As someone who absolutely loved and fawned over S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood, I was expecting to love An Education in Malice. what I wasn't expecting though, was to be absolutely smitten with both Carmilla and Laura!

this was an incredible read. the ambiance was giving dark and sinister academia with, but also cozy New England. the juxtaposition lent itself so well to the duality of our characters. at it's core, this was a story about obsession and all that it entails. the lust, the yearning, the senseless need for proximity and ownership all wrapped up in a feeling that one can characterize as both love and hate. I could have read another hundred pages of our two mc's fighting that desire, that pull to one another, all while being manipulated (both openly and covertly) by their mentor, a mentor who crosses boundaries of her own.

this was fast paced, without feeling rushed, and while I would have loved more, I also felt satisfied with the finale for all involved. S.T. Gibson delivered yet another tender, but chaotic queer love story!

Thank you to both NetGalley and S.T. Gibson for providing an ARC of this book for me to give my honest review!

A thoroughly enjoyable retelling of Carmilla by my favorite master of vampires, ST Gibson! While the beginning felt a bit slow to me as the story amped up I found myself enjoying it more and more and my opinion of Gibson as an auto-buy author remains strong!

In “An Education in Malice” by S.T. Gibson, Laura Sheridon finds herself far from home at Saint Perpetua’s College. Her poetry impressed the demanding professor, De Lafontaine, but she finds herself at odds with classmate Carmilla. What secrets will Laura discover about her teacher, her classmate, and the college?

I thought this book was written in an interesting way – a dual point of view. We get to know Laura and Carmilla, seeing both their sides of the story. As the dark, sapphic romance develops, we get to know the characters. I thought Laura’s background was interesting, and her repression colors her view of the situation and her development. I appreciated that we get to see Laura’s thoughts before she goes to college so we understand that certain aspects of her character have always been there.

The book kept my interest, but if you don’t like gothic horror, this might not be the book for you. It feels like a retelling of "Carmilla" but through a female point of view. It was unexpected, but a welcomed change.

I felt like some of the characters’ motives were not explained well, for example, why did De Lafontaine choose Laura specifically? I felt like the ending also left me with some unresolved questions and feelings. The story didn’t stay with me as much as I would have liked it to.

I am an S.T. Gibson devotee and this book did not change that opinion in any way. The writing is lush and evocative, the characters are well fleshed out and compelling, and the plot is perfectly paced. I knew from the moment I heard dark academia Carmilla retelling I would be in and I'm so glad it lived up to the hype.

A side note that the audiobook for this is super charming.

I'm afraid I had different expectations of this book going in to what was delivered, especially having loved A DOWRY OF BLOOD. I wasn't comfortable with the slight...redemptive (?) arc the abuser got in the end of this story. (Maybe redemption arc isn't the right phrasing....maybe sympathy arc is better.) Honestly, I didn't care about any of the professors past, and how her past abuse was a reflection of how she was abusing Carmilla--I just wanted her to be punished, and I kept waiting for Carmilla to break away, or for them to kill the professor--and it never happened. I honestly would not have finished the book knowing how it ends. I enjoyed many other aspects of the novel--Saint always delivers on vibes--but, yeah.

Clearly, I have many complicated feelings around this book. I give this read a solid three: four starts for the first half, three for the middle, and one star for the end.

Where do I start? This is my first book by Gibson so I cannot compare it to "A Dowry of Blood". Many books deemed to be Dark Aacdemia tend to lack the "dark" aspect, and this was not one of them. Gibson's writing kept me intrigued and pacing waiting for more suspense. The characters were complex and made me question my sanity by making me like characters that could be considered morally grey or even just plain evil (depending on how the reader perceives the character and their redemption). It is fair to say that the romance aspect of the book satisfied my need for well-established academic rivals to lovers.

I'm excited to read future works by S.T. Gibson and I know many people will love this book.

“But if I couldn’t have the real Carmella, l would settle for an illusion of my own design”

S. T. Gibson's writing is beautiful and has made me interested to read a dowry of blood. This is a story about obsession, desire and love. Laura meets her academic rival Carmilla and is immediately drawn to both her and her professor Ms. De Lafontaine. Laura becomes obsessed with becoming better than Carmila at poetry while slowly revealing she has unique personal interests giving us a refreshing sapphic tail of desire.

I found the characters were not very relatable and had anngoying personalities which is kind of the point so take that with a grain of salt. I personally did not care for this story but I am intrigued as I really enjoy Gibsons writing.

Wow. I have become in love with S.T. Gibson’s writing. I loved their last book and now this!!
I enjoyed the time period and dark academia vibes. I really like how vampires are depicted in Gibson’s world. The characters have depth and feel so poetic. The love and journeys in this book are emotional, heartbreaking and beautiful.
I received this ebook as an ARC from NetGalley.

We love to see rivalry to romance, academia settings, and vampires. An Education in Malice has been calling my name since I heard about it. That and combined with the fact that it's by S.T. Gibson - an author who I'm always intrigued to read - and I was hooked. An Education in Malice will satisfy those wanting a queer romance with vampires, deadly obsession, and rivals in academia. From the beginning, we can see how the rivalry is about envy and fixation. The ways we want to have their talent, driven like a moth to the flame.

