S. T. Gibson does it again as they write a beautiful, modern, gothic, and dark academia twisting retell of one of my favorite and beloved classics, "Carmilla". I was addicted and enthralled from the very start.

**Vampires
**Dark Academia
**Academic Rivals to Lovers
**Slow Burn

We follow two POV's of Laura who is a freshman that gets accepted to a Northeast school, St. Perpetua's College. That in the 1960's has a very prestigious poetry class exclusively only to upper class-man, but the mysterious De Lafontaine sees potential in her new young pupil to excel. While on the other hand Carmilla who is De Lafontaine's star senior pupil and favorite student sees Laura as her new academic rival.

These two start out testing each other's limits as each striving not only for excellence in class, but for De Lafontaine's favor and attention outside of class as they have secret extra sessions at their professors' apartment.
Carmilla however has to keep her secret relationship with De Lafontaine as she is her blood consort to sustain her vampiric life. Things take quite a dark turn when their professor shows them why she is really at this school as she wakes her long, lost, vampire lover, Isis, that leads to Carmilla becoming undead herself and can no longer share the light with her beloved Laura.

I'm left in a reading trance once again as this author has beautiful prose writing a sapphic retelling of Carmilla. They captured not only the setting, the beauty of life and the undead, and how to move between both worlds, but also how in living a long undead life can be lonely, no acceptance from your vampiric community, and how even with a long immortal life, generational trauma must be addressed and the cycle/s to end.

A highly addictive retelling of the story of Carmilla, An Education in Malice is about young love, obsession, and the lengths one might go to, to keep the ones they hold dearest.

Laura, entering in to her first year at Saint Perpetua’s College, gets accepted into the highly coveted literary program headed by the alluring Evelyn De Lafontaine. Only the most promising students deemed worthy by De Lafontaine have gotten a chance to impress the professor, and Laura wants to prove she’s earned her spot. However, Laura isn’t the only student vying for the professors praise. Carmilla is intense, brilliant, and as cruel as she can be is just as beautiful. Laura and Carmilla soon find their lives entwined in constant battle trying to one up the other and obsession, intrigue, bloodshed, tragedy, love and unquestionable devotion build between the two.

I went into this having a vague idea of what this story would entail and I’m glad I did. I really enjoy S.T Gibson’s writing style, it was gripping and kept me engaged throughout the entirety of the novel. The story was easy to follow without taking away from the intricacies of the plot.

I did want to see more of a development of the relationship between Laura and Carmilla, more so from Carmilla’s side ( it did make me question her sincerity towards Laura). I will say that I loved the connections made between De Lafontaine, Carmilla, and Laura. It was interesting to see how De Lafontaine and Laura each have different yet enormous feelings toward Carmilla that eventually start to blur the lines.

If you love enemies to lovers, sapphic romance, dark academia, academic rivals, dual points of view then you will love this read✨✨✨

So happy that @netgalley and @redhookbooks gave me the opportunity to read this!

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a retelling/reimagining of Carmilla that acts as a companion novel to S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood. That being said, you can absolutely read each without reading the other first. I personally haven't read her A Dowry of Blood as of yet, but I didn't feel put by this in the slightest. We're following Laura and Carmilla, two students who write poetry, as they each compete for the attention of their eccentric and alluring teacher, De Lafontaine, and combat their intense feelings regarding one another. It's a sexy, dark, vampiric, dark academia delving into intense teacher-student obsession and full of alluring and intriguing characters.

This book is an absolute delight! The atmosphere of the book is mesmerizing and the story had me hooked instantly! Deliciously steamy, fast-paced, and such an enjoyable read. The characters are intriguing, the dark academia vibes are immaculate, and who wouldn’t love a lesbian vampire story. If you enjoyed A Dowry of Blood, this book will not disappoint. This in a new dark academia essential read.

I checked out "An Education In Malice" by S. T. Gibson, and it landed at a solid 3 out of 5 stars for me. This was my first time delving into Gibson's work, so I didn't know what to expect from her writing. And full disclosure: I'm unfamiliar with the original Carmilla story by Sheridan Le Fanu, so I can't compare the two. Here's the deal: while it tried to whip up this steamy enemies-to-lovers vibe with some sensual prose, it missed the mark.

The plot felt fuzzy, like I couldn't quite figure out why the characters were doing what they were doing. And let's talk about Carmilla and Laura. The romance had all those classic elements that make your heart flutter – the tension, the stolen glances, the subtle touches. Their relationship? Well, it started off hot and heavy, but then it kinda fizzled out without hitting that emotional depth I was hoping for.

