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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

39 reviews

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

I enjoyed this SO MUCH. I’m not usually an enemies to lovers fan, but it was so well-executed here that I ate it up. Good book scramble brain so let me break my likes and (few) dislikes down in bullets:

Likes:

-the writing is so… crisp but sexy. it’s nearly as poetic as both characters, and I felt along with them. A treat for the eyes/brain

-laura is interesting and strange, but not in a Not Like Other Girls Protagonist way. she likes reading bdsm poetry and also wants to be a priest, she likes bad bitches but also wants to dominate them (!!!!), and she’s frank about what she wants and feels when she reaches the limits of her “southern manners”. She felt real. Not exaggeratedly shy or brash for plot, just a girl doing her best and feeling with her whole heart

-Elenore - books can often go in a tokeny black best friend direction, but this one managed to represent Elenore as a true, dedicated friend that supported Laura realistically without leaning into babysitting or mammying her. Elenore was my favorite char after laura tbh, she’s just that magnetic and kind.

-BIG one: Realistic depiction of how an older person can sway and stunt the growth of younger people in a relationship, regardless of them being “of age” or free to make their own decisions. Carmilla, and even Laura to an extent are frozen in time by De Lafontaine’s smothering; even Laura who is more able to see De Lafontaines manipulations for what they are is still swayed by her authority, her majesty, her power over them as someone with more life experience. The trajectory of her life is changed due to De Lafontaines need to collect girls; her grades slip, her friends miss her, and she feels disconnected from the world around her. Carmilla has few friends, and misses out on so many foundational college experiences because of how consumed she is by her professor. This book was a very true to life depiction of why “they’re both adults” means very little when dealing with power imbalances in a relationship. De Lafountaine was literally and figuratively sucking the youth out of these girls to sooth her own stolen years, by blood/vampirism and by time missed being 20-somethings discovering themselves in college. The only thing that put a stop to the toxic codependence was De Lafontaine herself; even with full understanding of how poorly she treated them, the girls could not fully extricate themselves from wanting to be loved by her. sad, complicated, twisted, but so well-rendered. Carmilla isn’t magically un-hooked, and even Laura isn’t immune to De Lafontaine by the end; they both will need time to heal and process the ways De Lafontaine warped how they see love and interacting with other people. I don’t think this is a permanent hurt, but it is one that Laura and Carmilla will probably have to reckon with in her wake both together and separately. the author treated this topic with all the seriousness yet hopefulness it deserves; these aren’t broken girls forever damaged, they are hurt girls that were taken advantage of by someone who experienced that same hurt and allowed herself to perpetuate it. The author is frank about how toxic it is, but optimistic about Carmilla and Laura on the other side of it, as well as De Lafontaines own reckoning with her toxic past.

- on that note, De Lafontaines breakthrough was really interesting. I’d been mildly afraid of some snape-esque redemption murder-suicide with her day one, but I was pleasantly surprised that DLF actually went the distance of realizing that she was continuing the cycle of abuse and manipulation, actively trying to change, doing away with her abuser, and freeing Carmilla as much as she was able. The damage is still done, and she’s permanently changed Carmilla’s life, but at least taking herself out of the equation was a huge step from where she began the book (jealous, domineering, secretive, etc.) I am really intrigued by the author showing us this, and think it’s a much gritter, realer way of doing away with a villain - there’s no magic “I want to be good now” moment or victorious defeat; she just wakes the fuck up and tries to not traumatize any more 20-somethings. She can’t undo her wrongs, but she can choose to stop making them, which requires self-awareness and will power I didn’t expect from her. I started the book wanting her staked along with her freak ex, and ended the book wishing her somewhat well on her journey of growth as long as it was far away from young women. Go figure!

