Victoria Lee

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. Felicity Morrow is back at the Dalloway School to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students--girls some say were witches. Felicity was once drawn to the dark legacy of witchcraft. She's determined to leave that behind her now; but it's hard when Dalloway's occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won't let her forget it. It's Ellis Haley's first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can't shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can't say no. And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway--and in herself.

A Lesson in Vengeance

Megan Lapides

Stephanie Hamilton

Liz Griffin

Nicole

Nafeeza Achan

I've had this book in my tbr for years, and I was so so so sure I was going to love it once I finally read it. That... was not the case. Reading this felt like performing, and that's kind of a feeling that rippled from the pages. I didn't dislike this book for its "toxicity" (hardly) or "darkness" (sugarcoated), as some reviews say; I wish it leaned more into that instead of the lackluster crescendo in the last couple of chapters. I was willing to look past any critiques or lack of connection because I really was enjoying myself until the end. It felt rushed and sloppy, I'm sorry to say. I had so many ideas about how this story could conclude, but the reality was disappointing. Not to mention how flat the characters felt once all was said and done. There was so much potential, and I did enjoy some aspects, but the overarching annoyance about how poorly everything was wrapped up couldn't be saved. Tragic really

lena

soot

4.5
Ouch. Immediately I was sucked into the personality of Felicity. It’s rare when authors continue the showcase of grief, many times they put it aside immediately which I find takes away any realism it had. Not this one though, the death of her girlfriend Alex haunts her. Then comes along another entity; Ellis. Haunting and sapphic, a duo I’m beginning to find never misses, we relive the tales of the Darroway 5- girls dead with the only explanation being magic.

Nik ✨

I don’t have anything exciting or extensive to say except I just had fun with this book. I like that the FMC is an unreliable narrator, and while some parts were under developed to me (like the romance), the overall story was enjoyable and came together in the end.

kelsey

tbh this would’ve been 5 stars to me if it was simply an adult book

arwen

it was really good especially considering this is a YA book

Emily Wisnesky

I’m kinda disappointed in this book? It’s like we got nowhere at all while reading, like I read all that for nothing. We got like nothing from the Dalloway Five even though they were constantly mentioned throughout the book. The ending was super rushed as well and to me the whole entirety of the book felt quite useless with that ending. What’s the point of Felicity and her dilemma with magic and ghosts when that wasn’t even worked upon in the book? And again wasn’t of any importance to the ending… Expected more, but I guess this book just wasn’t for me.

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. The dangerous romance and atmospheric setting makes it a perfect read for fans of dark academia. The history of Dalloway School lives in the bones it was built on. Five violent deaths in the first ten years of its existence. Sometimes you can still smell the blood on the air. It wasn’t until Felicity enrolled that she fell in love with the dark. And now she’s back to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of the five Dalloway students who died there—girls some say were witches. It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Dalloway’s occult lore is everywhere, and the new girl won’t let Felicity forget it. But when the past begins to invade on the present, Felicity needs to decide where she stands. The soil under her feet is bloody with Dalloway’s history. But so is the present. Is it Dalloway—or is it her?

cloud

<spoiler>save me murder lesbians save me</spoiler>

kait

honestly, this was so underwhelming. i think i'm a plot girlie and this is a vibes kind of book so do with that what you will and take my rating with a grain of salt.

I liked the vibes, I felt like the plot was okay, and I wish the character work was better. I did however call who would kill whom but I did think the end was fitting. I wish we got to read more excepts from ellis’ manuscript. I support gay rights and gay wrongs!

fris🐝

“Ex scientia ultio.
From knowledge comes vengeance.”
--------------------

A Lesson In Vengeance is an incredibly atmospheric dark academia that feels like running through the stacks of an old library smelling of dust and old paper in complete dark, heart pounding, sure that a terrifying ghost is at your heels. It is tense, it is immersive, and it is a game of self-doubt.

The story itself twists in and out between paranormal and psychological thriller, questioning reality, perception, and motives of each character at every step. Although I could more or less guess the plot twist, I was still on the edge until the very last, holding my breath as I constantly second-guessed myself and waiting for the next punch to the gut.