Thank you to NetGally and Redhook Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really didn't know what to expect going into this book, but I absolutely love anything gothic. We have Laura, who is essentially at this school on a scholarship, and Carmilla, a girl from Austria who has come to study. Both are vying for the attention from Ms. De Lafontaine. Their rivalry devolves into lust and a dark secret is revealed from Ms. D.

Spoilers ahead!

This was my first saphhic book, and I'm not sure what I expected but lesbian vampires was not it. I did enjoy this a lot, it did get fairly gory, with lies and deception abound. School romance is still not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my gosh where to begin with this one! Dark academia, vampires, and enemies to lovers all in one book. I could not hit request fast enough and I was so excited to get approved for this book! I flew through this book. Like read it in one day and would have probably read in one sitting if I didn’t have a toddler that needed me so much 😂. The storytelling of this book was beautiful and so immersive. I felt like I was on campus with the characters. The dual POV also had me so intertwined in their lives and getting to know both of the characters separately and together. Overall, one that I would highly recommend if you are looking for a wonderful, captivating, fantasy read!

i literally read most of it last night in order to get this review out on time, and like, genuinely a solid way to spend a monday evening. let me spell it out for you: sapphic. dark academia. vampires. rivals to lovers. if that alone hasn’t sold you, you and i have very different book tastes. this is a carmilla retelling and i really enjoy the ways it departs from the original narrative. the characters are messy and their relationships to each other are complicated, and i really liked how the power dynamics were explored. the slight historical angle really vibes with my current historical fantasy thing, and i feel like overall this was an easy but very rich read.

Not at all what I was expecting and the better for it. Creepy, weird, and wonderful, I’m glad I decided to give EDUCATION a go. Loved the mod-century setting, the scenery chewing, the rebellion, and the musings in love, eternity, and morality. Will recommend.

This is amazing, it was well written and the characters were so well done! This was so fun to read and such a good retelling. It stands well on its own as well

It’s the late 1960’s and Laura is venturing far from home to a girls’ college to hone her writing and poetry skills. There she finds her calling in De Lefontaine’s coveted poetry class but also a rival in Camilla, her prized student. What ensues is obsession and darkness but also self discovery and kindness. How will Laura cope among the secrets and truths in this bloodthirsty world?

The heart of this novel is very much self discovery for primarily Laura, but also for Camilla and Professor De Lafontaine. The school year brings surprises, both light and dark, and how each is handled shows growth in the characters. The journey itself that we go on with the protagonists is written well. Note it does switch gears near the halfway (to two-thirds) mark. At that point, another dynamic is added to the novel but it doesn’t really change the underlying theme of the story. I do think the ending came a little abruptly but overall enjoyed the novel. 3 stars.

Thank you Redhook Books/Orbit and NetGalley for sending this digital Advanced Reader’s Copy for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Throughout this whole novel, I walked the line of being overwhelmingly disturbed and completely overtaken by the world the Gibson had created. St. Gibson's writing is gorgeous and kept me enthralled. However I was bored the first 50%, with no much happening plot wise beside the back and forth between the two main student characters & their professor. I walked that line between loving and hating it all the way until the end. Which I happened to love! I thought it was a fantastic wrap up to the story line. However, I normally like a little more happening in my fantasy novels. St. Gibson delivered a perfectly dark academia novel while pushing the line of what’s acceptable and not in uneven power dynamics. I’m truly excited to read her other works now though. Beautiful writing!

Thank you Orbit for the advanced copy! I will post my review on social media 2/14!

There is something so magnetic about the way S. T. Gibson writes a story. I am immediately sucked in by the writing and the atmosphere. It felt like I was a student at St. Perpetua.

I really loved the dynamic between De Lafontaine, Laura, and Camilla, and watching their obsessive spiral of competition and love.

However, I personally did not enjoy this as much as I enjoyed A Dowry of Blood. The murder subplot was a bit lacking, I felt the romance was a bit rushed, and it took me awhile to connect to the characters. This is a very character based book, so I struggled at first.

Overall, a solid book. I wanted a bit more from it and I know S. T. Gibson can give it. 3.5 stars.

An Education in Malice was a fun read. Gibson created the most beautiful atmosphere that will entice everyone. This is a book you could read in one sitting because once you start you will be completely immerse in the atmosphere and writing. Gibson writing is beautiful. Her writing is rich with metaphor and descriptions that just pull you into the story. Gibson did an amazing job taking the character Camilla and giving her story a new life. There is so much chemistry between Laura and Camilla that keeps you glued to the page. This book is filled with gorgeous prose, tension, romance and and sexual exquisiteness. When you pick this book up you are going to devour it.

An Education in Malice is the kind of book you want to read on a gloomy day piled under some blankets with a warm lamp and a fireplace blazing. It’s so dark, makes comments on our humanity, and elicits deep thoughts. There is also a paranormal aspect to this, which I did not anticipate from the book’s description. I highly recommend taking your time to read this and let it sit and resonate with you!

There are a lot of dark descriptions of blood, violence, death, and love. The author included trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, which I greatly appreciated. While I don’t think dark academia is my favorite genre, I appreciate how well written this was and how much it made me think.

The perfect dark academia book with tons of creativity and unique plotlines. Loved the atmosphere and characters!