4.5 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley and Orbit books for providing me with this eARC.

I think it is safe to say that I am in love with S.T. Gibson's books. An Education in Malice is a sapphic Carmilla retelling that is equal parts dark academia and vampire gothic. The story is all about obsession, possession, desire, and control. We follow two young women who rival each other for the praise of their professor, but each have their own obsessions that could lead them all to ruin. If you love character driven books, you are going to love this one!

I am obsessed with the beautiful writing, the striking themes and overall vibes that S. T. Gibson gives us, I will be picking up her next book, Evocation which comes out in May!! She has definitely become an auto-buy author for me!

PSA: This book comes with a lot of trigger warnings, but they are all listed on the first page (as it should be for all books).

A generous 3*. There was the promised vampires, blood, eroticism, and it delivered. However, everything as it was presented fell short, though that is 100% on me because I am realizing that as a 30+ young college age stories don’t grip me nearly as much as they did 10 years ago.

Beautiful prose equivalent to that of Dowry of Blood but lacking the same depth of story. Still loved it and will read anything ST Gibson writes!

S.T Gibson does it again!
Everything I read by S.T. Gibson is absolutely breathtaking. This is and incredible Sapphic story that captivates you and keeps you wanting more. The romance and tension was seductive and blood rushing. Unexpected encounters with characters was a huge surprise and amazing to see (if you have read A Dowry of Blood, you know what I mean!!) The way she wraps up stories and shows you the souls of these characters has me hugging these books every time I finish them. You will not be disappointed in this book!

Arriving at Saint Perpetua’s College in Massachusetts, far away from her comfortable Mississippi home and religious roots, Laura Sheridan is looking forward to making new friends and building her skills as a poet. But quickly, she’s thrust into an academic rivalry with Carmilla, the star pupil of the ever-intense Ms. De Lafontaine, their poetry professor. A tale of obsession and secrets unfolds, bringing Laura further into the darkness than she could have ever imagined.

I devoured this novel. S.T. Gibson’s prose is beautiful—lush and vocab-rich without ever feeling inaccessible or confusing. It was poetic in its own right, which helped center both Laura's and Carmilla’s points of view throughout. The storytelling and setting were also rich, helping transport me into the late-60s New England girls’ college, with all its dark corners and secrets. Plus, it was sapphic and sexy, with a solid balance of spice, plot, and character to keep it interesting.

There were some things that made this fall short of 5 stars for me. Particularly, I felt like there was something to be desired in the realm of the gothic. As a retelling of Carmilla, I expected there to be more uneasy or unsettling parts to the story. Despite some gruesome events, it never really felt like there was true danger for the characters. The plot beats were largely predictable, and I found myself wanting just a little more of the “scare” or uncanny that vampire tales often have.

Instead, I think the novel shines a heavier light on the characters and their relationships, which are fraught with lust, obsession, hatred, jealousy, and desire. From Chapter 1, Laura is enamored by Carmilla, and we discover the obsession and reverence between De Lafontaine and the girls shortly after. But at times, the characters seemed a little inconsistent. I found myself questioning some rapid shifts in desire from Carmilla, and I was confused by De Lafontaine’s drive through most of the book. The latter, especially, never really felt clear to me. I almost wish there was more development on the professor/student manipulation and jealousy aspects, which were very prominent in the center of the novel but fizzled out toward the end.

Despite these things, I really enjoyed the book and found it very engaging. I’m looking forward to reading Gibson’s other works soon!

Loved the vibes and feelings this book gave me. Not as suspenseful as I was hoping, and definitely more sexy lesbian vampire esk romance. I still enjoyed it but I wouldn’t compare it exactly to her first book so don’t expect the same vibes as adob.

Set in the same universe as A Dowry of Blood without the rich connection between characters and beautiful story. S. T. Gibson’s writing is undeniably beautiful and poetic (fitting for the plot of this book), but the characters lacked connection and chemistry. Essentially we witness the power imbalance and toxicity between three women, which I think was meant to be romantic and harrowing. The plot is a bit of a mess. The two main characters are both equally irritating in their own ways. This book is really missing the elements of what made A Dowry of Blood so beautiful and it is really difficult not to compare the two.

