Reviews with content warning for Death - An Education in Malice

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An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

67 reviews

jems_'s review against another edition

4.75

I was provided an audio ARC of this which was the very first audiobook I ever finished!

I had heard about this book before, as well as the author’s other work, though I had not read or otherwise consumed any of it myself so far. This was thus my first encounter with S.T. Gibson.

That said, listening to this was a very pleasant experience. The narrator, Stephanie Cannon, did an amazing job of the voices and has a beautiful voice. Multiple times I went back in the audiobook to hear her narrate professor De Lafontaine because it sounded like an entirely different person. It greatly helped immerse me in the story.

Going into this, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect of the story, especially the relationship between the professor and her students. On that, I am still not entirely certain what I think, though although strange, technically nothing too damnable happened in that aspect which I appreciate. (By damnable I‘m mostly referring to anything explicit since I don’t know how I would’ve felt about that. That aside the relationship was still really toxic! However, I don’t think the book acknowledged it as anything but if I‘m not mistaken which is important.)

I did really enjoy the relationship between Carmilla and Laura. As a very loyal and faithful person myself, unfaithfulness is generally something I can’t tolerate and there was at least one instance in this book that tested me in that regard. However, surprisingly it didn’t make me drop and dnf it like I would other books until now so that definitely says something. I think the other party‘s reaction influenced my own reaction to it as well, but that’s as much as I want to say on that to not spoiler too much!

Overall, I enjoyed the narrative style and the writing as it was read beautifully was nice and not too complicated. The characters were fleshed out with interesting, albeit a bit strange dynamics, though those were a big point of the story anyways and weren’t supposed to be the most healthy.
In my opinion it was a very nice experience and I‘m very grateful I got approved for this ARC!

Content Warnings

danaburrreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

heather_harrison's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you NetGalley, Hatchette Audio & S.T. Gibson for this audio-arc of An Education in Malice in exchange of my honest review.

Last year I devoured both Le Fanu's Carmilla and S.T. Gibson's previous work A Dowry of Blood - so needless to say I had high expectations of this going in.

This retelling follows Laura's arrival at Saint Perpetua's College, as she finds herself immediately falling into an academic rivalry with classmate Camilla, both of which are under the thrall of the capricious and mercurial poetry professor, Ms. De LaFontaine.

I enjoyed the alternating chapters between Laura and Camilla. The narrator did well to distinguish between the two voices, however I felt that as the novel darkened it became harder to tell. While this definitely is in line with the events of the story, it did make it a bit harder to follow.

Read for:
- Dark academia
- Sapphic vampires
- Academic rivals to lovers
- Dark romance & horror blend

The book starts with trigger warnings - which was definitely useful.

The romance and spice were liberally blended, and were also heavily tied to many triggers - however the exploration of trauma, grooming, and obsession was accurately toxic in the best possible way.

This is definitely not going to be everybody's cup of tea - but I devoured this in two days, and honestly wished I could have finished it earlier.

"I felt certain I could perish like this. Suffocated by her thighs and die perfectly happy."

- An Education in Malice.

Content Warnings

mariebrunelm's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ARC provided by the editor via NetGalley.

It is Laura’s first year at Saint Perpetua's College, and she has been admitted to the very closed circle of Ms De Lafontaine’s poetry class. There, in addition to the heady blend of poetry she has to absorb and create, she faces the immediate hatred of one student, Carmilla, the teacher’s favourite. A web of secrets links the prodigy student and the professor, one that hints at something not entirely proper. Soon, Laura finds herself drawn into the tight circle of their relationship.

This dark academia novel / romance had all the vibes. It felt gothic, rather sexy, dangerous and morally very gray. The relationship dynamics were probably the highlight of this book as it explored the trope of rivals to lovers as well as power abuse in academic settings. I felt these were well executed, introducing a lot of tension from the former and a lot of “ugh please no” from the latter. I was thoroughly enjoying myself and couldn’t put the book down. When I did, however, I felt a little frustrated. I think I wanted a little more from it, especially because of the novella S.T. Gibson drew from — Carmilla. That being said, the original piece is very short and suggests more than it takes a deep dive into its themes, so maybe that’s fair for An Education in Malice to do a similar job. The fact that I wanted more from it probably stems from the fact that I was really enjoying myself, and that’s a good thing.

Rep : bisexual MC, lesbian mid-size MC.

Summary of the CW listed at the beginning of the book: power abuse, inappropriate relationships, toxic academic environment, blood, gore, murder, consensual sexual content (very spicy), alcohol and drug use, smoking.

