Unfortunately I DNF’d this book at 41% so my review will only be my opinions up until that point.
I think this book would be great for people who love poetry, dark academia and mysterious characters. Personally i have never ‘got’ or enjoyed poetry so that side of the book didn't appeal to me but I love mysterious characters and dark academia. I think for me to enjoy a book it needs to be gripping and i didn’t find anything up until the 41% mark to grip me or leave me wanting more and like I was dying to know what happened next, I feel as though up until the point I read, nothing really happened at all. I found the characters to be mysterious but at the same time not lovable or had anything about them to attract my interest. I still don’t really know what the book was about and I do feel as though at the point I read to I should be starting to see progress of a story for me to enjoy it.

I devoured this, the way Camilla wanted to Devore Laura.. I was hooked by chapter 3 the writing was so easy for me to just keep wanting to read. I loved Lauras character and her thoughts and i loved how Carmilla handled her worries. The ribbons coming back around, i just loved the characters. I was excited for tjis book and it lived up to expectations, i will be reading more of this authors work. Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. The budding relationship the teacher relationship what's not to love.

I'm nothing if not a Vampire romance girlie and S.T. Gibson’s "An Education in Malice" is a dark, seductive, and deeply atmospheric novel that delves into the intricacies of power, desire, and the supernatural. This gothic fantasy is set within the hallowed halls of a prestigious academy, where the line between academia and the occult is tantalizingly thin. With its compelling characters and hauntingly beautiful prose, Gibson crafts a tale that is as intellectually stimulating as it is emotionally gripping.

Gibson explores themes of power, corruption, and the pursuit of knowledge, questioning the ethical boundaries of ambition and the cost of uncovering hidden truths. The novel also delves into the nature of desire and the dynamics of power in relationships, particularly within the charged environment of the academy. The interplay between the academic pursuit of knowledge and the seductive allure of the occult creates a tension that permeates the entire narrative.

This book is a must-read for fans of dark fantasy, gothic literature, and anyone who enjoys a richly woven tale of mystery and intrigue.

Dark academia with a modern retellng of carmilla which is a favourite book of mine. This was dark, mysterious and intriguing with an interesting story and characters which were well written. Although the characters are mainly young they were well rounded and the dialogue not too immature.
The story flowed nicely and I had a good time reading this
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc

2.5/5

The way I absolutely loved the idea for this book, but I couldn’t, even when I really wanted to connect with it and its characters. I literally took a break from reading for two days after one of the major plot twists.. I think that shows enough how absorbed I was in the story.

A Dowry of Blood will always be one of my most beloved stories, but this one, at least for me, lacked that something that would make me love it. I simply didn't care, the characters were just fine, the plot bored me and I felt like something was missing here. Unfortunately, a bit of a letdown for me.

Also, not Marie Curie, but Marie Skłodowska-Curie.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for provding an ARC for this book!

Rating: 3.5, rounded down to 3

This is a book about two academic rivals dealing with their feelings towards each other, as well as a mysterious teacher that seems to be up to no good.

This was a very strange read for me. I really did enjoy it, though it wasn't my usual taste in books.

The plot was simple, which I think really worked for this story because the main focus was on character, and I do appreciate that. It's easy to end up doing too much and making things too complicated, and this book avoided that particular trap.

The prose was pretty good, again not my usual cup of tea and I wasn't obsessed with it, but if you are a huge fan of poetry and dark academia then you will LOVE this.

There's also a great example of sisterhood here, with really lovely platonic relationships as well as romantic. I always appreciate authors avoiding the horrible trope of women bullying each other for no good reason.

In the beginning, I was worried we were dealing with a heavy case of "not like the other girls", but I was pleasantly surprised to find this isn't the case. There are also some themes of religion and potentially some religious trauma, but this isn't really gone over in depth. It would have been nice to see this expanded a bit more, but I understand why it wasn't and I don't think it necessarily takes anything away from the story.

