I've enjoyed Victoria Lee's work in the past, so I went into this one with high expectations. I wasn't disappointed: it's a twisty, memorable story that will appeal to those who love the whole "dark academia" vibe but wish it wasn't so often all about men. It also subverts, or at least lampshades, some of the common tropes of the genre -- why do none of these modern students seem to use technology? Haven't they realised that writing essays is a lot easier on a laptop than by hand or on a typewriter? Felicity, the protagonist, resists the urge to exchange the practical for the aesthetic, unlike the rest of her housemates, but over time she, too, buys into the image she's being sold. I also appreciated that we did actually see the characters doing work. While Dalloway is an unusual school with a very free curriculum, Lee doesn't forget that dark academia does, in fact, need to involve some actual academia at some point: we see the characters in the library, we see them working... I know it seems a small thing, but it does a lot to make the story feel more grounded and realistic.

I mean: when it comes to dark academia, you have to expect a certain level of pretension from the students. It's inevitable. It's part of the genre. And yes, these characters definitely have their snobby moments, and at times are unlikable. That's fair enough; I don't need to like them to be interested in them. I would say that I wouldn't particularly enjoy spending time with any of them, but that's an entirely different thing. I didn't loathe any of them the way I loathed every character in The Secret History (note: I did not loathe TSH, just its characters, which is a testament to how well-written it is), but I will say if you're expecting nice, relatable characters who don't think they're better than everyone else because they read a lot, you might be in the wrong genre.

On a plot level, it's a twisty one that kept me guessing. It's hard to talk too much about the elements I liked in this regard without giving spoilers; although I'm sure I'll reread, I think there's a lot of value to going into it without knowing what you're getting, because the twists and turns are a valuable part of the story. In particular, Lee balances the supernatural with psychological manipulation very effectively, so that it's challenging to be entirely sure which direction the story is going to go in. Are these mind games, or is something supernatural genuinely afoot? Felicity's unreliable memories make her an interesting point of view to be following, and if she doesn't even know what's already happened, it becomes a lot harder to predict what might happen next. Her mental illness plays into the spookiness without othering her in the process.

The one main criticism I would have is that I didn't feel it needed to be YA. The setup of the school meant that the students could have been college students without anything much needing to change -- they have theses and research projects that seem like they would be more realistic for undergrads than high-schoolers. Nor was there anything about the plot that particularly felt like it was YA-specific in terms of being a coming of age story or a journey of self-discovery and independence and so on. Ellis as a prodigy of a young writer would have worked just as well at nineteen or twenty, and I might have found the general dynamic more believable if that were the case. That isn't to say the book itself felt shoe-horned into that category -- barring the characters' ages and the fact that they're at school, the narrative didn't feel like it had been squashed to fit in that particular box. The pacing, if anything, might feel a little slow for those used to racing through YA, though I found it fine. But that's exactly why it felt like it might have worked just as well if the characters were slightly older (and, I confess, I'm hitting the age where I look back at my eighteen-year-old self and think "a baby!", so maybe this is me being Old). Still: I know the "dark academia" vibe and aesthetic is popular in YA at the moment, and maybe it's a canny marketing decision to place the book there.

All in all, though, this was a memorable read where the plot twists are grounded in the character development. I also really appreciated how it is (almost?) entirely populated by female characters, and predominantly by queer characters, because campus stories as a genre have tended to be dominated by men, especially cishet upper-class white men, and to have one that was much more diverse was refreshing. But I do think it's easier to vibe with if you mentally age all the characters up by a few years.

In this book we follow Felicity who’s a student at Dalloway. She lives in a house together with four other girls. Felicity is a senior, who not only had to do her senior year twice, but who also had to be institutionalized because of an incident during her time at the school where her girlfriend Alex died. Felicity feels responsible for Alex’s death because she believes she’d conjured the malevolent spirit of a rumored witch. This year, she’s determined to let the past stay in the past and graduate without incidents. But then Felicity meets writer prodigy Ellis who she forms a close friendship with, and history seems to repeat itself when the ghost of her ex-girlfriend seems to haunt her.

I’d read about this book prior to reading it, and I loved the idea of dark academia and secret societies and what not. But as I started to read it, I was both happily surprised by the ease of reading, but also disappointed in the overall feel.

In the beginning, this read like a Ninth House fanfic, and honestly it didn’t help that the dead girlfriend’s name was Alex (which is also the name of the main character in Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House). The language was at times repetitive, especially with all the similes that just never seemed to end. There could be two in a row sometimes which made for a very odd reading experience.

