Spicy, sapphic dark academia story with interesting character development. Spicy story with dark undertones that lent itself well to the vampiric origins of Carmilla.

This book is a sapphic gothic vampire tale. I love how the author embedded the love of words in this story and the way she wrote the connection between everyone. Seeing the character development and the relationship change between Laura, Carmilla, and Ms. De Lafontaine was amazing.

This book was definitely a highlight and S. T. Gibson did an amazing job with the world building. I loved how this book had multiple POVs I believe it really added to the story.

I’m not usually a fan of most books that are dated in earlier times unless they are Arthurian times but this was done so well I absolutely adored it.

Thank you to NetGalley, RedHook Books, Orbit Books, and S. T. Gibson for giving me the chance to read this as an ARC.

An Education In Malice-
My rating is 3 stars.

This is the follow up novel to A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibbons. Much like the first book, I found this particular book to be just…okay. One thing that I love about the author is their ability to create a truly dark academia/gothic atmosphere, which they successfully accomplished, again.

The prose in this novel felt forced, or rushed, often. I also failed to identify where the malice is in this story? Rivalry was easily identifiable but there wasn’t a clear stroke of maliciousness.

I really wanted to be swept away and immersed in this story and it just didn’t happen.

I received an advance reader copy and am leaving my review voluntarily.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024 and I was so excited to start it when I got approved for an earc through netgalley. I absolutely adored A Dowry of Blood and loved the inclusion of that world in this one. That being said, I am a bit disappointed in this. The beginning drew me in so fast and I stayed up late reading it, but about the halfway point I started to lose interest.

Carmilla and Laura had such a great academic rivals dynamic, but the transition to lovers was so fast that I feel like there wasn’t much of their relationship development shown. Carmillas POVs went from her annoyance of Laura to her infatuation so quick, there was never a true turning point in her thoughts.

De Lafontaine was so complex and the inappropriate dynamic of her relationship with Carmilla was done so well. But once Carmilla turned, I feel like the personality of De Lafontaine changed from a groomer to a jealous teenager. I also feel like overall there wasn’t much character development which is why I started to lose interest. A Dowry of Blood did such an amazing job with complex characters and their dynamics and I was expecting the same for this, but as the book progressed the characters didn’t.

The dark academia vibe was so well done and I would happily read another story within the setting. The plot had so so much potential and I truly wanted to love this so much. I think my expectations were just incredibly high after A Dowry of Blood, and while this was good it definitely did not meet that expectation I set.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for allowing me to read the digital arc of An Education in Malice in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was so excited to see that I was approved for An Education in Malice as I devoured A Dowry of Blood in 24 hours. At this point, S.T. Gibson might just be an auto-buy author for me as it took me a ridiculously short amount of time to finish this book as well.

My only gripe with it, is that i wish there was more of it. I wish we had De Lafontaine's POV as a lot of her decision making and thought processes happened off page. I wanted to know more about why she was who she was and why she did what she did. There was so much more room to get her fully fleshed out. She mentioned Carmilla was like a daughter but then it also seemed like she wanted to bone her but also at the same time was jealous of Carmilla and Laura.

It seemed like a lot of the character dynamics/relationships changed overnight. We had Carmilla going from seeing Laura as a threat to a love interest in what felt like overnight. We had De Lafontaine making a life changing decision in what felt like a short amount of time. I wish we had more scenes of Laura coming into her own in terms of being a domme and her faith. It could have used another 100-200 pages for it to feel fully fleshed out.

But that being said, did I still heavily enjoy it? Absolutely.

Did I read it in almost one sitting? Absolutely.

I loved my sapphic vampire and and human couple. I love Gibson's lyrical writing style. It kept me engaged throughout the novel and kept me wanting more. I was also happy to see some characters from the first novel make an appearance, especially since I felt like we didn't get enough of them in the epilogue.

I'll definitely be picking up a physical copy of an Education in Mal;ice once it releases.

“This was my last chance, my final opportunity to go back to my mundane little routine and forget everything I had seen and heard. 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. I couldn’t walk away from what I was being offered: the chance to live an exceptional life.”

