Reviews with content warning for Blood - An Education in Malice

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

131 reviews

adancewithbooks's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.75

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

An Education in Malice has a promising setting and plot but lacks in the actual execution.

The idea of a dark academia set in an all girls school in the 1960's was a really interesting idea. There were a lot of great ways that could have gone. Unfortunately the author didn't take it that way.

I think where this book lacked were the characters and the overal vibe. The writing itself was decent enough but it never carried over any atmosphere. It stopped be from being drawn in to the story. The addition of the vampires was very underwhelming. The threat of a vampire felt like absolutely nothing throughout.

It didn't help that I didn't care about our characters which is not helpful in a character driven story. There was a little bit of our characters here and there but I didn't feel like I was getting to know anything about them before they came to the school. I felt like I was missing a whole chunk of them. Their before lives didn't go away the moment they entered the school. The worst was that this was even thrown into one of the characters faces when barely any of that pre-history was shared with us.

Their whole rivalry and romance was an obsession, and the author seemed to forget that maybe there was more at the school than just a writing class. I get that the obsession was the whole point but it could have been a more well rounded story.

It was a decent read but not memorable in anyway.

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clrouse's review against another edition

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fast-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

3.75

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kelseydaffodil's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this book was so beautifully written and i thoroughly enjoyed it.
the vampire lore was different to other vampire books and shows i have consumed which i really enjoyed. i love when people extend the vampire universe and think of different ways vampires can exist in media. obviously, sapphic enemies and rivals to lovers was perfect. the way s.t gibson writes is always so beautiful.

i did, though, at times, feel like i was crawling through it. i'm still unsure about ms de lafontaine being the only vampire presence for half of the book. i also thought that the rivals to lovers dissolved far too quickly after carmilla was changed. there was a good amount of laura lusting after carmilla before their relationship, but i felt there was a lack of arguments or just anything else that would make their relationship more rivals/enemies to lovers. it just kinda went, they hate each other, mostly carmilla hating laura, carmilla drinks laura's blood, carmilla suddenly doesnt hate her at all.
i feel there was too much going on in the book at times. enemies to lovers, religious trauma/guilt, carmilla's obsession with ms de lafontaine, ms de lafontaine's ex lover, dark academia, murder. it felt like a lot got lost. especially things like how isis would paint the toenails of the girls she murdered, what was the significance ? it was never developed and i found it to be an interesting tell of isis being the murderer.

i rate this book 4/5 stars because though i have quite a lot of qualms with it, i still absolutely loved this book. s.t gibson is certainly up there with my favourite authors, but i did enjoy a dowry of blood more.

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torrentsofhayl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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edamamebean's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

So sad about this one but it just was not doing it for me. The entire time I was reading I just felt like the book was missing something important. All the elements were there for a good story, but it had no tension. An intriguing student who has a mysterious and inappropriate connection with a professor, monstrous murders taking place on campus, a university built to house a deadly secret, a twisted obsession between two academic rivals—these should make for a compelling story! But they all missed the mark because everything was revealed to us as it was happening, and without any fanfare. There’s no mystery or element of uncertainty for the reader, not even at the climax of the novel. I was never intrigued to find out more because nothing was being hidden from me. If everything had been shrouded in the thinnest layer of mystery, this book would have hit so much harder.

It’s also so weird to me that Laura has a completely uncomplicated relationship with religion? She’s a lesbian growing up in the 1960s

who is sucked into a strange world of murderous vampires,

and yet hardly experiences religious guilt over it. Weird. I think there was a missed opportunity here to say something about queerness and religion, but it was so skimmed over that I don’t think there was a point in making Laura religious at all.

The book also completely skims over the fact that De Lafontaine is an abuser. I thought that was going to be a huge part of the story, like obviously she’s the big bad guy here? But instead we get introduced to a bigger badder guy and all of Ms. D’s indiscretions are largely dismissed.

And I’m so sad to say this, but I found the romance to be really awkward at times. Mostly, I think, because of De Lafontaine’s constant involvement. She looms over their entire relationship in a way that the characters can never bring themselves to openly acknowledge. There are stories that do this well—Ava Reid’s Juniper and Thorn comes to mind—but this just wasn’t one of them. Instead of adding tension, it felt more like discomfort. Probably because her inappropriate relationships with her students is never explicitly condemned,

and the door is left open for a continued relationship after the story is over.

What is so disappointing is that I think this book could have been amazing with just a little bit of restructuring. Keep it only to Laura’s perspective for the first half of the book, have her slowly uncover the strange relationship between Carmilla and De Lafontaine, both of whom she is inexplicably drawn to. Culminate in a big reveal at the halfway point, then have the second half take place from Carmilla’s perspective. It could have been so good! I cry.

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pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Oh wow, this book is so sumptuous, nail-biting, yearning, sexy.

Laura and Carmilla have such a compelling relationship and arcs. I love their progression. It all felt very natural and well-paced. And their steamy scenes had me swooning!

Also the entirety of Magdalene's party was just so bloody hot and sexy. Felt a little like something that would be in AMC's Interview with the Vampire.

The De Lafontaine dynamic witb Laura and especially Carmilla was so frustrating and heartrending and complex. I feel she redeemed herself a bit towards the end, but the beginning is very uncomfy as she preys on her students.

The vampirism is developed well. Enough to intrigue readers but not so much lore that it feels overly explanatory or clunky.

And the atmosphere of the writing is very transportive and every emotion is felt so strongly. Both Carmilla and Laura have strong and distinct enough voices to easily differentiate between povs. And Laura's growth in particular was so beautiful and heart achingly done as she came to love Carmilla and come into her own.

Carmilla, my love, I wanted to protect her the entire book.

The entire Isis storyline?! Omg. Okay I have to admit this kind of felt unneccary and parts of it took me out of the story. Like this being has been sleeping for 43 years and now starts a murder spree after being awoken by De Lafontaine. And I get it shows that De Lafontaine herself was a victim of abuse, but I think just pacing and plot strength wise this just felt clumsier and weaker.

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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book started very slow. I enjoyed all the elements of it (dark academia, vampires, Sapphic), but for some reason, it just did not resonate with me like other books.

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