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A Lesson In Vengeance is a broody, atmospheric novel that had me sucked in right from the beginning. Following the death of her girlfriend the year before, a deeply traumatized Felicity Marrow returns to school with ghost a ghost on her heels. There she meets Ellis, a brilliant novelist with a spark of something either brutal or deadly in her eyes – and she wants Felicity to help her tell her next story.

This had so much good: Sapphic love story, secret covens, scary legends with a bit more truth to them than anyone wants to admit, and the chilling, creeping pace of a thriller that knew.how to use its medium. Between legends.of witches, Felicity's often unreliable mind, and all of the things creeping in the dark, I was hooked!

I could go on, but I loved a lot about this book. Some of the pacing threw me, lagging a bit where it may have needed some tightening but once it got going again it didn't disappoint. Look for this one on 3rd of August! Fantastic.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.*

How am I supposed to write a full review after that ending oh my gods. Full review to come but initial thoughts are: amazing, showstopping, incredible, brilliant

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself devouring it as I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. A Lesson in Vengeance is filled with twists and moments that made me put the book down to stare at a wall for a few minutes to process. I can't wait for my physical copy to arrive and finally be able to hold this book in my hands.

About 30% into this book, the first major twist happened, and it's done perfectly to make the reader suspicious of anything and everything that Felicity experiences and sees. The last 15% is full of shock after shock and made me want to immediately start to reread the book to see if I had missed any clues to the major twist of the ending. The constant questioning of what is and is not happening made for a much more suspenseful reading experience because I never knew whose perceptions of reality to trust.

Felicity and Ellis' relationship is definitely dark and twisted. However, it also serves as the lynchpin for the entire plot of the book. I was enthralled by their relationship as it went from coldness and suspicion on both sides to something more, leading to the intense final act where everything both comes together and falls apart.

If you put a book in front of me and compare it to Ninth House, you better believe that I'm going to read it! A Lesson in Vengeance is the latest novel to come from the mind of Victoria Lee, and guys – this is not a book you're going to want to miss out on. Seriously, I'm going to be forcing all of my friends and family to read it.

The Dalloway School is famous for many things, not all of them good. They have witchcraft and death buried in the closets. Felicity Morrow can't get enough of the haunted nature of her school, which is why the lore has become part of her senior project.

That is until she found herself sunk too deep into legend. Now she's doomed herself, her friends, and who knows how many others to follow down the same path that witches in history once took.

"I understand the concept of sense memory. But understanding isn't preparation."

Words cannot express how much I loved A Lesson in Vengeance. I love Dark Academia novels, so I went into A Lesson in Vengeance expecting to love it. I simply wasn't prepared for the extent of that love.

Victoria Lee merged so many fantastic elements together to create this novel, and it shows. Dark academia meets mystery and thriller with a lesbian leading lady. Seriously, what more could you possibly ever ask for?

Best of all – better than the intrigue, the character development, or the dramatic twist – the writing. Victoria Lee's writing is enchanting. More than that, she wound a story in such a way as for it to be virtually impossible to spot the truth right away.

"You can still feel history in these halls. At any moment you might turn the corner and find yourself face to face with a ghost from the past."

Is this a ghost story? Is it a tale of teenage girls doing horrible things? Who knows? Only those that have actually read all the way until the end will be able to tell you that one. And I, for one, will not be spoiling it.

I loved the rich atmosphere of this novel. It wiggles into the bones and won't let go, and while that may be a graphic image for some, it is very much an accurate one. Felicity's story is harrowing and fascinating, dark and complex.

Part of me is quite sad that this is a standalone novel, but mostly because I am greedy. What Victoria Lee here is perfectly captured within one novel, and there is no need for her to continue. I just don't want to let the world or story go.

This was a quick, dark read. I really enjoyed the writing style and all the references to horror written by women, having been an English major in undergrad. Some bits felt like they were only there for aesthetics and not for any part of the plot, but the girls themselves were like that also so it mostly worked. It's also a study of toxic and manipulative relationships, which was done really well, and built to a great climax.