An Education In Malice was absolutely AMAZING!!! I really adored A Dowry of Blood, and this second book (set in the same world, but not a continuation of the first book) was excellent. You don’t have to have previously read the original Carmilla novel, but I do think it added to the whole experience!

Gibson’s writing is so poetic and descriptive and I loved the Fall/Winter New England vibes, especially set in a women’s college in the middle of nowhere. The longing and lust that was portrayed was so beautiful, even in its toxicity, and I thought the plot was just there enough to push the story forward while maintaining the focus on Laura and Carmilla. One of the character from Dowry also shows up and that was a great cameo!!

This one is going on my favorites shelves!!!

🌈 Queer rep: main FF pairing (bi/pan woman, lesbian woman), brief mentions of MMF situation & MM relationship

An Education in Malice follows two young women away at college in the late 1960’s. Both of them are enrolled in an intense poetry class with a mesmerizing teacher whom them both desperately want to impress.
Picture House of Hunger but at a 60’s women’s college. Make it academic rivals to lovers, add spicy, sapphics and vampires and you get An Education in Malice.
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I’m giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. To be honest this book was just ok. For a book that wasn’t very long it spent a lot of time meandering and didnt keep me desperate to finish this book. While the pace did pick up at the end I found this book a bit disappointing. Our two main characters, Laura and Carmilla, were ok and the relationship they developed was expected and not boring exactly but it wasn’t anything special in my eyes. The teacher character that they were both so devoted to was tiring and I’m not quite sure how either girl could have been so dedicated to such a character.

**This ARC was provided by NetGalley and RedHook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to both companies for this opportunity.**

“For those who didn’t make it out the ivory tower unscathed: you have always been worthy.”

An Education in Malice by ST Gibson is one of my favorite books of 2023 and of 2024. I can’t wait to hold a physical copy of this book in my hands!

So, this story follows our two main characters, Laura & Carmilla, and their want to be their professor’s favorite pupil. If you love sapphic romance, vampires, all girls school, academic rivals to lovers, and a lyrical/gothic writing style then you will absolutely adore this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, S.T. Gibson, and Redhook Books for the ARC!

I wanted so badly to love this book. We have ✔ prof x student (kinda) ✔ age gap (again, kinda) ✔ academic rivals ✔ sapphic ✔ enemies to lovers ✔ vampires ✔ historic; *everything* to make a book extraordinary. The beginning of the book captured my interest immediately.

"She pulled her hair up with a pale blue ribbon, almost exactly the color of the veins showing through the delicate skin of her wrist. I lost myself for a moment in the vision of tying her hands together with that same ribbon, of forcing them down into a coverlet." This quote had me on my knees. This was the beginning of a very short segment of the FMC pining after the other FMC. There wasn't much depth to the relationship between Laura and Carmilla during which each longed for each other, but in an enemy kind of way (which is my favorite). I didn't get a sense of desperate longing, though I think the author was wanting to convey that. On the contrast, their actual relationship happened rather quickly and Laura asked if they were an item without the characters having spent much time together. I felt as if I were an outsider looking in on their relationship and only saw the surface level rather than being immersed in their world.

De Lafontaine was a complicated character for me. I enjoyed reading the confusing, yet captivating relationship between her and Carmilla. I wish we could have explored the mother/lover relationship further and have more development in Carmilla's back story with her mother to better understand the importance/desire for a motherly figure. Most times, De Lafontaine behaved as a jealous mortal rather than a perceptive 200 year old vampire.

The antagonist, Isis, felt as if she weren't even *really* part of the book. We had maybe a chapter or two on her, but again I am left wondering many things about her history and her perspective. She felt thrown in, like an afterthought, to induce some sense of suspense/thrill after she was awoken. Her presence made perfect sense as to why De Lafontaine was at Saint Perpetua, but after that it felt a bit forced.

But overall, I did enjoy the book! It was a short, nice read with many elements I love. The book was nicely paced and flowed well and was easy to follow. Gibson's use of poetry was a very nice touch and I loved the idyllic scene of a sapphic poetic atmosphere. Again, thank you to NetGalley, S.T. Gibson, and Redhook Books for the ARC! I am definitely going to read A Dowry of Blood next!

