3.5 stars

When Laura Sheridan stepped into Professor De Lafontaine’s poetry class at St. Perpetua’s College, she never expected to meet a girl like Carmilla. She never expected that her academic rivalry with Camilla would turn into something darker, more mysterious or obsessive than she could have imagined. Soon Laura’s world is full of dark magic and decades old secrets, and she wonders if her own dark appetites will help her navigate this reality or be her downfall.

This type of story wouldn’t usually be something I gravitate towards, but after loving S.T. Gibson’s writing style and lyrical prose in A Dowry of Blood, I wanted to give it a try.

It’s a very strange book. There are scenes with graphic sexual content, but the horror elements are pretty tame, IMO. It had a scattering of dark, intense scenes surrounded by a story full of angst and pining. The ending was also abrupt, like there was a long, drawn-out lead up to the final event and then, bam, it was just over.

My favorite part was the growing relationship between Laura and Camilla. I appreciate a slow-burn relationship, and theirs was believable. I kept reading because I wanted to see their interactions and watch them grow closer. The plot was the much weaker part of this story.

I also wouldn’t go into this story expecting the same type of prose style as A Dowry of Blood. The writing here is more straightforward. At times it could be lovely, but I was never reading for the beauty of the language.

If this type of story sounds interesting, I’d give it a go. I’m still up to try another story by this author.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the digital arc.

** spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars

“Hysteria is a made-up patriarchal tool of oppression.”

First let me say thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for giving me the chance to read An Education in Malice. I’ve been wanting to read S.T. Gibson ever since I’ve heard great things about A Dowry in Blood, so I was really excited when I was approved to read this book!

“If I couldn’t touch her, I’d settle for making her squirm.”

How do I even start to explain how I felt about this book? It was a wild ride reading An Education in Malice. I’m glad I knew in advance that this was adult fiction. As a reader who typically reads YA, it was nice to know I was reading about horny teenagers haha.

“I write to remember the exultations and miseries of my life. To capture certain moments, certain… people in amber, so they will never diminish, never fade. When you’re as old as I am, sometimes all you have for company are your memories. When everyone else has left you, they remain.”

An Education in Malice is a very quotable book. This might actually be my first academia book, so I kind of was wondering what academia is. Will it always have words I don’t recognize? Will there always be notable quotes that pique my interest? It was refreshing to take a look at a new type of book that I don’t typically read.

“They looked like vestal virgins processing towards the offertory flame.”

Did I like the characters? I thought both Laura and Carmilla’s character development was interesting to look into. I appreciate the sapphism, but I didn’t really like the insta-love. Is this a spoiler? Eh. Guess I’ll turn on the spoilers button. Like okay, Laura was instantly attracted to Carmilla, but it was like a complete 180 for Carmilla when she started to become more attracted to Laura.

“I wasn’t obsessed, I assured myself. I was only curious.”

I was immediately aware of the power dynamic De Lafontaine had over Carmilla and I was so against their relationship. It turned out to be more mother-daughter than romantic, but it was romantic for Carmilla at least. I thought it was weird, the professor taking advantage of a student’s almost obsession with her. It made me feel pretty icky. I’m glad it turned into something that wasn’t romantic, but it was still weird. Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know.

“You must excel or else fade into obscurity.”

I don’t know why I was surprised about the vampires haha. I think I vaguely remember A Dowry in Blood being about vampires and I think it was said that An Education in Malice takes place in the same world as A Dowry in Blood. I don’t know, the part where things take a big turn immediately made me gasp and I wasn’t expecting that to actually happen.

“In helping things grow, I love knowing that I was the force behind such beauty, that, in the end, it couldn’t exist without me.”

LET ME START ON THE ENDING. Ughhhhhh I hate hate hate endings where the reader has to take guesses on whether the character chooses to do something or not because we will never be sure if it’s right because it isn’t cannon. I’m actually so disappointed in that ending I had to dock half a star. I detest endings like that, and I can only hope that I don’t have to read another standalone that has a similar like ending.

“I couldn’t walk away from what I was being offered: the chance to live an exceptional life.”

All in all, I enjoyed the book, I didn’t hate it. Maybe I’ll actually read A Dowry in Blood, maybe I won’t. I wonder if I’ll actually remember the book and its plot after a while. That pretty much determines whether I feel affected by the book. I’m really glad I was given the opportunity to read An Education in Malice.

I think the problem I had with this book was me, not anything against the book. I didn’t do my research before reading this and had no idea what it was even remotely about so that left me completely confused most of the way through the book. I also have never read a vampire book, and had NO idea that’s what this was about, so maybe vampires just aren’t my thing? Only time will tell.

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I loved the companion novel to this, A Dowry of Blood, so when I saw this dark academia, sapphic story was next, I was absolutely thrilled. I loved the first half of this book too, but towards the end it just started to fall flat. I guess I just wanted more!