If you are a fan of atmospheric thrillers and unreliable narrators, definitely recommended.

4.5/5

3.8/5

this book changed the trajectory of my life forever i think what the fuckkk

fatru tamzil

Ohhhh this is lovely. Dark, delicious, sapphic, and atmospheric. EVERYBODY READ THIS.

TommyBoi

I actually enjoyed this book. Overall, i'd give it a solid 3,5/5 

I could say the story was slow, that's true. However, when it comes to murder mysteries, I like for a creepy atmosphere to be settled. 
I thoroughly enjoyed how the narrator was unstable. Can we trust her word? By doing so, are we following her delusions? Who's right, Felicity or Elis? 

Yes, the book also had its downs, but I enjoyed it enough regardless. The one point I could bring up is maybe the lack of understanding between pronouns and gender, but the queer representation, overall, was mostly well-done. 

Being non-binary doesn't mean the person will use they/them, but from what i've heard, the author is non-binary, so maybe this definition fits how they feel. 

I'm non-binary myself and use he/they, but I can see the point for other enby individuals. 

Overall, good story

Julie Burszan 

are you craving the secret history but add magical undertones and make it sapphic? this is your book. i didn’t know what to expect given this is a young adult novel, and granted it did feel a little on the nose sometimes, but I really got immersed within the ivy covered halls of dalloway, and i was consistently surprised and didn’t know where the book was going. the ending felt a little too neatly wrapped up, but overall a super enjoyable autumn read

cedar winslow

For a book containing all of the elements I usually love in a book, this was pretty boring and repetitive. It feels like it could still use a lot of editing. 

erin alise 

Mae Erceg

For a book I didn’t think I’d like, I was glued to the pages. I loved the dark academia vibe. Overall, the plot was super interesting and a couple times I was in the dark in my room getting a little chill from the creepiness of a few scenes. A few people reviewed the practicality of some plot characteristics which I would agree with but they weren’t so distracting that I couldn’t enjoy the overall story. Minus a star only for the things mentioned above that were pretty impractical (using a typewriter, not using cell phones, a 17 year old Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, the high school kids that act as if they should actually have been written as college kids, and more). Overall it was a good read and would recommend for something quick and thrilling.

3.5
sapphic dark academia book sounded very good but idk yet I was not completely convinced personally I would have changed the ending idk, ellis deserved more I deserved more from ellis

sadly I found myself mostly bored while reading this, which I did not really expect..... a shame

B Sai Sushma

I think I need to read more unreliable narrators because I can't tell if the genre itself shocks or if this one was done particularly well. 



What I can tell is that I loved the atmosphere this book sets up, and I spent at least 40% of my time wondering if magic and the horror elements were truly real. And as we all know, nothing is more terrifying than a human mind. Especially a dark academia obsessed human mind.

Lane Hokanson

Wonderfully dark academia, this gives you a little bit of the same feel as Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House. This one features a potentially unreliable narrator, and gives a beautiful representation of what it means to be truly uncertain as to whether or not you can ever trust what you see in front of you...

angie

grace richards

oh felicity morrow and ellis haley you are stellar women

Dark academia with unreliable narrators plus my friends recommended it so I just had a feeling I'd like this! And I did, read it in just over 24 hours and did most of it all in one sitting. There's a lot going on in this book including multiple flashbacks that slowly fill us in on what happened before the events of the story with Felicity's ex, Alex. Admittedly, I did get confused a few times as to what was true or not and what to believe since Felicity is an unreliable narrator but I think that adds to some of the charm of the story as a whole. Ellis is so compelling as well (for several spoiler filled reasons) and honestly I found myself not trusting anybody by about halfway through the book and it stayed that way to the very end. Something I wished we got more of was the other characters. While the novel revolved mostly around Felicity and Ellis, their fellow housemates  and Ellis's sibling were either mentioned in group scenes or to further Felicity's understanding of concepts or as a fill in for scenes when she wasn't with Ellis and we didn't learn much about them. Overall though, this was the twisty dark thriller I was hoping for it to be and I really enjoyed it!

A Lesson in Vengeance

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