a Sapphic Vampire LGBTQIA+ dark, obsessive, academic rivals/enemies-to-lovers theme with words that flow like poetry & historical context that matches the vibes immaculately— what else can I say?! I knew that S.T Gibson would not disappoint due to her retelling with A Dowry and while this one is different, her writing just gets more and more beautiful. Intricate, lovely.

The entire time I was reading, while I know that Laura and Camilla (FMCs) are poets, I TRULY felt as if I was reading hidden love notes from the past. Gibson did a flawless job of blending themes relevant to the current while also intertwining them with the romantic ones of the past.

Full disclosure: I read An Education in Malice before reading either A Dowry of Blood or Carmilla, so I had no real expectations before diving in. To be really honest, I thought I might find the book distasteful because of the professor/student obsession mentioned in the novel's description. I was leery about how the author might build any type of relationship with such an inherent power differential.

All of that being said...I liked it. I found Laura and Camilla to be well-drawn academic rivals, and I enjoyed watching them each grow into stronger, surer versions of themselves, even though I simultaneously would have liked to see more time spent developing their enemies-to-lovers relationship arc. That felt pretty rushed.

After reading this, I'm looking forward to exploring S. T. Gibson's back catalog, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend An Education in Malice to anybody who enjoys dark academia, gothic romance, and/or clever retellings of classic literature.

An Education in Malice is a Sapphic dark academia story set at a prestigious New England college. Laura Sheridan arrives from Mississippi to study with poetry professor Ms. De Lafontaine. At her exclusive class, Laura meets enigmatic Carmilla, who appears to have an unusual relationship with Ms. De Lafontaine. Set in the same universe as A Dowry of Blood, mysteries begin to unfold and Laura learns more about her professor and academic rival than expected.

So I totally forgot that this book was set in the same universe as A Dowry of Blood and was VERY SURPRISED by the reveal about halfway through. I was just going along with the spooky academic rivals and dark academia vibes and was thrown by the left turn into fantasy. In a good way!! I thought this book unfolded in a really cool way. I'm a sucker (lol) for academic rivals. Add that to small high-pressure college and I'm in. The spice was absolutely not for me, but I just skipped it and moved on. It was cool reading this book after A Dowry of Blood and getting to see how the lore expands into more modern times.

Highly recommend this book if you're looking for something darkly atmospheric! 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 from me. Thank you to Redhook Books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book, my thoughts are my own!

S.T. Gibson's 'An Education of Malice' is a captivating journey into the depths of human psyche and the shadows of moral ambiguity. The author masterfully navigates through layers of mystery, deception, and psychological complexity, keeping readers hooked from start to finish. The characters are multi-dimensional, flawed yet relatable, adding depth and authenticity to the story. Gibson's prose is elegant and evocative, painting vivid scenes that linger in the mind long after the book is finished. While some plot elements may require suspension of disbelief, the overall narrative is compelling and thought-provoking. 'An Education of Malice' is a must-read for fans of dark academia and psychological thrillers, offering a unique and immersive reading experience.

Sapphic desire, dark academia, obsession. And vampires? I should’ve been eating this up, but instead I thought An Education in Malice fell flat.

Inspired by the gothic vampire classic Carmilla, An Education in Malice is set in the 1960s at a prestigious New England women’s college. We follow two students, Laura and Carmilla, as they become academic and creative rivals in Professor DeLafontaine’s highly selective poetry seminar. The ivy-covered halls and competitive, close-knit environment of an elite women’s college smoothly established a more contemporary gothic atmosphere.

Laura is something of a wallflower, shy and inexperienced with real-world romance. A gifted writer, she’s offered a place in Professor DeLafontaine’s poetry seminar – a privilege that’s always been denied to first year students. She feels out of place amongst her peers, who seem worldly and sophisticated to her. No one more so than Carmilla.

Carmilla relishes her uncontested status as the best writer in the seminar – and as DeLafontaine’s special pet. With her beloved professor directing her attention towards another student for the first time, is it any wonder that Carmilla takes an instant dislike to her? The simmering dislike, rivalry, and sexual tension between the two students is stoked by DeLafontaine, whose hold over her students is profound. The psychosexual games that DeLafontaine plays with Carmilla, and to a lesser extent Laura, illustrate how an imbalance in power can spiral into obsession, control, and abuse. While their relationship is never explicitly sexual, it’s clear that DeLafontaine has groomed Carmilla for some dark purpose…

Professor DeLafontaine is the novel’s most compelling character by far. Brilliant, sophisticated, attractive, and demanding, it’s easy to see why her students are so desperate to please her. Her personal magnetism, especially in a controlled environment like the classroom, is undeniable. And yet she’s also painfully childish – even pathetic. Her moods are erratic, veering from coldness and rejection to an irrational and possessive jealousy. The narrative makes it clear that this behaviour is unacceptable, and that it stems from DeLafontaine’s personal history and experiences of emotional abuse.

