Another A+ from S.T. Gibson. No one else really capture the female mind like Gibson, and Education is yet further proof of that. It's gothic, it's enticing, it's everything you didn't know you wanted to read. Descriptive, flowery language interspersed with the POV character slowly coming into their own and learning how to express that.
Gibson is quickly becoming an auto author-buy for me, as should be the case for every reader.

An Education in Malice has an incredibly compelling atmosphere. ST Gibson does a great job making you feel like it's the 1960's and she makes the school environment and the passage of time in the book feel very real. Unfortunately for me, to establish the setting so well, the pacing at the start of the novel felt very slow and dragging. It took me a long time to be feel invested in any of the characters and even then, I'm not actually sure I liked any of them. Then the end felt very rushed and it wrapped up so quickly that it left me a little lost.

Outside of pacing issues, I was still just so happy to be back in ST Gibson's world with vampires. I was so happy to see some connections to A Dowry of Blood. There isn't much I feel I can say without spoiling the story. The romance is dark and bordering on obsessive. There's a lot of longing between characters. There's a lot of exploration of power dynamics between De Lafontaine, Carmilla and Laura, and what jealousy, loneliness, and secrecy can do to people. A lot of this book is vibes though...not sure I ever felt as connected to the plot as the vibes. Which was okay! I was still happy to be in the world created.

I definitely want to pick up Carmilla and read the original text this is inspired by. I'm always happy to read more vampire stories!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this in exchange for review!

First off, stunning cover. Sapphic, gothic and academic; sounds like a recipe for success to me. It was a fun read overall. The pacing felt a little too quick for me but I still enjoyed it.

An Education in Malice is a dark academia retelling of the classic novel Carmilla, featuring two academic rivals, Laura and Carmilla, who both vie for the approval of their poetry professor, De Lafontaine. Set in an all-girls college in the 1960s, the story delves into themes of obsession, desire, and love. Gibson's writing is captivating prose that draws readers into the complexities of the characters' relationships. Carmilla emerges as a confident and headstrong figure, while Laura initially appears timid and insecure, leading to an interesting contrast between the two. However, the execution of the plot and character development didn't appeal to me. The storyline lacked suspense and depth, the resolution felt rushed, and the characters failed to fully vibe with me. I liked the exploration of unhealthy dynamics and relationships, through their obsession with their professor. Overall, An Education in Malice offers a fresh take on vampire lore, making it worthwhile for those who seek a blend of academia and the supernatural. Also, I never read Carmilla, so I don't know how accurate or synonymous this book is with the former.

I didn’t love A Dowry of Blood and I didn’t love this.

Gibson’s writing is delicious but I just cannot fully connect to her stories or characters. The length doesn’t help.

i'm a sucker (pun intended) for obsessive all consuming love and this didn't disappoint. sapphic vampires should be the new trend.

An Education in Malice is a Carmilla retelling set at an all girls Catholic College in the 1960s. This is a dark academia story with a revivals to lovers romance between Laura and Carmilla. This book does have darker themes including uneven power dynamics, murder, and inappropriate relationships between a teacher and a student so definitely heed the trigger warnings.

I've enjoyed S.T. Gibson's others works and loved how this was connected to A Dowry of Blood. I know a little about the original Carmilla story and was not expecting the changes made. The poetry professor De Lafontaine is the vampire, not Carmilla which we learn early on. But Carmilla is a large part of her world and when Laura overhears she gets dragged in too.

I enjoyed how the "villain"/antagonist had a bigger role compared to A Dowry of Blood and that things are not as the seem later on in the story. I also loved how the ending was just open enough to have your own opinion on what decision Laura makes. If you have loved S.T. Gibson's other work I feel like you will loved this one as well.

Laura has left Mississippi to attend Saint’ Perpetua’s Women’s College in Massachusetts to study under a renowned poet. However, she soon learns that she’s trespassing into star student Carmilla’s territory, who is not eager to share their teacher’s attentions. As the negative feelings rise to the surface, Laura thinks she might be feeling other more confusing things for Carmilla. But there are secrets buried at the college, and the two girls soon find themselves entangled in intrigues much older than they are.

