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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
This book has made me question my sanity and learn to root for the bad guys. I am completely obsessed with this book that’s about murder and witches. I mean who wouldn’t want to read this?
the writing and the vibes were fantastic but the plot got a little too crazy and chaotic and i wish i got to know the characters a little better - the concept is great though, we love witches and curses and dark academia boarding schools
So many loose ends and unanswered questions.
So, what really happened to the Dalloway witches?
How did Ellis and then Felicity dig through 6 feet of hard, frozen earth?
Why didn't they develop the childhood of Ellis more or her sibling? I feel there was a lot of potential there
With all the snowfall during the book, why wasn't Felicity worried about leaving extra tracks on the roof?
How were the cops that negligent that they didn't see any of the connections between deaths?
Why were the girls so surprised that Felicity was still there after break?
Maybe I'm just not a fan of murder mystery? Having a background in criminal justice I just see a lot of loose ends.
So, what really happened to the Dalloway witches?
How did Ellis and then Felicity dig through 6 feet of hard, frozen earth?
Why didn't they develop the childhood of Ellis more or her sibling? I feel there was a lot of potential there
With all the snowfall during the book, why wasn't Felicity worried about leaving extra tracks on the roof?
How were the cops that negligent that they didn't see any of the connections between deaths?
Why were the girls so surprised that Felicity was still there after break?
Maybe I'm just not a fan of murder mystery? Having a background in criminal justice I just see a lot of loose ends.
When I say this is one of the best books I’ve ever read and that it made me wish I wrote it and that I can write LIKE it—I mean it with my whole chest.
TW/CW: murder (ritualistic), gore, animal death, loss of loved ones, mental health issues (depression), grief, toxic relationships, descriptions of murder (hanging, burying alive, etc.)
I don’t think a book has made me this angry in ages. I should’ve DNF’d it, but I almost just finished it out of spite. I recognize that there’s so much work that goes into writing a book and putting it out into the world, so take this review as you will, but god. I have an absolute laundry list of gripes with this book, I’m sad to say.
A Lesson in Vengeance pretty clearly took inspiration from The Secret History, a book that I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. But there’s a key aspect of The Secret History that A Lesson in Vengeance astronomically missed the mark on that could’ve made or broken it: it’s established early on that it’s a cautionary tale, and that these characters are either already horribly toxic people or that the book is their corruption arc. A Lesson in Vengeance misses that by miles, and these deeply flawed characters are romanticized. I’m not saying that I need “UNRELIABLE TOXIC NARRATOR” in skywriting, but the way that Lee romanticized Felicity deliberately going off her meds and dismissing her well-meaning therapists disgusted me. I’m all for “messy” queer characters, but this goes FAR beyond just “messy”—these are just straight-up horrible people, and it seemed like Lee didn’t recognize this or handle it properly.
Let’s talk more about the characters. Lee’s writing style is what earned the half-star from me, but their prose had a fatal flaw when it came to the characters; most of them are meant to be dangerous and alluring, but what was written as “mysterious writer girl with unorthodox methods” was more than anything just another toxic rich person added to the mix. All of the characters were clearly backstabbing, flawed people who solved their problems with drugs and alcohol, but again—it was all romanticized as part of the “dark academia aesthetic.” I’M SORRY, WHAT? How is rich people smoking indoors an “aesthetic?” More importantly, how is DELIBERATELY GOING OFF YOUR MEDS AN “AESTHETIC?” I’ve never been the biggest fan of dark academia, but I can’t deny that when it’s done well, it’s chilling; this, however, was just a mess of a book built off of an aesthetic that failed to realize its fatal shortcomings. I’m sorry, I don’t want to read about rich people smoking indoors for 370-odd pages.
Additionally, there wasn’t much keeping the plot together. I went in thinking that there would be a murder mystery hidden somewhere, along with witches, the occult, and a budding sapphic relationship. However, the book ended up being 60% rich people smoking and drinking themselves silly (uninteresting from the start) with a weak witchcraft sideplot that was sidelined for most of the book and was never really resolved. All of the diversity that this book promised, though well-intentioned, felt more like a checklist: Black character? Check. South-Asian character? Check. And the sapphic relationship that I was hinging on just ended up being a toxic mess of manipulation without any self-awareness of its nature: again, it was framed as an “alluring, mysterious” kind of thing, when in reality, it was just…borderline abusive and devoid of any emotional intelligence whatsoever.
