“Everything she asked of me afterwards, all the little agonies and offerings she required to keep me in her good graces, was given without hesitation or regret.”

An Education In Malice brings us back to the darkly lush world of vampires that we first saw in A Dowry of Blood. It takes place at a college for girls in the 1960’s, and follows Laura and Carmilla, who go head to head in an academic rivalry fuelled by jealousy and yearning. Poetry and death abound at the college campus, as their poetry professor, De Lafontaine, weaves them both into her web, and they must all navigate complicated toxicity and bloody obsession.

“Our spirits were kindred, she would tell me, linked by art and blood in a chain no man’s disapproval or god’s judgement could break.”

A Dowry of Blood is one of my all time favourite books, so this was understandably one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2024 - and despite my sky high expectations, I was not let down. The author excels at writing toxic and abusive relationships (both romantic and, apparently, academic turned something else) that simultaneously are both horrible and compelling; you see what’s wrong, but it’s impossible to fully turn away, leading to it reading painfully relatable and real. I want to both shake the characters in anger and give them another chance to be better, because this time will surely be different.

“After all, what horror wouldn’t I tolerate, if it was meted out by the hand of my beloved?”

The tension between Laura and Carmilla is delicious. It is delightfully sapphic, in all its quiet indirect warfare, longing stares and yearning.
Laura’s character is sweet and spicy, with her being the perfect student and dutiful daughter who also secretly craves darker things. Carmilla, on the other hand, is sharp and selfish, never hesitating to take what she wants for herself while also so obviously longing to belong and be wanted in return. The girls challenge each other at every turn, and it makes for an amazing dynamic where you never quite know what you’re going to get while they’re in the same room - just that it’s going to be explosive in some way.

“Maybe she liked us better when we were at each other’s throats. Maybe, in her infinite wisdom, she knew that animosity made better poets out of both of us.”

The book read slow to me at times, with not much feeling like it happened in the first half, yet it was also hard to put down. It drew me in, and kept me turning to the next page and the next until it had suddenly all flown by. I realise, in retrospect as I always do, that a lot of my favourite stories have this in common. They let you get comfortable, get to know the characters and all the players on the board, before the pieces are put into place and the real game begins.

“I was, I knew full well, a creature composed of strange desires. They’d always been with me, these hungers.”

I wish I had gotten a little more time to get to know the characters, and to linger in some of the moments where they connected. I didn’t feel quite as intensely invested in the characters and their stories as I had hoped I would, and I think that is the only thing I missed in this book.

“Art outlives us all. It makes us immortal.”

4.5/5 stars

I want to thank Little Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

An Education in Malice delivers on what it promises. It is dark, it is poetic, and it is deeply carnal.

I would lie to say that I was deep into this from page one. Laura Sheridan is an interesting character, but only in deeper relation to her academic nemesis Carmilla Karnstein - and this book finally took the idea of academic rivals serious - did my interest for them bloom. The characters were aggressively academic: competitive, manipulative, borderline abusive and jealous. The way they fawned and fought over their professor was obsessive to a high degree, yet made the setting make more sense.

The reader is hit full force with their feelings in a violent ping-pong of their perspectives as they each figure out not only what the other thinks about them but as they also slide deeper into the sea of darkness and carnal desire. And not only that, but creatures of the night come a-knockin' and present a more differentiated world the characters can explore.

The ending was unexpected, yet felt satisfied when I finally turned the last page, ready to say goodbye to these girls and their misadventures.

Love love loved reading A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson so i was hella excited to read another book by the same author!
Her writing style is very lyrical, lush, and lulls you into a trance of having to finish the book in one sitting. This is a story filled to the brim with desire, academic rivalry, and an all encompassing rich, Gothic atmosphere that was at the same time suffocating yet a joy to read. It's also a rich and beautiful retelling of Carmilla (very lose retelling though) that isn't as heavy and hard to get into as most Dark Academia books can be.

It was very enjoyable to watch Laura go from a very soft spoken, meek and shy character, to one who isn't afraid to be who they want to truly be. She comes to the understanding that her desires and needs aren't unusual/strange, and are far from the sins that the church would have had her believe them to be. Opposed to this Carmilla is decadent, obsessive, and not at all afraid to take up as much room in the world that she wants to, believing instead that everything is her god given right, and people would be so lucky as to have a moment of her time.
I also really enjoyed the way S.T. Gibson gave time to some of the secondary characters, making them fully fleshed and their own entities instead of mere plot devices to hurry the story along. The character you could see this the most in was De Lafontaine, the poetry professor, who i despised and empathized with in equal measure.