Overall, if you love WLW yearning, academic rivalry, and sapphics being sapphics in a dark academia setting, this is definitely the book for you. I have no complaints about quality at all- my lack of 5 stars is simply one of personal taste. This is also a book for you if you value vibes very highly in a book, or you want something that's easier to read and devoid of internalise misogyny.

An Education In Malice - S.T Gibson
Release date - September 3rd
Rating - 3.5 Stars

———

I didn’t know too much about An Education in Malice before requesting an ARC. Having recently read Evocation by S.T. Gibson and falling in love with the story, I was interested to read more of their work.

Gibson has a very unique voice with story telling. Everything feels like a treat for the senses. Every sight, smell, sound, touch is beautifully painted within a lush gothic, dark academia setting - with vampires!

When there is a romantic storyline, I often find myself wanting a dual POV, but often the characters voices end up similar and not distinct, merging into one, this isn’t the case with An Eduction in Malice, both Laura and Camilla’s voices are defined, well thought out and equally add to the story. However, one of the main reasons I didn’t rate this book 5 stars was it did feel like someone snapped their fingers, and our two enemies were almost instantly lovers. I personally prefer things to be more difficult and challenging, and this just didn’t feel like that.

All of this being said, I did really enjoy the story. It is very different from Evocation, and works well as a stand alone (I didn’t realise this book had connections to A Dowry of Blood). Gibson creates a wonderfully rich world. If you like Sapphic Romantasy, Vampires, Enemies to lovers and don’t want to commit to a series, this is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit and author S. T. Gibson for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After reading A Dowry of Blood by the same author, I knew the vibes of this book would be on point. This tale is dark and enthralling and is the epitome of the dark academia genre.

I felt invested in the setting of this school from the first chapter and the mysteries that it held. Laura was soon taken under the wing of her professor, De Lafontaine, and subsequently her life starts heading in a direction she couldn't have seen coming.

This is a tale of young love, infatuation, student obsession, sex and poetry. I really cannot fault the atmosphere created in this story and the aesthetics I was imagining throughout.

An Education in Malice doesn't shy away from the darker topics which really added to the atmosphere fo this book throughout. However, because of this, I would recommend checking the trigger warnings if you have any specific triggers to be aware of.

There were some complex relationship dynamics in this book which I enjoyed as they were very different for me. While I would have liked some more depth to the characters and more development before the relationships to make it more believable, I still found myself routing for the characters and wanting a happy ending for them.

Overall, if you enjoy character-focused dark academia books or A Dowry of Blood, I would recommend giving this one a try. I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Thank you to

"I decided right away that I hated her, hated her stupid bouncy curls and her soft-edged southern drawl and the little red notebook che kept scribbling in like a pastor's pet during a sermon."

Let's talk about an Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson. But, what is about this book?
Genre: fantasy dark academia
- fantasy dark academia in a collage
- rivals to lovers
- poetry lessons
- vampires
- polyamorous and sapphic relationship
- cameo from A Dowry of Blood

My rating: 4 stars, a must read!

Well, here we are to talk about this new reading!
First of all I wanted to thank Netgalley and the Little Brown Book group publishing house for giving me the opportunity to read this book many weeks before its release!

Let's start from the assumption that I saw this book on netgalley, I knew it was coming out soon and I started reading it because in November I read A Dowry of Blood, also by the same author.
Well, her first book was a shock for me, something that I had been looking for a long time to read, but that I didn't know I needed, both on a narrative level and in terms of style, completely vampire-like in the soul, dark, romantic and sensual. So, let's say, I jumped on this reading hoping it was at the same level as the first book, or even simply to rediscover what I had previously discovered.

This book is about our protagonist, Laura upon her arrival at Saint Perpetua's College, a purely and uniquely female collage that she specifically chose for Professor De Lafontaine's poetry course, which she incredibly managed to get into. One of the first people Laura meets is Carmilla. With her she establishes a rivalry relationship based precisely on this poetry course, a rivalry that will become much more over the course of the narrative.
Love for poetry, rivalry, romance, classics and lessons are what I found in this fantastic narrative with dark but never excessive tones, which remain in line with the places and themes addressed.

