If you’re looking for your next vampire read, then you might want to check out An Education in Malice. It’s merges academic setting, queer romances, and examines love and obsession. Keep reading this book review of An Education in Malice for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
We love to see rivalry to romance, academia settings, and vampires. An Education in Malice has been calling my name since I heard about it. That and combined with the fact that it’s by S.T. Gibson – an author who I’m always intrigued to read – and I was hooked. An Education in Malice will satisfy those wanting a queer romance with vampires, deadly obsession, and rivals in academia. From the beginning, we can see how the rivalry is about envy and fixation. The ways we want to have their talent, driven like a moth to the flame.
There’s the enigmatic popular girl who draws you in like a black hole. This is combined with the new girl who crashes like a meteor strike. An Education in Malice begins with the allure of someone. The allure of wanting to please someone, of bending over backwards for the recognition, the smile, the praise. I think we can all relate to that feeling. The feeling of wanting to gain the acceptance, praise, and love, of someone. This dual POV story allows us to see both Laura and Carmilla falling into each other’s orbits, the webs of mutual fascination, and the potential of more.
Overall
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After this strong foundation, An Education in Malice focuses on the vampires. It begins to ask us about what happens when we get what we wanted. What if it’s not everything we wanted? It sinks into elegant monstrosity. To the allure of vampires all juxtaposed with the lonely existence of immortality. An Education in Malice was easy to fall into. It was a fun story which delivers exactly what it promises. Find An Education in Malice on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon (US)(UK), Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.