When I found out An Education in Malice was a Dark Academia retelling of Carmilla, I couldn't pick it up fast enough. From the get go I saw a lot of similarities, not just in the plot and the characters (obviously) but also in the way the story was told. The story structure/writing style felt very reminiscent of that original which was a nice details.

Unfortunately, to me it feels like this book depends too much on vibes and aesthetic then it does fully developing the plot. While I really enjoyed the Dark Academia elements, which were punctuated by the isolated university setting and 1960's time period, I felt like the book didn't have much more substance. Honestly, I would have been quite happy just reading this book for the vibes because the power dynamics between De Lefontaine, Carmilla and Laura were interesting, but the inclusion of dead bodies and a murderous vampire made the climax and ending feel quite anti-climatic.

Besides from a raise of the eyebrows at a particularly orgiastic scene, this book didn't really make me feel anything.

Thank you for the ARC copy.

I really enjoyed this. For my first dip into dark academia the story had me gripped. It is well written and thought provoking in places. Would love to follow the story more with Laura and Camilla following potential changes. A great standalone but can easily be a series.

3⭐️ A Dark academia with a hint of Vampires and a delightfully sapphic romance between academic rivals.

An Education in Malice felt like one book split into two.

The first half had all the dark academia vibes where we were drawn into college life through the experiences of two poetry students who took their studies extremely seriously. The academic rivalry was fascinating and the sexual tension was fiery. The inappropriate professor-student relationship was frustrating but engaging.

The second half of the book focused on the vampire element without any description of the vampire world and how it sat within the human world. There was no explanation of vampires nor much of a back story around the main vampire character, despite the rising of the murderous villain.

Unfortunately not a lot happened throughout the first 80% of the story, we wandered to the edge of something interesting only to turn around to face a wall. Then suddenly we had a random plot introduced which was supposed to be intense and suspenseful but was instead rushed and unbelievable within the frame of the world we were given.

Despite the sapphic romance being full of wonderfully fiery sexual tension of two rivals, it flipped way too quickly into a devoted love story. When this happened the two main characters seemed to merge into one, and we lost their unique personalities. I found myself having to check which character was telling the story multiple times in the last part of the book.

The second half of the book could have been amazing if the dark academia elements were consistently flowed through while we explored the vampire elements in greater depth, and were allowed to enjoy the uniquely different main characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Books for this ARC. This review is written voluntarily and are all my own thoughts.

4.25 stars

As always, Gibson’s prose is her strong suit - 10/10 genuinely no critiques. It’s rare that I read many books with this kind of prose as I’m not very into classics or literary fiction, but I am very much into this.

I loved the rivalry, the obsession and the devotion in this story, and I highlighted a lot in my kindle ARC which I don’t do often!

A star was dropped only as I felt the professor was a little underdeveloped, her presence could have been more menacing I think; it felt a little more like we were being TOLD she was scary rather than her actions showing it (other than the initial introduction to the character which I found a great tension).

I also think the ending was a little anticlimactic, but I wasn’t really in this for the plot so I’m not too bothered by it.

Overall, ST Gibson is still an insta-buy author for me - I’m looking forward to her next novel, Evocation.

Right off the bat, the prose is lyrical and evocative, and perfectly fits the vibe of the book.

The story starts off with Laura's arrival at Saint Perpetua's College, and through her perspective, the readers learn about her origins, her reasons for choosing to attend Saint Perpetua's, and perhaps more importantly, introduces Carmilla, the other main character of this book. Laura and Carmilla's first proper meeting establishes the two as academic rivals, although its pretty obvious that they're going to become something more.

Where this book shines is when the focus is on Laura and Carmilla's relationship. I loved reading their interactions, from their rivalry and attempts to one-up each other, to their attempts to conceal and battle their desires for one another. Their professor, De Lafontaine, adds another dimension to their relationship, by pitting them against each other, and giving and withholding approval to manipulate them.

The climax was kind of... anticlimactic. I feel like the problem got solved pretty quickly and easily, with not a lot of build-up to it in the first place.

This is kind of a spicy hot take, but honestly I low-key wish there were no vampires in this at all. I would have found this book, exactly the same, if not better, if the focus was purely on Laura and Carmilla's developing relationship, as well as De Lafontaine. I feel like the inclusion of the vampires was a distraction from their relationship, and vampires are kind of hit-or-miss for me anyway.

Also, this is kind of random, but for some reason I assumed the setting was contemporary. I caught myself wondering "why don't they just text/call each other??" Then I realised that this is set in the 60s, and cellphones haven't been invented.

S.T Gibson writes the most stunningly atmospheric stories. This was truly a vampiric, sapphic delight that was intoxicating from the very first page. I am not typically a dark academia girlie, but this reallyyyyy hit the spot.

The audio experience was perfect, the narrator really gave life to the characters so I highly recommend picking up the audiobook when it releases!