After a while, though the book sort of learned to stand on its own, even though I still felt a strong likeness to Ninth House, and not in a good way.

The book was also extremely predictable. There wasn’t a single surprising detail about it, which was very disappointing. It could have been so much more. I’m not going to go in to details here because I don’t want to spoil anything, but well, you can see all the end “twists” coming from basically the first page.

So, why am I still giving this book 4/5 stars one can wonder. Well, if I could, I'd give it a 3.5, but that's not possible. So, I 'm rounding it up to 4. And I do this because it’s a solid read with enough entertainment value that it’s worth reading. It’s not bad, not at all. It’s good, but not great.

The language is easy to read, at times in need of serious editing. There are very little unnecessary details and information that bogs down the story, so it’s fast and full of character. I love the queer representation and same sex relationships, even though I think there are aspects of both that could have been done better. The tone is consistent, and there are moments that I really enjoyed. The dark academia tone feels more present for aesthetic reasons than anything, though. Which is a bit disappointing.

So, like I said: It’s a solid read and a good book that’s worth a read. Just don’t expect any wonders and wow moments. What you see is what you get and I suppose that's okay.

This book has all the spooky vibes I needed! Absolutely loved this. The book starts off in a boarding school with our main characters alone awaiting new roommates. The writing just flowed and the spooky scary vibes were definitely in full throttle. I could not put this book down. So many witchy descriptions and plot points. Really interesting first read for me by Victoria Lee.

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee is a book I was dying to read for a while. This came out across the pond a few months ago and I admit to not being patient waiting for it to be released here in the UK.

This book is so good at building up tension with a good mix of creepyness and psychological moments. It balances on the line of thriller and horror, occasionally swinging more one way than the other, and always leaving you guessing to what parts are real and what is all in Felicity's head.

It's a slow burn that occasionally gets a but too slow but it never stays that way for long. The highlight of the book is definitely the intensity between Felicity and Ellis. They are the definition of toxic from the beginning, both fueling each others darker sides such as Felicity's obsession with witchcraft and Ellis's with 'method' writing. Together they are a dangerous mix and it's tension between the two that keeps pulling you through the book.

I've never been hugely invested in dark academia before but this book has convinced me I definitely need to read more.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I’m very thankful to the publisher Titan Books for an e-copy of this book.
Unfortunately, I will mark this book as DNF’ed at 25%.
I found the story and mostly the dialogues confusing and pretentious. I didn’t care for the main character or for any side characters. The plot was slow and it wasn’t going anywhere.
It would have made more sense if this book was written for an adult audience, I really don’t get why this is promoted for the YA audience.

For fans of dark academia with hints of magic, horror and saphic romance. Perfectly pretentious and lyrically written.

This book plays with the trustworthiness of the narrator, shades of gray and psychopathy in such a chilling way. The setting is historic and dark and the plot will have you gripped, especially if you're a lover of classical fiction.

Although, I do wish the characters had been written a little older, lending to the believability of the storyline.

Please check trigger warnings before reading!

A Lesson In Vengeance is a dark academia horror, following Felicity as she returns to school after losing her best friend under mysterious circumstances the previous year.

The book focuses on mental illness and weaves gothic horror into an eerie and atmospheric story where nothing is as it seems and even the characters memories are questionable.

This book wasn't really my thing - I found it a bit confusing and wasn't keen on the portrayal of mental illness. However, if you're a fan of creepy vibes, it's probably worth giving it a go!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher
Of course, is this only my personal opinion on the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn't mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

The rating is based on the 40% I read before I decided to DNF it.

I was so excited about this book. Sapphic Dark Academica?! Colour me interested! Sadly this book was a letdown for me.

This review is kinda hard to write because I can't exactly put my finger on what I didn't like.

The writing style was okay. There was a dark academia atmosphere but I think it takes more to be this aesthetic than just a boarding school with a little darker backstory and girls who read a lot of books. I had the feeling that the narrator (our female mc) is kinda unreliable and sometimes things switched in seconds and it was just okay for everyone.

Talking about the MC - I just couldn't connect to here because the felt shallow and empty. The love interest also felt kinda fake and one dimensional.

The time the story takes place also felt weird. They dress like the last century but have smartphones. It's a high school story but all they do is drink alcohol and smoke and smoke and smoke inside their house. Maybe I would know more about boarding schools if I would have gone to one but I haven't so it felt weird.

As you see it's hard to pinpoint my problem with this book. Maybe it was the toxic one-dimensional characters. Maybe it was the weak and predictable plot. Maybe it was the missing suspense between the love interest and the MC because the love interest was a huge red flag.