Personally, this time too like the first, I really appreciated the author's narration, how she decided to set up the story (this time I really appreciated the double POV of both protagonists which highlights their differences very well, but above all very useful for the study of vampirism and relationships), especially because the theme, that of vampirism, is the same as the other book, but here it is approached in a totally different way. So style is definitely something I promote but in the most absolute way!
I must say that the narrative here is a little more focused on the feelings of the protagonists than on the story, not that I minded it, but we certainly see fewer vampires than in the author's first book. This is not a problem because the romance is structured very well, in the right timing and with desire that grows little by little, until it blossoms into the description of a wonderfully written sapphic relationship.
I don't know what else to say other than the fact that I loved this book and it's a great read that you can relax with but also devour in one sitting!

Better than A Dowry of Blood, then? No, but it's equally beautiful, even if for me that, evidently, will not be surpassed yet!

4,5/5 stars

Firstly, I would like to thank Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read An Education in Malice in exchange for an unbiased review.

An Education in Malice is a retelling of the 19th century novella ‘Carmilla’ and a companion novel to ‘A Dowry of Blood’. Yet it can be read as a standalone. We follow Carmilla and Laura, two girls who are in an academical rivalry at an elite all-women’s college in 1960’s Massachusetts. Both girls are constantly striving to impress their mysterious poetry professor De Lafontaine. As the three of them grow closer, more secrets come to light.

This book was so good! I was immediately gripped by Gibson’s lyrical writing style and the way she captured the gothic and academic vibe. I liked ‘A Dowry of Blood’ as well, but I think I enjoyed this book even more. I really enjoyed the dynamic and the difference between the main characters, and I could relate myself to Laura. The character of De Lafontaine grew on me throughout the story.

Overall, this was a really good read. I kind of wished it was longer, so we’d get more time with the characters and more action. I can really recommend this if you read ‘A Dowry of Blood’ or other vampiric stories.

I devoured A Dowry in Blood by S.T. Gibson in just a few short hours. I adored it. I didn't think it would be possible, but I loved An Education in Malice even more!

This is a dark academia sapphic romance and retelling of the gothic novella Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a story about academic rivalry and obsession laced with beautifully written prose throughout. Every page reads like a love letter. It's simply captivating to behold. Just like its predecessor, An Education in Malice is atmospheric, lyrical, lush and seductive.

If you are familiar with her previous work, A Dowry of Blood, you will know Gibson creates gothic atmosphere, intimate longing, and romantic danger with such attention that you are lured into her beautiful writing and layered characters.

Dark fascination, deep and dangerous devotion, uneven power dynamics, haunting intimacy, toxic academic rivalry - all themes Gibson draws attention to in an evocative short book that draws blood. *wink*

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away because I think this is the type of book you should go into blind and just know it plays into what you might be familiar with from her earlier book - A Dowry of Blood.

This has to be one of the best dark academia settings I have read. Gibson’s writing style lends perfectly to this dark yet alluring genre and the inclusion of poetry taunts you with haunting connections.

“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.@

Also, as a side note, I’m currently studying queerness in my English degree and the signals and hints I inferred through that lens astounded me and opened me up to a new way of reading. Dyke hands, the ambiguity of poetry, immortalising youth, smoke blurring boundaries, jasmine flowers… Heck, the names Carmilla and Sheridan!

Why not 5 stars?
I think because sometimes the language and content felt too indulgent for me. Kind of like a fan fiction of lesbian longing and ecstasy.
The sexual content also is something that is not to my personal taste, but again this is more an individual preference.

They'd always been with me, these hungers. As a child I played villain in every game of "capture the princess"…

Thank you to Orbit for providing an arc in exchange for a review!

