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brittonmc1221's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gore
britts_booknook's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Death, Blood, and Sexual content
ccouey's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Sexual content
skillyillian's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book! This is my honest review.
An Education in Malice is an extension of the world of Gibson's absolutely devastating A Dowry of Blood. Set in a more modern time period, with new characters (and some returning!) with new desires, this is a dark academia, romantic retelling of Carmilla that will hold you close and whisper in your ear about the revelations of immortality and obsession.
Laura is an intriguing character, so naive when she arrives at Saint Perpetua's but with a side she never lets anyone see. Carmilla is up front about her attitude towards Laura, and it's fun to see them combat each other throughout the beginnings of their time together. De Lafontaine adds such an interesting twist to things, both with her relationships with the girls individually and between the three of them.
The rivals to lovers played out really well, I enjoyed the tension that shifted into craving immensely. The dark academia vibes were very present and well-done, too. The romance felt real in such an intense way, I think it was one of my favorite parts. The smut was 10/10, WHEW, got me blushing with no one even around! Gibson very deftly takes the reader through an exploration of self and sexuality, and validates the experience of not knowing what exactly it is you want, even when you have it. There's a lot of room for discussion about morality and love, where those two things intersect, and how they change - independently and together - if time and distance stop mattering entirely.
The only things I didn't entirely love was that we didn't get as much background info as I would like to have had. We know some things about Laura, but hardly anything about Carmilla, and even less about De Lafontaine. I think the lack of information on De Lafontaine was intentional and it makes sense, considering she's the only of the three without a POV in the book and she was purposely secretive with the girls. But I wish we knew more about the other two. Besides that, I also would have liked to have seen more of Laura and Carmilla's school lives. Saint Perpetua's was an excellent, stunning backdrop to this story, and the New England autumn was gorgeous, I just wish we'd gotten to experience more of it.
I do wish that Isis's appearance had been more urgent. She started killing people and it felt like both the girls and the school were just like, "yup, okay! that sucks!" and the girls went back to being in love and the school just increased patrol of their grounds. It made Isis feel like less of an issue than I think she was meant to be, so when the climax and resolution of the story came around, it didn't feel as severe as I think it was meant to. Not a big deal, but it would've been nice to see Isis a little more up close and personal, and have her be more of a threat.
Overall, this book is a gorgeous companion to A Dowry of Blood, although slower paced and tragic in a much different way, which I appreciate because it didn't need to be Dowry again. This book has its own story to tell and I think Gibson told it beautifully, with the same prose she's known for from Dowry. Her writing style is consistently graceful and flowing. I think the book could have been longer, with more fleshing out of the school and the characters, but it wasn't way too short by any means, either. It's a very enjoyable read and if you liked Dowry then I think you'll like this, as well. I really loved this and the very minute I can get myself a physical copy I will be doing exactly that. 🖤
An Education in Malice is an extension of the world of Gibson's absolutely devastating A Dowry of Blood. Set in a more modern time period, with new characters (and some returning!) with new desires, this is a dark academia, romantic retelling of Carmilla that will hold you close and whisper in your ear about the revelations of immortality and obsession.
Laura is an intriguing character, so naive when she arrives at Saint Perpetua's but with a side she never lets anyone see. Carmilla is up front about her attitude towards Laura, and it's fun to see them combat each other throughout the beginnings of their time together. De Lafontaine adds such an interesting twist to things, both with her relationships with the girls individually and between the three of them.
The rivals to lovers played out really well, I enjoyed the tension that shifted into craving immensely. The dark academia vibes were very present and well-done, too. The romance felt real in such an intense way, I think it was one of my favorite parts. The smut was 10/10, WHEW, got me blushing with no one even around! Gibson very deftly takes the reader through an exploration of self and sexuality, and validates the experience of not knowing what exactly it is you want, even when you have it. There's a lot of room for discussion about morality and love, where those two things intersect, and how they change - independently and together - if time and distance stop mattering entirely.