Probably the strongest aspect of this work was the setting. It was well written and added a strong atmosphere to the read. I also liked the academic setting and felt that it added an interesting dynamic. Something that did detract from the immersive setting overall was Laura – she was supposed to be from Mississippi, aka “The Deep South.” I know many, many people from Mississippi, and I’ve never spoken to one who didn’t use the word “y’all” at least once during a conversation. I’m also from the south and have lived there my whole life. Laura’s speech and way of thinking just never came across as very southern to me, and despite being repeatedly told she’s from Mississippi, it never felt true.

Despite this aspect, the characters were written decently. None of them necessarily stood out or drew me into their stories/emotions, but they didn’t detract from the read either. I definitely wanted more from De Lafontaine’s character and some exploration of her as she kind of came off flat and more like a teenager than her actual age. Another weakness of the book was that there were several subplots that felt important during certain parts of the book. However, they either just fizzled out or, despite being dramatic and pressing, the characters managed to not think or stress about them until it was time for them to be resolved.

This work of fantasy/magical realism was a decent read. If you’re interested in lesbian enemies-to-lovers, vampires, and academic settings, you might enjoy this one. My thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A true genius in dark romance! The Carmilla story retold in a dark academia setting with intense relationships and interesting cast. I really loved how poetic this book was. The connections between the characters and their “writing” was so well done. This rivals to lovers relationship between Carmilla and Laura was so intricately done. I love the way we get glimpses of their feelings for each other and the heat they have between them. The vampire stuff was so delicately done that when we get into the meat of the story it has such a big impact.

Loooooove Gibson’s writing I can’t wait to see where we’re taken next!!

After a few weeks, I still feel conflicted about how I should review/rate this book. So let's break it down to the basics: Did I enjoy this book? 100%. Gibson's writing style is so, so, so easy to get lost in. I could swim in her prose. Had this been a physical ARC, it would be riddled with highlights and notes in the margin based on my reactions. My biggest complaint is that the academic rivalry between Laura and Carmilla felt so short-lived. I wanted more resentment. More jealousy. I wanted the pent-up frustration, both intellectually and sexually, to last and last and last until eventually they exploded. So, in that sense, the character development felt rushed. This led to me not caring about the main conflict that the trio faced later in the book. I guess I wanted more from the characters and less from the plot. Does that make sense? I'm not even sure myself. I’ll shove this book in anyone’s face, though. So please don’t mistake my uncertainty for anything other than me being nit picky.

Disclaimer: Received an ARC from NetGalley

Slight Spoilers below

A deliciously dark tale of blood, lust, and all-consuming love. I love a good rivals to lovers story and the antagonistic beginnings of Carmilla and Laura giving away to fiery young love was chef's kiss. They were polar opposites that were bound to orbit around each other and watching them both fall, one more reluctantly than the other, was very satisfying. I loved that their relationship was a foil for DeFontaine's and Isis' relationship, and showed the more disastrous path love and obsession could take. My only nitpick is that sometimes I felt a little too dialed in on the main characters and I wouldn't have minded pulling back a little bit to see the bigger picture, especially where the gruesome murders were concerned.

S. T. Gibson, I swear it’s me, not you!

This book got so many things right that I’m not sure if what I feel toward it as anything to do with the story, as much as it has to do with me and my own tastes. I liked A Dowry of Blood, but I think I only gave it 2 or 3 stars for the same reason that I’m giving this one 3 stars.

I think my main issue is with the characters, as well as not feeling like I’m getting sucked into the world as much as I want or expect to. This has everything I want, and should enjoy, from a story, but there’s still a part of me that feels like I’m hovering on the surface while reading it, not fully being able to immerse myself into the story or the characters. I have yet to be wowed. And that’s not to say that the writing style isn’t beautiful, or that the author isn’t a good writer. Gibson is a phenomenal writer and I think her prose is some of the most incredible out there. I think it’s just that the aspects that should make me like the characters or the plot points that should engross me, end up falling very flat. In this case, I didn’t particularly believe the love or obsession that the characters have for one another. And I didn’t really like either Laura or Camilla very much either, so I was just left in this weird in between space where I was like this is a good story, but….?????? It’s really tough for me to engage with a story when I don’t connect with either character, and I think that’s sadly what happened here :(

However, if you like sapphic stories as well as dark academia vibes, please check this out! I still think this could work for a lot of people, and I really encourage people to give Gibson a read because she’s definitely going to be a defining author in the next few years!! I just don’t think this ended up working for me, even though it had all of the makings for it to.

