An Education in Malice

Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood. Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua’s College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. After taking some time to mull things over, I wanted to say I quite enjoyed this book. This was my first read from S.T. Gibson, and I was not disappointed. Throughout this book, there were times when not much was happening but was quickly followed by intense moments. Whether those moments were at a vampire house or intimate moments between the two main characters. I loved the emphasis on poetry and art and thought that it created a beautiful addition to the story and characters. I had a hard time liking Carmilla but ultimately grew to like her more as she grew away from their professor. The banter between her and Laura was well written. There was chemistry there and it becomes even more intense as the story progresses. Carmilla ends up having a hard time straying from the professor and struggles to do so throughout the entire story. The amount of jealously coming from Laura was a bit much at times, her mind and crush clinging to Carmilla. This, normally, is a very toxic situation and concept of thinking, as was the situation between the teacher/student (like a forbidden love). But given the supernatural aspect of this book, it made more sense as vampires and their companions/sires naturally have a tendency to crave each other’s presence. Laura’s character was well written, and I enjoyed her inner monologue. The way she observed the things and people around her. I highlighted many quotes from her. The one scene (*vamp house*) caught me off guard as Laura suddenly flips a switch and essentially becomes the director. Like wow?? “I learned to keep my hands to myself, to sit on them until they were numb or to dig my fingers into my palms until they bled. I learned to ke