But plus point for not including a single male character :D

Seething with suspicion, deceit and dark deeds, this is a dark academia novel to die for, as you return to school with main character Felicity ( a name which is secretly pleasing as it means 'good fortune' or 'happy' in Latin) to Godwin House which is alleged to have the very blood of witches in its foundations.

A traumatic incident which is revealed to have been the death of her girlfriend who had the room directly above hers, in Godwin, gives the reader insight into the expectations which lay heavy on Felicity's mind. It is hard enough returning to school after a break, never mind after a psychological breakdown which everyone and their cat knows about.

Felicity is not a manic pixie dream girl, she is not a tortured intellectual , she is a girl with complex feelings about many of the situations in her life. This is beautifully explored though you never at any point feel like Felicity is a object of pity , or someone through whom the author is living out their feelings. There is such authenticity and truth in her portrayal that you cannot help but be swept up in how she reacts to a new girl being in her ex-partners room, or how she picks up her relationships with her fellow students.

The five central girls, emblematic of the five 'Dalloway' witches ( I am assuming here that the names were deliberately chosen to reflect feminist icons? Feel free to correct me if I am wrong!) all have very strong personalities and parts of their lives which leave them vulnerable to abuse for things which are beyond their control.

Modern women are constantly told that they can have it all, without being given the tools with which to break free from a patriarchal hegemony,or how to make them themselves. It sometimes feels that trauma and suffering is necessary to become the person you hoped to be, though why this is venerated, and why we cannot just lift people up instead of exemplifying the differences between us is beyond me. Even at my advanced age of 46,I am still astounded at just how much my daughters have to go through, generations after we fought the same battles.

There is not a great deal of expositional writing, or which I am truly thankful as many Y.A authors seem to feel that they have to over explain things which teens easily get, And that kind of attitude just kicks the keen teen reader straight out of the suspension of disbelief which you need to jump in, feet first, to a fantasy novel.

I am an adult who would have dearly loved to have seen writing of this quality as a teen, I am also the mother of teen girls who discuss the do's and don'ts of books with me, at length, and this is the only experience which I can bring to the table, as a reader.

I cannot claim to fully understand many of the gender and race issues which are tackled in the book, I recognise that this is not my place as well as my limitations in reading it from a white, heterosexual perspective. That is to say that others will have a more nuanced take and I would encourage anyone looking to read 'A Lesson In Vengeance' to seek them out on appropriate platforms..

However, that said, I found it a sinewy text which pulled me in to a central mystery that was deeply fantastical and satisfying.,

Also, is it strange to say just how interesting do the 5 girls' thesis topics sound? I know this is a work of fiction but holy crap I would love to read more!

i really liked this book: i loved the plot, the characters, and most importantly the representation! victoria lee has done it again! because of this i am going to give the book 4/5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC of 'A Lesson in Vengeance ' by Victoria Lee.

I absolutely wish I could say I liked this book but alas, it wasn't good. I love Victoria Lee, The Fever King was one of my favourite reads and it got be back into reading. However, I despised this book. The twists was so obvious, nothing was unexpected. The book was missing everything required and it just felt bland.

Clearly this author was heavily inspired by The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which I personally did not enjoy, but obviously millions of people loved that book and I can see lot of young adults liking this book too. I think the characters should have been aged up into their university years at least (maybe even 25+) because I did have to suspend disbelief that one of the girls was a world renowned author at 17. And it was a bit rich for the author to poke fun at snobby Stem students when she's literally writing about the worst kind of literature students. But I imagine teens would enjoy this, just personally not for me.

A Lesson in Vengeance is a dark and thrilling book that treads the thin line between reality and the paranormal. The atmospheric, dark-academia setting combines with a twisted plot to create a chilling story about witches, murders and ghosts. Unfortunately, this genre is not popular in my libraries so I won't be purchasing, but I can see this being popular among readers of YA thrillers and spooky novels.

This book has broken my brain. I got to the last page and my brain just felt full!!
This book delivered it's promise of a Young Adult Dark Academia Sapphic novel which was filled with atmosphere and full on vibes.
I became very invested in the story, contantly asking questions like: is magic/ghosts real? is felicity a murderer? is ellis a murderer? who's gonna die next? - and I enjoy reading and being able to ask those sort of questions.
I saw a review that said the two halves felt like different books and I can agree with that. The first half was very paranormal and spooky, filled with magic and ghosts, while the second half leaned into the more dark-academia mystery/thriller and I feel like that bridge could have happened more smoothly.
Overall I really enjoyed my time reading this book which is how I decide on a rating so 4 stars!