Still very excited for Gibson’s next novel Evocation!! Will be reading!! <3

Thank you Redhook for the chance to review this in exchange for my honest review :)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced review copy.

This book sounded completely up my alley, and having loved Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood, I was excited to give this a go. Overall, I enjoyed it and thought it was entertaining. I liked the relationship between Carmella and Laura, but it did feel a bit rushed. I also felt like the ending wrapped up really quickly and that the antagonist was a bit lacking. Additionally, I do wish the school and the dark academia vibe had been explored a bit more. It felt slightly lackluster compared to others I have read in the genre. I do always love vampire stories, though, especially when they are queer, so this was still a good read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I really enjoyed this book and it helped me get out of a book slump.
Why have I not read more by S. T. Gibson before? This was amazing. I went into this book totally blind and fell in love. I didn’t know it was a retelling but now I want to explore Carmilla more. I will definitely be diving more into her books and into dark academia. There was some spice but it fit very well with the story.

Highly recommend! Was such a page turner I couldn’t put it down.

This book was like a full steamy bath in the dark. The vibes are vibing, it is completely atmospheric and the writing is beautiful but I do think that is why I give it 3 stars - once I was out of my entrancement, I was looking for more from the plot.
I do think if you are looking for more of a moody academic read, is perfect, but for something to keep you on your toes, not so much.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this e-arc

An Education in Malice is a gothic, sapphic, dark academia Carmilla retelling set in a private, all girls college in Massachusetts in the late 60’s.

This story had me entranced from the get go. The author has an incredible ability to draw you into the world and make you want to never leave. In one chapter of this book we briefly step out of the gothic, dark academia setting and are allowed to explore sunny, vibrant San Fransisco - which was both a start reminder that the world continues to turn the intensity of the story, and that as refreshing as this taste of normalcy is, who wouldn’t be eager to dig back into the seedy underbelly of vampiric love and obsession?

I particularly enjoyed the tension between our two main characters. I am firmly of the opinion that enemies to lovers is the best trope in history.

I personally was not a huge fan of the pacing and the writing style. There were pockets of beautiful prose in here, but I often felt the prose was aiming for something it wasn’t quite able to reach. That being said, many people are huge fans of this authors writing and the prose in this book, so I would highly recommend that you read it and determine your opinion on it!

Overall a fantastic read!

3.5

An Education in Malice is a loose Carmilla retelling. Told from the two POVs of Laura and Carmilla they are both students at a finishing school where they are entranced by their professor, who is hiding a creature of the night.

Sapphic vampire Carmilla retelling sign me up. I flew through this book, it was a good time you just can't take it too seriously, the melodrama is a part of the aesthetic. My only real gripe with the book was that although it goes through the pains of having two seperate POVs they did not have distinct voices. Often I would forget halfway through the chapter whose POV this was supposed to be.

Overall fun read for anyone that likes a good vampire fiction book, dark academic, sapphic fiction.

This book made me realize that S.T. Gibson is absolutely not the author for me. I wanted to like this so much more than I did because dark academia AND sapphic?!?! But I found it slow and boring and I didn't really care about anyone. This is my second and last Gibson book because it's not fair to continue to read an author I don't really like.

This book didn't work out for me as well as A Dowry of Blood. One of the elements in A Dowry of Blood was the underlying fear of Dracula. The author gave us this overall feeling of instability and a character that is completely unhinged. He's narcissistic. He's unstable. He's untrustworthy.

That element of fear was not present in An Education in Malice. While I realize that it was patterned off Carmilla I feel like the author missed the opportunity to create an incredibly gothic, dark academia read with an underlying sense of fear. I never felt any angst or unease while reading this book.

As an example, when a character is turned into a vampire I wanted that character to now have an insatiable need for sustenance. Face it, they should be hungry. Instead, a character who is human is allowed to just leave the room and go back to her dorm room. In any other traditional horror novel that human character would've been running for their life.

The overall style of the authoring writing is incredibly good. The characters were well developed. The overall plot though just didn't hold my attention as much nor did it provide the gothic feeling that I was looking for in a sophomore novel.

Where’s the poetic lines.

There was a few but this definitely is soooooooo different than dowry of blood
3.5

Also a teacher feeding of 18-20 yo gross