➥ 1.5 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

"I was a doughy overgrown girl who was too shy to even change in front of anyone else."

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This was so half-assed. An Education in Malice is a dark academia Carmilla retelling with rivalry romance, and it wants to be taken seriously. But fails.

Frankly, it's badly written. First person dual pov is used here. The character voices were not distinct. I couldn't tell whose point of view I was reading because the tone remains consistently, frustratingly juvenile.

This book is intentioned with exploring the complexities and severities of academiaand one that follows an academic rigor and rivalry between characters, the writing was far from good. Sure, big words were thrown in here and there, but the writing was anything but nuanced and sharp. It was frankly...sloppy. How cliché to tell and not show; to overexaggerate all body language and descriptors.

And exploring nuances and flaws of academia is not something I'm awarding this author for doing. Rather, it's something that comes with the territory. Something this book should have done and (surprise) didn't.

Reviewers I trust mentioned that this book's critique of inappropriate dynamics between professors and students was weak. And I thought...critique? Where? There were no points made, not once.

The romance between Carmilla and Laura (although weak) is not prioritised. There's a strange emphasis placed on Prof. De Lafontaine. She is downright abusive toward Carmilla, and yet she's ultimately redeemed by the narrative, sloppily.

The romance itself left much to be desired. It doesn't start off too badly. The girls are quite scathingly rivalrous at first, or it seems like a good set up for it. But as soon as Laura is welcomed into the vampire world, everything turns sappy and pathetic.

Both girls begin to weirdly idolise De Lafontaine, and therefore, their partner comes second. It's very unconvincing to be told that characters are sooo in love when their eyes are always on someone else.

This book prides itself on being hedonistic and indulgent and unabashedly explicit because of vampire culture. But ironically, our characters are immature and they share one explicit (and tame) sex scene. They don't actually push each other to their limits in the way rivals would, in the way rivals do.

This book was just that: frustratingly tame .

A book like this, with rivalries and murders, should be intense. It should have mature characters, that challenge each other in multiple ways, in believable increments, to the point where only they can know and appreciate each other in a way other people cannot.

And yet, there was barely tension between these characters, despite the cliché drop of an "I hate her" sentence every now and then.

And part of this was also due to the poor writing. Sure, there were big words used every now and then, but the writing itself was over the top.

The descriptions of character mannerisms were as though they were from a wattpad book. A character bouncing from one place to another, flinging their head back suddenly in laughter etc.

There was a serious lack of nuance, it was all "tell" no showing. There was no good body language descriptors, or even good dialogue.

It's ridiculous for a book about the academic rigor of writing , to have such bad writing!! The writing fails to successfully develop personality for any of the characters! The book is dual pov, and I couldn't even tell when we were in Carmilla or Laura's perspective.

We see multiple descriptions of background characters getting up to strange or tabboo sexual situations. And yet, Carmilla and Laura barely ever engage in sex together, despite the fact that they're both described as very sexual people.

There's a scene where Carmilla finds Laura reading bondage erotica. Laura is obviously mortified when Carmilla points it out and begins teasing her about it. I think Laura even cries...lmao, but eventually recommends Carmilla an alternative sex book. Only for it to never be brought up again!!

And yet the dynamic that Gibson is desperate to enforce is one where Laura holds power over Carmilla?? In what world? Meanwhile, Laura is a trembling mess for half the novel.

The reader is continuously told (not shown) that Laura wants to dominate Carmilla. She just has these random flashes/visions of wanting Carmilla obeying and submitting to her. But sorry, Laura is fucking pathetic.

She's always stuttering, blushing and CRYING, and the reader is meant to believe that this dynamic somehow works??

This blubbering girl wants to suddenly command and be listened to, despite being meek as hell.

And again, we are told that Carmilla, who is at least somewhat charming and sauve, is this bratty submissive but like? There's no evidence? Sure, she can be a bit prickly and testing sometimes. But that was the only fun or somewhat interesting characteristic/personality out of every single character in the novel.

Carmilla and Laura have sex once, and in front of a bunch of people, for Laura's FIRST time. That's right, Laura, the wannabe dominatrix, is a virgin. But ah! We are told multiple excruciating times, that we'd be surprised how much one can learn from books. 🤢🤢

"I'll bet you've never even had another girl. I'll bet you've just read about it in books is all."
"You'd be surprised what you can learn from reading books," she said, and slid her knee between my legs.