Sure, there were some steamy scenes here and there, but I was left craving more substance in their connection. Where's the passion, the poetry, the obsession that's supposed to make us root for them?

But outside of the romance, the story hit a few bumps. Some parts dragged on a bit, and then the resolution at the end felt rushed. Like, after all that buildup, the payoff felt a little too simple.

Ultimately, "An Education In Malice" might scratch that itch for some sexy scenes, but you might want to keep browsing if you're looking for a love story with real depth and emotion.

Really enjoyed this one! I live for a dark academia book and I thought that that teacher student relationship was immediately engrossing. The enigmatic foil to our protagonist was so engaging. I did feel like the climax and the main conflict was resolved a bit too simply, but overall the writing style won me over and i was invested in the central romance!

An Education in Malice is a gorgeous, moody, dark academia retelling of Carmilla loosely set in the same world as S.T. Gibson's previous work, A Dowry of Blood. It's definitely not necessary to read Dowry beforehand, as Malice certainly stands on its own (although I enjoyed seeing a certain familiar character make a reappearance). This novel was such a vicious delight; it's passionate and bloody, full of tension, yearning, and deeply dubious sapphic relationships. And of course, vampires.

"I wanted her to feel just how much I reviled and desired her, to what maddening brink she drove me."

I loved the development of Laura and Carmilla's rivals-to-lovers relationship, intertwined with the unhealthy obsession of student and teacher from their poetry professor De Lafontaine. All three women are intoxicating in their longing, and fascinating to read.

Overall, this alluring, gothic tale was a 4.5 rounded up for me! My only true complaint is that the ending felt resolved a little too quickly. However, the writing was lovely, the story engaging and atmospheric, and the unapologetic queerness was excellent. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Orbit for this eARC!

I decided to DNF it. Though the writing is beautiful. I found myself avoiding the book. I’m bored with zero investment in the characters or the story. I am not even sure where the story is going. Well that’s a lie I feel pretty comfortable predicting it but I’ll save that for the reviewer that finishes the books. It’s like dead poet society meets Dracula but then doesn’t cause well it’s missing all the substance for me. There’s a vampire and poetry. Guess it has dark academia vibes. I’m sure others will love this but for me it was a flop!

Thank you, Netgalley and Orbit, for my copy of An Education in Malice.

I enjoyed this story so much, i loved the gothic and dark academia vibes. I also loved Gibson's beautiful prose for most of the book. If you are looking for a sapphic dark academia, this is for you.

Here are a few things I wish we would’ve seen:
- more background on Carmilla (i still loved her, though)
- history on De Lafontaine and Isis, i needed more
- the ending wrapped up way too fast and too easily

*TW: for toxic, unbalanced relationships. Unhealthy relationship between teacher/student.*

[3.5 stars]

An Education in Malice - if I'm not mistaken - is a retelling of Carmilla (a classic I have not read as of yet). I have to say the way S.T. Gibson writes is beautiful. She has a very expressive tone to her storytelling that makes it very easy for the reader to picture the characters, their actions, and their surroundings.

Now, this book was all about obsession. Obsession between Del Lafontaine and Carmilla, Laura, and Carmilla, or all three of each other as one. It was interesting to see how they all spiraled towards each other so quickly! The dual POV with Laura and Carmilla helped with the story and how all-consuming they were to each other - though I would have liked to have a few chapters dedicated to Del Lafontaine as I felt like reading her thoughts would have made a specific part in the book better (from the Halloween party and onward)

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I recommend this to anyone who is in the mood for a sapphic dark and toxic romance with vampires.

*Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to receive this ARC*

I had such high expectations for this book, too high perhaps.

It wasn’t necessarily bad. I simply found myself waiting for the magic and allure I experienced with A Dowry of Blood to take hold. Alas, that never happened.

I’m not sure if it was the setting or the characters, but something never quite clicked. The writing style is lovely as is to be expected from this writer. I simply didn’t love this book.

