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Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

123 reviews

charleyyyyy's review

3.0

🦇This book was a bit of a disappointment for me because of how much I loved Gibsons previous book. This one didn't live up to my expectations unfortunately.

🌹I love the concept of this book, but the execution leaves something to be desired. The themes seemed underdeveloped,
I didn't love the charicters, and there was barely any plot to even be interested in. The scraps of plot that we did get felt underdeveloped and rushed. It had so much potential but none of it was used to its full extent.

🖤I did like the dynamic of their relationships.
I liked how Carmilla and Laura work as a couple, and especially how the kinkyer aspects of their interests come together. Although, that was also something I wanted more of, I did enjoy how their feelings towards dom/sub dynamics were explored on an individual level,

"I was, I knew full well, a creature composed of strange desires. They'd always been with me, these hungers."
"Love and pain grew in a thorny Grove inside me, impossible to disentangle from one another."

But I wanted to see more how they worked with these feelings during sex together.

🥀The toxic relationship between Carmilla and De Lafontaine was written well, and I enjoyed the way that theme was explored. Along with Laura coming into that toxic mix as well.

" 'Don't you think it's wrong though? What she does to her students?'
'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 and indignity for the sake of art. Even at the hands of Mrs D.' "

⚰️The theme of religion and how that mixes with BDSM and vampirism could have been realy interesting, but that also didn't get the level of development I wanted it to. It was just kind of a background thing, which is odd seeing as how big of a role religion is supposed to play in Laura's life.

🍷I wouldn't normally read a retelling of a classic I love, but I needn't have worried because this book barely has anything in common with Carmilla. The only similarities are the charicters names and the presence of vampires. Its a retelling of Carmilla in the same way The Love Hypothesis is a retelling of Star Wars: it felt like fanfic.
So what was the point of writing a retelling of a book when you aren't going to add anything or say anything or have anything in common with the original??

ALSO MAGDELENAIS HERE OMG!!!! I loved seeing her in this story and inteacting with this cast of charicters!!

Content Warnings

aurslde's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

there was so much potential in an education in malice for me. saint gibson still has beautiful and lyrical writing that is easy to fall into. i love the overall atmosphere and presentation. i just think in terms of execution, it felt messy and rushed, mainly pertaining to the end of the book. the first half felt like it was going into one direction and by the halfway mark it completely pivots into something else. i could not find myself feeding into what the plot developed into. i am still open to try the authors next work that comes out this year as well though.

Content Warnings

m_a_j's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-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

3.25

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

natashaleighton_'s review

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dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Enjoyably decadent in the most delicious of ways, S.T. Gibson’s gothic, Dark Academia retelling of Carmilla was an intoxicatingly lush and immersive read that Vampire lovers definitely don’t want to miss.

It’s set in 1960s Massachusetts, at St Perpetua’s Women’s College and sees freshman Laura lured into a world of sensual rivalries, secrets and deadly obsession that had me utterly gripped. I’m not all that familiar with the story of Carmilla (besides knowing that it’s a sapphic vampire novel) but the gothic atmosphere and dark academia aesthetic were absolutely spot on.

If you’ve read Gibson’s previous novel (A Dowry of Blood) you’ll know that her prose is gorgeously lyrical and haunting in the best way, so it should come as no surprise that her follow up (and companion novel to A Dowry of Blood) is just as captivating.

I loved both protagonists (and POV characters) Laura and Carmilla, who balanced each other out rather well (Carmilla’s confidence emboldening naive Laura into a more dominant role was quite interesting to watch unfold.)

The heady cocktail of jealousy, obsession and competitiveness they exhibit (for the attention of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine) was also really intriguing and made for a rather intense (but utterly gripping) first half. Though, I do feel that De Lafontaine as a character wasn’t as detailed as I would’ve liked. And had hoped to explore her conflicted thoughts and actions (particularly when it came to her maker) in more depth.

Overall, a beautifully written story that Dark Academia fans are sure to enjoy!

Also a huge thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the e-arc.

Content Warnings

shadowspinner's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

wellgonomorearoving's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

An Education in Malice is a dark academia retelling/reimaging of the sapphic vampire classic Carmilla. Except this time, it’s not told through a male gaze, and the subtext has become text. The retelling is loose enough that it doesn’t follow the exact story, and while familiar characters crop up, they aren’t the same as we recall them from Le Fanu’s text, and new players emerge. A setting of the late 60s provides a stunning backdrop for the drama to unfold. Yet, the vibes of the original story remain, including the most alluring part of both stories: the relationship between Laura and Carmilla.

This time around, Laura is a reserved southern girl leaving home for the first time to attend an all-girls New England university and Carmilla is the enigmatic favorite of their beloved professor, Ms. De Lafontaine. The chemistry is palpable and immediate despite the two students initially clashing, leading for some heated enemies to lovers scenes, and flirting with the original text’s idea that Carmilla is dangerous to Laura. But in this version, Laura isn’t as sweetly innocent as she seems either.

The book follows their year at the university and leans into the proper way to do dark academia: it maintains the mysterious allure of the aesthetic while critiquing the institutions and their abuse of power. There is a seriously wrong power dynamic at play with Professor De Lafontaine and both Carmilla and Laura, and beware that this story doesn’t necessarily dole out penance the way we often seek with such villains. This, along with certain vampire lore, reminded me a lot of Anne Rice’s work, but the way the plot progresses is unlike her novels. A lot happens in this book, including many murders, as the two women grapple with coming face to face with life’s monsters and their feelings for one another. Four stars for me, regarding a vampire book especially, is an endorsement, and I could easily see this being an absolute favorite for many people. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and how beautifully it leaned into the strong cast of female characters (men? Never heard of them). It’s the gorgeous sapphic vampire story I’ve been craving after the taste Le Fanu’s text gave me.

Content Warnings

alysbookclub's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.5

"After all, what horror wouldn't I tolerate, if it was meted out by the hand of my beloved?"

A gothic dark academia drenched in desperation, longing and blood. A retelling of the novel Carmilla, Laura and Carmilla are two young women who are trying to find their way in a world where their feelings are immoral and they are pitted against each other by their otherworldly and enigmatic professor. A rivals-to-lovers dark sapphic romance that manages to be explosive and yet so sweet.

TW: explicit sexual content, gore, toxic relationships

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

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

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