The only things I didn't entirely love was that we didn't get as much background info as I would like to have had. We know some things about Laura, but hardly anything about Carmilla, and even less about De Lafontaine. I think the lack of information on De Lafontaine was intentional and it makes sense, considering she's the only of the three without a POV in the book and she was purposely secretive with the girls. But I wish we knew more about the other two. Besides that, I also would have liked to have seen more of Laura and Carmilla's school lives. Saint Perpetua's was an excellent, stunning backdrop to this story, and the New England autumn was gorgeous, I just wish we'd gotten to experience more of it.
Overall, this book is a gorgeous companion to A Dowry of Blood, although slower paced and tragic in a much different way, which I appreciate because it didn't need to be Dowry again. This book has its own story to tell and I think Gibson told it beautifully, with the same prose she's known for from Dowry. Her writing style is consistently graceful and flowing. I think the book could have been longer, with more fleshing out of the school and the characters, but it wasn't way too short by any means, either. It's a very enjoyable read and if you liked Dowry then I think you'll like this, as well. I really loved this and the very minute I can get myself a physical copy I will be doing exactly that. 🖤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death
karenreadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
I am obsessed with this book through and through. A dark academia take on one of the most famous sapphic vampire novels - Carmilla.
Our MCs are named Carmilla and Laura Sheridan. Laura after the human in the original classic and Sheridan after the author. And Carmilla after our famous protagonist.
Their teacher is named after De Lafontaine who was a famous poet and teaches them poetry and the darker side of reality.
We have found family to a degree. Enemies to lovers. Being prepared to give up everything for the one you care about. I couldn’t put this down for a second and stormed through it with every free moment I had.
Hands down became my new favourite book before I reached halfway.
Our MCs are named Carmilla and Laura Sheridan. Laura after the human in the original classic and Sheridan after the author. And Carmilla after our famous protagonist.
Their teacher is named after De Lafontaine who was a famous poet and teaches them poetry and the darker side of reality.
We have found family to a degree. Enemies to lovers. Being prepared to give up everything for the one you care about. I couldn’t put this down for a second and stormed through it with every free moment I had.
Hands down became my new favourite book before I reached halfway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Grief, and Gore
tinybluepixel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I received a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
Oh boy. Oh boy! I loved this.
I admit, I had a hard time with S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood, not because it wasn't good, but because it featured a man who was very clearly abusive and reminded me a lot of my father, which is a big yikes for me! But I could still see that Gibson is a most talented writer with a grasp of language that is almost unparalleled in this genre.
Gibson really leans into this retelling of Carmilla, having it mainly take place in a poetry class. I admit two things, here: One, I have never read Carmilla. Just ... it wasn't on the curriculum in my very conservative school, and I could barely stomach Dracula, so I never reached for it. Two, I hate poetry. God, I hate poetry. I hate reading it, I hate writing it even more. I see poetry in life, and I see poetry in prose. Writing it down on a page, and even worse, analyzing it and taking it apart in metaphors and similies and other technichalities makes it lose all of it's appeal. Thankfully, Gibson didn't make me suffer through a whole bunch of poems, just two at the beginning, and then only references. So if you're a big old poetry hater like me, don't fret.
While A Dowry of Blood features some innovative storytelling in the way of its formatting, An Education in Malice is written in more of a "typical" structure. Instead of Dowry's almost letter-like writing, adressed to Dracula, An Education in Malice has two first-person narrators, being Laura and Carmilla. These two obviously correspond to the Laura and Carmilla in the original story of Carmilla. However, in that book, Carmilla is the villian. In Education, she's more of a rival to Laura, and eventually, of course, a lover. Since she's also a narrator, she loses that villain-appeal of the original story. Instead, there is not a clear villian (except for the more-or-less minor character of Isis, who is clearly evil), but I would argue that Carmilla and Laura's poetry teacher, Evelyn De Lafontaine, is one of the more nefarious villians in modern fiction. At the beginning, she seems almost alike to Julian from The Secret History, and we all know how that story ended. She is clearly an antagonist. If she's actually a villian - that's up to the reader. However, their relationship in this sort-of love triangle is clearly abusive, but you get the sense that she really cares about Carmilla.