Did a 15 year old write this??

Ironically, there are times when Carmilla charms Laura and those are the most coherent parts of their whole relationship. There was one moment I did enjoy, which is one where Laura and Carmilla escaped at night to have a dip in the lake/pond. They were there together, alone. It was intimate, and yet almost lighthearted? They were giggling about the scandal of skinny dipping on campus, and their attraction to each other is already established, so it takes on a playful tone. The writing was even better in the scene, describing the soft sounds of the water lapping at Carmilla's clavicles.

Carmilla floated closer to me in the water, so close her breasts pressed against mine as her arm encircled my shoulder. She laved my neck with her tongue, just once, but it was enough to set my every nerve ending ablaze.
"Carmilla," I breathed.
She bit down.


It was a compelling moment between them, but that's all we got, and it was once their..."like" for each other was already established. The actual progression of their relationship is a mess. One moment they're nearly clawing each other competitively, and suddenly they're this soft, lame, sad couple. Like, pick a side. They're either academic beasts or they're girls prancing in the field hand in hand, but flopping suddenly from one to the next made no sense.

But honestly, their romance was juvenile and cliché from the beginning...

“I decided right away that I hated her, hated her stupid bouncy curls and her soft-edged Southern drawl and that little red notebook she kept scribbling in like a pastor’s pet during a sermon.”


...their romance did have potential, but their rivalry faded into the background around 40% in. The hostility between them evaporated and they became these timid girls, both victim to their circumstance.

This book genuinely feels...low quality. It's so insubstantial, I feel like I couldn't really recommend it to anyone.

So many things were underexplored or badly executed. I've heard this author struggled to write this novel, and sadly, that's evident. I really did have faith and interest in the premise for this book, but this was not well done. I don't even want to think about it any longer.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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DNF

I was excited for this one, but ended up DNFing pretty early.
There was some content that I didn't realize was going to be in the book, that I was uncomfortable reading, and I wasn't liking the writing style either.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson is a haunting dark academia novel set in a chilling school filled with secrets, occult magic, and moral ambiguity. With atmospheric prose and complex characters, Gibson explores themes of ambition, desire, and revenge in a twisted, gothic setting. While some plot points feel rushed, fans of dark academia will enjoy the eerie, slow-burn narrative and morally gray cast. It’s a captivating, if slightly uneven, read for those drawn to stories of forbidden power and shadowy institutions.

This book will appeal to fans of Dark Academia and Vampires.

This is a retelling of Carmilla. Set in a boarding school in the 70s, our main character Laura joins and quickly comes to the attention of her idolised poetry professor and the student that is currently top of the class and favoured by the professor - Carmilla.

An academic rivalry begins between the girls to the amusement of the professor, and also a spark of attraction, which is not so thrilling to the professor.

Laura is meek and unsure of herself and her sexuality and spends time coming into her own in a new environment whereas Carmilla is confident to the point of arrogance and holds a dark allure and strong attachment to the professor.

Both girls end up vying for each others attention and that of the professor, when murders begin to occur on campus. As we get into the story, you find out that the professor is a vampire and is having an inappropriate relationship with Carmilla and is feeding from her and now also holds interest in Laura and becomes jealous of the relationship developing between Carmilla and Laura. The professor uses both girls and plays them off against each other whilst acting as a mentor in both academia and vampirsm as we see Carmilla turn and Laura deal with the consequences. All while trying to solve who is murdering students if not the professor or Carmilla.

I found the book interesting, I feel like the vampire side of the plot was under done and the murder plot was a sideline that felt just kind of thrown in as an afterthought to give the story a plot, when the main focus was on the politics, manipulation and power plays of the three women. It could have been focused on more and trying to find the murderer.

- Dark Academia
- Vampire's
- Sapphic
- Academic Rivals
- Age Gap / Position of Power

Thank you Netgalley for the E-Arc

This was such a great read for spooky season. Dark academia, Carmella retelling? Sapphic vampires, academic rivals, and obsession? I mean, what more could you want.

