This was such an incredible book I loved it so much. I devoured it so quickly and couldn't put it down

I feel like when you debut (?) with something as perfect as A Dowry of Blood or at least when you publish another work after it, it’s a tough challenge to write something as good or even top it.

AEIM was really good. I loved the beginning, the animosity/rivalry between Laura and Carmilla was exciting. It’s the “to lovers” part of rivals to lovers that just didn’t quite meet my expectations. I didn’t really believe that their connection ran as deep when they (is this a spoiler?) got together.

Anyway, the writing was gorgeous, no doubt about it. I just wish I could love the story more.

Lovely prose, some really great descriptions, and a memorable atmospheric historical and geographic setting. Wasn’t very taken in by the insta-love between our leads, and I felt the focus on vampirism was at odds with the romantic elements (rather than working in tandem). I know this is a companion of sorts to A Dowry of Blood, and I feel the style of that book worked better. Overall, this book left me hungry for more drama, suspense, and scare.

An Education in Malice was a dark academia setting with secrets at every turn. This was a lovely addition to A Dowry of Blood. I enjoyed the student x professor dynamic more than I anticipated. The possessiveness that each of the characters had for each other was interesting. The first 3/4 of this book was evenly paced, but the ending felt rushed and came to a very sudden ending. Overall, this was an intriguing read that captivated me until the very end. 4/5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I read A Dowry of Blood earlier this year, and have been patiently waiting for a chance to read An Education in Malice. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Honestly this book blew me away. Between representation, the prose, and the story overall S. T. Gibson will always be that instant buy author for me!

An Education In Malice

4 and 1/2 ✨

This Carmilla reimagining serves as a companion novel to A Dowry of Blood but can be read as a standalone novel. Taking place at a women’s college in Massachusetts in the 1960s, Laura enters into a competitive poetry program taught by the alluring Professor De Lafontaine. Laura quickly catches De Lafontaine’s favor, inadvertently starting a rivalry with De Lafontaine’s stunning and cruel protégée Carmilla. Laura is quickly consumed by De Lafontaine’s world of art, secrets, and bloodlust.

I was swept into this story immediately. It is lush, atmospheric, tense, brutal, stunning, and at times downright horrifying. I loved the long lectures on poetry and art and the setting of Saint Perpetua's College added so many layers to the plot. I adored watching the loathing and longing between Laura and Carmilla bloom into something more as their worlds are turned upside down by the secretive De Lafontaine.

This novel is written in split points of view between Laura and Carmilla. Both women are layered and complex: competitive yet devoted, fierce but gentile and the dynamics between them is one of
my favorite aspects of the story.

Like in Dowery of Blood, S.T. Gibson utilizes vampires and the gothic horror medium as tools to explore the complexities of passion, obsession, and toxicity.
This is a book I won’t soon forget and I highly recommend it for fans of vampire literature, dark academia, and gothic horror.

S.T. Gibson continues to an auto buy author for my library. Along with dowry, malice has been added to my list of books that curate my personal taste and has become core to my reading preferences.

God I loved this book so much. A Dowry Of Blood remains one of my favorite books ever and this gave me that same addictive feeling. I'm not usually a dark academia fan, but this was the perfect amount in a book for me.

Laura is a passionate writer who travels to Massachusetts to study writing and meets Carmilla, her new rival, as well as De Lafontaine, the enigmatic poetry professor with dark secrets. The three become very close as those secrets come to light.

I related heavily to Laura and her rivals to lovers arc with Carmilla was everything I could've asked for in a sapphic romance. Even De Lafontaine grew on me despite how toxic she was in the beginning. I loved the choice she made at the end, Dracula could never.

The Dowry of Blood cameo was perfect, I was so happy to read about that character again, even if I would've loved to see the others as well. The book hangover for this is going to be brutal. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Hmmm, this was definitely a lot different than the first book. If I would’ve gone into it without expecting it to be comparable to A Dowry of Blood, maybe I wouldn’t have judged it so harshly, but this was not a good second book at all.

The insta-love between Carmilla and Laura was just too cheesy. And here ST Gibson is, yet again, giving incestuous vibes with ANOTHER set of characters… Carmilla and De Lafontaine’s relationship is so weird (I know it’s meant to be, but the romantic mother-daughter relationship they have is disgusting and was done in A Dowry of Blood as well between Constanta and Alexi.

Overall, there was not a lot going on in this book. I feel like I was missing part of the story. I can’t give a summary, because I’m not really sure what happened. It wasn’t atmospheric. And it was nowhere near as lyrical and beautiful as the first book. Such a let down, but do feel very lucky to have received this ARC. Full review will be posted on release day on Goodreads.

This was a book I normally won’t have picked up on my own unless someone convinced me to read, which is precisely what happened and I’m glad I did. This would be my second book read from this author. The first being A Dowry of Blood which was just spectacular!

This book is a gothic dark academia retelling of Carmilla. Lots of trigger warnings involved so look that up before reading!

The story took a dark turn, with a particular relationship between two characters bordering on the grotesque, leaving me both fascinated and repulsed. One of the redeeming aspects is the character growth of Laira. Her development throughout the book is one of my favourite moments.
The prose is lush, dark, and entrancing to the twisted events unfolding within the book. The story itself is a wild and entertaining ride albeit slightly disturbing but I couldn't stop reading - If that makes sense to you...

The ambiguity of the ending adds a layer of complexity to the story while leaving room for interpretation.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and most of all the ambiguity of the ending!

Thank you, NetGalley and Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“Some things are better left dead.”

Taking place in the same universe as A Dowry of Blood, An Education in Malice is a gothic horror dark academia tale with vampires, secrets, love, control, and obsession.