Content Warnings

bookboxbabe's review

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

*thank you netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

oh boy…ummm, where do i start? *sweats nervously*

this was such a letdown. i was so excited to start reading this because even though i hadn’t read a dowry of blood, i had heard amazing things.

unfortunately, this book was, shall we say, not good.

the prose is overly flowery, the plot was virtually nonexistent, the characters were bland and i didn’t care about what happened to any of them, and the conflicts just never really felt fleshed out enough for me to care

also, the vampire aspect could’ve been taken out and nothing would’ve changed. like the vampirism was so non-important that i’m struggling to see how this was a “carmilla” retelling, aside from the name

Content Warnings

heathersinkwell's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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!

Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I read, and loved, A Dowry of Blood when it came out a year or so ago. So when I saw this sapphic dark academia vampire situation from Gibson on NetGalley, I requested it immediately. And I was hype (thanks Orbit) when I was approved for an eARC. Then I saw it was a sorta retelling/inspired by Carmilla, which I'd had on my TBR shelf for a little while, so I decided to read that first, for full context. And then, finally, I was able to jump into this. And let me tell you....it delivered.

I'm behind on reviews, so I'm borrowing/adapting from Goodreads for this synopsis: Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua's College. On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla. As their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own hungers. And now that they're deeply tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla (individually and together) must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge and art.

Alright, I said this novel delivered. Now, let me tell you how. The vibes hit fast and hard and early and they are spot on, as far as the Carmilla source material and the general sapphic, gothic, dark academia that the blurb promises. It's definitely there in the setting: rural New England all girls school with enigmatic professors and women budding into adulthood expressing themselves in poetry and cult-ish style ceremonies and parties. And of course it's in the plot: academic rivalry and sexual exploration/coming of age and the mystery of De Lafontaine's presence at the school and, of course, all the vampire situation. I'm trying not to spoil anything here, but the dramatic and "ending the cycle" storyline related to these vampiric relationships was so well done.

On that note, the real and true highlight of the vibes was the characters and their relationships with each other. The toxic emotional manipulation, the combative attraction and inexorable pull of antagonism that turns to desire, the casual cruelty, the jealousy and loneliness and suppressed feelings, the mercuriality of all three MCs (Camilla and De Lafontaine and even Laura) was developed so well. It's all unhealthy AF and yet utterly mesmerizing and somehow I found myself still cheering(?) for all three of them. These relationships were exhausting to read and yet I could not, didn't want to, look away. Phew. There is a fascinating questioning of whether love almost cannot help but turn capricious, when one lives forever (can boredom be avoided when one has that many years) OR whether it is just that those who are naturally capricious are the ones yearning for, and thus finding/choosing, that forever life. I got some very real Spike and Drusilla feels from that and, since I cannot help but love Spike and Drusilla, made this reading experience that much better for me.

A few other things really stood out to me that I want to mention as well. I loved the flipping of control, of who does the "debauching" here, as compared to the original Carmilla. While Carmilla herself still has the outer appearance of rebel and "bad" influence (and of course still introduces Laura to the vampiric side of the story), and Laura’s facade is still quiet and demure, we see a real power balance flip in their actual relationship, with Laura taking charge and Carmilla submitting. And I was absolutely here for that. I got a non-traditional sort of polyamorous complex-and-not-always-healthy relying on each other (and yet in the end that connection prevails for a safe ending) among our three MCs that was reminiscent of A Dowry of Blood, in some ways. I didn't hate that call back, since I really enjoyed that story. I was also really satisfied with the ending: a breaking of a cycle, but recognizing and keeping the “good” parts of the “darkness” lifestyle. Plus, in a smaller way, I was particularly pleased with the way the story ends for Laura: with a choice, but no clear decision, with a coming into her own and the freedom in owning who she is, no matter which path she takes. It's the exact right "open-ended, darkly hopeful" vibe that fits with the rest of the story and the fact that, with immortality in the mix, there can never be a real ending anyways.

Overall, this was everything I wanted it to be. There were some new twists and different directions, but it remained, at its core, a spectacular version of exactly what it promised. And I am so, so sated by it.

"Love and pain grew in a thorny grove inside me, impossible to disentangle from one another."

"I learned how to survive in the cutthroat world of girlhood, where all strangeness was unrooted as ruthlessly as weeds from a garden."

"She was the kind of woman I would have liked to grow into; confident and poised and aesthetically cohesive."

"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."

"We were happy, for a time. But love rots and spoils, it disintegrates with time like a rose in a vase, and soon there was nothing between us but animosity and arguments and the resentfulness of having to rely on each other."

