An Education in Malice

• Author: S.T. Gibson
• Genre: Horror
• Publication Date: February 15, 2024
• Publisher: Orbit
• Thank you to Orbit, Angela Man, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: uneven power dynamics, inappropriate relationships between a professor and students, toxic academic environments, blood, gore, murder, consensual sexual content including public sex, kink (both negotiated and spontaneous), alcohol and drug use, smoking, brief mention of racism political policies, brief mention of homophobia, brief mention of religious discrimination against women

ONE OF US WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BLEED FOR THE OTHER.

Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua’s College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.

On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.

But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors, and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.

Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets, and insatiable hungers from Sunday Times bestselling author S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood.

My first introduction to Gibson’s writing was A Dowry of Blood, and I fell in love with her way of writing, so I couldn’t wait to start reading this one. I didn’t know that this book was a retelling of a classic, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and consequently read this with no knowledge or expectations other than Gibson’s flair for atmospheric writing and dark romance.

In this story, her writing has the opportunity to shine. The dark academia setting requires atmospheric writing, and Gibson excels at this type of prose, where it feels as though whatever is happening would naturally happen in this kind of setting, and is almost expected. The paranormal elements don’t appear until a little while into the story, which gave me the chance to get to know the characters in the setting of this dark and isolated school.

The characters could not be more different. In 1968, Carmilla is sophisticated and well-traveled, while Laura is sheltered and naïve, yet both of them wind up in the poetry class of Professor De Lafontaine. They’re pitted against each other in an intense rivalry for the attention of the teacher, who has an obsession with Carmilla outside of the classroom. But as Laura and Carmilla work more closely with each other and Professor De Lafontaine, the relationships between each of them shift, and so do the dynamics of their interactions.

While De Lafontaine holds the strings, basically, manipulating both of these girls both academically and personally, and forcing them into interactions and situations based on the imbalanced power dynamics that result from her position as their direct professor. Initially, they are playing into her game by engaging in a rivalry, yet it was once the relationship between Laura and Carmilla changed that I found it to be most intriguing, partially because I’m a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope done well, but also because they were redefining their relationship according to more of their own terms. 

The second half of the story incorporates more of the paranormal aspects, and I found it to be just as intriguing. I liked how Gibson works it into the story without this element being overblown, and how it weaves seamlessly into the interactions between the three main characters in this story. However, I think the end wrapped things up a bit too quickly and felt a little more rushed than I would have liked. Everything tied up too neatly, almost, and the mystery aspect of this was way too easy to figure out. Other than that, this was a fantastic read, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it if you like atmospheric writing, dark sapphic romance, dark academia, and paranormal romance.

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