Overall really enjoyed reading this title, just wished it was a little longer as it fell short at the end, and seemed like a bit of an abrupt ending, but that could also be because it didn't have quite the same impact on me that A Dowry of Blood did. Still definitely worth a read and should be on anyone's tbr who enjoys Gothic dark academia.

An Education in Malice is my first book by Gibson, but it will absolutely not be my last. Her writing is so incredibly lush and prosaic... I get the hype guys, I really do... and the story was dark and engrossing and all encompassing. It's a story that I'm going to struggle to review because of spoilers, so please bear with me.

The plot flits between the POV's of Laura and Carmilla. Laura believes she is destined for the Church, she is a girl who has been raised to believe in all the church preaches, and to hate everything it deems a sin. She starts off a little meek, shy, not really willing to take up too much space in the world, but through the story she starts to come into her own. Starts to realise that her desires aren't that strange, that there are others out there like her, and she comes into her own sort of confidence. Carmilla, on the other hand, is someone who has grown up believing she can take up as much space in the world as she wants, and she does it effortlessly. She isn't shy in her wants, not afraid to grab things and take, but when she meets Laura her world view kind of flips on it's head and all the things she thought she wanted start to take a somewhat sour turn.

Alongside our two POV's, Gibson graces us with a well built, if tight knit, group of side characters. From the other girls at the school such as Elenore, Laura's first friend and the one person she feels like she can confide in without any consequence. But the character who takes up the most page time, whilst also being the most mysterious, was De Lafontaine, the poetry professor. She's a character I struggled with, hating and empathising with in equal measure, and it's into her orbit that Laura and Carmilla are drawn with some hefty consequences.

I mentioned it's hard to talk about this book because of some big spoilers, but it's safe to say it's filled with desire, academic rivalry and a gothic atmosphere. It's a story that shows the dangers of outright devotion and uneven power dynamics. It's a story you should go into blind, something I did, and let me tell you that plot twist will hit that much harder if you do... even if I did hit myself for not guessing it earlier. What starts off as a dark academia filled with bitter rivalry and lust, quickly becomes something darker, something with teeth and Gibson's writing style has you both wanting to reach the bloody end, and wanting to savor every single line. It's a quick read, and one that, once you reach the inevitable twist, you'll find hard to put down.

If there was one, little issue, I had with the book, it would be the romance between Laura and Carmilla. For me, Laura fell into lust/love with Carmilla and little too quickly, even when she was being an absolute dick to her, and it did ruin my enjoyment a little. However, what I did love was the religion aspect of it. We all love a good priest questioning his godly duties right? Well this story had the same vibes. Laura, growing up in the church, believing that would be her home for the rest of her life, but as soon as she meets Carmilla, all of this get's thrown into question. I enjoyed her inner monologue, seeing her question her beliefs, her feelings, her place in the world. And similarly with Carmilla, someone who takes up so much space, can't quite believe how drawn she feels to someone who takes up so little. There's plenty of push and pull, longing and tension, and I adored seeing their relationships changing each of them for the better.

Gibson's writing style is one that just encompasses you as a reader, drawing you into her world, her story and once it's got you in it's hooks, it never lets go. Lush, prosaic, just beautifully written, she manages to write a story that has meandering pages I nearly highlighted all of, as well as some high octane scenes that had me on the edge of my seat, something that seriously impressed me considering the minimal page count of the book. It never felt rushed, or under developed in anyway. If you like your stories filled with queer longing, plot twists and female centered plots, I would highly recommend giving this one a go.

I was surprised by how easy this book was to get through, I usually find Dark Academia quite heavy reading but I had this finished in 3 sittings, as a full time working toddler Mama, just to put things into perspective!

