If you read books just because of their ~vibes~ then this might be for you but I personally had to resort to a 2.20 text to speech narrator to get through this book. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review! This did not affect my opinions in any way.

Experiencing this story through an unreliable narrator’s perspective also brings forth commentary on the horror and speculative fiction genre and how it portrays mental illness, especially with women. This parallels how witchcraft and womanhood have been linked, and how they’ve both been utilised in misogynistic ends but also as a plot device in genre fiction. A Lesson in Vengeance follows in the genre’s footsteps but seeks to bring more factual and unprejudiced representation. Felicity suffers through psychotic depression and it opens up the door to discuss institutionalisation, medication, and the heredity of mental illness through her experience. A frequent theme in dark academic literature is that of the thin line between obsession and madness. I just completed my Ph.D., so I can tell you firsthand that mental illness is disproportionately high among academics. When you’re at that level of education, there’s a lot of pressure to succeed, and your success can feel like it’s directly proportional to how much time and happiness you sacrifice to your research. Research, by the way, that’s usually about the tiniest sliver of a sliver of a subject—and that’s the topic that becomes your entire world. So the fact that dark academic media seems so concerned with the overlap between intellectual obsessions and mental illness rings true for me. I wanted to explore that in A Lesson in Vengeance. When is obsession just obsession, and when do we take obsession too far? When do we ignore mental health problems because we perceive them to be part and parcel of academic pursuit—the price you pay for passion? A dark, twisty, atmospheric thriller about a centuries-old, ivy-covered boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past. The fierce and dangerous romance and evocative setting makes it a perfect read for Pride month and for fans of dark academia vibes. I’ve never been able to do that. Even after ages staring at myself in the mirror, I’ve only ever been able to muster a constipated sort of grimace.”The future had felt like a distant and abstract construct, like a life that belonged to another Felicity—a mirror image of myself existing in some parallel world, a girl who stood a chance…” A Lesson in Vengeance is at once dark and mesmerizing, with spine-tingling suspense and mind-bending twists. I loved it.”—Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders and That Weekend Not to mention that the few characters we had were one dimensional and they were almost the same. They were needed for the plot, but didn't have enough personality. Not like the mcs were so much better, but at least I had some idea about who they are.

vinsentient on It’s No Fun To Be Alone: Communicating With Cryptids in The Shape of Water 2 hours ago A dark, twisty thriller about a centuries-old, ivy-covered boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past. Perfect for fans of dark academia. Can Felicity come to terms with her past and move on or will Dalloway’s dark history always have a hold on her? Pros And My Favourite Parts Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway's past. The school doesn't talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She's determined to leave that behind now, but it's hard when Dalloway's occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won't let her forget. In July 2021, Titan Publishing Group brought the UK and Commonwealth rights for the book. [3] Themes [ edit ]Update 3: So NetGalley decided to be very homophobic and not approve (or even deny) me for this book. AKA the book of my dreams, but it’s fine I guess because since it’s been published I now have a copy. I am scared to read this because I don’t want to be disappointed, as this is my most anticipated read ever, but we won’t talk about that. R.F. Kuang, Sue Lynn Tan, Rebecca Ross, Kate Heartfield, N.E. Davenport, Saara El-Arifi, Juno Dawson and Sunyi Dean Witchcraft is woven into the Dalloway School’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. And most memorable of all is the Dalloway Five–five students who all died mysteriously one after another, who some say were witches. I so very much loved the Feverwake duology and I can say I was thoroughly impressed by this novel which was leagues away from their previous work. I can’t wait to see them grow even more as an author and consume the range of stories they’ll be publishing in the future. Before her girlfriend’s tragic death, Felicity Morrow was drawn to the dark. But after a year away from Dalloway’s ivy-covered campus, she’s determined to leave all that behind her, focus on her senior thesis, and graduate. Only it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.

But after it happened (if it happened), I had to take a deep breath and convince myself not to dnf it (which I wanted to do more than I could count). There is one thing I despise more than being in the head of someone I hate and that is when the mc takes a 180, and it turns out she had an information this whole time, but I didn't know about it despite being in their head. Let's get into it. (I love to say let's get into it 18 paragraphs into a rant review. Feels like the good ol' days.) And did I hear it correctly? The mc hid the body of her dead girlfriend after she killed her (by accident)? I could swear I heard it, but it was so random I wouldn't put too much money on that.While the author is non-binary, I still find the non-binary side character in the book deserving of criticism. The random scene where the character taught the mc about pronouns was so weird to me as a non-binary reader.