A Lesson in Vengeance
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Dark
Thrilling

A Lesson in Vengeance

Victoria Lee2021
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.
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Reviews

Photo of lena
lena@alarkling
3 stars
Aug 28, 2024

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

+3
Photo of Nik ✨
Nik ✨@nixter
4 stars
May 31, 2024

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.

Photo of kelsey
kelsey@horrorforlove
4 stars
May 28, 2024

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

Photo of arwen
arwen@corienrielle
4 stars
May 5, 2024

it was really good especially considering this is a YA book

Photo of Emily Wisnesky
Emily Wisnesky@emswisnesky
2 stars
May 4, 2024

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.

Photo of cloud
cloud@hypeboy
4 stars
May 3, 2024

save me murder lesbians save me

Photo of kait
kait@kaitslibrary
3 stars
Apr 14, 2024

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.

Photo of fris🐝
fris🐝@lfrisbee
3 stars
Feb 24, 2024

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!

Photo of á
á@marya
4 stars
Jan 13, 2024

3.8/5 this book changed the trajectory of my life forever i think what the fuckkk

Photo of fatru tamzil
fatru tamzil@fatrutamzil
5 stars
Jan 10, 2024

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

Photo of TommyBoi
TommyBoi@thomasnobrain
3 stars
Dec 30, 2023

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

Photo of Julie Burszan
Julie Burszan @juliefaye
4 stars
Dec 12, 2023

What did I just read

Photo of cedar winslow
cedar winslow@cwinslow
3.5 stars
Oct 2, 2023

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

Photo of erin alise
erin alise @thehollowvalley
2.5 stars
Sep 20, 2023

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.

+3
Photo of Mae Erceg
Mae Erceg@maelikestoread
4 stars
Jul 22, 2023

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.

Photo of cam
cam@clayolivia
3 stars
Jun 29, 2023

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

Photo of Bi
Bi@mytileneve
2 stars
Jun 28, 2023

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

Photo of B Sai Sushma
B Sai Sushma@sayakel
4 stars
Jun 24, 2023

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.

Photo of Lane Hokanson
Lane Hokanson@lanehoke
4 stars
Feb 20, 2023

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...

Photo of angie
angie@camellias
4 stars
Jan 28, 2023

4.5* i need a moment

Photo of grace richards
grace richards@gracerichards11
4 stars
Jan 22, 2023

oh felicity morrow and ellis haley you are stellar women

Photo of jul
jul@solarpqwer
4 stars
Jan 9, 2023

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!

Photo of ralu
ralu @zero_on21
4.5 stars
Dec 31, 2022

the plot seemed a little dragged and the ending therefore looked rushed but a very good lecture nonetheless

+3
Photo of tina
tina@folklorde
4 stars
Dec 19, 2022

felicityellis are the cause of my mental illness

Highlights

Photo of Megan Lapides
Megan Lapides@writteninthebooks

Bury my bones deep, that I might feel the flames of Hell.

Page 230
Photo of Stephanie Hamilton
Stephanie Hamilton@stephijanee

But bitch felt like a harsh word to apply to a girl who was fighting so hard to make space for herself in a world that didn’t want her.

relatable

Photo of Liz Griffin
Liz Griffin@lizgriffinwords

Just girls. Just clever, bright young women. Too clever and bright for their time. And they were killed for it.

Page 41

Fiction Bath Co - October 2021 book club

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

Is this what it feels like to be a ghost? To haunt the same halls over and over, waiting for someone to see you, to speak to you, to call for you or send you away again?

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

"Mostly how depictions of mental illness are used to build suspense by introducing uncertainty and a sense of mistrust, especially with regard to the narrator's perception of events, and the conflation of magic and madness in female characters."

Page 256

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

This highlight contains a spoiler
Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

We're dryads cavorting in autumn, wood spirits breathing out starlight.

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

Once she's turned away I let my fingertips graze mahogany. I touch the same place she had touched, and it's like a cord drawn taut between us--as intimate as skin.

"As intimate as skin" God it's little things like this that the author weaves in that still adds to the creepy tone throughout, even in moments that aren't "supposed" to be creepy.

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

Witchcraft is just a metaphor for female grief and anger.

Is this the author's commentary on their own novel?

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

Every spell is a pomegranate seed on your tongue, binding you to the underworld.

Oh I love a Persephone reference

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

I need to be able to touch the dark without being consumed by it.

Page 147
Photo of Nicole
Nicole@chickenbuttbooks

She stops pacing and turns to smile at me, a scant foot away from where I stand. She lifts and hand and trails it along my temple, tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear. I barely remember to breathe.

gaygaygaygaygaygay

Photo of Nafeeza Achan
Nafeeza Achan@nafeezareads

Ex scientia ultio. From knowledge comes vengeance.

Page 30

Love

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