I devoured this book. The tension was top tier and I finished the book in one sitting. Highly recommend.

I’ve always been intrigued with the story of Carmilla and Laura. This book however wasn’t what I had hoped it would be. I was bored through most of this book and was hoping for more action and more because vampires.

It fell flat for me because Carmilla and Laura felt flat. They didn’t really develop and didn’t have a way for me to latch onto them like I usually do with the MCs of a book. I was also expecting more from Isis but all we got was snippets of her. She was hardly part of the story and didn’t contribute a whole lot as a whole.

Sapphic dark academia?vampires? Sign me up!🥵 the tension was unmatched and I read this in bed staying up way past my bedtime because I REFUSED to put my kindle down. I absolutely love this. I am so happy this was how I started my 2024 reading. I can’t even put into words how much I enjoyed this!

Sapphic gothic academia is everything I've wanted to read more of so I was thrilled to see I was approved for this. Loved it and can't wait to recommend it to all my friends by release date! Thank you for the ARC.

An Education in Malice
by S. T. Gibson

Dark gothic academia, sizzling sapphic romance, with blood and gore tied into a murder mystery, absolutely I want a copy! Gibson is such a phenomenal writer and am blown away by her talent. This dark & twisted tale of rivals to lovers really takes you on a journey of obsessive toxic mentorship in the 1960’s, “Love is sacrifice. One of us was always going to bleed for the other.” I throughly enjoyed & devoured this all in one sitting.



❤️Check your trigger warnings ❤️

📚Expected Release February 13, 2024📚
❤️Thank you Redhook Books, Redhook, Orbit, NetGalley, & the brilliant author S. T. Gibson. I’m super appreciative & gave my honest opinion❤️

A sensuous, sensual, sexy and successful entry into the tired field of vampire novels. As a Gen Xer, I can't help but compare Gibson's work to Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire - and I mean that in the best way possible. Rice introduced the vampire as a kind of proto-Romantic hero with immortality instead of tuberculosis, and sires instead of syphilis. As this depiction led inevitably to the Twilight novels, vampire writers moved to the undead as incarnations of rage or authoritarian despots (reflecting the reality of the early 21st century, I think). But Gibson brings back the Romantic vampire for a new generation. They cleverly play with the archetypes of white-clad virgin offering and sulky black-clad vampire - the girl in white is the power player here and the vampire her subject. Gibson's vampires are queer without being overtly preachy about it - they just want to experience all the things and all the romance. A fun entry into the realm of dark academia, undead shenanigans, and those passages that make your feel all squirmy inside.

S.T. Gibson returns to the hauntingly seductive world first introduced in "A Dowry of Blood" with an all new cast of characters in this brilliant evocative dark academia tale, "An Education in Malice." Sumptuous, addictive, and perfectly salacious, this sapphic exploration of blood, secrets, and insatiable hungers immerses readers in a realm where academia meets the arcane.

Thank you Net Galley for this arc,

If you love dark academia specifically sapphic dark academia, vampires, and academic rivals this is the book for you! The tension in this book was so good you can immediately feel it the moment you read Laura and Carmilla meet each other! This story will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and questioning what you will do for love.

This review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson is a Carmilla retelling where Laura comes to St. Perpetua’s College in Massachusetts and meets Carmilla, a young Austrian poet who is starved for the love and attention of their poetry professor, Ms. De Lafontaine. But De Lafontaine is more than just a poetry mentor, she’s a vampire who has been feeding on Carmilla ever since Carmilla came to the college.

Laura falls first for Carmilla, becoming attracted to her almost instantly while Carmilla views Laura as a rival due to the positive attention Laura receives from their instructor. A run through the rain seems to settle that rivalry, until they arrive at class and De Lafontaine expresses her displeasure at their behavior and Laura witnesses their professor feeding from Carmilla’s neck. Things get even more complicated when De Lafontaine’s sire is discovered and De Lafontaine grows more and more upset at Laura and Carmilla’s burgeoning relationship.

The book has some focus on inappropriate student-teacher relationships and features depictions of kink.

I would recommend this to fans of Carmilla, the original book and the webseries, readers looking for chubby female main characters, and to readers looking for a messy Sapphic vampire romance.

I was completely engrossed in this dark academic sapphic retelling of Carmilla from beginning to end.

