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izzywayout 's review for:
An Education in Malice
by S.T. Gibson
#1 book completed for the r/Fantasy bingo - Dark Academia prompt (HM)
as much as i enjoy the aesthetics of dark academia and gothic themes as a whole, i don't usually have the best experience reading them. i was very pleasantly surprised with s.t. gibson's previous book - so naturally i dove into this one with the highest of expectations. and it wasn't a bad book, despite it taking me so freaking long to finish (mostly a fault of my own lack of organization than the book's), but it was definitely missing the genuine spark of joy my previous experience with the author's books had given me.
the writing attempted to be evocative, but to me it missed the mark and felt just like generic, rupi kaur inspired imagery. the plot was more meandering than anything, and the whole story relied heavily on the relationship between the two main characters, which i desperately wanted to enjoy, but felt very out of left field for me especially with the way the rivalry between them was established in the first few chapters.
it's not a terrible book by any means, but it wasn't one that gave me much incentive to finish it either. i probably would've put it down if it didn't fit a hard mode prompt lol
as much as i enjoy the aesthetics of dark academia and gothic themes as a whole, i don't usually have the best experience reading them. i was very pleasantly surprised with s.t. gibson's previous book - so naturally i dove into this one with the highest of expectations. and it wasn't a bad book, despite it taking me so freaking long to finish (mostly a fault of my own lack of organization than the book's), but it was definitely missing the genuine spark of joy my previous experience with the author's books had given me.
the writing attempted to be evocative, but to me it missed the mark and felt just like generic, rupi kaur inspired imagery. the plot was more meandering than anything, and the whole story relied heavily on the relationship between the two main characters, which i desperately wanted to enjoy, but felt very out of left field for me especially with the way the rivalry between them was established in the first few chapters.
it's not a terrible book by any means, but it wasn't one that gave me much incentive to finish it either. i probably would've put it down if it didn't fit a hard mode prompt lol