I absolutely loved S. T. Gibson’s descriptive prose when I read A Dowry of Blood last year. Gibson’s lush writing style and antiquated vocabulary was perfectly suited to a historical epistolary novel spanning centuries. I’m not sure what changed this time, but the writing didn’t work nearly as well for me here. I think it’s the combination of the first-person narrative and the setting. I just didn’t believe that young people – even lovelorn poetry students – from the 1960s would think and speak in such “purple” terms.

My other major issue with the story is its lack of narrative focus. An Education in Malice tries to do too much with too few pages. Laura and Carmilla’s “rivalry to romance” pipeline was far too swift and felt sort of forced. Attraction, sure, but now it’s 30 pages later and they’re in love? Hmm. Then there’s the relationship between Carmilla and DeLafontaine, which really could’ve been a novel on its own. THEN there’s the fact that DeLafontaine is also a vampire. I don’t think this element was necessary for the story that I think Gibson was trying to tell.

Overall, An Education in Malice disappointed me. With its thematic similarities and poor execution, it felt like a pale shadow of A Dowry of Blood. Recommended for hard-core fans of Gibson’s writing. Newcomers, I suggest you pick up A Dowry in Blood instead.

This was another great book by S.T. Gibson.
The story is a bit of a slow pace at first, but it has a lot of great written details that makes you feel like you’re part of the story, which I loved. It’s a dual pov that follows two rival students seeking their professors approval.
Overall, I really enjoyed and definitely recommend this book. It’s very well written with a great plot and character development.

This was just an okay book. There wasn't really a whole lot going for it; I felt that the "rivalry" between Laura and Carmilla was just a couple of mean words exchanged before they were mainly flirting with one another, the overall plot could have been easily solved and lacked sustenance, and the conclusion itself was a bit predictable and disappointing. Laura, Carmilla, Ms. D, and the other characters were all pretty one-dimensional with only minor defining characteristics.

I did enjoy the dual POV between Laura and Carmilla, and the romance that developed between them was fairly good. Ms. D being a conflict between the two was honestly kind of annoying because she's the one that forced them to be rivals in the first place, but didn't like when they started to like each other. The whole professor/student trope does not personally bother me, but I felt like it was used as more of an initial shock factor to make Carmilla seem "cool". It ended up with Ms. D acting more as a mother figure since it didn't go very far, so it felt unnecessary.

This book could have more potential if it went in some slightly different directions and followed committed harder to some of the tropes written. For instance if Carmilla had actually humiliated Laura in front of her classmates and was constantly demeaning her. Some of the warnings seemed unnecessary as there was really only one scene I felt that was truly sexually graphic, but everything else was pretty mild especially during the first half of the book.

Thank you Redhook Books and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for a review!

Beautiful, haunting, poetic, and downright devastating.

I love the writings of ST Gibson. Their prose is stunning, each word crafted to slot perfectly into the next. Forever a fan.

This retelling of Carmilla was exquisite.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of AN EDUCATION IN MALICE by S.T. Gibson.

I feel like I've waited my whole life for a story about queer vampires in love AND it's set in dark academia, and this book is exactly what I wanted and more. Every bit of the rivalry just DRIPS with envy, obsession, and adoration, and S.T. Gibson is such a brilliant writer that I'm immediately sold on reading every other one of her books. The pacing, setting, and everything in between is just so perfect, and while some of the dynamics were a bit too complicated for me personally, I enjoyed it nevertheless!

I sincerely recommend everyone take this opportunity to get AN EDUCATION IN MALICE from your local bookstore or library, as this book is out now worldwide.

4.5★
An Education in Malice is a sapphic rivals to lovers, dark academia short novel with complicated characters and luscious prose. There are vampires, toxic relationships, lots of poetry references, and the question of how far people will go for love. It is the same world as A Drowry of Blood which is also an amazing book.

I was instantly drawn in from the beginning and was so immersed in the world that I would forget where I was at. I had a great time reading.

This story is seductive (more than I had anticipated) and while some people may not like it's explicit language, I enjoyed it quite a lot.

However it was little plot, all vibes. And in my opinion the ending was rushed and obvious.

Thank you Net galley and Redhook for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“She was in love, and that was dangerous.
After all, what horror wouldn’t I tolerate, if it was meted out by the hand of my beloved?”

AHHH YALL. I have been fervently waiting for this book since it was announced because I devoured A Dowry of Blood. An absolutely beautiful story about bloodlust, desire, academia, and mystery that was so enticing, I read it all in one sitting. The atmosphere of the story is breathtaking and while sometimes the plot faltered, the allure of the story is what keeps you drawn in. It’s eerie, gothic, and dark in all the best ways.

