I really enjoyed this book the Vibes of this book were incredible I was having a great time I don't know how dark I would put it given that I don't read dark academia very often. But I have this very sensual vibe that I was just absolutely eating up. I listen to this on audio and I have to say some parts of the narration weren't my favorite but I do think that there was a distinct voice for each character which I enjoyed.

Thank you to the Publishers and netgalley A chance to listen to this audiobook.

How the hell did i not know this was a Carmilla retelling?! I don't think I need to say how much I loved this book. I mean dark academia, sapphics, vampires, and a retelling of my favorite novel of all time, I mean come on how could I not love this.
This mcs in this book have such amazing chemistry it practically sparks off the page. They are both cute and amazingly spicy in places. They go some really rough stuff but even in this dark book their relationship stands out in the best way. I definitely recommend this one!

I was given both an e-arc and an audiobook arc for this book via Netgalley thanks to the respective publishers.

The first half of the review will be book based, and the second half will be based on the audiobook. Even though I was given these in the exchange of a review, this is my honest thought on Education in Malice.

There are a few triggers and they did show themselves but it wasn't too bad or maybe they just didn't trigger me like perhaps others. This book does hit a few sexual taboos on the head like exhibitionism and minor voyeurism. But I knew to expect it as it was one of the triggers written. I read a review stating they 1 starred it because they had no idea there was sex in it and public sex at that, the list of triggers literally state this, obviously it wasn't read correctly. The sex scenes were dominant in the moments they took place but it was more of sexual tensions and thoughts vs the actual acts. The other thing I am reading some say it was Grooming, but perhaps it was now I think of it but at the time, I saw it as a very unhealthy odd mother/daughter relationship and nothing more. Cause those weird parent child relationships the children will do anything for that parent, in some cases even kill.

I will try to keep spoilers at bay. I have given this book 4💫

For those who are picking up this Carmilla, remagining; expecting it to be similar or a retelling as often remagining and retelling is confused. You will be disappointed, though I went into it knowing it was a remagining and Gibson did not disappoint! I truly enjoyed it and her vision of Carmilla and how to intertwine it and make it her own absolute perfection.

The story takes place in the late 60s. In an all girls religious college based in Massachusetts. This is what gives it the Dark Academia vibe, the old stone gothic buildings, the chapel, the catacomb like hidden passage, and tunnels. The fact was that it was a school. Though it only focuses on a one class really and then primarily private tutor lessons, its more of a background for the stage of characters Gibson has cast in her story of love, loss, betrayal, and death.

The story revolves around the main characters Laura, who comes to St. Perpetua's from the southern United States. Carmilla, an Austrian exchange student who came just for the courses taught by Ms. Delafontane. Who is a side character, but she has a main role to the plot of the book and a strong connection to Carmilla and eventually Laura.

Laura and Carmilla are rivals with underlying tension. The compete in Ms. D's courses, and within the girls at the course and for Delafontane's praises, admirations, and affections. These tensions soon let loose to a rivals to lovers romance. They both have a bit of "touch her and die vibe," too. Other tropes are touched upon and other dark desires, but I won't get too into them due to spoilers.

Now, the twist that happened Halloween night was NOT expecting as to what led the changing of Carmilla. Though it made for a good plot turn and story. It is around the same time St. Perpetua is home to a string of unsavoury murders and especially liked Laura's thoughts on the bathtub scene. The fact it seemed perhaps the killer had stayed with this one a little longer. Definitely hit a spot with my true crime, love.

Character building was good. I wish we saw more of Eleanor I know she is a very small side character role, but I went from hating her to loving her based on how she treated and interacted with Laura; from start to Thanksgiving. Didn't see too much of the other side characters. The star roles were the three I listed previously. The scene setting was great. I did wish for a bit more about the college aspect or the surroundings and more of what it was like, but overall, it was a decent execution.

The read was pretty quick read and flowed well, and the time jumps were seamless and not clunky like other quick paced books. Each end scene seemed pretty closed, and nothing left loose. The greenhouse scene at the end was what I was expecting per the plan, but also not at the same time. Had me feeling bad for Delafontane. The ending..... this had me a little more perplexed. It was like a cliffhanger and not at the same time, or at least that's what I gathered from it. Did she pick up the cup and drink, or did she not? I STILL NEED TO KNOW!!!!

Overall, S.T. Gibson did a fabulous job at taking an 1872 Gothic Novella and remagining it into something relatable and understandable to the present. Well done, and I recommend this read.