"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."

"Pure desire, distilled down into a heady elixir. It was to be, I realized with a creeping sense of dread, the rest of my life."

"I felt like the burning sun at the heart of the universe, the white-hot center of gravity, and Carmilla was every orbiting star. She was the velvety expanse of space wrapping around me, the kiss of asteroid dust against my exposed skin."

"Relief at being loved and the anticipation of being handled as though I was anything but pooled warmly in my stomach."

"She was in love, and that was dangerous. After all, what horror wouldn't I tolerate, if it was meted out by the hand of my beloved?"

"The world was more enchanted that I had ever dreamed, but it was also more terrible and strange."

Content Warnings

phoricho's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was my introduction to dark academia and also S.T. Gibson, and it did not disappoint.

Gibson writes such individual and layered characters, and it really shines through. Although the main cast of characters is quite small, they are realistic and complex, each with their own struggles and journeys that, at times, align with each other and, at others, conflict. This creates extremely complex relationships between them.

Although told in dual POV, this book is narrated only by Stephanie Cannon, who did an incredible job. Cannon didn’t just read, she put on a performance. Distinguishing the characters with different accents not only helped to know whose POV I was in but also added to the depth of the characters and the overall immersion of the story. At first, I didn’t even realise that there was only one narrator.

Some of the themes in the book include the exploration of sexuality and desire, discovering who one is as a person, complex relationships and power dynamics, the dangers and consequences of getting what you want and losing yourself in obsession. These were such powerful themes that each character explored in their own way.

Overall, I loved this book. Even days later, I still find myself thinking about it. It’s the perfect book if you love dark academia, complex characters & themes, and a dark, twisted and thought-provoking story.

CW/TW: Uneven power dynamics, inappropriate relations between professor and students, toxic academic environments, blood, gore, murder, consensual sexual content, public sex, kink (negotiated and spontaneous), alcohol and drug use and smoking. Brief references to racist political policies, homophobia, and religious discrimination against women.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for sending me this audiobook for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Content Warnings

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

In the interest of full disclosure, this review is specifically regarding an ALC copy of the audiobook from Net Galley, so while I imagine this audiobook was pretty close to finalized, some details may have been changed between my copy and the official release.

If you’re interested in sapphic adult romance, dark academia aesthetics, intense relationships, and vampires, I think this book is worth the time. My usual strongest vs weakest aspect evaluation is a little different this time: they both deal primary with character dynamics. The strongest aspect of this is the core relationship between Carmilla and Laura, from rivalry to infatuation; the weakest, to me, is the failure to really bring the subplot about Carmilla and De Lafontaine’s relationship to a meaningful conclusion. I would have really liked for the book to get more into dark academic themes and historical (1960s) elements; they work fine as set dressing for the novel, but I feel it would go from a good book to a very compelling one if those elements were more developed. I’m very interested in checking out the author’s other work.

The narrative at hand is coherent overall, but it did leave me wanting. It feels a little undercooked. I enjoyed the overarching development of Laura and Carmilla throughout the narrative as individuals and as a pair, growing from rivals to friends to lovers. The dynamic shift after Carmilla’s transformation in particular is very interesting. Character voice was compelling, particularly in conjunction with the stellar narration of the audiobook. The extended cast wasn’t really memorable, though for the purposes of this book, I think that’s just fine.

The secondary plotlines, I think, could have been bolstered some to really make this book feel complete. It sometimes feels like the Isis subplot was only put in to justify

Carmilla’s transformation

, and was otherwise rushed over. I feel like the dynamic between

De Lafontaine and Carmilla

is realistic

to one where someone is being preyed on by a person in a position of power

, and as a result, I find the conclusion to that relationship very unsatisfactory. It does feel like the author is trying to portray it that way, but I feel like the amicable ending to it just doesn’t track, especially with how

emotionally abusive De Lafontaine was towards Carmilla for a majority of the book

. I think the dark academia aspect would be heightened beyond its aesthetics if the story actually delved into the weeds

of how much power professors have over their students

The writing style is very well-developed and characteristic, being one of the better parts of this book. The use of visual and sensory description is, for the most part, poetic and pleasant, but I’d have enjoyed more being present. Some of the themes were strong and well-incorporated, particularly that of power and control; others were a bit murky and vague. The pacing is adequate, and paired with the straightforward flow of the book, makes a pretty quick read. Exposition was relatively effective, not bogging the story down much or detracting from the linear quality of the story. I think the narrator did a stellar performance here, and enhanced the reading experience.

Content Warnings

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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