Once again, S.T. Gibson did not disappoint. The prose and gothic atmosphere were just as beautiful as it was in A Dowry of Blood. Carmilla. Ugh, cruel and beautiful Carmilla. She was my favorite character and the one I found it easiest to connect to. I love how Carmilla, Laura and De Lafontaine were equally obsessive, but each presented that obsession in a different way. The academic rival/enemies to lovers seemed a bit rushed but I still enjoyed watching the relationship grow. I do wish there had been a bit more to the plot. In a way the atmospheric vibes did all the heavy lifting with this one, which I don’t particularly mind. An Education in Malice makes you feel like you can feel the crisp gloomy air and smell the rain as you read. I highly recommend you read this if you’re looking for a sapphic vampire story centered around obsession with a dark academia setting.

Thank you to Redhook Books for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was not a fan of Gibson’s first novel A Dowry of Blood mostly because I do not find the subject matter - vampires - to be particularly romantic or attractive. An Education in Malice also has vampires in it, but it is set in an all girls college in the 1960s and at least in the first half of the novel we follow two human girls. Carmilla and Laura come from totally different background and seem to be polar opposites of each other. But as we know, opposites attract. They start off as rivals in an exclusive poetry class, but soon find themselves drawn to each other. Gibson’s writing is very beautiful and I do enjoy her prose. However, even though I did like this novel better than her debut, it was not compulsively readable. I could only read a few pages at a time. It did not pull me in. In the end I did end up giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I did love the dark academia vibes, and in particular the New England college setting. I also liked the characters and the romance. .

Thank you to Redhook books for the ARC.

Laura Sheridan pleads her case to enter a senior level poetry seminar as a freshman at Saint Perpetua’s College. This choice, along with her talent for poetry, cements her as a rival for the long-time teachers pet, Carmilla. When Professor De Lafontaine takes a liking to both of them, secrets emerge, threats are awoken, and the a rivalry becomes another type of obsession.

This book had solid potential. I’m a massive fan of S. T. Gibson’s first book, A Dowry of Blood, and had high expectations going into this book. The plot carried intrigue, the characters contained life and vices, and the world had a linger effect. Overall, it was an interesting read that deserved some further development.

Obsession is a characteristic shared by most of our key characters. It’s intricate, dynamic, and creates an environment where jealousy and lovebombing reign supreme. This helps build the relationships when the story chooses to otherwise brush over moments that could have helped build up our understanding of the characters. I found that the burning, young love in particular was amusing and highly believable. Do I believe that they stayed in love forever? That’s debatable.

This obsession also leads into the underlying problem with much of the book: a lack of tension. The story either needed a glimpse into the head of Ms. D or for our narrators to step out of their own realms long enough to further show her commitment involved within the big bad of the story. We all are so separated from the college by the time the threat begins to present itself that it becomes hard to feel any liniment danger.

On a similar note, the tight knit community presented in the beginning of the book calls into question how a professor such as Ms. D would be able to carry on such a relationships with students and not draw attention to herself.

One of the prominent issues I had with the story lies in the marketing. Gibson often states that this is dark academia. In my mind, that means a break down of the systems in place and questioning the problems within it. It’s more a story set at a school and nothing more serious than that. Our main characters start off heavily committed to their studies but that drops off after the first quarter of the book.

For a story centered around poets, there was distinct lack of poetry. The first 25% of the book contained enough to keep me sated. It had moments within Laura’s head that discussed her process and the topics that plagued her. We got an understanding of who Carmilla was through the critiques Ms. De Lafontaine offered. I, incorrectly, assumed that this would continue throughout the book but we ultimately lost this thread.

Gibson also had a tendency to lean on statements such as “my natural proclivity towards guilt” in order to build character. This particular line comes much later in the story and it seemed out of left field. I’m aware that this may change in a final copy, but the general meaning in the following few pages relies on this line. We don’t see these traits in anything beyond the statements Gibson chooses to make about her characters. It’s a bit odd and pulls me out of the story.

A religious theme is attempted, brought up heavily in the beginning and then smattered throughout the rest of the novel, but never properly discussed. The author means for it to matter, for religion to mean something to this story, but it lacks a narrator who cares enough to pull it into the narrative in a strong way.

I’m aware this is a lot of negative points about the book. It’s a solid read if you enjoy meandering through the day while a group of woman sort through their entangled relationship as it grows increasingly rockier. I found it to be interesting. The story isn’t what’s lacking, but rather the execution. If you wish to read it, I’d encourage you to do so.

S.T. Gibson’s An Education in Malice is rife with rituals, obsession, and poetry. The prose is exceptionally beautiful, languidly moving along the story while talking about the cutthroat nature of vampiric academia and how we often confuse love with obsession, and vice versa.