It's a good entry point for anyone wanting to dip a toe in the world of Dark Academia, and good for quick, light reading sessions due to it's shorter chapters. It's a slow burn, enemies to friends to lovers storyline and is very poetically written. It's dark, atmospheric and subtle horror themes really draw you in making it the kind of book you think about when you're not reading, much like the feelings Laura & Carmilla have for each other, even as rivals, always on each others minds. Things get very dark and tense quite quickly for our lovers in the second half of the book and near the end I found myself going from scared of Prof De Lafontaine to empathetic and admiring of her. The character development of all 3 of the main characters is the real drive in this book and I enjoyed seeing Laura come out of her shell and accepting of herself, Carmilla remaining fiery and bold whilst developing a softer more sentimental side along the way. And of course De Lafontaine, from a foreboding, possessive professor infatuated with her protégé, to a caring almost motherly figure to both girls.

Thank you to NetGalley & Little Brown Book Co for this eARC in exchange for review.

A dark academia tale set in the mysterious Saint Perpetua's College. We witness an intense academic rivalry between Laura and Carmilla, guided by the demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine. This atmospheric story delves into obsession, lust, and desire with a Sapphic romance and vampiric lore.

I loved it. I devoured it. It's beautifully written, and I just kept wanting more. The only reason it's not getting five stars is that "A Dowry of Blood" set such a high standard, and this fell a tiny bit short compared to that masterpiece.

Thank you Netgalley, Little Brown Book group and S. T. Gibson for providing me with an ARC.

An education in malice perfectly explores the lines between obsession , love and power. A stunningly gothic atmospheric read that draws you in from the very start.

You follow Laura as she is indoctrinated into the prestigious poetry class of Ms. De La Fontaine and strikes up a rivalry with her fellow student Carmilla. Up until that point carmilla had been the soul focus of De La Fontaines attention and this sends her spiralling into jealousy and obsession that can only end in blood.

If you love gothic atmospheric stories this book is crammed to the brim with it!

A sapphic Dark academia Carmilla retelling that’s dripping in blood and yearning when hate turns to love what secrets will be uncovered?

Rating: 4.5 stars

Surprisingly this is my first book from this author but it will not be my last. The decadent writing style is one of the highlight of the book and yet I am tempted to reread it just to be transported back into this rather gothic setting.

Another highlight is the relationship between the two young women we follow - their rivalry as well as their sudden explosive passion.
I was swept away!

Only downside was the somewhat sudden ending which shook the magic a little.
However over all definitely a book I will be returning to.

First of all thanks NetGalley for the arc, this is my honest review.

3,5* rounded up.

I have thoughts. This book felt like too little and too much at the same time, the writing was immaculate and I wish I loved poetry half as much as the characters here.

Like with a dowry of blood I felt like something was missing, I couldn’t say what but that’s how I feel either way.

Carmilla and Laura story began with a mutual obsession put here by their teacher Ms De Lafontaine (and pardon my French but MDR a teacher named Lafontaine is hilarious to me).
Carmilla was the teacher’s favorite before Laura’s arrival and she immediately feels threatened by her. Thus begin their academic rival relationship.
Laura, is a soft spoken girls with dark desire lurking inside and her infatuation with Carmilla make her obsessed.
Their relationship is obsessive, insane and absolutely delightful. It was my favorite part of the book and I wanted more.

The rest of the story was fine, but I just wanted to kick de Lafontaine sorry ass into oblivion.


And I was glad to see a certain woman from a dowry of blood.

Anyway if you like dark academia, sapphic longing and toxic relationships I would say : put this in your tbr.

An Education in Malice is a lush, sensual, and cut-throat dark academia retelling of Carmilla, featuring lyrical prose, morally grey characters, and sapphic vampires, all taking place in the wonderful backdrop of an all girls college in the 60s.

The tension between Laura and Carmilla was by far the best part of the novel, with the friction between them building and building throughout. Their scenes were electric, and the chemistry was off the charts. I could’ve honestly read another 100 pages of just them.