This book has a dark academia setting with vampires and a mesmerizing atmosphere. This book is supposed to be a sapphic retelling of Camilla, but it felt like a reincarnation of it. It was an amazing example of an academic rivals to lover’s story well done.

The gothic academia atmosphere was fantastic, the teacher-student obsession and the quest for love was so intense. The writing was magnificent making the whole experience a greater one. However, this book has such a great aesthetic setting that the plot was somehow secondary, and I felt like it was something missing to the end since it could’ve been a bit more tragic or darker than it was.

Overall, it could’ve a little more exploration of the characters and their internal conflicts, but it was a good read. I recommend it to everyone who’s seeking for a gothic atmosphere with a carnal touch. Also, I already mention that there’re vampires in this book, so I don’t think there’s much more to say.

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

In An Education in Malice, S.T Gibson takes the sapphic undertones in Carmilla and cranks them up to eleven to deliver another lush, intoxicating, haunting, and dangerously seductive queer take on a vampire classic to sink your teeth into.

An Education in Malice returns us to the darkly alluring world of A Dowry of Blood, albeit hundreds of years later. Set at a secluded Christian girls school deep in the hills of Massachusetts, this story tells the tale of the academic rivals Laura and Carmilla. Fighting for the attention and love of their demanding yet matronly poetry professor, they soon find themselves begrudgingly growing closer as they become entangled in a toxic and sinister game of deadly politics, strange hungers, and bloodthirsty obsession.

Now, An Education in Malice has left me in a bit of a pickle. On the one hand, I absolutely devoured it (or maybe it devoured me?). Gibson’s lyrical and mesmerising prose had me in a trance, and I just adored the lush, sensual, and seductive atmosphere. The hauntingly gothic settings, the sapphic yearning, the dangerous sexual tension, the insatiable vampiric lust, the heightened toxic emotions, and the steamy passion (hello dom kink!); the intensity of this story simply cannot be overstated. The vibes are vibing, and they vibe so good!

Yet on the other hand, this story falls completely apart the second I turn my critical brain on. The character work is quite shallow (especially for the side characters), the rivals-to-lovers romance develops way too quickly, and the dark academia/school elements mostly feel like some nice atmospheric window dressing and a cheap trick to amplify the air of intrigue, pretentiousness and toxicity present in the story. On top of that, there is also an attempt at a murder mystery plot line which just completely lacks any suspense, resulting in a rather anticlimactic ending to the story.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to the fact that An Education in Malice just tried to do a bit too much. I personally think this would have worked superbly as a ‘no plot, just vibes’ book, just like A Dowry of Blood was. The inner turmoil and tense interpersonal drama between these characters could have carried the story so well, so I truly feel like there wasn’t any need for an external source of tension.

But with all that said, there is simply no denying that I had a blast reading An Education in Malice. Somehow, Gibson managed to make me turn that critical brain off, allowing me to just enjoy the story for what it was. I honestly loved the messiness of it all, and there are also some hard-hitting themes of obsession, codependency, gaslighting, abuse, and toxic relationships that gave this story some much-needed depth. So often when themes like these are tackled, it’s men who get painted in a bad light, but I appreciated how this story showcased how women can be just as predatory, toxic, and dangerous when power dynamics are imbalanced and consent gets messy.

In the end, I think it is just going to depend on your expectations and reading tastes whether you are going to enjoy An Education in Malice. To me, this story honestly feels like an unapologetically messy and surprisingly steamy sapphic romantasy disguised behind some delectable literary prose and an utterly intoxicating gothic atmosphere. And you know what, my trashy queer heart was not mad about it!

One of my most anticipated reads of 2024 was a bit of a letdown :(

My favourite thing about this book was the writing - so lush and spellbinding, truly immaculate.

It was a very infuriating read at times and I highly encourage going through the content warnings the author provided.

This is not a plot-driven book, but there is enough going on to keep you engaged. It is mostly queer girls, vampires and vibes in a dark academia setting, with a mesmerizing atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the characters were not complex, they only had a couple of distinctive traits which were not enough for me get a detailed picture of them and to figure out how they would act outside the very specific circumstances in this book. I wish the side characters were more present and that we got to spend more time with them and see more of their relationships. However, I was happy to see a certain someone from A Dowry in Blood makes a quick appearance.

I feel like some decisions the characters made towards the end didn't make much sense, and I wish the consequences for one of the characters were more severe. There were also some tropes I'm generally not a fan of, and the ending was a bit underwhelming for my taste.

While I had a good enough time reading it, I don't feel much towards it now being done, and I don't think it will stay with me for long. But, I adore S.T. Gibson's writing and I look forward to reading her next book.