The dual POV of the story really adds to its depth, I loved how Carmilla and Laura were rivals and foils to one another, watching both of their need for validation lead them down dark paths was so well done. You will be desperate to know their stories (even if you’ve read the original story) and you’ll find yourself careening to the end for that conclusion. Their rivals to lovers storyline is really well done and I love how the vampirism is incorporated into it.

Definitely worth the read! Thank you again to @redhookbooks and Netgalley for the ARC of one of my most anticipated reads of the year, this comes out February 13 and I highly recommend checking it out!!

Read if you like:
Enemies to Lovers
Dark Academia
Vampires

I went into An Education of Malice completely blind knowing only that there was some hype surrounding the book as it was about to reach. I learned while reading the tale that it takes inspirations from the classic "Carmilla", a vampire romance that predates Dracula. (Thank you google)
This is a dark academia novel with two female leads, it is unapologetically queer so if that's a a boundary for you as a reader then I would think about attempting to read. But that being said I feel like the vibes are somewhat similar to Ava Reid's "A Study in Drowning" where the aesthetics matter much more than substance or plot.
At the heart of the narrative lies the complex relationship between the main characters, Laura and Carmilla, There's also an a creepy obsessive vampire lady to spice things up. Though their connection is undeniable, I felt as if the romance was a bit too rushed and would have liked to explore more about those two.
Please check trigger warnings but some include: Uneven Power Dynamics, Inappropriate Student-Professor Relationships, Toxic Academic Environments, Graphic Deaths, Exhibitionism
Overall it was a satisfying read and im thankful for the opportunity given to me by NetGalley and Redhook to read this novel.

3.5
I am so glad that I picked this book up. Gibson has a way with words that truly sucks you in, that melts the world around you away and you just want to read more. So even though there were things that I didn’t like about the book, I still wanted to read more until the end.
I didn’t know that this was a retelling of the classic Carmilla going into this but from the description I read of the classic, I think this book does it justice.
This story is about obsession, what that can do to these characters and how they each react differently to it. Even by the end of the book I’m still unsure if what’s going on is true love or still a highly unhealthy form of obsession. There’s academic rivals to lovers, an unhealthy student-professor relationship, murder, graphic sexual content. The author has thankfully provided trigger warnings in the beginning of the book.
For me personally, I didn’t really enjoy Laura and Carmilla’s relationship. I enjoyed the beginning where they were rivals but then their love was rushed and felt unnatural in the scenes to follow. I also wish the murders were a bigger plot point, or even that there was more plot. This is definitely more of a character driven story than plot.

Queer dark academia and vampires is what drew me to this one but I wasn’t able to finish it. The dark academia vibes were spot on but neither the plot or characters captured me. The beginning was quite slow and then when the plot picked up almost halfway through I still just couldn’t get into it without feeling a connection with the characteris. I think in general, this was a book based on vibes but lacked the substance I needed to keep me reading. The romance also felt rushed and the enemies-to-lovers moment lacked clear cause. This was a meh for me but if you just love dark academia, the vibes alone might be enough to carry you through! Just wasn’t my cup of tea.

An Education in malice is a really addictive and enjoyable read. I loved St Gibson’s A Drowry Of Blood and this one doesn’t feel short. The plot is really good, the characters are fleshed out and overall the plot was really good. I really recommend this if you liked St Gibson writing and gothic vibes.

S. T. Gibson is such an amazing writer. I wasn't sure were the story was set (In follow up of Dowry of blood or just an other vampire story.) I must say it was so well made. It felt like Dowry of Blood was about manipulation and power, and now An Education in Malice is more about true love and feeling the liberty to be with who you want.

De Lafontaine was on the line to the begining to the end. Sometimes I was like : Can you just please leave? And Magdalena coming back, I was so happy. It was like a follow up, but with new character and a new vision of the world after more years. I wanted more. With the end, I just now need to knoe what happen to her, where is Alexi and of course Constanta. If like the follow up is a reunion between the three with Laura and Carmilla.

It was missing the look of Dowry of blood in this one, the page with only one quote, but at the same time having two visions was good! I wish I could have a art of Carmilla and Laura, just to see the love in their eyes. I'm happy that this book was about young love going good. More so because I can always that a moment, when I wanted to throw Dowry of Blood because I was mad at him, you know who. But then again De Lafontaine had to go her own way. Because she was also in a really toxic relationship that had consume her for too long.

Overall, S.T. Gibson is doing an fantastic job and I can't wait for Evocation!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in an exchange for an honest review !

A vampire sapphic carmilla retelling? Yes please!