3.5 stars rounded up

Dark academia, sapphic Carmilla retelling, An Education in Malice is a slow-burn read perfect for fans of vampires and burning romances. This book was fun, and I highly recommend it to readers looking for a sapphic romance and dark academia vibes. While this book was not the best book I've ever read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only thing I did not like was the lack of discussion about the relationship between Carmilla and her professor De Lafontaine. I thought we would be discussing the inappropriateness of the student-teacher relationship and the unfair power dynamic there. The relationship between Carmilla and Professor D was seemingly very emotionally abusive but this is not talked about in the slightest. There were scenes where I thought we were finally going to discuss why this relationship was bad but then the story would just graze right over it and go back to the way it was. There was never a true exploration of the damages that relationship caused which was just really weird for me and I found myself uncomfortable during many of the scenes between Carmilla and De Lafontaine. This was also a very character-focused story so the "plot" is kind of nonexistent but I was mainly here just for the vibes and the fun retelling as a big fan of the classic Carmilla. So, if that is what you are also looking for, then I'd say this is the perfect book for you. Check the TWs beforehand though (they are listed at the beginning of the book which I appreciated).

Overall, it is fairly easy to read and enjoyable. Do I wish we had more exploration and deep dives into the relationships and theme? Yes. But I can see past it and still have a fairly good time.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Vampires and dark academia are right up my alley. However I didn’t feel connected to the characters and the ending didn’t feel right.

I want to start by saying thank you for allowing me to be an arc reader. This book was a fun read, but I gave it three stars. The low rating is due to the fact I never felt connection for the characters. They always stayed strangers for me even as I got to know them it wasn’t detailed enough. I didn’t have a good background for the villain. She just kind of appeared. I think the POV was from the wrong characters. Their teacher seemed to have a better character arc which felt unsatisfying as the reader since she went the FMC. I had fun with it, so I did finish it and gave it three stars. Vampires are always fun to read about especially since there are so many takes on vampires. I wanted more depth of characters with more feeling. I wanted to cry, laugh, and cheer for the characters. Overall this book is okay. I would read it, but not recommend it. There’s too many vampire books out there for me to recommend one that’s just okay. I hope this review helps. The writing style was well done. It’s just the story itself.

With a Dowry of Blood being one of the most unique, beautiful books I’ve ever read, I couldn’t wait to pick up this one, hoping it would have the same beautiful story and prose, but this one unfortunately missed the mark for me, and I think it’s because it just felt too generic for me.

We follow a young girl who starts at a new school and quickly becomes swept into a world of dark academia, mysterious woman, vampires, and sapphic love, and this book goes essentially how you think it would go.

There is nothing that surprised me about this book and, we lost the beautiful prose I loved in Dowry.

I would still recommend this book, but it didn’t blow me away like Dowry did, there’s nothing innately bad, but nothing ground-breaking,

4/5 stars

I really liked this one! Great writing, a good story, and an entertaining set of characters. I love academic settings, and this was an interesting one.

An education in malice was a great sapphic vampire romance. Although very different from a dowry of blood it was excellent. It deals with dark themes of hunger, politics and bloodthurst. I deeply enjoyed reading this book. It is slower-paced with a lot of tension. Although not a clean romance, it was not as smutty as I expected from the amount of tension between two of the characters. Additionally, as someone who never reads student/teacher, this book handled the relationship in a way that acknowledged and played with some of the power issues.

S.T. Gibson has fast become a new favorite author for me and it has all to do with their prose. While I did not love this one as much as I loved A Dowry of Blood, it was still beautifully written and I'm excited for their next project. I'll admit, I struggled with connecting to these three characters, and was generally a little bored throughout the book. I think a lot of people will LOVE this one though and will still recommend it just because it's S.T. Gibson!

I absolutely loved the idea for this book, but it did not live up to the expectations.

A Dowry of Blood will always be one of my beloved stories, but this one, at least for me, lacked that something that would make me love it. I simply didn't care, the characters were just fine, the plot bored me and I felt like something was missing here

This was the ultimate dark academia fantasy novel. It has everything you could want: rivals to lovers, vampires, plenty of diversity, LGBTQ+ rep, multiple POVs - everything.

This is the type of book that keeps you turning every page eagerly devouring what comes next. You just can't put it down. It is complex, provocative, interesting, and really makes you think. The writing is absolutely beautiful. There are plenty of plot twists to keep you interested without feeling like it is being done just for the sake of doing it. It definitely could have had more premise and set up, but I still really enjoyed this.

An Education in Malice was an interesting blend of two well-loved genres that was, unfortunately, held back by not taking the risks that Gibson could have.