This is the second S.T. Gibson report I have read and enjoyed. I enjoy the pacing of the story and how it represents sapphic romance. Characters are lovingly hateable and the plot is fast paced.

sapphic romance u will never disappoint me! too bad i wasn't as invested as i thought i'll be with AN EDUCATION IN MALICE. it's like my previous experience with S.T. Gibson's book, i thoroughly enjoyed the beginning, however it went downhill as i continue. although this one was slightly better, it still wasn't mindblowing. i finished this book thinking, "that's it?"

it was just not for me. however, it might be a different case for u, so if perhaps u are interested in reading about two women and their obsession with one another, stay seated for lauracarmilla diaries 2024!

thank u to S.T. Gibson and the team for providing an arc

I'm really enjoying the resurgence of vampires and this book didn't disappoint. An Education in Malice is dripping in dark academia aesthetics. It gave a similar vibe to A Study in Drowning. So if you enjoyed that, be sure to check out An Education in Malice. I enjoyed A Dowry of Blood as well and am looking forward to Evocation!

3.5/5
First, I wants to start by thanking the author for including trigger warnings before the story. I think that’s really good practice, especially when dealing with some more sensitive topics.
Laura and Carmilla are academic rivals vying for the attention of their enigmatic professor. As relationships become more twisted and secrets get revealed, tensions rise and reach a tipping point when love gets thrown in the mix.
My focus mostly rested on the character of Carmilla. Her actions and personality felt so grating, but I wasn’t annoyed with her character. In fact, I liked her unlikeableness. Getting her POV was a treat, especially because of her self interest and where that stemmed from. Laura on the other hand was a little more mundane but went through some really interesting development from more of a timid character to someone that Carmilla often compared to goddesses.
The character of De Lafontaine was the most interesting to me, due to her air of mystery. We don’t know much of her past, nor are we ever sure of her motives. Her lack of a POV is intentional, her being so otherworldly and slightly above the other characters.
If the ending had gone out with more of a bang, I could see myself easily giving a higher rating. The ending felt like it was tied up too nicely for the subject matter of the story and the personalities of the characters. It was clear that Laura, Carmilla and De Lafontaine are people that attract chaos and misery, and the ending was the opposite of that. It was too neat for people who are so messy.
All in all, this was an entertaining story of enemies to lovers dark academia with vampirism woven throughout. If you read this, don’t get lost in the catacombs.

On the list of the tropes I’m currently into, dark academia and vampires rank fairly high. Add a rivals to lovers sapphic couple and I was interested. An Education in Malice didn’t hit the sweet spot that I was so excited for, and I found myself somewhat underwhelmed, but I loved the gothic atmosphere and the dynamic between the two leads, Laura and Carmilla.

An Education in Malice is a retelling of Carmilla, which I’ve never read, so I don’t know if a fan of Carmilla — or the modern day web series — would get more out of the characters and references than I did. I really enjoyed their dynamic — Laura, a shy wallflower, and Carmilla, outspoken and regal. I think the way their dynamic was explored was really interesting, and I would have liked to see more of it. A third wheel in their relationship is the writing professor De Lafontaine, and at the beginning it was shaping up to be messy (affectionate) — but it didn’t delve as deep as I hoped it would.

When I’m reading historical fiction, what I want to see above all else is that the voice feels historical and immersive. An Education in Malice takes place in the ‘60s, but the characters both sounded modern — they both had, for the most part, a fairly similar writing style to a lot of other new adult romance books. It threw me off. There are some of the gorgeous passages of writing I was looking for, but it doesn’t hold through the whole book.

S.T. Gibson really excelled with the vibes and atmosphere in this book — unfortunately I feel like the atmosphere and emphasis on the obsessive romance was prioritized above fleshing out the characters and the plot. Neither Laura, Camilla, or De Fontaine feel like fully realized characters in their own right, only in relation to each other.

