A Lesson in Vengeance

Product Information

A Lesson in Vengeance is at once dark and mesmerizing, with spine-tingling suspense and mind-bending twists. I loved it." 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.

I was definitely a bit hesitant going into this, no matter how pumped I was over the concept, because I had a rough go with Lee's debut series. This? I loved the writing, I loved the dip in and out of spooky paranormal horror, the uncertainty of it all. I started this late at night and I won't say it scared me but oh did it do a good job with the eerie vibes. I've dealt with psychotic depression from ages twelve to fifteen. It was the darkest time of my life because I thought I was just... wrong. I thought I was crazy and that there was something incredibly wrong with me, especially because I'd never heard of people outside of my psychiatrist talk about it.So of course I had to transfer here, to Dalloway. There’s nowhere else to write this kind of story, is there?” I think this would've worked so much better if, like one of the comp titles, this had been an adult (or at least new adult) novel. I think so much of what I struggled with, or found hard to believe, could have been easier to swallow if this had been aged up.

Victoria, you have a well documented love for The Secret History and the Dark Academia genre. What were the most important elements of dark academia that you wanted to carry into your own work? Maybe it’s alright to love this. Maybe it’s okay to find comfort in the darkness, as long as I don’t let myself take it too far.”

trigger/content warnings: death, violence, manipulation and emotional abuse, child neglect (past/offscreen), mental health issues (specifically psychotic depression), substance abuse, suicide references (no actual suicide), references to racist history.

I’m going to be totally honest here, this story has surpassed my greatest expectations because Victoria Lee has given me candid and unapologetic depictions of mental illness and they have done a fabulous job of blending the intense relationship between Felicity and Ellis with lots of dark and menacing supernatural elements. Without a doubt, Felicity is definitely an unreliable narrator and this took A Lesson in Vengeance to a whole new level for me because the story was told through her point of view and I couldn’t trust her memories or her experiences and that made me question the motives of every character in this compelling novel. By the way, have I mentioned how much I adore this author’s beautiful and addictive writing style and this gorgeous book cover? Cons And Heads Up Throw that sanity out the door (you will lose it while reading this one either way) and listen to me carefully: you need this book in your life.Merlin then visits Tyr in prison and brings him some food to eat. Merlin asks Tyr how he could have done this. Tyr explains that it was not him that caused the King to fall from his horse but someone else. Tyr is hesitant in naming the person who was messing with the saddle, as they promised harm to his mother. Merlin explains that everything will be fine and for him to say who he saw. I don’t want to spoil anything about it, but I do want to mention that Ellis is just the best character. I love her oddness from the start. Then she unfolds slowly with all these layers and self and not self. That may not make much sense, but once you read the book, it totally will!! Trust me, she’s an amazingly complex and interesting character. I could read a whole series of Ellis books!!! Throw her in with Felicity and they make an awesome duo of characters. 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.

Fantasy drama series. Darkness steals into the very heart of Camelot as Morgana and her puppet queen hatch a sinister plan to murder the king. More 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. I look up. Alex’s replacement stands in my doorway. And although it’s past three in the morning, she’s dressed as if she’s about to walk into a law school interview. She’s even wearing collar studs.And also I believe that my ongoing need to read everything anyone calls "dark academia," even as this results in pain and disappointment-spiked illness on my end, is the right thing. 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. The characters are great because, to me, they seemed so real. Like these are clearly girls I went to school with. I enjoyed their differences and thought they had a great dynamic. The thing that just kept me drawn in was that I never knew what was going to happen. Each time I guessed something, it was blown out of the water almost immediately by something crazy happening!! Seriously, the level of craziness in this book is intense!!! vinsentient on It’s No Fun To Be Alone: Communicating With Cryptids in The Shape of Water 2 hours ago I still feel ghosts around me: the ghosts of the five Dalloway girls who defied the boxes and coffins the world tried to put them in. The ghosts of other women who attended or worked at this school, but whose legacies were forgotten instead of deified. The ghosts of every girl who came here and felt history beneath her feet. But I'm not haunted anymore. Maybe I never was.”