An Education in Malice showcases how Gibson's approach to the vampire genre is a force to be reckoned with.

A sister novel to A Dowry of Blood, An Education in Malice is a retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. Much like the original, we have Laura and Carmilla, both rotating around each other, unable to stay away from the connection that draws them both in. However, in Gibson's novel, the added character of De Lafontaine, someone much closer to the original Carmilla from Le Fanu's piece, brings in the interesting commentary around power dynamics and manipulative relationships.

Gibson's approach to character and narrative are all-consuming - I read this in 3 days as I was so obsessed. The mirror images that Laura and Carmilla are to De Lefontaine and her lover were amazing to realise. The vampire itself is a physically representation of the past, and how as time moves on, society begins to be scared of what has happened previously, shunning it. It is clear that this is woven throughout An Education in Malice; Laura is new, to Carmilla's already-earned position under their teacher, their blossoming relationship is a threat to the concrete one formed between Carmilla and De Lafontaine. I ADORE Gibson's approach to this retelling, much like her previous work. This was my Gothic novel DREAMBOAT of a book.

The only (small, teeny-tiny) thing I wasn't a fan of was how fast paced this was; I felt there was much more to be done around the relationships, so much more to be discovered about De Lafontaine and the climax at the end just felt so rushed.

A solid 4.5 from me. Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and Netgalley for the arc!

As I’ve come to expect from an S.T.Gibson book the writing was absolutely stunning

I adore a dowry of blood so this was such a pleasure to read.

This is a sapphic retelling if carmilla. It’s lush it’s dark it’s everything you ever needed in a dark academia novel

The most perfect follow on from a dowry of blood but definitely stands alone by its self. Although I of course recommend reading ADOB

It’s the kind of book you should go into knowing virtually nothing about it adds to the experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

📚 r e v i e w 📚
an education in malice - s t gibson

dark academia but make it vampires

if you’ve read a dowry of blood (and i really suggest you do) you’ll already know that you’re in for a darkly delicious, gothic tale that is sensual and hauntingly intimate. seriously gibson is where it’s at for breathing new life into classic vampire fiction

this sapphic carmilla retelling is a wonderful mixture of the secret history, dead poets society and your favourite vampire stories - an education in malice is beautiful, atmospheric and thrillingly
addictive

look out for an education in malice in all good book shops in february 2024
thank you @netgalley for the early copy

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My first ST Gibson and I will definitely read more by them! A unique gothic tale of vampires and college students with an almost indescribable quality to it. I loved both our main character Laura and Carmilla, found both their perspective so similar and yet very different at the same time. Laura has quite an interesting relationship with religion and sexuality while Carmilla's obsession with her teacher is more prevalent in her chapters. This is also a tale of obsession and unhealthy relationships between a teacher and her students. I cannot recommend this books enough, it is perfect for the fall season and fits the eerie vibe of rainy November day. 5 stars.

Deliciously dark gothic romance perfect for fall. I was blown away by A dowry of blood by S. T. Gibson and I couldn't wait to read this new book ever since it was announced. I have to say it absolutely exceeded my expectations.

The author's storytelling is stunning. The romance is beautiful. I found the characters beautifully written and so layered and they felt real. I think Gibson has a unique gift for gothic world building and atmosphere.
I can't recommend this enough.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC of An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson!

An Education in Malice is a sapphic retelling of Carmilla featuring a girl named Laura who moves to a college to pursue poetry in the 1960s.

Gibson has a really addictive writing style and drew me in from the first few pages, I was absolutely hooked!

I loved the rivals to lovers relationship between Carmilla and Laura, the tension was brilliant and their relationship culminated in a beautiful love story.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

So this was one of my most anticipated books of the autumn season and it unfortunately did not hit.

While Gibson once again proves to us readers the excellency of their beautifully gothic prose, it was unfortunately sandwiched in between a mostly directionless story and surface-level development between the characters.

Speaking of the characters, while I enjoyed reading the relationship between Laura and Carmilla, the jump between love interests to lovers felt entirely too abrupt and I’m afraid Carmilla became a bit too flat afterwards which lost me. Gibson absolutely nailed the tension and I think this was the most enjoyable part of the story by far.

Gibson has some really interesting commentary on dark relationships that they attempt to depict through Carmilla, Laura, and De Lafontaine. Personally, I was a little let down by both the progression and conclusion of their relationship as I feel like there were loose ends to De Lafontaine’s ungainly progression from toxic obsessive vampire to remorseful character. In particular, pointing to her participation in this dark relationship that was kind of overlooked and brushed aside.

Furthermore, I think the antagonist could have benefitted from having more depth and concrete motivations to solidify her positionality as the antagonist in this book because she really did feel like an afterthought the majority of the time.

I will say however that I enjoyed the ending (like the last page) and its ambiguity, despite the quite clunky pacing that got us there.

This was fine. The dark academia atmosphere was the best part but i didn't really connect with the characters

An Education in Malice is a sapphic retelling of Carmilla featuring a girl named Laura who moves to a college to pursue poetry in the 1960s.

I found this to be a read similar to A Dowry of Blood in the addictive writing style, dark setting and relationships riddled with power imbalances.

I immensely enjoyed the rivals to lovers relationship between Carmilla and Laura, the tension created by Gibson in the first stages of their relationship culminating in a beautiful young love. Their respective relationships with De Lafontaine really offset this well.

I struggled slightly through the mid section of this book, finding the pacing to be slightly off with the plot outside of Carmilla and Laura. For any more romance oriented readers I think this would be fine but I was waiting for an overarching plot to come to the rescue.

Ultimately it had a satisfying ending but it felt a bit rushed especially with a slow midsection.

The cameo from A Dowry of Blood was an added bonus.