Set in a private all girls school in Massachusetts, Laura and Carmilla are bitter rivals with complicated feelings for each other. When both girls are drawn into the alluring world of their possessive poetry professor, things start going bump in the night around campus. As their classmates start to disappear and secrets unravel, Laura and Carmilla have to decide how much of themselves they will sacrifice for their professor, their education, and each other.

This story explores toxic relationships - so make sure to check the TW.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. An Education in Malice comes out on February 13th, 2024.

Sultry, harrowing and atmospheric. This is the sapphic dark fantasy of my dreams.

This book drips with yearning. The way S.T. Gibson layers prose and emotion is lyrically genius. The characters are complex, the want is palpable, and the risks keep you on the edge of your seat.

I finished this book in a day and it instantly became a top read of the year.

I truly love S.T. Gibson’s writing. This is a gothic dark academia retelling of Carmilla.
It’s a rivals/ enemies to lovers, but in a toxic and twisted way where it evokes discomfort from these characters that are so incredibly layered.

Along with characters that truly I really did enjoy, is what I thought was the star of the book, the setting. Gibson really built the world perfectly where when the supernatural components came into play, you just sat there like, yes, this makes sense.

the prose> the vibes>
If you loved a dowry of blood, you’ll love this.

An Education in Malice is a dark academia retelling of Carmilla and is supposed to be a sequel to S.T. Gibson's previous book, Dowry of Blood. I had not read Dowry of Blood before reading An Education in Malice, and I feel as if it can be read as a standalone. The main thing I loved about this book was the writing. The author did a phenomenal job with the writing style and the atmosphere she created within the book. The book was a quick read that was easy to read. Some areas where the book fell short were the character development and feeling rushed at times, especially toward the end. I also felt like the book was mostly a romance book with little plot outside of that. Overall, this book was good; I would rate it 3.5 stars out of 5. I will definitely be picking up other books by S. T. Gibson in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a bit anticlimactic for me, however, but I read a lot so it seems to be more common these days.

For me, I think Laura took to the whole vampire thing a BIT too easily. Ms. D was like "so this is happening," Laura basically went "okay neat." No one tried to hide anything, which I guess is fine, but you didn't tried to hide it at all! Lots of trust REAL fast.

I have never experienced a faster and easier vampire transition in all my days. Barely a struggle. Just some blood and POOF! Vampire.

I didn't really care for Carmilla the longer the book went on. I enjoyed her most when she was strong and fierce and feisty. She seemed a little weak and meager the longer the book went on.

I think the ending could have done with a bit more suspense. We all knew Ms. D wasn't going to turn on the girls. I don't think her relatioship with Isis was touched upon enough to make me think that she would do that.

Overall, it was fine. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and RedHook books for allowing me access to an eARC in exchange for my review.

Goodness. This book was such a great read. I'm going to need to stew over this one. I so wish I had a physical copy because this book feels as one I need to annotate.

The writing style of S. T. Gibson (as always) is stunning. It flows so well and has such a lyricism that I absolutely adore. The tie into poetry really allows the prose of this book to excel in the writing style because it just feels so "right." I would devour any future books S. T. Gibson writes like this one.

This way be a "sequel" to Dowry of Blood but I don't think you can go in expecting it to be a sequel. We get a bit of a cross-over but this book stands entirely its own.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC! This was so greatly appreciated.

This is a dark academia retelling of the classic Carmilla, set at a girls' college in Massachusetts. It features vampires, academic rivalry, questionable student/teacher relationships, and sapphic romance.

I read A Dowry of Blood and so was THRILLED when I heard about this, especially knowing there is a an appearance by a character from ADOB. The dark academia elements of this book are fun and very atmospheric, but this book ultimately did not deliver how I had hoped it would. Laura and Carmilla started out as interesting characters, but they never felt fully fleshed out to me. For such a character driven book, that is disappointing. I didn't enjoy how rushed their relationship felt, and how fast infatuation happened. I found myself mostly annoyed with De LaFontaine and not at all interested in her character, which sucks because she could've been really interesting.

I did find it to be very readable and a quick read, but I just wanted more from this story. The villain was lackluster and thwarted too quickly and easily I felt. I did enjoy the ambiguity of the ending, however!

I'm honestly not sure what to think about this book. It was a compulsive reading experience and a quick read. Very much a character study with little plot. Some dark academia elements, especially at the beginning, but those don't carry through the book, especially as the focus really narrows in on the main characters and their relationships. Their obsessive relationships. This is a book about obsession and giving in to those darker parts of yourself. The characters would say it's about love, but it's a very twisted love. Some highly erotic scenes. Definitely check content warnings (the author provides them at the beginning).

I really enjoyed A Dowry of Blood, but this one didn't live up to that one for me.

An Education in Malice is book two in A Dowry of Blood series by S. T. Gibson.
A fun and entertaining story,
This dark and lyrical book was beautifully written.
This story was enthralling, atmospheric & compelling .

Thank You NetGalley and Redhook for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A re-telling of Carmilla that seems aligned with some other more recent retellings.

The characters are given agency here, and allowed to explore the darkest parts of themselves. Laura, seems to know exactly who she is and isn't all that constrained by her religious upbringing (nor that she actually seems excited about following it as a vocation). Carmilla is a bit less sure, obsessive and craves validation. Their teacher is the epitome of predator (embodied by one of literatures apex predators but her behavior can be the same for even mundane folks in powers of control and authority).

The book mostly centers on Laura and Carmillas rivalry and relationship, which is interesting but doesn't tread new territory. It's well written and moves along but it's far more character driven then plot driven.