-academic rivals done RIGHT. I hate when rivals/enemies to lovers is either half-assed snipes then they randomly kiss or just straight up bullying and hate crimes from one half of the relationship and we’re supposed to think it’s sexy & root for them. I don’t think emotional and physical abuse before you even start dating is cute AT ALL. So this book was a REVELATION compared to ETL like that. These girls are at each others throats academically, but look out for each other, at first bc of girl code/politeness, but increasingly out of fondness. They do a tasty two steps forward one step back with vulnerability and admitting their feelings, and their jockeying for DLF’s approval (toxic older woman aside) was incredible. When they finally touch it’s actually “sizzling” (I usually hate that word in book reviews, but it really fits!) because they really built up the dislike and indifference act, all to be fantasizing about the other on their knees in private. if more ETL is like this, I’ll read it! Their dynamic was lovely, and I love how even amidst the competition, they truly grew to love and protect the other, even from their shared object of admiration. all around great!

-dark academia done right! when I think dark academia, I think The Woods. a lot of this subgenre is just “people are morally grey in a school setting, there might be violence” but this. this is truly dark. immoral professors, bodies dropping, cutesy all girls school facade with a literal creature in the floors, blood sharing, secrets. Ugh. gimme more

Dislikes:

Honestly I don’t remember what I was gonna put here. maybe just that I wish I’d been able to see Carmilla inflict more rage on DLF for turning her. that rage/sadness felt a bit untapped; I would’ve liked a little more time spent on how Carmilla felt staring down eternity because her goofy ass older vampire obsession brought her too close to her crazy ex. She was killed, and it felt like she didn’t really process it. Having said that, I understand that Carmilla wasn’t one to follow her feelings to their logical conclusions, mostly due to DLFs hold on her. Multiple times in the book she comes to the brink of truly being angry, saddened, even done with DLF, just for DLF to love bomb or shame her into letting it go. She treats her like rightful frustration and pain are childish, and Carmilla internalizes that to her detriment. kinda talked myself out of my only dislike there, bc honestly it fits more than I thought. I think I just wanted to see De Lafontaine get mollywopped.

That was sooo long, but I actually loved the fuck out of this book and am skipping the long line of next books I have to read A Dowry of Blood.

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maddiereadswords's review

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5.0

If I'm being completely honest, this book should probably have been in the 4ish star range for me thinking about the pacing and all of that, but something about it has bewitched me, body and soul, and giving it anything less than a 5 feels sacrilege. I don't even normally consider myself a dark academia girly, but sapphic vampires at a creepy old women's college in rural New England?? Say less.

I loved quite literally everything about this book. The writing is poetic and beautiful, I enjoyed both Laura and Carmilla as characters, and frankly I too would risk it all for a hot older vampire with too much of her own shit going on. The atmosphere was simply incredible, and even though it took me longer to read than I expected, I found myself savoring every second of the experience. There were some minor details that I could nit pick, and I do wish that this book was like a hundred pages longer so that the actual plot portion of the third act could have been a little more fleshed out, but my enjoyment and love for it as a whole won out. I'm literally never going to stop thinking about this book, and I know I'll be revisiting it time and again in the future.

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noshinbean's review

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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summermorning's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.0

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bookameme's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

Dark, Gripping, & Stimulating

Quote:📖

In the end, I stayed. I had the awful, yawning feeling inside myself that for her, I would always stay.

Thoughts: 💡
The first chapter had a slightly slow and meandering feel to it, but as soon as the story dove into the rivals to lovers vibes I was hooked. There is this moment of intense attraction that quickly burns into rivals that grabbed all of my attention in a sharp flash and from that point on the story had a fast and dark vibe, and I adored every minute of it. The imagery and poetry that permeated everything was spectacular. It was very LGBT positive but still recognized the struggle of marginalized people in the time period. I can’t sing enough praises for this story.

Writing Mechanics: ✍️
The plot is inspired and the language used and structure of it all is brilliant. All the characters were beautifully developed with rich backstories and deep motivations. There were points of the story that were so eloquently written that I had to reread and ruminate on the context and beauty of it. And the poetry! Gah! I can’t sing the praises of it enough! Everything in this book was spectacular!

