A Lesson in Vengeance

Product Information

I feel like all of Goodreads was screaming "sapphic dark academia with murder and witches" at me to read this, which I very happily obliged, but even with keywords as magnificent as those I still found so many other things to fall in love with about this story. I absolutely had issues putting this book down!! It was sooo addictive and I couldn’t wait to see what happened!! I usually don’t enjoy unreliable main characters, but I couldn’t help but like Felicity. She is just broken in a way that tugged at my heart strings and drew me in from the first couple of chapters. Hell, I was drawn in from the blurb on the book!! Then Ellis… oh our dear, dear Ellis…

A Lesson in Vengeance is a twisty, atmospheric tale, full of mystery and memory. Victoria Lee has expertly crafted a gothic thriller with twists of literary fiction and horror that is sure to have readers on the edge of their seat. Two scenes: one happens in the woods, and one happens in a graveyard. I think those are the scenes I spent the most time mulling over pre-writing (and devoted the most playlist songs to). They’re also the most Aesthetic (with a capital-A). 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. Once upon a time I found it so easy to forget the stories about Godwin House and the five Dalloway witches who lived here three hundred years ago, their blood in our dirt, their bones banging from our trees."Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. 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 her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget. Frankly inject this book into my veins, absolutely one of my lifetime favourites for it gave me the chills that came when reading a book and loving it incandescently, 10/10 will go feral talking about it. In this novel, Victoria Lee blurs the lines of witchcraft and explores its role in history and literature in relation to the demonization of women. Were the Dalloway Five truly dabbling in the dark arts or were they simply victims of their time, seeking too much independence and showcasing too much intelligence in a patriarchal society hellbent on keeping them meek and quiet. This question also weaves itself in the present timeline, challenging Felicity’s claims of being cursed and haunted. A Lesson in Vengeance is dark and mysterious, equal parts intense and haunting. It is a tale to read if you want to have your mind thoroughly blown through clever writing and characters. I cannot recommend this book enough if you fancy some lesbianism alongside your dark academia and murder mysteries. also, to the person who said ellis is a donna tartt self-insert... i hate you and you ruined my life. /j

Who would've thought that a YA dark academia about pretentious rich white girls that drink, smoke and pretend to be in a gothic novel would be so tedious to get through?

Become a Member

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. listen. all i want is a f/f book where they aren't absolutely cruel and toxic towards each other, i don't think that's too much to ask. okay, that's a lie – i also want a dark academia book that doesn't take advantage of mental illness and doesn't twist it in the darkest of ways without then focusing or at least talking about the healing journey. i feel like we were supposed to feel bad for felicity when she realised what was actually happening, but all i could think was duh, finally. As I mentioned, I previously reviewed this book before it was published. My review wasn’t exactly kind, I tend to be extremely frank and I won’t apologize for this or attempt to police my tone. 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. There was one big exception to the transparent bit, though. Something I definitely didn't see coming. And I loved it? I don't think many will. Infact, I think the ending in general will be polarizing. You've been warned!

You’ve mentioned before that neither of your protagonists are really “good” girls. What was the most exciting part of that to write? Ellis is something new, and it feels like she creates and unravels me in the same moment, a sentence she writes and erases and rewrites, a product of her wants and imagination. I feel like she invented me. I wonder if she feels the same.”The material, on the whole, "does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value." [15] 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.