There were some aspects that would have bumped up my rating: I wish the religious aspects were explored a little deeper, I felt the writing was a bit too colloquial to be set in the 60s - at some points it almost felt like modern day. I loved the nods to sapphic literature, and the fact that the book delved a little deeper into kink, in a safe and respectful way, which most books fail miserably at. The backdrop of night-time poetry classes in a candle-lit chapel was the perfect setting for our yearning MCs. I'm so happy both characters gained confidence and power throughout the book.
They knew what they wanted, and that's what they got! Some of the metaphors were slightly on the nose, and I almost wish there was a bit more manipulation, but as far as obsession goes, this was a pretty good and scary story. The ending was predictable, but nevertheless I enjoyed the ride and I'm satisfied with the three main characters' endings. I just wish there was some kind of epilogue! I wanted to see how Carmella and Laura worked together outside of De Lefontaine's glare... perhaps in the next instalment.

I would definitely recommend this to fans of Mona Awad, books like Bunny or All's Well - this book has a similar lucid, unsettling feel. Probably why I liked it so much!

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book. Once I started I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two nights.

Deeply dark and atmospheric this is the perfect book to read in the run up to halloween

What can I say other than I devoured this? Intense, toxic and obsessive, this is a combination of so many of my favourite elements, a sapphic, vampiric, rivals to lovers dark academia dream. I eat up rivals to lovers every time and when it’s ✨women✨? I’m worshipping on my knees.

Laura, a self-proclaimed good girl, arrives at her new university to pursue creative writing, where she quickly becomes infatuated with her poetry professor, De Lafontaine, a mysterious striking woman who sees the talent in Laura’s poetry. But Laura soon finds herself entangled in a fierce rivalry with Carmilla, her beautiful, bewitching classmate who is used to being top of the class and De Lafontaine’s favourite. Rivalry and poetry become obsession, but there is something darker at play beneath it all.

Gibson does such a good job of portraying the toxic, manipulative power that De Lafontaine holds over Laura and especially Carmilla, creating a clearly inappropriate but understandably seductive dynamic that draws both girls into an obsession that dominates their lives.

The sexual tension between Laura and Carmilla is rife from the start, their obvious attraction to one another electrified by their initial rivalry and hatred of one another. It is satisfying to see their competition over De Lafontaine’s affections evolve into a deeper connection with each other. I also loved the way their roles in their relationship were the inverse of their characters - quiet, good girl Laura as the dominant one, and confident, outgoing Carmilla as the submissive one.

Obsessive love is the cornerstone of this story, it’s all-consuming nature written as something that is both breathless and toxic. Even Laura and Carmilla’s relationship is tinged with darkness, the depths of their devotion toeing the line between passion and obsession. The vampiric element builds on this idea of love as all-consuming, to the point of literal consumption, serving as the perfect symbolism for the novel.

I was very excited to read this novel by S.T Gibson as I love Gothic tales and dark academia. I found it a bit difficult to get into the story and I think in general it is more vibes heavy than focusing on the plot or characters. Thus, it was a bit lacking for me but I'm sure a lot of readers will enjoy this one.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson was published earlier this month and was a book I had on pre-order from Amazon since April. This book comes under the heading of ‘Dark Academia’ a subsection in the fantasy genre and one that I have become a fan of. Dark Academia sees a new pupil coming into school/college, entering into a rivalry with another student, both under the spell of an enigmatic teacher who has secrets themselves, and they find themselves on a dark and dangerous journey. An Education in Malice ticks all these boxes and more, with the romance, the focus on poetry and the gothic touches.

This is my first book by S.T. Gibson, but after reading this I will certainly be looking for her other books. I like how this genre focuses on the teacher pupil relationship, how pupils look up to their teachers, wanting to please them and be noticed. Professor De Lafontaine, an amazing name, is the professor of poetry at Saint Perpetua’s College in Massachusetts, and is as grand as her name implies; she has her own style and a confidence about her. From the beginning you know that there is something different about her, a darkness that envelopes her relationship with her star pupil Carmilla, and then new student Laura. Laura, who wants to be a parish priest and has lived an isolated existence before college soon finds her darker and more passionate side at college, through her relationship with both Carmilla and the Professor. I’m not going to give anything away but it was fascinating to see how this impressionable young woman developed and grew during the book, losing her inhibitions.