I definitely urge Carmilla fans to give this a go. I liked An Education in Malice overall, but it didn’t stick in my head as much as I’d hoped it would.

Laura transfers to St Perpetua's College to further her passion of writing poetry. Upon her first day in De Lafontaine's class, she meets Carmilla, a senior who is the teacher's pet. After getting praise from De Lafontaine, Carmilla gives Laura the cold shoulder and the two begin a rivalry to become De Lafontaine's favorite.

This book wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I will say this is also my first dark academia so I may have simply been confused as to what that genre was about. I thought this book was going to be about magic, but it is definitely not. It is a book that includes vampires and A LOT of power difference. At points I thought the power difference was slightly over the top.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a vampire book lover, but probably not to anyone else.

3.75⭐️

A dark academia retelling of Carmilla set in the 1960s.

While not perfect, An Education in Malice was a great quick read. Perfect for anyone looking to satisfy a dark academia or vampire story craving. Featuring Vampires, Boarding Schools, and Enemies-to-Lovers, this story has a little bit of everything in it. I wish some of the characters had more of a backstory because they sometimes felt a bit one-dimensional. Overall I enjoyed this retelling and think anyone who enjoyed A Dowry of Blood will enjoy this one. Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you netgalley and redhook books for the arc!

DNF at 43%— i truly didn’t expect to despise this as much as i did since so many people have been raving about this author. unfortunately, this book is very cliche and juvenile and i couldn’t stand any of the characters. i truly do not care to read the rest of the story and find out what happens. at 43% in, i can’t even tell where it could possibly be headed.

the writing is very try-hard and the characters are very inconsistent. you’re telling me a person in 1968 who just immigrated from austria to the us speaks perfect english with no accent and never thinks about home?? ever?? also, something i hate about historical fiction is when it makes the most obvious mainstream references to the time period. like this book is dropping names like jimi hendrix, gertrude stein, kubrick, and of course, lots of references to hippies. i’m bored and im not wasting any more time on it.

I finished this book in one setting of five hours, that's how enthralling it was. From the first page, Gibson pulls you in using imagery and suspense. The dynamics and sexual tension are downright addicting. I will genuinely be surprised if this doesn't become a modern classic. As a huge fan of dark academia as a subgenre, this hits the nail on the head. If We Were Villians, MOVE OVER. 5/5

As much as I wanted to love this, to be entranced, sadly I felt this was only just fine. I'm not going to compare it to A Dowry of Blood because I never finished that book and don't plan to. But what this book wanted to accomplish and what I wanted it to accomplish didn't really happen. Laura and Carmilla are supposed to be rivals turned lovers. At first, I was interested in their rivalry. I felt S.T. Gibson did a good job capturing that mixture of lust, obsession, and loathing--at least, on Laura's end. It was Carmilla's POV, I felt, that didn't end up hitting the mark. Her relationship/obsession with De Lafontaine didn't exactly make sense to me. For starters, De Lafontaine oscillates between being someone who honestly bored me a little to someone that was unfathomably annoying. Carmilla's POV really needed to be more present in the book, I think, for me to buy the predatory nature of her relationship with her professor as well as why both Laura and Carmilla would be drawn to her. As it stands, I never bought that Laura felt anything beyond a faint disdain for De Lafontaine. Her presence is supposed to be this looming thing on the outskirts of Laura and Carmilla's burgeoning relationship. However, it didn't feel that way.

Then, there's Carmilla and Laura. Their jump from rivals to something like friends to lovers happened far too quickly for me to believe in it. I wish the author had taken the time to really ease into it. I never felt invested in their relationship, so by the time they actually got together, I didn't really feel much of anything.

I will say that there were parts of the writing I quite enjoyed, but overall this was really just a mid experience for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc from NetGalley.
S.T. Gibson is becoming one of the favorites amongst the vampire genre.
I give this book a 5 star rating due to the story about a girl who wish to be loved, though she was different in the ideas of sexuality in the 1960's.
she found it in her rival at school. her rival was entralled by their mentor. Theri mentor was an old old soul desperately in love with her mentor.
I loved it.