Now for the audio portion. This will be short as same as above but with length and narration rating.

Length is about 8hrs 22mins normal speed. So those of you who can listen to things while working or doing your errands this is definitely one you can finish in a day, maybe quicker if you're like me and can listen to things at faster speeds and still retain.

Narrator, she was okay. She lost her southern accent a couple times as Laura. Her Austrian accent sounded like a poshy British accent/old Hollywood. Her Boston accent wasn't very Hahvid Yahd sounding. It would drift in and out. This was more prominent in her voicing Mazie. The way she portrayed Ms. D was EXACTLY how I pictured her to sound. Though with dialogue between Delafontane and Isis, I did get confused about who was talking as their voices were identical, it felt like. Overall, she did a pretty good job at bringing the characters to life, though isnt my favourite narrator, at least the minor issues didn't break immersion. Which was great.

Lastly, during her normal speed of speech, I found it a bit too slow for me and my liking at 1x speed. For some reason, my brain processes recordings at normal speed
1x. Speed as if it's on slowmo. So I listened to Education in Malice at 1.75x speed, and it was perfect for me. She sounded normal speed to me and did t get all high-pitched and chipmunkie.

Thank you for reading my long review, I hope it helps you decide. Thank you to the publishers, Netgalley and Gibson herself. I truly did enjoy Education in Malice

Overall, I enjoyed this book. They showed the idea of generational trauma alongside the pain and confusion of grooming pretty well. The romance was very sweet, a rivals to lovers. The trigger warnings are very important, each of them are featured pretty prominently in the book so take note of that before you read it. I love WxW books and vampire books, so this was a fun read. I used the audiobook version of this book, and the narration was impeccable. The characters are all women, but I was able to understand who was talking at all times based on the narrator's tone and accent. She switched between characters beautify and made this an even more compelling read. She was also very clear in her speaking and has a very soothing voice. Staphanie Cannon has now become one of my favorite narrators for audiobooks and I hope to listen to her read another book soon.

Thank you for the e-audio of An Education in Malice. I requested knowing it was new adult, but I wasn't expecting for there to be consensual intercourse (which good always) but including in public?! That's a hard pass for me.

📚An Education in Malice 📚

Out: February 15th

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (3 Stars)
Steam: 🌶️🌶️/5 (a few scenes with graphic description)

Narration: the audiobook narration was amazing. The different voices for the two main characters made each chapter so good.

No spoiler review 👇🏻

This book was decent! It’s set in the 1960s at a women’s college. A writing professor is a vampire and some of the students get involved with her.

It’s an obsessive, gothic and sapphic read. I loved the writing in this. I read this authors book “A Dowery of Blood” and also loved her prose. It makes the story flow well. That being said I wanted more from this book. For a book about vampires it was a bit slow in the middle and wasn’t as dramatic or as interesting as it could have been. Overall it was an okay read, with great gothic vibes.

Thanks to Netgalley, Orbit and Hachette Audio for the advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

CW: blood, murder, violence, emotional abuse, body horror, grief,

An Education in Malice is a gothic, dark academia, sapphic romance, with vampires!
I loved A Dowry of Blood by this author a couple years ago so I was very excited for another dark read. This is a Carmilla retelling and it delivers on lush writing, desire, obsession, and power dynamics.

We have secrets and ambitions, dark magic, what starts off as a bit of an academic rivalry between Laura and Carmilla, a demanding poetry professor with a dark obsession and hold over Carmilla, desires. I really enjoyed the dark atmosphere of this story, I’m always down for a gothic read and the academia setting for this one really worked (it is set at a Massachusetts college in 1968). Each of the characters were so complex and interesting, I wanted more from all of them. They felt like the type of people/characters you can never truly know enough of because there are so many more layers to unpack.

While I didn’t love this one as much as I did A Dowry of Blood, I still so enjoy this author’s writing and storytelling. The characters and setting always work for me. I especially enjoyed the audio narration! I received an audio ALC from Hachette Audio via NetGalley, all thoughts in this review are my own. An Education in Malice is out February 13, 2024.

Modern retelling of Carmilla, a 1872 gothic vampire novella. An Education in Malice is a simple dual-pov story between Laura and Carmilla - two students at Saint Perpetua’s College fighting for their professor’s attention to be the best.

This is an enemies to forced-friends to lovers between Laura and Carmilla. This sapphic romance was a little bland for me, especially mid-way through. I think I enjoyed the idea of listening to this book, but I couldn’t pay attention to what was happening, or what actually wasn’t since the plot was so simple. I expected there to be more explicit content, but I appreciate that the blood sucking was consensual - consent is always important.

