An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

Book Blurb

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.

My Review
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson was published earlier this month and was a book I had on pre-order from Amazon since April. This book comes under the heading of ‘Dark Academia’ a subsection in the fantasy genre and one that I have become a fan of. Dark Academia sees a new pupil coming into school/college, entering into a rivalry with another student, both under the spell of an enigmatic teacher who has secrets themselves, and they find themselves on a dark and dangerous journey. An Education in Malice ticks all these boxes and more, with the romance, the focus on poetry and the gothic touches.

This is my first book by S.T. Gibson, but after reading this I will certainly be looking for her other books. I like how this genre focuses on the teacher pupil relationship, how pupils look up to their teachers, wanting to please them and be noticed. Professor De Lafontaine, an amazing name, is the professor of poetry at Saint Perpetua’s College in Massachusetts, and is as grand as her name implies; she has her own style and a confidence about her. From the beginning you know that there is something different about her, a darkness that envelopes her relationship with her star pupil Carmilla, and then new student Laura. Laura, who wants to be a parish priest and has lived an isolated existence before college soon finds her darker and more passionate side at college, through her relationship with both Carmilla and the Professor. I’m not going to give anything away but it was fascinating to see how this impressionable young woman developed and grew during the book, losing her inhibitions.

I enjoyed S.T.Gibson’s writing style, her development of characters, the first person narrative of Laura and Carmilla, the plotting and her scene setting. The descriptions of the school, with it’s hidden unused bell in a crawlspace, tunnels under the school and the forest all add to the ominous feel and atmosphere of the book, all places that can hold secrets and danger. The first half of the book is pretty slow, not too much happens apart from getting to know the characters, but after that the pace buids so fast I was breathless by the end. The setting of the late 1960’s felt perfect, a time of women’s rights, the feminist movement and the supposed awakening of women’s sexuality, all of which play brilliantly into Laura’s and Carmilla’s story.

I really enjoyed reading An Education in Malice and read it in two sittings. I liked the darkness, the sinister feel and the suductivness of the plot, set against the coming of age story of Laura and Carmilla. S.T. Gibson’s writing is atmospheric and haunting in parts mixed with romance and hope for the future. This is a beautifully crafted novel, that definitely left me wanting more.