The first 70% of this book, I could not put down. It was so fast-paced, tense, and kept you guessing at every turn. However, the final 30%, everything just seemed to…dwindle. Whilst the ‘enemies’ part is always fun, I would’ve really appreciated a bit more of the ‘to lovers.’ It seemed like as soon as the girls acknowledged their feelings for one another, there was hardly any focus on them anymore, which was jarring after most of the book being only this. The stakes (lol) just seemed so low at the end to the point where I would sometimes forget what the conflict even was, and everything wrapped up very fast in the final two chapters in a very unsatisfactory way. The ending itself felt out of place and rushed.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I honestly just wish it had another 100 pages to flesh everything out a little bit more and give the characters an ending they deserve.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me an ARC of this book!
First of all, this was a great book. The writing style was amazing and mesmerizing, the characters compelling but, and there is a "but", this wasn't a Carmilla retelling, this was a queer book with characters named after Carmilla.
A Dowry in Blood of course wasn't an exact retelling but still a retelling.
On the other hand, I appreciated the cameo!
Still this was great and I will buy the phisical copy for sure!

This is my first ST Gibson book and it didn't disappoint. It's an atmospheric dark academia reimagining of Carmilla set in 60's Massachusetts, featuring sapphic rivals, irresponsible student-teacher relationships, and a bucketload of blood.

It definitely prioritises vibes over things like character development, for example I felt like the romance stagnated once it was established and we didn't get any followup on each character's poetry development and how their backstories impacted this and their rivalry.

However, I didn't mind too much and I was fully on board for this ride. The writing style was excellent, I think the setting was really well done, and the spicy scenes were top notch. It's about girlhood, infatuation, and vampires, and honestly what more could one want?

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Loved this book, the romance and the world building And atmosphere. It kept me hooked from the first page to the end

I loved a Dowry of Blood when I read it. And my god did I love this one. I flew through the book in an evening and being transported back into the land of the night that Gibson writes so well.

The best part of this book for me was Laura. Seeing her come out of her wallflower shape and become the strong young woman she was meant to be. I loved the innocence she displayed at first and how Carmilla helped to bring her out of her shelf.

Darling Laura and Carmilla. I wanted to protect them from the professor but also loved the way they interacted together. I loved the evidence attraction the girls had for each other that was clouded in hate at the beginning.

The overall story of the book was between De Laurentis and her long lost love, Isis who she spent years searching for. I felt we could have had more of a backstory between the two. We understand that they loved each other but I didn’t understand Isis’s actions throughout the book and would like to have known what drew her to doing what she did.

There is also reference to something that De Laurentis previously that I would have liked to have been able explored more. The plot was fast paced and I feel there are parts were Gibson could have spent a bit more time filling with more detail or backstory. But all in all, I loved this.

S. T. Gibson takes Dead Poets Society quite literally in this Dark Academia retelling of one of my favourite pieces of vampire fiction, Carmilla. Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for this review copy! (review to be posted on goodreads on 1st feb 2024)

An Education in Malice is the tale of two young women and their obsessions with poetry, their mysterious tutor, and each other.

I was unsure at first about the setup of Carmilla and Laura as two human girls attending college together, but Gibson's sumptuous prose is well suited to recounting the sordid affairs of vampires in a brutal but seductive manner, and I was soon swept away in their story. The characters are flawed but compelling, and the changes from the original are especially pronounced in Laura, who while still polite was surprisingly dominant (and I mean that in the erotic sense as well). Having Carmilla's POV took me by surprise, and her desperation to be loved put her in a precarious position to be easily manipulated by other characters in the book which may leave some readers uncomfortable, especially when it comes to the girl's tutor.

Ms De Lafontaine is the object of infatuation for the two girls, and her own obsession with her sire brings the main antagonist into the plot. I initially thought her character shallow and slightly juvenile, but as the story developed so did she, with her own attempts at trying to disentangle from several toxic relationshios.

This book does not shy away from discussing many different types of unhealthy love, but ultimately the relationship between Carmilla and Laura was tender and hopeful, and I believe they will be on my mind long after finishing their story. An Education in Malice succeeded in creating the perfect Dark Academia setting for this gothic romance, and Gibson's writing style lent to the atmosphere for a truly delicious reading experience.

(on a side note, I happened to be listening to Patti Smith after finishing this book and realised how perfect Because The Night is for Carmilla and Laura. If you have read this book, go listen to it and think about them like I just did and inevitably will do every time I listen to this song now)

I was sold as soon as I knew this book was a dark academia, sapphic retelling of Carmilla and I wasn't disappointed.

I loved the dual POVs, which showed just how different Laura and Carmilla are but also highlighted the similarities, which showed that their rarionship really was inevitable.