Fun Bits:
⚜️ Sapphic Vampires
⚜️ Academic Rivals
⚜️ Needing to Please The Teacher
⚜️ Beautiful Poetry
⚜️ Sizzling Romance
⚜️ Plus Size Heroine

Important Note:✨
Standalone companion novel to A Dowery of Blood.

Full Content Warning:⚠️
Uneven Power Dynamics, Inappropriate Relationships Between Professor & Students, Toxic Academic Environments, Blood, Gore, and Murder, Alcohol and Drug Use, Smoking, Racist Political Policies, Homophobia, Religious Discrimination Against Women

Stats:📊
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙
Dark Historical Fantasy: Dark Academia, Sapphic Romance, Academic Rivals to Lovers, Vampires, Mystery Vibes
First Person, Present Tense, Dual POV

Content Warnings

gaby_readsbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

While I enjoyed parts of this book and the writing was great I was just left wanting more. The atmospheric writing was done super well and I really felt the dark academia vibes early on. I think my problems came in where I never really felt connected to either of the characters, and sometimes found myself confused as to which chapter I was reading as the two POV's were too similar at times. The main characters just felt too surface level and I never really felt a connection to them. The themes explored were well done but they also didn't feel very urgent and at their conclusions it just felt ok that happened but it never felt like the characters themselves were affected by the plot or cared really. I am sad about it because there were parts of this book that I really loved and again the writing was so good but when I finished it I just felt disappointed. I think this is a solid book, its not a bad read though it is a bit slow. I think I was just expecting more urgency and more character work than we got. I still recommend this one for the vibes, if you are wanting some fall feels and dark academia its a good fit for that.

Thanks to Negalley and Redhook Books for allowing me access to the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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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

guybrushtmp's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

I have hummed and hawed over what to rate this book. ST Gibson writes beautiful prose. They have a wonderful way with words that feels rich and the embodiment of decadent. However, I think I will be leaving her to others in the future as her stories are not for me, though I would recommend her to anyone who likes dark academia vibes.

I found this book to be a rather slow start and while I enjoyed the hate fucking, I felt like the transition between rivals to lovers was underdeveloped and too sudden. I think more needed to be done to explore the emotions and complexity between the stages for Carmilla.

Speaking of Carmilla, I have realised I don’t really enjoy super entitled characters, which she is. While my ao3 history shows I enjoy a bratty character, Carmilla’s brattiness was more often whiny and childish to me, which to be fair makes sense for her age and character, just is not my preference and good for people to know it a thing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

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katyakat's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

"An Education in Malice" by S.T. Gibson, ARC audiobook. Provided by @HachetteAudio through NetGalley

The immersive and atmospheric writing style effortlessly complements the intricate layers of the dark academia setting, drawing readers into a world of mystery and intrigue. As the story unfolds, the complex relationship between Carmilla and Laura is masterfully portrayed, showcasing a delicate balance of rivalry, affection, and conflicting emotions. Through their interactions with poetry professor, De Lafontaine, the narrative delves deeper into the dynamics of power and control within relationships, highlighting the profound impact of such imbalances on individuals.

Around a little over a third into the story, the plot started to slacken and felt somewhat forced. The main villain of the story was disappointing and felt like a background story without much at stake. However, despite these minor setbacks, the overall narrative remained engaging, and I was compelled to see how events would unfold.

Additionally, the narrator's skillful delivery enhances the overall listening experience, with her pleasant voice and subtle accents adding depth to the characters and their surroundings. While I found myself engrossed in the story, I opted to listen at a slightly increased speed to maintain momentum, as the pacing felt a tad slow at standard speed.

Without giving too much away, I found the ending poetic and intriguing, leaving me with much to ponder after the final chapter. Overall, "An Education in Malice" captivates with its richly woven narrative and compelling characters, making it a must-read for fans of dark academia and atmospheric storytelling.

Content Warnings

bibliofrog's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

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