In true vampire form, the more you bleed for the work that you put out—the more the professors feed on you in insatiable appetite for more and better. Then there’s your classmates willing to rip out your throat to become the best. Somewhere in there, the two protagonists Laura and Carmilla are caught in this tug-of-war over poetry, love and obsession, and their professor De Lafontaine.

Overall, I thought that the plot could have been tighter. Though the languid prose is appealing to me (I was a English Major), I don’t know if it would be appealing to everyone or whether it might feel like it was droning on at some point. Even my patience wore out with how often the word “proclivities” was used. The dichotomy of love and obsession was mostly well thought out and shown in how we make “gods” of the ones we love and worship at their altar. But De Lafontaine seemed to have too sudden of a change of heart in the book, which bothered me. It didn’t follow. Trying to untangle the web of relationships in this book is absolutely impossible, a fact that I equally love and hate. Love because it shows how messy our relationships can be. Hate because the author never seems to have to really decide for herself and leaves a lot to ambiguity.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
An Education in Malice is a beautiful creation by S.T. Gibson about two girls, a professor and deadly obsessions. Their constant hunger for knowledge and secrets hold them together and bring them into more dangerous situations. Laura is drawn in by Camilla a beautiful classmate and the charismatic professor they love.
This book was incredible! I was sucked in from the first page and I haven't fallen deeply into a book like this in a long time. I read it in just 2 days and could not stop. I loved every second of this read.
The characters were unique and mysterious in a way that made you always want to know more about them. Their connections to each other are poetic and beautiful while you can also see them tipping on the edge of recklessness. The romance was spicy and crazy while also being incredibly sweet and deep. I loved the banter between Laura and Carmilla!
The addition of the supernatural just made this book even more intriguing. The gothic, dark academia setting was immersive and connected well with the characters and what they were going through.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and can not wait to go back and read everything I haven't yet read from this author. Please pick up this book! You won't regret it!

STEAMY!! This sapphic vampire dark academia novel is filled with vivid prose and incredibly sensual scenes set against the backdrop of an all-girls college in the 1960s. I loved the writing style with all of its careful details and starkly observant descriptions. The star of this novel is the enemies to lovers relationship that builds between star pupil Carmilla and the talented newcomer Laura. With both of them competing for the attention of their highly regarded poetry professor De Lafontaine, they discover a tender regard for each other that causes them to grow and change. Without any spoilers, I thought the resolution was befitting the main characters' growth arcs and adored that they each learned how to love.


Thank you so much Redhook and NetGalley for this ARC!

S T Gibson knocks it out of the park yet again with another instalment to her vampire empire, An Education in Malice is delightful and brimming with elegant prose and rich characters. Much like Dowry I did long for a bit more as I never feel ready to give up these characters and world but the short glimpses we do get is beautiful. Cannot wait to read more of their work.

3.5/5 ⭐️

“Right and wrong don’t exist, Laura. They’re fairy tales made up by priests and parents. There is only art and ugliness, and I’m willing to suffer any indignity for the sake of art. Even at the hands of Ms. D.”

An Education in Malice is a gothic, sapphic rivals to lovers tale that discusses topics like desire, obsession, art, and the thrall of love. This is a Carmilla retelling and though I’ve never read Carmilla, I still enjoyed this story. S.T. Gibson delivers another atmospheric and beautifully written story. Vampires in a dark academic setting was a fun take and I enjoyed the glimpses of girlhood depicted throughout the story. However, the plot started to fall a little flat for me after the first half of the story. I felt like both characters’ relationship with Carmilla was somewhat lackluster and lacking a strong obsessive energy. Any conflict endured by the characters always seemed to be solved fairly easily.

Overall, if you enjoyed A Dowry of Blood I think you’ll enjoy this book as well.

Thank you Redhook and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC/ALC copies of An Education in Malice.

I absolutely loved this book from the very beginning! I loved the school setting with its rivalries and school rituals. I loved the complicated relationships between Laura, Carmilla and Ms. De LaFontaine. The vibes were beautiful and seductive. I love a sapphic story that is accepting and not centered around shame and coming out. The fear of judgement was there for one of our main characters, but she was shown acceptance rather than judgement whenever her sexuality was brought up. She wasn't consumed by fear and shame until she had a big coming out moment. Her story was more than just her sexuality, and I really appreciated that.

I was interested in this book because I heard "sapphic, vampire, dark academia" and I was in. It absolutely did not disappoint, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is intrigued by those buzzwords as well.