This dark academic love story takes a turn when De Lafontaine uses Carmilla, who would do anything for Ms. D, to resurrect De Lafontaine’s ex lover, and Carmilla turns into a vampire herself. Vampires aren’t enough - there’s a set of murders that takes place, and more mysteries to unravel.

Laura and Carmilla are infatuated with each other, and we see the lust and love between the two. Laura falling in love with an immortal and Carmilla in love with a mortal - a love that can’t last forever. The relationship that the girls have with their teacher is inappropriate, but there’s something satisfying reading about the battle for attention. This love “triangle” was slow but spicy.

I recommend the audiobook over physical copy. The narrator, Stephanie Cannon does such a lovely job bringing the characters to life with her voice. I think if I would have DNF-ed the book if I wasn’t listening to the audiobook. If you like dark academic and slow builds and slow burns with more character-driven plot than an actual story, then you’ll enjoy this retelling.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

I loved Gibson's debut, A Dowry in Blood, so I was extremely excited for this book, and it did not disappoint. Gibson's prose is wonderful as always, and she's particularly capable in crafting the atmosphere of her books.

The characters were fascinating, as were their dynamics, but the deep bond between Laura and Carmilla did not quite feel earned. In this sense, I think this book being a (very loose) Carmilla retelling actually works against it, as it feels as though Gibson uses the original book a bit like a crutch: I do not need to be sold on Carmilla being magnetic and charismatic, or Laura's deep, intense fascination for her because LeFanu's novel sold me on those things already. If I just look at the contents of Gibson's novel, though, I'm less convinced.

To be clear, though, An Education in Malice is a really good book, if not quite as good as the original Carmilla (which is a classic that has stood the test of time, so it's a really high bar to clear).

I listened to this in audio, and I think the narrator did a fantastic job, particularly on giving the characters unique voices that really fit them. The narration was a five out of five stars for me.

More of a dark academia spicy in parts romance than a horror novel, I still found it delightful. I think I'm a sucker for poetically beautiful writing and Gibson has that in spades. I was an ardent fan of Dowry of Blood, and this Carmilla retelling is steeped in lesbian longing. Totally for me. While I think some readers would be put off by some of the darker themes, (the book comes with a warning to be gentle with yourself) I think a lot of people will really vibe with the themes. If you've hung out on any social media and longed for an older woman to step on your throat you'll probably love this. Thank you for letting me have a chance to listen to the audiobook!

A whole lot of nothing happened in this book. This book was essentially all world-building and an attempt at dark academia, which might have been forgivable had the last twenty pages essentially thrust the two protagonists and one of the antagonists out of the world of academia.

I found both of the protagonists to be ungodly whiney, and so many of their interactions and reactions could only be described as giving me the ick. Should there be a follow-up to this novel, you won't find me on the edge of my seat waiting for it.

I was really expecting gothic horror vibes when I picked this up, but it has a lot more of a romance main plot than I was expecting. The horror/vampires are almost a side plot to the romance. Not a problem at all, just not what I went in expecting from the blurb. After I got myself in the right genre headspace, I was able to enjoy this a lot more. It's really a rivals to lovers romance, and it does that rather well.

Thank you as always to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an arc of the audio for An Education In Malice.

This was a 3/5 stars for me.

This story follows Laura who is studying creative writing in college, getting accepts into an advanced poetry class as a freshman is not small feat and as the story unfolds so does the continued competition to be the favored student of Professor De Lafontaine. Obsession, hate, love, and power thrum through this book.

I had really high hopes since I loved A Dowry of Blood and was hoping the writing style would be similar but it was quite difference. I did not really connect with the narrator but I enjoyed the Carmilla retelling it was hoping for a little bit more to grip me.

3.5 rounded to 4

AN EDUCATION IN MALICE by S. T. Gibson is a Carmilla reimagining that takes place in the 1960s at an all-girls private college in Massachusetts. It’s a dual-POV novel filled with sapphic vampires. This book is atmospheric and filled with dark academia themes (check the content warnings before reading!).

I very much enjoyed this book. I loved Gibson’s prose and character development. Where I didn’t naturally identify with and fall in love with the characters, I was still able to thoroughly enjoy this book. The academic rivals-to-lovers trope was done well in the beginning but lost a bit of steam once the two girls got together. There were several parts of the book that felt rushed, this being one of them, but it never brought me out of the story.