I will say I was occasionally unsettled by De Lafontaine's parts, but I can't say more without spoilers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was addictive from start to finish. The sexual tension between Carmilla and Laura was off the charts, as well as the unabashed power dynamic between professor and student. I am unsure whether this will become a series or not, but I would love for it to be!

Well! This book was certainly something. Dark sexy sapphic academia with vampires so it brings the good vibes, though the emphasis is on dark. I would recommend reading all the content warnings at the beginning - there is a lot of obsession and problematic power dynamics that were a bit much for me. But overall, it was a gripping ride that did manage to surprise me in the end.

The writing was solid, the setting perfect, and the characters extremely un-relatable. Some of the meditations on poetry and art were beautiful and I appreciated the vampiric elements. Prior knowledge of Camilla lore is not necessary but I think it would have added to my enjoyment. Would recommend for people who know this is what they like!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by S.T. Gibson and I found the premise, atmosphere, and setting so intriguing. The beginning of the book had a lot of promise, even if it was a bit slow paced, setting up our trio of main characters and the mystery. However, I think the story eventually under delivers on some of its promise and rushes the plot along in the last half just glossing over a lot, skimping on developing the characters any further and also just completing dropping some of the ideas and plot points previously mentioned. I think this book could have been longer and also could have been paced a bit better.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC and the opportunity to review.

4.5 stars!

An Education in Malice was so good. I was immediately gripped by Gibson’s lyrical prose and the way she so seamlessly captured the dark academia vibe. I loved how this ended up being a sapphic Carmilla retelling. It was dark and full of desperation. There was a lot of poetry sprinkled throughout and I really enjoyed that aspect, I thought it brought a lot of nuance to the story. I really loved Laura and Carmilla’s character growth. Heck, I even loved De Lafontaine’s character growth by the end. This book was so eerie and atmospheric at times, I truly got lost in the story and probably could have finished this in one day if I didn’t let myself savor the read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

An Education in Malice, is the second book I have read from ST. Gibson, and I kid you not she did not let me down. I loved the academic rivalry aspect of this book. Gothic academia and rivals to lovers. I really liked this book, there was just something missing that didn’t make it a 5 for me. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

S.T. Gibson back at it again with sexy, murderous, atmospheric vampires. An Education in Malice is a Carmilla retelling, and even though I'm not super familiar with the source material this book was so good. We follow two university students, Laura and Carmilla as they get caught up in their mentor and poetry professor De Lafontaine's mysterious world. Carmilla is a senior and has been obsessed with De Lafontaine for years, Laura is a freshman who De Lafontaine takes under her wing to drive competition between the two. What Laura doesn't know is that she's being sucked into a world of vampires. This book was faced paced and intriguing. The relationship between Laura and Carmilla drew me in and kept me engaged. Definitely a must read if you like vampires! Thanks to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for this review

This book has everything! The LGBTQIA relationships and diversity are wonderful. When you add in all the dark academia vibes and vampires… there’s nothing else my little heart could ask for! The characters are strong and have complicated relationships with one another. There is also an enemies to lovers trope if that’s your jam. The book has just a dash of gore so don’t let that turn you off. The party scene was super steamy 🔥🔥🔥 (IYKYK). I am truly hoping the author might release a second book in this series as I’m dying to hear more of their story. Highly recommend this book!

S.T. Gibson never fails to wrap her creepy gothic stories in beautiful prose that fully immerse you in the reading experience. Compared to the richness of A Dowry of Blood, I did find the story to be a little less developed, but nevertheless enjoyed this take on a Carmella retelling.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to provide a review of this book.

When I first started reading the book I was very impressed with the writing style having never read an S. T. Gibson book before, it impressed me off the start and I was eager to get into the story building. It ended up being fine. I have a hard time placing it, I don’t know that it necessarily fit the dark academia or fantasy genres. The writing though was absolutely beautiful and what really kept me going. I felt like the book really lacked character development, I wasn’t attached to any of the characters or their relationships. The pacing felt off with a very slow intro and then a rushed plot and the long intro bored me unfortunately. I think the ideas were there but it just wasn’t well developed. This book honestly could have been a couple hundred pages longer or have a much shorter first half to develop the characters, the plot and the world building. I do have A Dowry of Blood on its way to me and I’ve heard nothing but great things and am excited to get into that one!

A dark academia sapphic dream. I was an immediate fan of S.T. Gibson after reading A Dowry of Blood and I think I loved this one even more. Her prose is heart achingly beautiful and transports you to the center of her atmospheric academia world. I think this will be one of THE books of 2024.