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This book is perfect for book lovers that love great aesthetics of gothic and everything spooky. It was written well, and the pace was great. The setting is in the US in the New England area, at the St. Perpetua’s College for women. The campus has a goth, lush, dark feeling and the characters in this book make that feeling come out even more.

The characters were well developed and helped to make the book. You will be introduced to De Lafontaine, Camilla, and Laura as the main characters, but even the side characters help to play an important role in this book. I loved the whole mean girl attitude that you got from Camilla at first but the more and more that you know her you will see that is just a mask that she puts on. Laura is this sweet woman, just looking to fit in and understand her love of writing poetry from one of her favorite professors De Lafontaine, but when the professor starts to pay more attention to Laura more than she is to Camilla that is when the story starts to unwind.

I enjoyed getting to see Laura finally come out of her shell and embrace her true self, I loved seeing her confident with sexuality and wanting to discover more about it. Who is better to do that with other than the sexy, a bit mysterious Camilla. Both the women in this book Camilla and Laura help each other to become the best of themselves and to understand the world that they were brought into. I loved that even though those two could have continued the toxic traits that Camilla understood was love they broke the rules and made a whole new world for each other with an understanding and respect.

If you want more of a book with a plot and not so much character driven then I would not recommend this book, but if you love books with moody, gothic atmosphere then with great development from the characters then I recommend you pick this book up and read it.

I want to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the opportunity to review this book.

My thoughts 💭

This one immediately sucked me in from the first few chapters, with its interesting, complex characters, secluded and prestigious academic setting and the sophisticated, seductive vampiric world that the author creates.

It’s a bit of a slow burn, which I usually prefer fast paced fantasy novels, however, that really allowed the reader to get to know the characters and better understand their relationships.

I honestly didn’t realize until after reading that it was a retelling of the Gothic novella, Carmella, and I loved its modern flair with gothic vibes!

I’m excited to read more from S.T. Gibson after reading this one and immediately added A Dowry in Blood to my list!

Read if you enjoy:
- dark academia
- gothic vibes
- female led stories
- seductive vampires
- slow burn fantasy books

Format: 🎧
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the writing style of this book. The prose and poetry were stunning. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with the characters and plot. The beginning seemed to drag on it get like nothing happened until the last 20% of the book. I’m still looking forward to other books by this author.

I really enjoyed A Dowry of Blood by this author and this book followed another character from that book so I enjoyed getting more on Carmilla. This is just a really well done dark academic Sapphic read.

A little bit of a let down reading after the author's other book a Dowry of Blood, though still a good gothic academia read. The love story was a little too insta lovey with little build up. It was good enough to finish but I wasn't dying to pick it up again and the ending was pretty underwhelming.

I sat on this review perhaps for too long....but after the whirlwind of this author's debut, I was expecting so much more from An Education in Malice. On top of that, the publisher was so kind as to send me a copy of Evocation and that, too, fell flat. An Education of Malice was slow, underdeveloped, and felt like a different author. Much like Evocation, it was stagnant to me. I hope for another hit from Gibson, but I think her books need more time to ruminate before being published as of late.

It took a little bit longer than expected for me to get into this. I am a huge Carmilla fan, so I was extremely excited read this. I think my excitement and expectation are the root of my disappointment in the story as a whole. It was still good, just not as great as I was expecting.

I think it was smart for it to have this gothic 1960s private girls college vibe. I felt the beginning was rushed, and I would have liked their obsession with each other to have been drawn out for it to give more of an impact. Pacing was all over the place and I found myself wondering if I missed full chapters as the story was progressing.

Overall I did enjoy it, I was just expecting more.

I love a vampire book, and when the vampires are a sapphic throuple that is stuck in an all girl university and there are strange power dynamics? Yeah! NEED more of that.

I loved this book but sometimes, I felt like the love between main characters were a little rushed, Other than that, I loved the book. ST Gibson is one of my favorite writers out and makes all of her books feel like so real and interesting.

Thank you all for the arc.

This was a very strange book but in a good way. Considering the title of this book, I had the idea that this was going to be a nice dark academia book which it is don’t get me wrong but it was so much more than what I was expecting. Firstly, this book takes place back in the 1900’s which is totally fine but it was my first time reading a dark academia book that was also a period piece so it was a bit strange reading the first 15ish percent but once the story starts moving it’s chaotic.

When I saw that S. T. Gibson was releasing a Dark Academia retelling of Carmilla I was all in. A Dowry of Blood was one of my favorite books of 2021 with it gothic prose and deep queer relationships, I read it on a red eye flight I really should have been sleeping on and was unable to put it down. So understandably I was trilled to see S. T. Gibson going back to Vampires, but this time with a Dark Academia setting of a girls college.

