An Education in Malice

         

Title: An Education in Malice

Author: S.T. Gibson

Publisher: Redhook, February 13, 2024

Pages: 346

Genre: LGBT Dark Fantasy

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 magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.  

This has been the spring of retellings, I suppose. Third times the charm with this one. I love a vampire. This brings the classic sapphic vampire, Carmilla, to dark academia. **spoilers ahead**

There was a web series on YouTube about 10 years ago, and reading this has made me want to watch it again. There were definite similarities between them. And this book didn't specify a time period, but it gave me like 60s or 70s vibes. Laura and Carmilla are obsessed with one another as academic rivals, but they're also undeniably attracted to one another. 

Their professor De Lafontaine is mercurial. She invites them for private study sessions, and then pits them against one another. She insists that her interest in the both of them is platonic and mentor-ly, if not motherly, and yet she throws fits when they begin to show more of an interest in each other. But isn't that the nature of a vampire? Selfish and "hungry." Above the everyday dramas of human life, and yet reliant in the most intimate of ways on those same humans. 

Ultimately this had everything I love about a classic vampire, but with a fun twist. You have the classic, monster vampire in Isis. You have De Lafontaine who's straddling that line between monster and not monster. She's almost crossed the line into unfeeling monster, but she does seem to really care about Carmilla. And then there's Carmilla. As a human, she's pretty monstrous. But she does open up and become more vulnerable after her vampire affliction. And obviously, I love the representation. Even if these ladies are toxic.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 2/5