Reviews

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

ifollowedthatrabbit's review against another edition

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4.0

This book has really surprised me! A lesbian-dark academia-psychological thriller that has has been hard to put down!

❝[She] saw me in a way no one else could; she saw the black and twisted heart of me. She took my hand and guided me into the darkness. She opened the door, and truth entered, and nothing can undo that now.❞

Felicity Morrow has come back to finish her last year at Dalloway School after her girlfriend's death, Alex. She arrives earlier, so she can have some time to readjust herself before the other students start coming, but she isn't alone; a new student is living in Alex's room. Their first meeting isn't quite friendly, and when the other three students arrive at Goodwin House, Felicity can't help thinking she doesn't fit. The other students fly around Ellis like she possesses a kind of magnetic force. Who is this girl? Why is she so special?

Meanwhile, Felicity finds it hard to stay in the same place she used to be with Alex. She feels like she's haunting her. She can feel the magic of "The Dalloway Five", especially Margery's.

Powerful young women, witchcraft, literature, thirst for knowledge, tragic and mysterious deaths are some of the main ingredients of this story.

I totally recommend it!

janagaton's review against another edition

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2.0

uggghhh so sad that this was a disappointment that i dont even want to go into details. the plot was dumb & the ending was dumber. dark academia vibes were definitely there, however. and i liked the notion of magic not needing to be "magic" for it to be magic. loll like magic is subjective & how you interpret/apply it to your own life. otherwise, this book def should've been called A Lesson in Irony.

sunwaves's review against another edition

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2.0

i kind of hated this book but i also couldn’t put it down so… there were go. the premise is perfect but the execution? just terrible.

rachelfaye's review against another edition

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4.0

I really should have taken the word “dark” seriously. SO suspenseful and I think a unique plot but now I feel all creeped and icky. Good book. Dark books are not for me today, I don’t think.

tatyanavogt's review against another edition

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3.0

So this is a book about a girl who goes back to her school after taking a break due to a traumatic event happening the year prior and stopping her from completing her senior year. But now she thinks she is being haunted, ends up getting into some interesting stuff, and need to deal with new issues.

I was really excited for the dark academia vibes that the cover was promising but I didn't really feel like it delivered at all. (regardless of her working on a thesis in her school house thing..). The witchy aspect was okay, the direction the book took was interesting and I kinda liked how it ended, but over-all the book was very much just okay.

ursa_arlo's review against another edition

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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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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fernanda28's review against another edition

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5.0

I read this book for the first time in 2021, and I hated the ending, but it stayed with me, mostly because of the ending.
With Halloween approaching, I found myself wanting to read something creepy, and I naturally came back to dark academia, since it's one of my favourite genres. I decided to finally reread a lesson in vengeance, and I have to say it is better on the second time.
I also discovered that I really, really, love the ending. I wish I could say more, but I think this is a book you need to experience without knowing anything about it beforehand. Just know that for me, this is dark academia perfection.

the_reading_vampire's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition

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5.0

There are a few things you can always tempt me with. An all girls boarding school is a good start already. If you add a touch of secret society to it it gets better. If you add a mystery, both in the past and in the present, to it it becomes almost impossible to not read the book. I was therefore quite happy when Titan Books approved my Netgalley request to get a review copy of this book. If they hadn't asked me to hold my review until February I would have read the book straight away.

Everything about this book worked for me. I was only gonna make a start yesterday, a few chapters, just to get me going. At the end of the day I had passed the halfway point of the book, because it was simply impossible to put the book down. And that's mostly because the atmosphere in this book is simply amazing. I could feel the cold winter air. I could almost touch the snow. I could smell the blood and the smoke. I could hear the whispering of the ghosts.

I could also really understand what Felicity is going through. Not because I've been through something similar myself, luckily, but because Lee managed to describe her struggles, her fear, her panic, her love and all her other emotions so incredibly well. Although there are people trying to make her believe that she is going insane, as a reader I truly felt how serious this all was, how real everything was to her, how scared she was.

Since the book stays vague for a long time on whether or not everything that's going on is supernatural the story is also very thrilling and exciting. Although just before the half way point I had an inkling what might be going on and I wasn't that far off. Not that I mind. It means that Lee managed to build up the story perfectly. She left clues and hints, she made sure that things didn't simply come out of nowhere, she gave every scene and wink and smile a purpose.

I'm addicted and I can't wait to check out her other books!

erinlikestoread's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0