I enjoyed S.T.Gibson’s writing style, her development of characters, the first person narrative of Laura and Carmilla, the plotting and her scene setting. The descriptions of the school, with it’s hidden unused bell in a crawlspace, tunnels under the school and the forest all add to the ominous feel and atmosphere of the book, all places that can hold secrets and danger. The first half of the book is pretty slow, not too much happens apart from getting to know the characters, but after that the pace buids so fast I was breathless by the end. The setting of the late 1960’s felt perfect, a time of women’s rights, the feminist movement and the supposed awakening of women’s sexuality, all of which play brilliantly into Laura’s and Carmilla’s story.

I really enjoyed reading An Education in Malice and read it in two sittings. I liked the darkness, the sinister feel and the suductivness of the plot, set against the coming of age story of Laura and Carmilla. S.T. Gibson’s writing is atmospheric and haunting in parts mixed with romance and hope for the future. This is a beautifully crafted novel, that definitely left me wanting more.

We featured this book on our podcast The Dark Academicals and we had so much fun dissecting it. Having also read A Dowry in Blood, it's really interesting how different Malice is, while still drawing on similar lore/ideas/characters.

I really enjoyed this. I think Gibson should become an easy staple on anyone's TBR. Solid, gothic-y reading.

I think I read this in 3 short sittings. Couldn't put it down! And where maybe the ending I found a bit rushed, I did enjoy the piece ad a whole to perhaps forgive it that sin.

oh it was so fun!! so atmospheric. i knew i would have loved it based on a dowry of blood alone. dark academia setting + sapphic vampire romance = a book so good you won't be able to put it down

the enemies to rivals in this was insane! felt really connected to the characters and was rooting for them the whole time!

thank you netgallery for allowing me to read this ebook early :)

Everyone and their pet lizard always says 'this felt like The Secret History' about a dark academia book… but really, An Education in Malice is a spiritual successor to The Secret History. It's a dark academia retelling of Carmilla and S.T. Gibson's beautiful, evocative writing elevated the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I enjoy the way Gibson writes and I was invested in the love story. I love a good enemies/rivals to lovers and I was rooting for them.

The only downside really was the plot, it seemed to get forgotten about at times in favour of just *vibes* 😂 but I still enjoyed the dark vibes it was giving! I was hoping for a darker ending to be honest but the open ending was alright too.

Overall I had fun, but it was lacking something.

A fantastic dark academia themed retelling of Carmilla that continues Gibson’s beautiful style of writing.

Some excellent character development and beautiful atmospheric elements.

Really enjoyed this book! So much so I bought it in hardback too for my collection. Vampires, what more could you want or need!! Great author

Set in the world of Dowdry of Blood, well written and gripping. An intriguing and fascinating story that kept me hook and turning pages
An excellent retelling of Carmilla and a well plotted novel.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This immersive retelling of Le Fanu’s Carmilla is a perfect mix of dark academia and mystery with supernatural and gothic elements and a great cast of morally grey characters.

Set in the not too distant past the book takes us back to college in the pre tech era where a formidable but inspiring poetry lecturer enraptures students, but whose relationships with others have dark undertones.

The protagonist embarks on a journey of self discovery, negotiating friendships, love and infatuation in various ways. There are some highly charged and graphic scenes which feel cinematic, and there are nods to classic poetry and literature which help cement the academic theme.

The book felt to me as if there were three distinct parts; discovery, exploration and acceptance. I preferred the first and final thirds of the novel, but on the whole this was a super page turner by an author who writes vivid prose and knows how to blend a bold story with popular themes.

Many thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Thoughts are my own.

I devoured this book in pretty much a day. I loved the characters, adored the retelling of Carmilla and the HEA was simply delicious.

I applied for this book off of the back of absolutely loving S T Gibson's last book, A Dowry Of Blood, and when I heard about a Carmilla retelling, I absolutely had to have it.
An Education in Malice is a strong book overall that never quite reaches the soaring highs of its predecessor, but is more than capable of holding its own. The gothic atmosphere and dark academia tropes course richly throughout the lifeblood of the story, making it an ideal autumnal read. Both Carmilla and Laura are great characters and I thoroughly enjoyed their dynamics with the formidable Professor De Lafontaine.
The unfortunate weak-point of the story is it's uneven pacing - sometimes racing but at other points dragging it's feet behind it like a wounded puppy. The slow points make it all too easy to put down the book and walk away for a few hours.
Overall, its a book that's absolutely worth the struggle through some slower chapters. I cant fault the writing at all, and would absolutely recommend picking it up.