, the professor behind the inappropriate student-teacher relationship, came across as a jealous, manipulative brat. While this is supposed to be a dark academic piece, the academic aspects of this were lacking. There was little description of the school and what it means to be a student at the school. I felt like this could have been a story that took place in any backdrop and the school was just used to emphasize the power struggle theme that was threaded throughout the book. The ending was rushed as well, making the whole pace be a bit off balance.

Despite my earnest efforts, this book ended up as a ‘Did Not Finish’ for me. Initially, it seduced with wickedness and mystery, promising a delectable literary journey. However, around the 40 percent mark, it stumbled—much like tripping over uneven pavement and crashing face-first into unforgiving concrete. The once-enigmatic plot lost its allure, and the impending revelation felt disappointingly predictable. To exacerbate matters, the pacing dragged, each page turn akin to slogging through thick molasses. I neither despised nor adored it. The writing, though beautifully poetic, left me pondering whether there can indeed be ‘too many words.’ All that being said, this is probably a case of this book just not being my cup of tea. Nevertheless, I remain open-minded and may give this author another chance.

Oh my goodness 5 stars! S.T. Gibson can write prose like few authors I've seen before. The first line of this book sets you directly into the story, and the vibes are immaculate. I love the dynamics between Laura and Carmilla, and I highly suggest you carve out a day and just don't move. Read it all in one sitting. You'll be sucked into the atmosphere of the book and transported right into the story.

Watch our live discussion on this for the Not Your Mom's Boozy Book Club here! https://www.youtube.com/live/V1rTyzcmkHE?si=UTl6wUwIn7tcwSw0

I love Sheridan Le Fanu's <i>Carmilla</i> so I was excited to receive an ARC of S.T. Gibson's <i>An Education in Malice</i>. However, I found the retelling to be lacking. It doesn't have the same bite (that's a vampire joke) of Le Fanu's story and there's not really a tension between the two main characters. There are also enough secondary characters that never really get fleshed out yet appear consistently in the text, which makes it an odd read. For me, the book never really hits its stride so it waivers between a young adult love story with a little of horror. I wish Gibson had leaned harder one way or the other.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I ever would. I have never really been a romance reader, I prefer there to be a bigger plot with a touch of romance (if there even is any) but this book was so out of the norm for me. I loved the pining between the two girls and it just filled me with so much love. S.T. Gibson's writing just works so well for me and I'm sure I would love anything they write. This book has an extra soft spot for me beccause it takes place in Massachusetts, where I grew up and currently live. It does take place on the other side of the state that I'm from but having a Mass./Boston setting always raises my enjoyment of a novel. Plus the character cameo from A Dowry of Blood?!?!?! Absolutely loved this!!!

Thank you to S.T Gibson and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

"An Education of Malice" by S.T Gibson is a mesmerizing blend of dark academia and supernatural intrigue. Set in the eerie halls of Saint Perpetua's College, the story follows Laura Sheridan's gripping journey into a world of secrets, rivalry, and dark desires. As Laura and the enigmatic Carmilla navigate treacherous alliances and forbidden magic, the reader is ensnared in a sinister game of ambition and power. Gibson's prose is spellbinding, weaving a tale of twisted passions and academic obsession that will leave readers spellbound until the very last page.

Additionally, a character from "A Dowry of Blood" makes an appearance, this is one of my absolute favorite things authors do. I love seeing more of our favorite characters and seeing how they are doing after their stories are told.

This was a short and fun book. I liked that it had Dual POV's, Rivals to Lovers, Sapphic Romance, vampires, Dark Academia vibes
And a Student and teacher relationship. Those are all fun together and it felt like the perfect book for fall0. I felt like the book was missing something but the atmosphere made up for it. Would have loved more details for the love story.

I loved S. T. Gibson’s other book, A dowry of blood, and I had hoped this would have the same level of fantasy and darkness to it. I still really enjoyed this book, but it didn’t hold up to their other book in the same way. Of course, you cannot always compare an author’s books, I just had such high expectations.
That being said, I adore Carmilla, and will eat a re-telling up every time, I feel like this book caught all the right tones. It had that dark academia feeling to it, with the academic rivals to lovers trope that really draws you in. I will definitely be re-reading this book as we get closer to the fall as well, it has all those dark cozy elements you want, with intrigue and desire, and confident headstrong characters!