A Lesson In Vengeance is a beautifully-written lesbian Gothic encompassing witchcraft, murder, secret societies and a deadly thesis at an extremely exclusive boarding school. Lee's writing is dark and intoxicating, and each of her characters is well-drawn, from protagonist Felicity Morrow - mourning (and feeling the guilt of her own part in) the death of her secret girlfriend Alex - to her rival-turned-lover-turned-nemesis Ellis Haley. It's easy to disdain novels in which the 'unreliable' narrator is hiding a secret within her own memories; harder still to pull it off, which Lee does with aplomb, due to the sheer confusion and naivete of Felicity, always so wrapped up in her conflicting emotions. When the ending comes, it's a series of twists and shocks which feel utterly inevitable and deeply satisfying. One for fans of The Secret History, We Have Always Lived In The Castle and Special Topics In Calamity Physics.

A Lesson In Vengeance is an expertly crafted and atmospherically creepy, YA Thriller that’s psychologically twisty and packed with haunting prose I literally couldn’t get enough of. The uncanny occult-like visuals are absolutely stunning, if you love Dark Academia fiction (or just the Dark academia aesthetic in general) then I definitely recommend checking this out.

Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin house back—the exclusive dormitory supposedly haunted by five former students,girls that some claim were witches. Felicity was once drawn to the school’s dark legacy but she’s determined to leave it behind her.

But when new girl, Ellis Haley (the Pulitzer-winning novelist), prodigy and “method writer” asks Felicity to assist in her research of The Dalloway Five—the girl’s whose gruesome deaths are still shrouded in mystery—Felicity reluctantly agrees, and is swept right back into her obsession with witchcraft and the occult which may have caused her girlfriend’s death.

And when history begins to repeat itself Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway—and in herself…

I really enjoyed this and absolutely loved the richly detailed descriptions and dark suspenseful imagery that pervades throughout the novel, the ominous and foreboding tone in the opening chapter as Felicity wanders the empty halls of Godwin house had me anxious with anticipation—despite it being one of the calmest parts of entire the book.

The early establishment of an unreliable narrator was also expertly done, and had me constantly questioning and second guessing every little detail, motives and actions of several characters (especially Ellis and Felicity.)

I really enjoyed the dynamics between Ellis and Felicity’s relationship and was completely fascinated by the level of obsession they seemed to have both for one another and for the story surrounding the Dalloway Five. I have to say there were some very interesting (and tense) moments that definitely had me on the edge of my seat, particularly in regards to Ellis who’s backstory is shared and yet, still manages to keep ahold of her mystery-laden persona.

The pacing of the plot is rather slow to begin with but does gradually speed up the further along we get into the novel (the more emotionally distressed Felicity becomes) and I personally have to commend Victoria Lee for crafting such phenomenal, contemporary gothic thriller that even Donna Tartt would approve of —with murder, superstition, the allure of the forbidden and of course the plot twists that even I (who loves guessing the endings of books) had a hard time guessing what would happen next.

Overall, this dark and beautifully written LGBTQ+ centric, contemporary paranormal thriller is the perfect read for gothic/horror newbies or anyone who loves their books slow-burn, dark and sumptuously moody.

Also thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the e-arc.

I absolutely adored this book! Perfect for any fans of dark academia! It, did however, take me a while to get into it but those slow pages were still enjoyable none the less

'I still feel ghosts around me: the ghosts of the Dalloway girls who defied the boxes and coffins the world tried to put them in. The ghosts of other women who attended or worked at this school, but whose legacies were forgotten instead of deified. The ghosts of every girl who came here and felt history beneath her feet. but I'm not haunted anymore. Maybe I never was.' — A Lesson in Vengeance, Victoria Lee.

I have been wanting to read this book since I saw the cover reveal on Victoria's Instagram. The pitch of this new novel was very interesting and, now that I read it, I dare to say that it made me think of something like Rebecca meets Mexican Gothic. The atmosphere of the story was so dark (very dark academia, like I was promised, and I am not disappointed) and so uncanny that I cannot argue with the fact that Victoria Lee masterfully crafted this piece of writing. I'll go directly to the point: I really enjoyed reading this book! This was my first by the author, and it was a very nice discovery!

