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A review by mk_loisirs
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
*I received a digital galley in exchange for my honest review.*
I need to be entirely honest here when I say I was a little disappointed in this book. I am not saying this wasn't a good. I was just apathetic about it all. The story is set in the same world as "A Dowry of Blood" and that fact in itself excited me about the novel. However upon diving in I was left wanting. I felt like it was a very surface level exploration of the characters. The main subject of the book being a rivals-to-lovers with the twist of vampirism. I didn't grow particularly attached to either character as I didn't feel we got a "true" look into their psyche...it felt very shallow. I was most interested in De Lafontaine's character but considering she was the secretive professor and the POVs are from Laura and Carmilla's views...we don't get much. The vampirism aspect didn't play a huge roll other than adding another layer to the "wanting" between Laura and Carmilla. It emphasized the desire between the two.
The prose was lovely as always but this was an area too which wasn't as exciting as Gibson's previous work. It wasn't as lyrical..it just flowed nicely but it didn't have as much passion and lushness as A Dowry of Blood.
I think the most fantastic part of this book was that there were ZERO important male characters. There's some mentioned at the end but other than that it was all female cast. That was really interesting and fun addition!
All in all I was just left wanting.
I need to be entirely honest here when I say I was a little disappointed in this book. I am not saying this wasn't a good. I was just apathetic about it all. The story is set in the same world as "A Dowry of Blood" and that fact in itself excited me about the novel. However upon diving in I was left wanting. I felt like it was a very surface level exploration of the characters. The main subject of the book being a rivals-to-lovers with the twist of vampirism. I didn't grow particularly attached to either character as I didn't feel we got a "true" look into their psyche...it felt very shallow. I was most interested in De Lafontaine's character but considering she was the secretive professor and the POVs are from Laura and Carmilla's views...we don't get much. The vampirism aspect didn't play a huge roll other than adding another layer to the "wanting" between Laura and Carmilla. It emphasized the desire between the two.
The prose was lovely as always but this was an area too which wasn't as exciting as Gibson's previous work. It wasn't as lyrical..it just flowed nicely but it didn't have as much passion and lushness as A Dowry of Blood.
I think the most fantastic part of this book was that there were ZERO important male characters. There's some mentioned at the end but other than that it was all female cast. That was really interesting and fun addition!
All in all I was just left wanting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content