This is a dark and intricate story that will pull you under.

Read this if you’re into:
- Sapphic stories
- Dark academia
- Boarding school mystery
- Witchcraft
- Mental health representation
- Rising intensity
- Atmospheric thrillers

Inside the walls of the Godwin House, the dormitory of the Dalloway School where the Dalloway Five all died mysteriously years ago, Felicity has just come back after being away for the last year. She is just trying to finish her schooling and put the past behind her, but the memory of her girlfriend Alex’s death the previous year is haunting her… much like the spirits of the Dalloway Five.

The new girl at Dalloway, Ellis, has Alex’s old room. There is something about her that Felicity can’t seem to resist. And even though all Felicity wants is to put the darkness and the school’s witchcraft history in her rear view, Ellis is all about it. The closer Felicity and Ellis become, the closer they get to uncovering secrets about the school and the darkness surrounding Alex’s death.

I could not get enough of the dark intensity and ramping urgency in this book. I adore Victoria Lee’s writing. You definitely feel like you are right there inside this novel!

✨ “Maybe it’s all right 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.”- ✨A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
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A Lesson in Vengeance is told from the POV of Felicity Marrow( in past and present) who may just be one of my favourite characters just because of how… unreliable she is. Her character is written THAT well that I started to believe her, even though my common sense was screaming THAT SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT HERE.
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Felicity’s character pulls you into the story and as you delve into Dalloway( Dark boarding school, with a dangerous history e.g -witches, possession, sacrifices, murder and so on), more of her secrets, and what actually happened to her previous girlfriend the year before, are revealed. The side characters were done just as while and Ellis Haley; a major side character, who could rival Felicity with her own dark secrets!
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Victoria Lee has a gift for writing atmospherically and it was done phenomenally well in this book. Their writing sucks you in, and anytime something creepy happened I had to put the book down and breathe…. And you know, run and knock my light on.
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A Lesson in Vengeance was both a mystery and a thriller but with anti-heroes who definitely don’t want to save the day. If you’re craving a book with monstrous girls, witchy vibes, Murder/mayhem, and dark academia- then PICK THIS UP.

The storyline, the setting, and the characters in this book made for a perfect atmospheric read. A boarding school with a link to witchcraft, in a spooky setting. I just read the synopsis and immediately knew I had to read it.

I was provided an ARC of this book through Netgalley, and my review contains no spoilers.

This is one of those books that you probably shouldn't read in the night unless you want to be just as anxious as the main character, Felicity. The thing that strikes me about this book is that it is so, so, so smart. The way Lee brings literature and analysis into the book and weaves it seamlessly into the plot feels like they're winking at us as we read. They're dropping just enough hints that as each reveal happens we're feeling surprised while also wondering why we didn't think of it before.

I loved Lee's first duology, and I think they've done a masterful job here of constructing a story that builds on all of the great work they did with their previous work. It's cool to see authors continue to level up their craft, and Lee is no exception.

Included as a top pick in bimonthly August New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

I loved this book! It was dark, spooky, atmospheric, and there's nothing I like more than an unreliable narrator. I could not figure out what was happening, was it the MC's mental health, was it witchcraft, was it ghosts, or was it something else entirely? The backstory of the Dalloway five was really interesting, I would have loved even more about them! Can't wait to buy a physical copy of this book!

Felicity Morrow returns to Dalloway, an elite, all-girls boarding school, for her second attempt at senior year. Haunted by the death of her ex-girlfriend, Alex, and her preoccupation with the school's witchy origins, Felicity is further unbalanced by the arrival of new student and Pulitzer Prize winning teen author, Ellis Haley. Ellis soon has the other girls of Godwin House under her spell, and convinces Felicity to help her research for her next novel, one that is set at the school and features the infamous Dalloway Five, a coven of witches who were gruesomely killed on school grounds. Can Felicity withstand a second brush with the occult, or will she lose herself again?