All in all, a premise that had the potential to be mildly interesting, but did nothing more than romanticize its toxic characters and lend itself to a story centered more around a flimsy aesthetic than a plot. 1.5 angry little stars.
I don’t think a book has made me this angry in ages. I should’ve DNF’d it, but I almost just finished it out of spite. I recognize that there’s so much work that goes into writing a book and putting it out into the world, so take this review as you will, but god. I have an absolute laundry list of gripes with this book, I’m sad to say.
A Lesson in Vengeance pretty clearly took inspiration from The Secret History, a book that I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. But there’s a key aspect of The Secret History that A Lesson in Vengeance astronomically missed the mark on that could’ve made or broken it: it’s established early on that it’s a cautionary tale, and that these characters are either already horribly toxic people or that the book is their corruption arc. A Lesson in Vengeance misses that by miles, and these deeply flawed characters are romanticized. I’m not saying that I need “UNRELIABLE TOXIC NARRATOR” in skywriting, but the way that Lee romanticized Felicity deliberately going off her meds and dismissing her well-meaning therapists disgusted me. I’m all for “messy” queer characters, but this goes FAR beyond just “messy”—these are just straight-up horrible people, and it seemed like Lee didn’t recognize this or handle it properly.
Let’s talk more about the characters. Lee’s writing style is what earned the half-star from me, but their prose had a fatal flaw when it came to the characters; most of them are meant to be dangerous and alluring, but what was written as “mysterious writer girl with unorthodox methods” was more than anything just another toxic rich person added to the mix. All of the characters were clearly backstabbing, flawed people who solved their problems with drugs and alcohol, but again—it was all romanticized as part of the “dark academia aesthetic.” I’M SORRY, WHAT? How is rich people smoking indoors an “aesthetic?” More importantly, how is DELIBERATELY GOING OFF YOUR MEDS AN “AESTHETIC?” I’ve never been the biggest fan of dark academia, but I can’t deny that when it’s done well, it’s chilling; this, however, was just a mess of a book built off of an aesthetic that failed to realize its fatal shortcomings. I’m sorry, I don’t want to read about rich people smoking indoors for 370-odd pages.
Additionally, there wasn’t much keeping the plot together. I went in thinking that there would be a murder mystery hidden somewhere, along with witches, the occult, and a budding sapphic relationship. However, the book ended up being 60% rich people smoking and drinking themselves silly (uninteresting from the start) with a weak witchcraft sideplot that was sidelined for most of the book and was never really resolved. All of the diversity that this book promised, though well-intentioned, felt more like a checklist: Black character? Check. South-Asian character? Check. And the sapphic relationship that I was hinging on just ended up being a toxic mess of manipulation without any self-awareness of its nature: again, it was framed as an “alluring, mysterious” kind of thing, when in reality, it was just…borderline abusive and devoid of any emotional intelligence whatsoever.
All in all, a premise that had the potential to be mildly interesting, but did nothing more than romanticize its toxic characters and lend itself to a story centered more around a flimsy aesthetic than a plot. 1.5 angry little stars.
This book... confused me.
I almost DNF'D it with about 100 pages to go. It just didn't grab me. Ellis I saw as pretentious and fake. Felicity was obviously going through major ISH, and as the story progressed, I became more confused as to the point of it all. Characters are introduced that I would have been more interested in learning about (Leonie?? Tell me HER, and her grandmother's story). The twist at the end improved the rating; I was going to give this 2 stars. But overall, I was not a fan of this book.
I almost DNF'D it with about 100 pages to go. It just didn't grab me. Ellis I saw as pretentious and fake. Felicity was obviously going through major ISH, and as the story progressed, I became more confused as to the point of it all. Characters are introduced that I would have been more interested in learning about (Leonie?? Tell me HER, and her grandmother's story). The twist at the end improved the rating; I was going to give this 2 stars. But overall, I was not a fan of this book.
A twisty turny tale of two girls at a boarding school where people keep dying mixed with a large handful of witchcraft and secret societies.
A good story that never stops you second guess as the book uses the unreliable perspective of the main character to lead you down dark and twisty paths.
A good story that never stops you second guess as the book uses the unreliable perspective of the main character to lead you down dark and twisty paths.