A Lesson in Vengeance follows Felicity Morrow, an eighteen-year-old girl who comes back to Dalloway school, a place exclusively reserved for intelligent and wealthy teenage girls. But at her return, the Godwin house, the one she was admitted into and also one of the most prestigious and wanted by the Dalloway students, brings back the memories of her ex-girlfriend, Alex, presumed dead a year ago. Since then, Alex's ghost haunts Felicity. At least, this is what Felicity thinks. Obsessed with witchcraft and especially with the strange deaths of the five Dalloway girls, a few centuries before, Felicity seeks to prove that she is sane. And that she didn't kill Alex like every student seems to think after she was interned in a psychiatric hospital. The arrival of famous writer Ellis Halley might change everyone's view about her… for the better, or the worst.

First of all, I need to say that the settings were beautifully described and helped to add this gloomy atmosphere to the Godwin house. There was something deeply unsettling since chapter one, which made me completely immersed in the story and Felicity's trauma. At first, I thought that Victoria Lee succeeded in making us feel the same emotions as Felicity: we feel lost, also very anxious about what the other characters might think or say about her. I pitied Felicity a lot in the beginning, and I believe this is what Victoria wanted to convey through her. Felicity really is a pitiful character, from the first line to the last (ok, perhaps not to the last). But I developed a sort of fellow-feeling towards her, which progressively faded through the chapters, before being completely erased in the end. As she comes to know Ellis, Felicity starts to embrace her true nature and find confidence in being accompanied by someone of power like Ellis.

Ellis is depicted as a character who has few weaknesses if none. She's adored by her classmates, she is intelligent, talented, rich... but alone. And this only weak spot, she fills it by staying with Felicity. In this respect, both characters complete each other in a clever way. Yet, I couldn't feel any sympathy towards Ellis. I had a weird feeling about her. I must say I had this strange intuition about both protagonists, perhaps because I predicted how unreliable they were. It was very difficult to follow Ellis. Not because she was badly written, no, quite the contrary: she was so well written and unpredictable that, when I thought I understood her, she did something which almost seemed to tell me: 'You fool, you thought you got me!' As for Felicity, her trauma made her very unreliable from the beginning.

If there is something that will keep with me for a long time about this book, this is not the plot, which was quite basic as a mystery/ murder story, but the development of the characters and their personas. There was a variety of them, but each was riveting to follow.

I wasn't fond of the romance in this novel—if we consider it a romance at all, in fact. Now that I think about it, I wonder if what appears as romantic in Felicity's perspective isn't actually a sort of obsession over the way she perceived Ellis. To me, it appears more like a delusion, a romanticised and idealised version of Ellis, rather than who she actually is. I thought this very interesting, too.

I enjoyed a lot the reflection around the writing experience, about the boundaries authors should put while crafting their works: Should an author experience everything they write on? Should they limit themselves to the things that are not detrimental to them? Does an author mean being some self-isolated and strict person, who is exigent with others? What is the limit of depicting the 'real' for an author? All these views were very interesting points brought up here and there in the story, which gave more depth to the role of Ellis in it.

What else could I say about a Lesson in Vengeance, apart from all this? I wouldn't recommend it to everyone because I'm not sure the genre would be liked by all. As I mentioned before, it's very dark, and I believe readers should be in the right mood to read it. I would also suggest adding some trigger warnings (such as death, blood, depression, anxiety, trauma, cannibalism, etc.) to make sure that readers are not surprised by some of the novel's themes. However, for dark academia lovers and fans of unsettling stories like Rebecca, The Haunting of Hill House, Jane Eyre, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Wuthering Heights, and dark academia stories in general, this book is totally for you!

I can't thank Netgalley and Titan books enough for letting me review this third title. It's been a pleasure and I'd be honoured to review more of their titles in the following months.

I really did not get on with this book. Its just so unrealistic and I honestly could not get past how implausible the plot is. First I'm supposed to believe that a load of rich kids are meant to be child geniuses because they're all out there writing a thesis in high school that belongs in university. That they all read these weird classics. Nope, I can't deal. It was overwhelmingly pretentious particularly in the beginning which set me up to not enjoying the story.

Then we have the character Ellis who I absolutely hated right from the beginning. I don't know why she just gave me bad vibes. And I didn't like the protagonist Felicity either, or the way the author used mental health in the story like a plot device.

Everything at the end just happens in a big rush that was underwhelming for me. It wasn't satisfying. I did like that there was an epilogue though.

Overall just not my thing, the book didn't make me feel things.

These genres really enticed me and I was hooked in by the title and front cover. Unfortunately, I just could not get past the first few chapters.

Normally with these books, you can relate on some level but I just couldn’t connect to it. The descriptive writing was excellent but the plot itself wasn’t believable.