A sapphic retelling of Carmilla, from the writer of A Dowry of Blood, should have been right up my street, and dear readers, I'm afraid that this just did not hit the spot. The writing had some of the creativity that we saw in A Dowry of Blood, but lacked depth, nuance and flourishing, the characters felt flat, shallow and underdeveloped and overall it just felt rushed and left me entirely underwhelmed. Even the plot felt like it needed more to it, some parts felt jarring and irrelevant to the story, - almost like they were added in as an afterthought and other parts were lacking in substance. And please, for the love of the deities, it is 2024, can we please stop describing toxic co-dependent relationships as romantic?! They're not, and we deserve better. This book could have been so much more and I'm so, so disappointed that it wasn't.

This book was a great read. I loved the setting and the writing style. It felt very dark and the vibes were immaculate.

Carmilla and Laura’s relationship was a perfect example of an academic rivals to lovers story. I would’ve loved it if they stayed rivals a bit longer and actually disliked each other at some point but that’s just personal preference.

Another thing that felt a bit lacking was the ending. The book started really strong and there seemed to be so many possibilities for a tragic/dark ending and it just fell flat. I would’ve loved it if the tension stayed until the end and if there was a bigger climax. In my opinion the plot felt kinda boring, especially the end. I still liked the book because of the writing and the sapphic love story.

"She pulled her hair up with a pale blue ribbon, almost exactly the color of the veins showing through the delicate skin of her wrist. I lost myself for a moment in the vision of tying her hands together with that same ribbon, of forcing them down into a coverlet."

An Education In Malice is a story about passion and the dark paths we will take to find it. Set within the ivy-clad walls of a university, this Carmilla retelling is dripping with blood, poetry, and desire. This story is at its sharpest in the build-up. Carmilla and Laura have a compelling rivalry that intrigues and I found it to be more compelling than the source material. The spicy scenes were also well-written and vividly desirous.

Spoilers:
I do feel as though Laura and Carmilla got together quite abruptly and the lack of tension leaves a noticeable absence in the story. Once the romance is resolved, we are left to solve a mystery that feels somewhat uncompelling. For example, there are multiple details (like painted nails) that feel important but never have any relevance to the plot or are left unexplored. I also feel like being inside Carmilla's perspective, while interesting, dampened the tension. I wished we got to discover everything through Laura's eyes.

Overall, I found this to be enjoyable and really liked the atmosphere. It's very interesting that Laura is training to be a priest but finds herself overcome with lust for vampires. I do, however, wish this had been explored more within Laura's internal world. This felt like a great opportunity for character development and conflict, but we never really see how Laura grapples with these parts of herself and it almost feels like her faith is forgotten. This was a surprise as A Dowry of Blood was, in my opinion, a perfectly written character exploration.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺… 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵.”


This book was extraordinary. It was so pure and raw and real.
Gosh I didn’t think it was possible, but I loved it even more then ADOB, I devoured it!
The love triangle, dark/gothic academia vibes, the vampires, poetry, dual pov, horror, AND FREAKING MAGGIE!!! I enjoyed her reappearance sooo much, as she was my fav in ADOB!

The writing style of the author is so unique, it’s like im living there at Saint Perpetua’s myself, writing poems and worshipping Ms. De Lafontaine…


Infinite stars I gave this book, but I’ll keep it at ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!🩶

This was a sapphic gothic dream in a neat little Carmilla retelling giftbox. I love S. T. Gibson's writing with all my heart but this dark academia treat was captivating and romantic and tense in the best way. I would recommend this to mostly anyone!

“𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬.“

3.5 stars ⭐️

Let me start of this review by saying I did enjoy An Education in Malice but I fear I expected more of this book than it could give me.

I loved Carmilla & Laura. However I felt like they got over their ‘hate’ quite fast in contrast to the first part of the book. Also; in the second part I found the Academia part quite lacking as it focused more on the obsession and didn’t really discuss university anymore.

That being said, the first half of the story started off strong & enthralled me. The second part is where I was a bit ‘???’ - sorry I don’t really have a useful thought to share concerning the second half of the book.

Rating: 3.5

This was my first S.T Gibson’s book. I enjoyed the vibes, the dark academia setting and the sapphic romance. But unfortunately, I found myself a little bored.
I loved the writing and the description. However, I found the characters weren’t fully fleshed out and really went deep down into their psyche, which for a book with mostly vibes and no plot, I expected more.
Overall, an enjoyable read I would recommend if you are looking for a quick vampire sapphic story.

I hate to say it, but this companion novel felt like it was pushed onto the author by a publisher who wanted to follow up the viral success of A Dowry of Blood. To me, the appeal of Dowry was founded in the "no plot just vibes" approach to a retelling of a concept instead of a retelling of a story, and if you remove both those defining elements from the equation, you aren't left with any common denominators.

This is a Carmilla retelling only in the loosest of senses. There is a difference between taking three vaguely present background characters from a classic to give them a backstory and then this, naming the characters in a 1960s dark academia story after Le Fanu's proto-sapphic horror couple.