The narrator, overall, did a great job. Her accents and voices were great for each character. My one complaint is that she lost the accents a few times, which made some pieces of dialogue a bit confusing.

Again, overall, I very much enjoyed this book and am excited for Gibson’s next work.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

Dark academia and an enchanting tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hunger? Yes, please!

An Education in Malice follows the main FMC as she begins a college in Massachusetts, has a rivalry with another student, and vies for the attention of their poetry professor. Obsession, suspense, and poetic art are some of the main themes of this book.

This is the second book of S.T. Gibson’s that I’ve read, and I am always captivated by her writing. I love her poetic style and how she is able to capture the gothic atmosphere with her words.

I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator’s voice also really added to drawing me into this alluring world.

While I loved the story (I listened to this book in one day), I was missing something to really connect me with the characters and their character arcs. The relationship between the two main characters was rushed for me. I wanted more from the “to” in “enemies to lovers.” For me, it was rushed and abrupt.

I’d recommend this to anyone who loves dark academia, vampires, and just being drawn into a general gothic or eerie atmosphere.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing me with this audiobook ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Thank you Redhook and Hachette Audio for my free ARC of An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson— available Feb 13!

Read this if you:
🧛 can't get enough of the gothic vampire vibes
🩸 read and loved A Dowry of Blood
❤️‍🔥 enjoy a slow-burn atmospheric novel

This is a retelling of Carmilla, considered to be one of the earliest vampire novels, as it was published in 1871. S.T. Gibson sets her version in an isolated prep school for girls, where Laura is the new girl and she finds herself entranced by the beautiful Carmilla. Their professor is demanding and cruel, and the girls begin as academic rivals but blossom into something much more deadly.

So I read and enjoyed A Dowry of Blood, because the atmospheric quality of it was just exquisite. An Education in Malice continues this trend, chock-full of gothic vibes and dark tones. I found the story interesting most of the time, but S.T. Gibson is definitely an author that you read for the atmosphere, not the plot. I felt the ending to be a bit rushed after such a slow, steady buildup, but overall it's worthwhile if you're into retellings, vampires, and sapphic stories.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am divided between a 3 and 4, so let's say 3.5

Laura enrolls in Saint Perpetua's College because she wants to study creative writing. She does everything she can to enroll in the advanced poetry class with De Lafontaine, but she has competition, Carmilla, for the post of best student in class, or, at least, she has competition in Carmilla's mind because Laura is obsessed with her since the beginning.

I thought this book was going to be a dark academia story of professors abusing their students, student competition and a bit of vampires. Indeed the book has a professor playing favorites because they are obsessed with finding companionship for their eternal life and two students competing for their attention. What spoiled it for me is that the story was a bit rushed, like the enemies to lovers part happened too fast. Carmilla hated Laura but suddenly they are in love. Another problem for me, is that there might be too much 'salaciousness' (I don't know maybe I am becoming a prude, let me know in the comments) instead of actually building up to the romance part.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐️

Personally, i liked this book more than A Dowery of Blood, which is hard to say because i absolutely adore that book.
An Education in Malice really brought me into the story right away, and i couldn’t put it down. the entire book was read in 4 hours. Laura and Carmilla were such great characters, and i loved their relationship. De lafontaine was such a interesting character, and i enjoyed learning about her in the small bits i was given throughout the story.
My only grievance with this book is that some parts were a tad bit rushed, but it’s easy to look past.
This is a must read for anyone who loves queer stories. Please read this book. The cover being absolutely gorgeous is a added bonus.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit books for allowing me to read this book early.

An Education in Malice has been one of my most anticipated releases of the year. A dark academia version of Carmilla in the 60s? Sign me up.

An Education in Malice is told in dual PoV between Laura Sheridan and Carmilla Karnstein. Laura is a 20-year-old freshman at Saint Perpetua’s school, enrolled in a senior poetry class run by the demanding and vampiric Professor De Lafontaine (Laura’s governess in Le Fanu’s Carmilla). She yearns for the admiration of her professor over the clear class favourite, Carmilla, who has an inappropriate and all-consuming relationship with her professor. The two girls are pitted against the other, both vying for the attention of their professor, in a blend of toxicity and artistic genius.

I wouldn’t call this a retelling, it’s a transplant or even an AU (and I meant that in the most affectionate way). The elements of girlhood and obsessive relationships between women shines in this reworking. One of my favourite parts of this book is the delicate balance of what could be contradictory desires within her characters. Carmilla is simultaneously hyperindependent, worldly, sharp, cutting and incredibly needy.