When you first step into the world of An Education in Malice it is through Laura Sheridan's eyes. She is well read, but very in-experienced in almost every aspect of life. However she has a hunger and drive that push her towards greatness in both her art and in life. On the other side of this tale, our second POV, is Carmilla. Carmilla has experienced more then her young age lets on and has traveled across oceans in pursuit of her art, she desires youth, passion, and perfection above all else. On the first day of classes they are thrust into an academia rivalry by their enigmatic and intense poetry professor, De Lafonatine.

The world that you fall into reading this book seems at first glance smaller and more tame then it should be based on the subject matter being Vampires, however as you dig into the world you see the secrets hidden around each corner and the steps each woman is taking to protect her own secrets. The world flushes out to be gritty, gothic, and overflowing with lust and temptation as each woman struggles with opening themselves to the strange and wonderful relationship they have built together.

S. T, Gibson again created a gothic queer masterpiece that I want to live in, a retelling that only added to the original, and overall a work nothing short of magical.

I would recommend this book to you if you adore:
- Vampires
- Queer Stories
- Dark Academia
- Gothic Lit
- Poetry
- Slow building dark and deadly worlds

This is one that will be on my most recommenced list for years to come.

I received an advance review copy of this book and I am leaving this review voluntarily and all thoughts and opinions are wholly my own and unbiased.

An Education in Malice is definitely a Carmilla re-telling with a twist that S.T. Gibson is known for. This book had some popular tropes and representation (Dark academia, Rivals to Lovers, Sapphic, vampires, LGBTIQ+ representation), and it is told from a dual POV, which always makes for a fascinating read. While the author did a good job of keeping the reader on their toes with not knowing where the story was heading at times, the downfall (for me) was that the pacing was slow and the characters felt underdeveloped. There was nothing memorable or fascinating about either of them so, at times, I felt as though I was just reading the story solely to see what would happen next and not because I was genuinely interested in the characters themselves. I would still recommend this book, because it is a good read.

I just finished "Education in Malice" by S.T. Gibson, and geez, we need to talk about this book.

First off, the writing? Stunning. Like, I'm talking "read it aloud just to feel the words on your tongue" levels of beautiful. But—and it's a big but—it was kind of all dressed up with nowhere to go, plot-wise. Imagine being in this lush, velvet-lined room that's just... empty.

The premise had me at hello: sapphic academic rivals, poetry, the 1960s, and vampires? Yes, please! It screams dark academia with a side of fangs and a dollop of yearning, right?

And the vibes—oh, the vibes were immaculate.

The tropes were a checklist of everything we love:
- Gorgeous prose, check.
- Sapphic romance, check.
- Rivals to lovers, big check.
- And there was this Halloween party scene that was chef's kiss.

I mean, it was the perfect blend of eerie and electric.

But, and this is a bigger but, the love sprinted when it should have shuffled. One second they're eyeing each other like "I wish you would step on my vintage Mary Janes," and the next, it's all heart eyes.

I wanted to fall head over heels for it, I really did.

So, while I'd give 3 stars for making me want to wear tweed and brood in a library, I've gotta dock a few for leaving me hanging on the plot and character depth. Still, worth a read for the atmosphere alone—just maybe temper your expectations a bit!

Thank you to NetGalley & Redhook Books for the eARC!

Okay so anything vamps and I’m in but make it dark then let’s throw in a little murder and mystery? Soldddd. This book was a perfect read and I wish it had been longer. Lovedddd it!

I was really bummed out when I read that book. I was so hyped for it, but it turned out to be a total letdown. I loved the idea behind it, but I just couldn't seem to connect with any of the characters, no matter how hard I tried."

An Education in Malice includes elements of sapphic romance, dark academia, and the supernatural, creating a mesmerizing tale that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. While I have read book one, A Dowry of Blood, one could easily begin with this one. However, I really enjoyed the subtle cues and character from the first.

Set in a women’s only university, the story follows the confusing relationship of two star pupils and their professor. Their relationship is fraught with tension and secrecy, as they navigate the complexities of academia while juggling their own struggles.

I really enjoyed the familiarity of the world, and hope there will be a third installment in the future. Wonderful story and writing, per usual.

As a lover of all things sapphic and vampires, I was eager to devour this book. It was slow in some parts, with moments of high paced action, and lots of character inner monologue. The dual POV really helped carry the narrative, because choosing Carmilla or Laura to tell the story wouldn't give the full picture and provide some nice dramatic irony. ST Gibson's prose in her tradpub debut, A Dowry of Blood, was nothing short of delicious; however, here, it fell a bit flat for me and felt repetitive at some parts. I'm not sure if that's from the shift in age of the characters or from epistolary to traditional-format novel, or something else entirely, but it didn't quite scratch the itch I've had since finishing Dowry.

Though I will say, there were aspects of this book that I love, namely the setting. A historical dark academia set at an all-girl's liberal arts college provided some really nice atmosphere. I also love how ST Gibson takes complex, toxic relationships and puts them under a microscope. The somewhat open ended ending was still satisfying, and I would love to see more characters from the Dowry universe in the future.

Thank you to Orbit for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!