I'm honestly really glad that Gibson decided to make Carmilla a protagonist, and not a villain. There's just not enough sapphic books that have a good, happy relationship at the center. And I truly believe that what Laura and Carmilla have in this book will be a good and happy relationship, even though it can get kind of oppressive at times. And sometimes you just need a good and happy ending. And I think we got the best sort of ending possible with this book. Gotta admit, I was kind of worried at around the middle that it would end in tragedy. And, spoiler alert! It didn't. Sometimes, it is good to see even a very toxic character make a turnaround instead of spiraling downwards. I would still send all of those girls to therapy, though.
Two more things I loved but I don't necessarily need to elaborate on: One, maybe a non-important thing to others, but very important to me and probably a lot of others - the inclusion of trigger warnings at the beginning. Two, the positive portrayal of Laura's religion. I don't know why, but it was really heartwarming to read.
That's it, now. Do yourselves a favor and read this book.
Oh boy. Oh boy! I loved this.
I admit, I had a hard time with S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood, not because it wasn't good, but because it featured a man who was very clearly abusive and reminded me a lot of my father, which is a big yikes for me! But I could still see that Gibson is a most talented writer with a grasp of language that is almost unparalleled in this genre.
Gibson really leans into this retelling of Carmilla, having it mainly take place in a poetry class. I admit two things, here: One, I have never read Carmilla. Just ... it wasn't on the curriculum in my very conservative school, and I could barely stomach Dracula, so I never reached for it. Two, I hate poetry. God, I hate poetry. I hate reading it, I hate writing it even more. I see poetry in life, and I see poetry in prose. Writing it down on a page, and even worse, analyzing it and taking it apart in metaphors and similies and other technichalities makes it lose all of it's appeal. Thankfully, Gibson didn't make me suffer through a whole bunch of poems, just two at the beginning, and then only references. So if you're a big old poetry hater like me, don't fret.
While A Dowry of Blood features some innovative storytelling in the way of its formatting, An Education in Malice is written in more of a "typical" structure. Instead of Dowry's almost letter-like writing, adressed to Dracula, An Education in Malice has two first-person narrators, being Laura and Carmilla. These two obviously correspond to the Laura and Carmilla in the original story of Carmilla. However, in that book, Carmilla is the villian. In Education, she's more of a rival to Laura, and eventually, of course, a lover. Since she's also a narrator, she loses that villain-appeal of the original story. Instead, there is not a clear villian (except for the more-or-less minor character of Isis, who is clearly evil), but I would argue that Carmilla and Laura's poetry teacher, Evelyn De Lafontaine, is one of the more nefarious villians in modern fiction. At the beginning, she seems almost alike to Julian from The Secret History, and we all know how that story ended. She is clearly an antagonist. If she's actually a villian - that's up to the reader. However, their relationship in this sort-of love triangle is clearly abusive, but you get the sense that she really cares about Carmilla.
I'm honestly really glad that Gibson decided to make Carmilla a protagonist, and not a villain. There's just not enough sapphic books that have a good, happy relationship at the center. And I truly believe that what Laura and Carmilla have in this book will be a good and happy relationship, even though it can get kind of oppressive at times. And sometimes you just need a good and happy ending. And I think we got the best sort of ending possible with this book. Gotta admit, I was kind of worried at around the middle that it would end in tragedy. And, spoiler alert! It didn't. Sometimes, it is good to see even a very toxic character make a turnaround instead of spiraling downwards. I would still send all of those girls to therapy, though.
Two more things I loved but I don't necessarily need to elaborate on: One, maybe a non-important thing to others, but very important to me and probably a lot of others - the inclusion of trigger warnings at the beginning. Two, the positive portrayal of Laura's religion. I don't know why, but it was really heartwarming to read.
That's it, now. Do yourselves a favor and read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol and Murder
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