“In her righteous indignation, she seemed like a wrathful goddess but now she sounded very much her age, a child chasing after the approval of her mentor.”

Laura is sheltered, sweet, eager and also incredibly needy. Gibson transforms her from her sheltered, upper-middle-class existence schloss in Styria to the epitome of Southern politeness and grace, which was a smart move on Gibson’s part. Ultimately, Gibson taps into the essence of Le Fanu’s Carmilla, it’s a story about yearning, obsessive love and neediness. Both young women yearn for love, friendship and each other. Laura and Carmilla do not become the fast friends of the original novella, but that doesn’t stop the obsessive infatuation they have for each other. Finally, we get the explicit sapphism that was denied in Carmilla.

It was toxic, messy and Gothic. I loved it!

This is the dark academia I have been looking for ever since reading The Secret History. Gibson’s strength is in writing is the atmosphere and her prose. I wish I had recorded more of the beautiful prose but as I often listened to it while driving I couldn’t. Her writing makes sure you feel New England's biting cold and the mist circling the character's ankles as they walk across the quad. You feel the same rage and injustice that Laura and Carmilla feel as they chafe against the binds put on them.

I have to shout out the audiobook narrator, Stephanie Cannon, who brought the book to life, effortless shifting between Laura's Southern Mississippi accent and Carmilla's refined Austrian accent, never confusing me with who was speaking or which PoV we were in.

This is a character-focused book that centres on Laura and Carmilla’s relationship, made all the more dangerous by vampirism which is used as a metaphor for artistic genius and the ideals of youth. The first half was addictive. The second half ramped up the plot, but there were times it was relegated to the background even as a murderer ripped through the school. I felt like the horror could have been amped up here as the reader knew who was behind the murder, but the focus was centred on Laura and Carmilla’s desire for each other. I wish there was a bit more of a sense of things closing in on our characters, and further challenging their dynamics. This occurred right towards the end but I wanted more of it. I also wanted the dynamic between Laura, Carmilla and De Lafontaine to be resolved a little more neatly but I suppose relationships like those depicted aren’t always neatly resolved, I just wished that it culminated in a breaking point.

Overall, this is an amazing take on Le Fanu’s Carmilla and even with the things I wasn’t sure of, this is a book I highly recommend to most people. It is beautifully written, I adore Laura and Carmilla and the atmosphere is top-notch!

*3.5 rounded up*
Thank you to NetGalley and Hatchette Audio for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

As a fan of S.T. Gibson's first novel, "A Dowry of Blood," (which I recommend to anybody and everybody looking for an interesting queer retelling of "Dracula") I knew that I needed to check this out. I missed the mark for the book arc, so I thought I'd try the audiobook arc.

In "An Education in Malice," Gibson takes us to the dark hills of Massachusetts to Saint Perpetua's College, an isolated and ancient school not for the lighthearted. We follow Laura Sheridan as she begins an academic rivalry with the mysterious Carmilla. Amidst their rivalry, we become acquainted with their poetry professor, De Lafontaine, and her own obsession with Carmilla. Bloodthirsty takes on quite a literal meaning in this explicitly queer dark academia retelling of "Carmilla."

I gotta say, even in audio, Gibson's gorgeous and lush prose shines through. No hate to the narrator, but sometimes I found her lacking in being able to communicate some of the lines that their professor would say, especially towards the end when everything was resolved. Storywise, I think this was weaker than Gibson's previous book. For one, once the relationship between Laura and Carmilla was initiated, the tension disappeared. They had so much tension leading up to the culmination of their relationship and it just seemed like it was nonexistent. The story itself was kind of bare bones and it seemed that this was definitely more of a character-driven narrative but even then, I found that towards the end, I was really speeding up the narrator because things just felt so not serious. Like it felt like all the stakes were gone and not that important.

I wouldn't say that I was disappointed because I still give this a 3.5. Gibson's writing is still quite lovely to hear and I enjoyed how they interpreted the general story of "Carmilla." Put anything into a dark academia aesthetic college for me and I'm sold. I also found both Laura and Carmilla's perspectives interesting. It just fell apart in the final like five chapters.

Overall, I'd still recommend this. Especially if you've read the original "Carmilla," I think you'd enjoy this for the attempt that it does. I enjoyed how explicit the queer relationship was in this retelling versus the implications of the original and the characters were intriguing.