"A sensible girl would leave. A good girl most certainly would. But I was tired of being sensible, and I was tired of being good"

Even before I knew what this book was about, I saw that cover and knew it was something I would enjoy. I was getting all of the dark academia vibes I needed from this cover!

This book was beautifully written with many of my favorite elements such as enemies to lovers, dark academia, and gothic vibes.

Excited for the next book by Gibson!

Rating: 4.5 stars

I wanted so badly to read this and love it, but I just didn't. After feeling like the only person I know who didn't care for A Dowry of Blood, I thought that this one sounded interesting, had promise, and would make me too fall in love with this author and this world. But no. In fact, it did exactly the opposite and I probably won't be picking up any more books connected to this series at this point.

This was not for me. I can't think of too many positive things to say about this book. The one positive I can think of is at times the writing felt atmospheric and well done; but for the most part, the book falls short in every single way.

-The characters are extremely bland and unlikeable. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Not one redeemable thing about them and I couldn't have cared less about anything that was going on in their lives, education or relationships.
-The romance is not a romance. It's not enemies to lovers. It's instalove. It's unbelievable. It is NOT romantic. It's a story about one girl who has two people obsessed with her-one for her blood and another for her body, and it's honestly just awful.
-I feel like I thought the story took place in the forties, but there is a lot of slang and language used that felt way more current than that to me. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but there were words like "frosh", "spliff", "sloshed" and "chickadee" which are just a few examples that took me out of the story and time period completely.
-The plot is extremely lacking and underdeveloped. This is just about these characters. And since the characters aren't done well, nothing else that is happening matters.
-The ending is too rushed and convenient. We spent over three hundred pages with a possessive and jealous woman just to have it end so abruptly? It didn't feel well thought out or believable at all.

Read the trigger warnings before you start the book. I don't remember what they were aside from the student teacher relationship, but the author did list quite a few things in the very beginning from what I can recall. And if you weren't going into this book expecting sex (whether it's happening, being talked about, read about, or thought about) then this might not be for you. The characters in this book are just constantly horny and it's really over the top.

I do appreciate the opportunity to read this, but I can't see how this will possibly top A Dowry of Blood for fans of that book. It's honestly mind blowing to me how this one could somehow be worse than the first one, and I didn't go into this expecting that to be the case at all.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy.
This book is honestly not my cup of tea whatssoever. It truly had an intriguing introduction, but once everything was set into play I no longer wanted to be a part of it.

S.T. Gibson's writing is spectacular, her prose is quite a rarity, but I do not think her work is best for me.

CONTENT WARNING: uneven power dynamics, inappropriate relationships between a professor and students, toxic academic environments, blood, gore, murder, consensual sexual content including public sex, kink (both negotiated and spontaneous), alcohol and drug use, smoking, brief mention of racism political policies, brief mention of homophobia, brief mention of religious discrimination against women

My first introduction to Gibson’s writing was A Dowry of Blood, and I fell in love with her way of writing, so I couldn’t wait to start reading this one. I didn’t know that this book was a retelling of a classic, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and consequently read this with no knowledge or expectations other than Gibson’s flair for atmospheric writing and dark romance.

In this story, her writing has the opportunity to shine. The dark academia setting requires atmospheric writing, and Gibson excels at this type of prose, where it feels as though whatever is happening would naturally happen in this kind of setting, and is almost expected. The paranormal elements don’t appear until a little while into the story, which gave me the chance to get to know the characters in the setting of this dark and isolated school.

The characters could not be more different. In 1968, Carmilla is sophisticated and well-traveled, while Laura is sheltered and naïve, yet both of them wind up in the poetry class of Professor De Lafontaine. They’re pitted against each other in an intense rivalry for the attention of the teacher, who has an obsession with Carmilla outside of the classroom. But as Laura and Carmilla work more closely with each other and Professor De Lafontaine, the relationships between each of them shift, and so do the dynamics of their interactions.

While De Lafontaine holds the strings, basically, manipulating both of these girls both academically and personally, and forcing them into interactions and situations based on the imbalanced power dynamics that result from her position as their direct professor. Initially, they are playing into her game by engaging in a rivalry, yet it was once the relationship between Laura and Carmilla changed that I found it to be most intriguing, partially because I’m a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope done well, but also because they were redefining their relationship according to more of their own terms.

The second half of the story incorporates more of the paranormal aspects, and I found it to be just as intriguing. I liked how Gibson works it into the story without this element being overblown, and how it weaves seamlessly into the interactions between the three main characters in this story. However, I think the end wrapped things up a bit too quickly and felt a little more rushed than I would have liked. Everything tied up too neatly, almost, and the mystery aspect of this was way too easy to figure out. Other than that, this was a fantastic read, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it if you like atmospheric writing, dark sapphic romance, dark academia, and paranormal romance.