Well I should heed to the warning and steer away from this book after reading the author’s note but my curiosity and “how bad could it be” thought won so I read this book anyway. Let’s just say that this wasn’t for me:)

I’m not familiar with the original Carmilla story so everything was new to me. At first it was captivating and the vibe was immaculate. But when the things the author warned about starting to appear, it’s starting to get a little uncomfortable for me.

The story is very character-driven, thus made the plot seemed insignificant. But there’s no denying the consistent dark eerie and cold atmosphere throughout the book, so props to that. The writing also made the story still consumable for me even though I wasn’t a fan of the “tropes”

But yeah. It was definitely a reading experience.

"I wasn't obsessed, I was just curious"

Sapphic academic rivals vampires??? say no more.

"bloodstained love letter to ambitious girls,
allconsuming desires, and the agonies and ecstasies of academia" This description fits "An Education in Malice" perfectly.

I literally flew through this book, the story was so captivating, I was literally sitting on my a$$ and reading the whole thing in one go. The characters were so complex and well written. Perfect dark academia read for rainy evenings.

I loved "A Dowry of Blood" so much, I did a reread the next day, cus I wanted to annotate my physical copy, but I think I like "An Education in Malice" even better🤭

"Your best is not good enough Carmilla, not in a world of art. You must excell or else fade into obscurity"

~I'm still a believer, but I don't know why, I've never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try~

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for my digital review copy.

I absolutely adored this book. It's sapphic and inspired/a retelling of Carmilla and who doesn't love lesbians and vampires? I am wholeheartedly the target audience for this book in all it's dark, obsessive glory. I devoured it within 24 hours and if I wasn't at work, I could have read this in one sitting.

The writing was absolutely athmospheric and enthralled me. I could not put it down and spent far too long on a night reading it. It just got better and better for me as I read it. The plot was okay, and for the main mystery in the second half, we already knew what was happening, but the words used were just utterly mesmerising to me that I'm not really bothered by the slight abscence of substance.

I loved the obsessive threads woven into the overall plot and the writing of the intimacy between the characters (in both the sex scenes, and the non-sexual intimacy scenes).

This is a book that is going to stay in my brain and join the ranks of The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

I know I'm the target audience for this book and that my personal enjoyment of this book may be more than the average reader and that reviews are subjective and this will be one of those books where people adore it or think it was okay.

I know the contents of this book may not be for everyone, so please check the content warnings first. There is a list at the front of the book.

For context, A Dowry of Blood is one of my favorite books of all time. I consider it perfect in every sense of the word.
Of course, I soon as I heard S.T Gibson was working on a companion novel, it instantly became my most anticipated release of whatever year it was said to be released on, and you better be damn sure I ran to request An Education in Malice.

I will start by saying An Education in Malice, for me (why am I even writing this disclaimer? reviews are subjective. taste, and all that shit), doesn't top Dowry. Is that a bad thing? No. I think both are unique in their own ways, and that's a beautiful thing, but I will unabashedly say that one of the reasons I so dearly loved Dowry was the poetic, magic prose, and I felt that Education was lacking in that regard, at times. Mind you, it´s still gorgeous, leaping off the page and giving you a painfully vivid image of what it's like in the character's minds and worlds. Look, I read it in one sitting. Very few books capture me like that. It should tell you enough.

If Dowry was a confession, Education is a secret. It captures dark, destructive in nature obsessions in such haunting and visceral ways it will leave you raw and aching like our girls. Beautiful girls, dangerous girls, dripping with jealousy and repression and, who knows, maybe a little madness, living and loving and discovering. It reads like a fever dream; like you believe it's real despite knowing it isn't. That's what a great book is, ultimately.

And if my review is to tell you just one thing, let it be this: unravel Education's secrets for yourself, and enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with an ARC.

An intriguing delve into a dark academia esque world filled with control and longing. Overall I did enjoy this book and the building tension between Laura and Carmilla, but there were certain sections where my attention wandered that pulled my rating down. Nonetheless a great story!