Spoiler-Free Review

Hello, book nerds – here is my last review of 2023 before I’m off for the holidays.

I’ve been craving a new seductive vampire romance, plus a dark academia atmosphere, and An Education in Malice fit the bill perfectly. I loved A Dowry of Blood by this same author, and so I rushed to request this ARC as soon as I could.

Thanks to Netgalley and Redhook Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

What’s An Education in Malice about?

In this erotic horror retelling of Carmilla set in the 1960s, Laura is a new college student in St. Perpetua’s writing program, where she is swept up with the seductive and alluring Carmilla, a fellow student, and the professor she’s obsessed with.

I really enjoyed this one.

Erotic horror is a genre blend I discovered this year because of A Dowry of Blood, and I don’t think I can go back. There’s something so alluring about these stories. It’s the illicit seductiveness, the romantic villains, the strange mix of the macabre and the sexual, and the often gothic atmospheres that turn these stories into something you just can’t look away from.

I’ve also always felt that good horror takes a real life issue and holds up a mirror to it, reflecting it back to the reader for the scary thing it is, but with the addition of the supernatural or paranormal to emphasize the point. And erotic horror is the perfect place to show us the scary parts of toxic relationships, unbalanced power in romances, obsession, control, and emotional manipulation. And how better to showcase this than with characters who literally drink someone’s lifeblood?

As expected, ST Gibson knocked it out of the park once again. An Education in Malice had me hooked from beginning to end. The writing was immaculate without feeling overdone. I was immersed in the story and the main characters’ headspace, with all the atmosphere and beautiful description that I associate with this author.

This one mostly focuses on the relationships at hand and less on an external plot, much in the way gothic romances operate. So there was plenty of room for romantic exploration, internal contemplation, and character growth.

Should you read An Education in Malice?

If you liked A Dowry of Blood or House of Hunger, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up. You’ll like this if you enjoy vampire romances, Sapphic romances, plus-size heroines, dark academia, and academic rivalry.

This one is set to release on February 13, 2024.