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_p0ssum_'s review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can't put my finger on why I love this book but it just works. It's a sapphic vampire carmilla retelling why wouldn't I love it ? It's also written by the same women who created "a dowry of blood" so I already knew it would shoot my expectations out of the park
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
boomwormbrittany's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
An Education in Malice follows Laura who, on her first day of class, is thrown into a competition with another classmate. But as their rivalry heats up, there may be more than meets the eye to her new classmate.
This book was not it for me.
First off, the characters in this lacked so much depth that they should have been cardboard cut outs of characters rather than the main characters in this book. The only thing that really defined them was their attraction to each other and that was tentative even at best. I didn't believe their relationship or the fact that they were attracted to each other outside of their looks. We never really see them grow together or anything of the sort.
The storyline that was introduced in this book was weak at best. It made no sense what so ever and didn't give the dark academia vibe that this book was pushing. I know that this book is based off the first vampire story and it was a lesbian one at that. Honestly, you'd be better off reading that then this. I feel like this leaned too heavily on the source material that it couldn't really stand on its own.
Overall, just not the best book to me. I'm glad I got it from the library. If this does interest you, I would say pick it up and give it a try.
This book was not it for me.
First off, the characters in this lacked so much depth that they should have been cardboard cut outs of characters rather than the main characters in this book. The only thing that really defined them was their attraction to each other and that was tentative even at best. I didn't believe their relationship or the fact that they were attracted to each other outside of their looks. We never really see them grow together or anything of the sort.
The storyline that was introduced in this book was weak at best. It made no sense what so ever and didn't give the dark academia vibe that this book was pushing. I know that this book is based off the first vampire story and it was a lesbian one at that. Honestly, you'd be better off reading that then this. I feel like this leaned too heavily on the source material that it couldn't really stand on its own.
Overall, just not the best book to me. I'm glad I got it from the library. If this does interest you, I would say pick it up and give it a try.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
sageofthearts's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: Murder
ceredonia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
okgm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I purchased this book at a pride book fair event because I recognized the cover from my storygraph recommendations—God, I chewed this book up & GULPED. I read a few pages at the laundromat & decided that my next day off would be spent entirely by reading in my window. Finished in a single (despite have to get up and walk about to cool down from the especially spicy scenes) sitting and it was well worth it. I think if I had read this author’s first project, I would have expected the plot better (given I read the excerpt at the end of the book) however, it was an exciting read both in storyline and smut! I was worried in the beginning that I might find it hard to engage (the language started off a bit bold in my opinion) but today I was SAT. This met so many of my interests: obsession over poetry, rivalry/enemies to friends to lovers (god i have loved every girl who bullied me in childhood—I’ll write that down for my therapist), religious imagery, creatures of the night, the romanticization of academia, my WORD. Walking cliché much? I shut this book loudly & proudly at 1 in the morning and now I will be retiring for the evening. God bless lesbianism, amen <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Religious bigotry
exhumedprince's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sapphic poetry? Kinky vampire parties?? Excellent, stellar, perfect. I love Carmilla, and this is a very interesting and creative retelling. Some parts of the climax and resolution, I didn't like. Also, I know she's not a main character in the story, but I loved Elenore and wished there was more of her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
torismazarine's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
abigalelouise12's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
emilie_anine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
5.0
Kind of one of those books that was a brain-off read for me, which is partly what made it so enjoyable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship
moonytoast's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for providing me with a digital ARC of this book!
Do you like: Dark academia? Lesbians? Vampiric debauchery?
An enticing mixture of the gothic and erotic, An Education in Malice breathes new life—a second life, if you will—into the subgenre of dark academia and the classic vampire tale. Heavily inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, the novel explores the carnal nature of vampirism as well as the blooming complexities of desire, devotion, and love.
Set against the backdrop of Saint Perpetua’s College in Massachusetts, An Education in Malice follows two protagonists—Laura and Carmilla—who find themselves thrown together under the wing of their elusive poetry professor, De Lafontaine. While they begin as rivals, they are quickly pulled inexorably into the orbit of De Lafontaine’s world of dark obsession and ancient, bloody secrets.
The writing style begins with a more pragmatic, diaristic tone and transforms into an obsessive interior focus as Laura and Camilla descend into the depths of their audacious desire and devotion to each other. Combined with lush prose, S.T. Gibson crafts a pulse-pounding, atmospheric novel in its setting and characters that pulls you in for it to sink its teeth into you. While it is more immersive vibes than cohesive plot, that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad piece of fiction and I still enjoyed the story.
Perfect for fans of Carmilla and The Secret History, An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson is brimming with intrigue and insatiable hungers. This book is the incarnation of the vivid imagery of Florence and the Machine’s discography mixed with the unabashed raunchiness of Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder