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A review by senchastories
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Okay, part of this is my own fault. I have a tendency to not notice when a book's description is overtly hinting that the book is about vampires, because I don't want to read about vampires and so it doesn't usually cross my mind that other people do want to. So that's not the fault of the book.
Vampires aside, I still had a lot of issues with this. There's a lot of technically beautiful writing in this book, and some really intense moments of unhealthy obsession and attraction between the main characters, which is exactly what I was hoping to get. But these things were not balanced out by good character development or a strong plot, so it never felt as satisfying as it could have.
I think this book really bit off way more than it could chew. The characters and their relationships to each other move and change so fast and so dramatically, and there's no sense of what's causing those changes; there's no depth to their development. There are also a lot of details that get brought up and then either dropped or never made relevant in any tangible way. Laura's desire to be ordained (really her entire interest in Christianity), her Mississippi background, Carmilla's life in Europe, the entire setting of Western Massachusetts--none of that ever informs the story or the characters meaningfully. This is especially disappointing to me when the book is billed as dark academia, which is typically very concerned with the specific situations and locations of its characters (side note: there was really no discussion of class in this book either, which to me is a must-have in dark academia). Lots of other themes are touched on, but nothing feels followed through to any kind of conclusion.
Also, at one point a character is near a lake at night and says that she startles a nightingale in a tree above her, and like, no you didn't. You live in Massachusetts. There is probably not a nightingale within a thousand miles of you.
Unfortunately, my search for the perfect unhealthy lesbian relationships book continues.
Vampires aside, I still had a lot of issues with this. There's a lot of technically beautiful writing in this book, and some really intense moments of unhealthy obsession and attraction between the main characters, which is exactly what I was hoping to get. But these things were not balanced out by good character development or a strong plot, so it never felt as satisfying as it could have.
I think this book really bit off way more than it could chew. The characters and their relationships to each other move and change so fast and so dramatically, and there's no sense of what's causing those changes; there's no depth to their development. There are also a lot of details that get brought up and then either dropped or never made relevant in any tangible way. Laura's desire to be ordained (really her entire interest in Christianity), her Mississippi background, Carmilla's life in Europe, the entire setting of Western Massachusetts--none of that ever informs the story or the characters meaningfully. This is especially disappointing to me when the book is billed as dark academia, which is typically very concerned with the specific situations and locations of its characters (side note: there was really no discussion of class in this book either, which to me is a must-have in dark academia). Lots of other themes are touched on, but nothing feels followed through to any kind of conclusion.
Also, at one point a character is near a lake at night and says that she startles a nightingale in a tree above her, and like, no you didn't. You live in Massachusetts. There is probably not a nightingale within a thousand miles of you.
Unfortunately, my search for the perfect unhealthy lesbian relationships book continues.