When Laura arrives at Saint Perpetua's college, little does she know she is stepping into a retelling of the vampire classic Carmilla with a twist of The Secret History for good measure. After becoming the newest student in an exclusive poetry seminar, Laura plunges into an intoxicating world of beauty, literature and creatures of the night.

Gibson's novel is at its best in the initial chapters of the story. It's been a few years since I was in school myself, but the campus she creates—when there isn't a bloodthirsty killer running around—is an alluring, rose-tinted view of academia. Every setting that Gibson conjures into being through her writing is artfully done. You can imagine the classrooms, chilling tunnels or decadent parties as if you were there with Laura and Carmilla. No scene feels unconsidered or like the characters are pushing the plot forward in a big black box, which is a refreshing read when the narrative can sometimes overtake mood or tone in modern gothic romances.

Laura and Carmilla were both perfectly serviceable leads; though they ran into a bit of the Betty and Veronica syndrome for me— not an official affliction as far as I'm aware. I know this is partly because of the source material, but in story reimaginings, there's a chance to deepen classic characters or recontextualize standing tropes into a modern context. In An Education in Malice, the blonde heroine is a well-meaning country girl while Carmilla is the rich Austrian prize of Professor Professor De Lafontaine's poetry seminar. There's even a section which reminds me of Dark Betty from Riverdale—which isn't a favourable comparison, unfortunately. Genre books can often live or die by their tropes and updating Carmilla in a dark academic setting had so many opportunities to twist and turn the original story into something unique that plays with the convention of both genres, but it ended up landing flat for me.

The sentence-by-sentence writing worked on an atmospheric level but fell short in its storytelling and symbolism. Gibson knows how to set a mood, but after turning the last page, I felt like the story was only beginning. The novel shifts about midway through, and I felt that was where it lost most of its steam, turning into a monster tale without any tension or stakes—sorry for that one.

The romances fared a lot better, as they were steamy enough to satisfy readers looking for a vampiric romance, but not every love story was portrayed in a positive light. S. T. Gibson did a pretty spectacular job exploring a range of romantic dynamics and power structures without idealizing the toxic relationships like other vampire romance series that I could name.

Where An Education in Malice ultimately lost me was the lack of subtlety with the characters or symbolism—if the frequent references towards the schlocky hit Riverdale have been any indication. By the introduction of Carmilla as a point-of-view character, I was starting to grow tired of the over-narration of every thought and feeling. If this was a novel written for younger readers, then clearly laying out every relationship and symbol would have been fine, but it stuck out given the target audience. Readers need to be trusted to understand your allusions and references, or then it feels like a literary I Spy game where someone has already solved the puzzle.

If you're looking for a novel to scratch a dark academia or vampiric itch, then An Education in Malice is a fun enough story elevated by its lush writing. I only wish S. T. Gibson's craft was put towards a better story.

This was my most anticipated read of 2024 and did not disappoint. I loved A Dowry of Blood, and was so looking forward to S.T. Gibson's take on the classic Carmilla, and this was even better than I imagine. Gibson so perfectly captures the dark, heady, obsessive appeal of vampire stories. I am so in awe of the atmospheric and beautiful writing that accompanies a riveting plot, and such smart characterization of Laura and Carmilla. This captures the darkness and violence as well as the seduction and mystery that make vampire stories so alluring. I was obsessed from page 1, and look forward to anything else Gibson writes.
Thank you to netgalley for an e-arc of this book

I think I went into this with way too big of expectations because I loved A Dowry of Blood. Sadly this one didn't love up to my own hype. I couldn't connect with the characters and found myself re-reading scenes/whole chapters. Th setting and writing was amazing as usual though. I'll continue to read Gibson's works but will go in with much less hype.

An Education in Malice is dark academia Carmilla retelling set in the same world as A Dowry of Blood. This has all the trappings a perfect book - a sapphic romance, vampires, dramatic poetry readings. However, in spite of all that it could have been, it ended up falling a little flat.

Everything felt a little underdeveloped. The “major” plot conflict in the second half of the book seemed more like a side quest and I wanted more in terms of characterization. Much of the book centers around Laura and Carmilla pining for each other, which was great, but it was hard to care when I didn’t feel super invested in the characters.

That is not to say this is a bad book, it is quite good, but the disappointment, especially after the masterpiece of A Dowry of Blood, is hard to get over.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook books for an advanced reader copy.