An Education in Malice

Thank you Redhook Books & NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story is full of dark desires and secrets buried within a college town. Girls end up dead and all of a sudden there's an ancient evil vampire on the prowl. What would Camilla and Laura sacrifice to bring it to an end?

I enjoyed the dark twists and definitely the poetry aspect of the story. Given the romantic aura surrounding poetry and the history of it, it's no surprise in this setting it shines throughout. The author has a tremendous talent with words and the story as a whole was very well written.

The story unfortunately fell flat for me in the world building aspect, most of what you know about the school the MC goes to you only catch a glimpse of in the first chapter or two so you don't really get much a connection to the area. One other shortcoming and this is just based off my preference was the romance and relationships just felt rushed to me, the ‘enemies to lovers' plot didn't have enough time to truly burden me with the angst of waiting for the characters to connect. Whatever it lacks in small areas it makes up for in spice, there's plenty of it and I'd think something for everyone.

Overall it was a good read and I appreciate the opportunity to read it. It's a spicey sapphic vampire story, I don't really need to say more. I'd recommend this to those who are primarily searching for the spice or just a quicker read.

I wasn't sure what to make of this book at first. I loved Carmilla and the web series loosely based on it, so I was eager to give this a try. The poetry angle and dual POV threw me off however, but the latter wasn't too much of an issue. Nor the poetry, as that thankfully didn't take away from the story overall.

I did feel like the book dragged on in the first half, and was tempted to drop it after the sixth chapter. The whole "rivals to lovers" thing just isn't my thing, but I pushed on and I'm rather glad I did.

For me, the book greatly improved once Carmilla was turned, and the events around that really kicked things up a notch. It's just a shame it took so long.

Oh and uh...the sex scenes were very nice. 👍🏾

I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I ever would. I have never really been a romance reader, I prefer there to be a bigger plot with a touch of romance (if there even is any) but this book was so out of the norm for me. I loved the pining between the two girls and it just filled me with so much love. S.T. Gibson's writing just works so well for me and I'm sure I would love anything they write. This book has an extra soft spot for me beccause it takes place in Massachusetts, where I grew up and currently live. It does take place on the other side of the state that I'm from but having a Mass./Boston setting always raises my enjoyment of a novel. Plus the character cameo from A Dowry of Blood?!?!?! Absolutely loved this!!!






Thank you to Redhook for providing me with an eBook copy to review on NetGalley.

I read A Dowry of Blood by this author recently, and didn't love it. I thought I would try another book by her to see if I liked it more, or if this author just isn't for me.
Sadly, I didn't love this either. For me, 3 stars means ok. I think the writing is good, but I don't like the theme of these books which seems to be fear and love are the same thing. In both books, the MC loves someone and are terrified of them at the same time. Whether it's fear of abuse or fear of disappointing them, it's fear. It makes the characters seem weak. I'm just not a fan of those relationships at all. I'm amazed at how popular these books are. I like to read strong female characters, not these seemingly brainwashed pushovers.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.

An Education in Malice is a dark academia retelling of the classic novel Carmilla. We are following our two heroines: Laura, who is a naive girl who never steps out of her comfort zone (up till a certain point) and Carmilla, who is very competitive and strives to be the very best. We also have a teacher, De Lafontaine, who has a strange and inappropriate relationship with Carmilla

What this novel, in typical S. T. Gibson fashion, excels at is the prose. Her writing is always so beautiful, with so many hard hitting lines you want to underline while reading to come back to regularly. Gibson simply has a way with her words and I can't get enough of it. Along with the prose, I really enjoyed the setting and the atmosphere that the author created. The world was so easy to imagine and the gothic vibes were immaculate.

Sadly though, while I did enjoy An Education in Malice, it did not live up to my expectations – I thought it was a book to stay with me like A Dowry of Blood did, but sadly I don't think that will be the case. That is to say, the book is not bad by any means – it's good, just not quite as good as I had hoped.

The characters were memorable enough but nothing groundbreaking. I quite enjoyed Carmilla and her emotional reactions to things. I found that she felt quite real and I simply just wish the novel was longer to delve more into the psyche of these characters. Carmilla is a character I would simply love to have seen explored more, i wanna know everything that goes on in her head.
The romance starts out as rivals to lovers with a lot of lust and promise for a romance i could really get behind, but sadly it fell a little flat as the characters went from being rivals to being in love after a certain plot point with a sudden shift in their attitudes. The feelings between the characters just didn't develop organically, which (again) might simply be due to the length of the book. I still enjoyed the bond between the girls and many of their scenes, I just think it could've been so much more.

I think my biggest disappointment was the ending – the climax was way too convenient, resolved way too fast with minimal tension. I felt like there build-up was preparing me for something more atmospheric and cruel, but it felt very uninspired and rushed. I also disliked the fact that one of the characters did not face any consequences for all of the shit they pulled, it all just got resolved way too easily and conveniently for my taste. That is to say, I also did thing that Dowry wrapped up a little quick but overall I was way more satisfied with that ending.

I will also say that the dark academia aspect takes a back seat once vampire plot line becomes more prominent. You are still in the school setting but the academic bits and pieces take the back seat. That did not bother me personally, but i figured I will point it out.

All in all, it's a very solid read that simply could've been so much more. I see myself revisiting one day and one that i can recommend to anyone looking for a short sapphic vampire story.

Thank for Netgalley & Little Brown Book UK for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!