**Review to be posted to Goodreads if approved

This book is an absolute treasure for any dark academia lover. Mysterious allusive all girls prep school, Gothic atmosphere, female longing and lust, coming of age story mixed with in appropriate student professor relationships? Check! And to top it off.. vampires. This book covers all the tropes you could want and more. An education in malice is so beautiful written it fully consumed me for 2 days straight, STG manages to write so clearly you can literally see the movie in your head. Relationships between Laura, Carmilla and De lafontaine are dark/obessive but intimate, and the POV switch between Laura and carmilla just kept me invested the whole way through.

Book Review 📚
An Education in Malice by S.T Gibson - 4/5 ⭐

My very first dark academia book! I'm not really a fan of academia books, sometimes I think my brain is not capable of keeping up with them but An Education in Malice was so easily read that it was devoured in a matter of days.

The writing style from Gibson was incredible and so easy to to just read the book from start to finish! The description throughout was awesome with great chatting development along that way, specifically with the two MCs. There was so much detail and thought put into the writing.

I really enjoyed the whole aspect of the book and the world building was phenomenal. I could easily image the scene that was being set from Gibson. I now have to go and read more books from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown book group for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I screamed a silent scream when I got approved for this ARC. I loved A Dowry of Blood and I think An Education in Malice is even better. I struggled between trying not to read it too fast so I could savour my time reading it and needing to ravenously consume it.. It's 1am so I'm sure you can guess which one won.
I just adore the way S.T. Gibson writes and the main three characters are great. I'm upset it is over... I need MORE. MORE. MORE.

Another great book by S.T Gibson as I devoured this book! I can be funny with vampires but it really hit the spot yet again!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Yet another intriguing and very enjoyable book by S. T. Gibson. I’m usually not a fan of any vampire books but I’m now 2 for 2 with A Dowry of Blood and An Education in Malice both entrancing me with their unique stories and beautifully twisted characters. The rivals to lovers was tantalising, Laura is the sweet innocent girl secretly fantasising about her classmate and gets caught up in the vampiric activities of her poetry teacher. A perfect moody winter read with a lil bit of spice!! (Will post review publicly two weeks before release as requested)

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an eARC of An Education in Malice in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great! S.T. Gibson is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors; the way that she weaves words and feelings is truly beautiful. I was excited about this book because I loved A Dowry of Blood and couldn't wait to get into this, especially because it's set in the same world.
Whilst it's a complete separate book and story to A Dowry of Blood, there are similar themes and guest appearances which was great. It really gave me a better sense of the wider vampire world that we didn't get much insight into in A Dowry of Blood.

Carmilla Karnstein and Laura Sheridan were beautiful characters. Very clever play on words in relation to the book Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
Carmilla and Laura's relationship becomes a sapphic enemies to lovers trope, but it was so well done that it felt like a seamless transition. The hostility, tension and begrudging respect of talent between the two was great to read, and I liked how Laura had this secret dominant side that Carmilla helped her feel comfortable to express.

An Education in Malice is a dark, gothic academia read, dripping with poetry, angst, suspense, intrigue and words that felt like a song.
The sexual sapphic elements were really well done, not too graphic because I feel that the book didn't need all of the "spicy" details; it gave plenty to set the scene and pull you along, but not too much to make the book feel too smutty because for me that's not what this book was about. This is a dark fantasy book with sapphic themes, rather than a romantasy that puts too much focus on smut.

I will definitely be recommending this and it will be a re-read for me when the physical copy comes out. The only reason it's not a 5 star for me is because I wanted more; in the middle it felt like it lost some pace and urgency in order to set up the ending. But this is a really small critique and on the whole this book was wonderful.

I love Dark Academia, probably my favourite, and this book did not disappoint. It was dark and tense and kept me gripped. Lots of twists i didn't see coming.

Loved it!

I was absolutely blown by this book! I really liked the dark academia vibe and how it fitted with the plot. The author’s writing was perfect for the story and I loved it.
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I loved to see Carmilla and Laura’s love and hate being tangled. First strangers, then rivals, watching their relationship evolving was both fun and intriguing. 
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I’m fond of sapphic dark academia books — we really need more of them — but I found the presence of vampires disturbing. Not because of the writing, it was great. But because it created a strange relationship that was far from healthy. 
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I thought that this vampiric toxicity would vanish at the end of the book but a new kind of master takes place in the life of our girls. 
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However, if you are a fan of vampires (wish I’m not) or a fan of dark academia, you clearly should read this book ! 
Thank so much to Little, Brown Book Group Uk for the galley and to S.T Gibson for such a great book!

I loved this. It was dark, sexy and mysterious with lots of twists and turns. I felt there was a lot of character development between the two MCs and their contrasting personalities worked really well together. Big fan of the writing style - this book has definitely got me into dark academia. I think somewhere between 4 - 4.5 stars.

I was very excited about this, but it kind of fell flat for me. The plot was all over the place, there was no real direction for the story and everything that happened felt so random and disconnected. Nothing significant happened the entire first half and then all the themes discussed at the beginning turned out irrelevant by the end.

The dynamics between the characters were interesting, but not fully fleshed out. I struggled with the overly flowery writing which often ruined the romance scenes for me because of the constant use of metaphors that didn't make any sense. There were some instances where I quite enjoyed the prose, but it was just too overbearing.

It was still sort of enjoyable because I liked the dark atmosphere and the themes that were discussed, however, I just expected more. I wish this would have had a clear storyline instead of just vibes no plot.

Really enjoyed.
S.T Gibsons writing just flows and this along with a dowry of blood were a pleasure to read.
Will definitely read anything else from this author.
The way they write inward thoughts and emotions is just always so thought provoking.
5/5⭐️