I did find that the second half of the book seemed to speed along at a much faster clip, which was a bit of a shame as I was hoping to learn more about the vampire world. However, the speed also allowed for the girls' relationship to develop much quicker and for Laura to come out of herself.

I also would have liked even more insight into Evelyn and Isis as I found their relationship interesting and wanted to get a better sense of their dynamic.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and have now picked up A.Dowry of Blood as I love the author's writing style.

As a sapphic obsessed with Carmilla, Vampire storylines, dark academia and gothic prowess... Is it any surprise that An Education In Malice is already my top book of 2024? Whilst A Dowry of Blood was hauntingly gorgeous and invigorating, this book has a power that sucks the room inside the story. I. Could. Not. Stop. Rereading and rereading each chapters. Gibson has crafted an eerie world and crafts a tale with delectable characters, details and darkness. ST Gibson is easily one author I will hungrily devour for all time... Woah... This and Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Stevens are the best retellings I have been fortunate to read. Absolutely Delectable from the get go.

I adored Dowry of Blood so when I saw that An Education in Malice was available to request I knew that I needed it and I really enjoyed it- An education in Malice is a sapphic dark academia retelling of Carmilla.

The writing is beautiful and poetic and I really appreciated the world that ST Gibson immerses us in- it's eerie, gothic and everything that I want from dark academia.

An Education in Malice is told from the POV of Laura a new student at Saint Perpetua's Women's College at her domineering father's insistence to better her writing and Carmilla the star pupil on the poetry writing course taught by Professor De Lefontaine! Carmilla finds herself in unchartered territory as her previously unchallenged position in the class is threatened by Laura's arrival! Let the academic rivalry begin! While the POV's are unique and the individual voices clear their stories are so aligned.

I thought the characters were fantastic and loved the plus size rep - the toxic relationships, academic rivals to lovers and unequal power dynamics add to the tension and gothic vibes and delicious tension. As the world builds we learn of the dark secrets that are being hidden from the other students and faculty. The pace worked well for me but I did feel at times that I wasn't entirely following which I don't want to highlight because of spoilers.

This book is dark, messy and spicy and there are some gory and challenging scenes and topics so absolutely check content warnings and I ST Gibson does trigger warnings so well!

Am I going to continue to read whatever ST Gibson puts out in to the world absolutely!!! I can't wait for this to be out in the world.

This was 4.25 stars for me.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars


I was so excited for this book but unfortunately it didn't really live up to my expectations. I think I made two main mistakes when it came to this
- having incredibly high expectations due to my love of A dowry of Blood.
- Expecting something more like the original tale of Carmilla.

Unfortunately, if felt it fell a bit short. I really didn't feel like it had a the essence of Carmilla and would havd been much stronger as a dark academia book on its own, with maybe the occasional nod to the inspiration, rather than just naming the characters Laura and Carmilla. Because of the name choice I assumed they are meant to be Laura and Carmilla and I didn't feel like this book really captured their characters as I know them.

I do also think there were other parts that could have been a lot more fleshed out. I didn't understand why it was set in the time it was as it didn't feel massively relevant. I also was a bit disappointed to see Laura's friends, especially Eleanor,being so flat - though at least she had a bit more of a backstory than the other friends that occasionally get mentioned and then never see Laura again. I get that it's meant to be about Laura, Carmilla and De Lafontaine, and Laura is often a bad friend but there just wasn't much else to round out the world. People dropped in and I wanted a bit more from them.

Thank you to NetGalley & Little Brown Book for a copy of an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

I was so hyped for this book. It had all of the elements involved that I would absolutely devour. Unfortunately this just didn’t live up to the highs that A Dowry of Blood gave me. I don’t know why, but the writing felt off.

It still had the lyricism and the creativity that of its predecessor, but where I think it lacked for me, was in the characters. It may have been a hindrance that I know and love Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu and had that in the back of my mind? But there was no tension. I like a bit of yearning in my gothic fantasy and there was none, in fact it felt very ‘insta-lovey’ with the enemies/rivals-to –lovers trope dissipating rather quickly. So much could have been explored with Laura, Carmilla & Mrs D, but it all felt a bit rushed.

That being said, I did love the setting of a 1960’s all girls college and the cameo from a familiar character.

3 stars