Having followed S.T. Gibson's writing religiously for a few years now, I couldn't help but notice that they took the chance to squeeze into it whatever they most longed to write - and good for them! To me, the combination was sadly dissonant in regards to their previous works. The time period was imparted to the reader quite superficially; mostly through detailled outfit descriptions that took me immediately out of the zone. The smut was simultaneously more exaggerated, yet less believable. The lyrical prose was toned down. The conflict... wasn't a real one.

I absolutely didn't hate Education, let me make that clear! But my enthusiasm was rapidly curbed during the second half of the book, and I'm genuinely sorry to say it. I sincerely hope that the author got at least some enjoyment out of creating this novel and wasn't pressured into serving up a doppelganger of a book that can't be replicated.

I am a huge fan of S.T. Gibson's debut "A Dowry of Blood" - a queer and feminist retelling of Dracula from the point of view of Dracula's bride. As the second book in this loosely connected series, "An Education in Malice" takes a similar approach: It reimagines the classic gothic novel "Carmilla" as a queer dark academia novel set in an isolated Christian college.

As much as I love Gibson's writing and all the ideas and inspirations used here, it didn't quite come together for me in the end.

I absolutely loved the idea of a VERY queer retelling of Carmilla, a staple of sapphic vampire literature. It had all the components I love about such stories: the subtle - and later not so subtle - eroticism, the endless lust for each other, the dreamlike vampire balls and of course the hunger for everything that makes vampires feel alive: Art, beauty, blood. Although a little toned down from the first book, Gibson's lush writing style makes for an incredibly atmospheric and engrossing read. If there is one thing Gibson does masterfully, it is describing the attraction between our two protagonists, Carmilla and Laura.

My biggest criticism would be that all the elements that make for a great vampire novel - which were actually there - unfortunately did not come together as *one* in the end. It felt like they were thrown in without enough substance to be really effective, almost like certain tropes were used, but they felt kind of pointless. Why exactly was it set in a private Christian college? Why are the protagonists studying poetry - just for the vibes? There was not enough room for the subtle interpretations that I have come to love in dark academia stories. The plot felt contrived and the main dramatic climax rather forced. I also didn't understand why there was an antagonist at all - which is similar to the original Carmilla story to be honest, but here I wanted either “no plot just vibes”, or a stronger, more intense and smarter plot.

All in all, though, I enjoyed my time with this book and I look forward to reading more by S.T. Gibson. If you are looking for erotic sapphic vampires, you definitely should read this book, even though I personally had a couple of criticisms of the book.

4.5 stars

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

"One of us was always going to bleed for the other." iconic. intrigued. I'm seated.
sapphic! gothic! rivals to lovers! check trigger warnings.

On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrusted into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. They both are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds their own dark obsession with Carmilla. But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront their own strange hungers.

The original novel happens to be one of my favorite books so, I wasn't sure what to expect for this story. A few pieces of why the original is so beautiful to me is the combination of the atmosphere, the prose, and the all-consuming longing! Any body of work that's aiming to make a classic more sapphic, then I'm in.

The book is powered purely off vibes and atmosphere drizzled with incredible prose. The relationship between Carmilla and Laura is much more balanced in this version, where the manipulative/toxic aspect comes from the poetry professor who takes them both under her wing. Although, the poetry professor targets and has this obsessive need for controlling Carmilla, her favorite. I was wishing for more yearning between Laura and Carmilla. This version of Carmilla felt so needy in the way we haven't seen before with almost all her focus on the professor made everything she did with Laura feel less convincing which is where the yearning would've helped. I understand that the unhealthy relationship with her professor is probably the reason for this, it just felt a slightly empty. When I think of "Carmilla", I picture Carmilla Karnstein as the main character whereas in this version I felt De Lafontaine is the center so that was a mental adjustment. It's not that we know about her character more, we actually know her the least, and yet all of the relationships go through her.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

Release Date: Feb 13th

This book was HOT. And that's about it.

I was hooked during the first half. Dark academia rivals to lovers. The vibes were there. We got stolen glances, spoken poetry, an abusive teacher, flirting in the rain, everything. The second half felt rushed. We had a ‘big bad’ that seemed to be ignored in favour of dramatics between the characters. The inappropriate student teacher relationship was very glossed over and didn’t really have any kind of resolution. We kept getting glimpses of a threat but then it’s just gone. I think it suffered from being extremely character driven, so while the writing was addictive (i finished it in record time) the plot just left me wanting more.

I loved the sapphic storyline AND how addictive the writing is, so regardless as to how I felt about the second half of the book, it still gets a 4 star rating.

Free eARC was provided to me via NetGalley from Little, Brown Book Group UK/Orbit. This review is written and left voluntarily.