A Lesson in Vengeance is smart, intense, riveting, and delightfully spooky. If you've been longing for a Sapphic dark academia novel, this is it! As with many dark academia and/or boarding school books, the characters are driven, academically focused, somewhat hedonistic, prone to quoting poetry, and eager to adopt old fashioned aesthetics. At times I forgot when the book was set as the girls of Godwin House spend their time using typewriters, researching in libraries, reading books, and generally eschewing all forms of modern technology. Altogether it creates a deeply immersive reading experience and I kept expecting to look out the window and see autumn leaves and the mountains or snow covered trees.

While I didn't exactly like any of the characters, they are fascinating and brilliant. Felicity is an unreliable narrator and I love the way the story weaves in meta commentary on female characters and mental health. Ellis is wickedly smart, mysterious, and controlled. The tension between the two of them is on par with some of my favorite characters who ride that line between rivalry, friendship, or more. Their story is filled with twists, chills, and thrills. Brew a pot of coffee, light some candles, switch off the lights, and get lost in this tale of witches and death, beauty and desire, ghosts and vengeance.

Thank you Random House Children’s Delacorte Press & Netgalley for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

Holy wow. This was EVERYTHING. The yearning? The spookiness? The prose? The characters? All of it was perfect. I can’t get over it. I waited a few days after finishing to gather my thoughts because it was just so good. This book is incredibly good. You have to put this on your TBR. You won’t regret it.

Victoria does such a great job weaving character arcs, beautiful story telling and a spooky story all into one. Felicity and Ellis are such complex characters that unravel as the story does. With Alex’s ghost and the Dalloway 5 memories hanging around like decorations, you get sucked into a witchy tale that you won’t want to put down. It’s spellbinding.

I loved the way the past merged with the present and became a story of two times becoming one. I loved the arc Felicity went through. The yearning between Felicity and Ellis was top notch. I don’t want to give away too much of this beautiful story, but i can’t recommend it enough. So good.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

Oooh this went darker than I was expecting! And I loved it. I think this one is going to be a hit. If you're looking for queer dark academia with a twisty plot, you will definitely want to check out A Lesson in Vengeance. Set at an elite, all-girls boarding school founded by a survior of the Salem witch trials, there is a dark, bloody history and a dark present.

Felicity Morrow has returned to Dalloway School to finish her senior year after taking time off when her best friend died the year before. All her housemates have graduated and a new crop of girls has moved in. Including a young, bestselling novelist working on her next book. This has all the creepy, dark, haunted vibes you could want. Excessively intellectual teen girls reading high brow literature (I say this in love as I was like this too), witches, rituals, possible ghosts, plenty of sexual tension, and an unreliable narrator.

It took me a little while to get fully invested in this and I don't love the way the early part relied so heavily on a dual timeline with flashbacks. I think structurally it could have been done a little differently. Regardless, once I was into it, I was INTO IT and that ending was perfection! Did not expect a YA story to go where this one went. The author took inspiration from The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but with lesbians and it is fabulous. Definitely recommend! I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Content warnings include: death, gore, rituals, blood, animal death, violence, mental health related episodes, probably others.

3.5 stars

The dialogue between the Godwin House girls reminded me of my least favorite interactions with English majors in college. Pair that with the "rich girl boarding school" and "only vintage, academic aesthetic" clothes and it was just too pretentious. Now, when we started talking about witchcraft and murder and lesbians, I was on board.

I don't know if it's just because I read an ARC, but there were some very big contradictions in the story. Some contradictions were deliberate, revealed to be incorrect as part of the story, and then there were others where I had to ask a friend who was also reading the book "wait, didn't she say THIS before? How did we get to THAT now? Am I hallucinating?" It wasn't mimicking the mental state of our narrator, instead pulling me completely out of the story while I contemplated using my kindle's search function to double check what I thought I'd read before.

Personally, I think the book would have worked better with college students - or at least been a bit more believable. Indeed, I kept forgetting that the characters were kids. Maybe really rich kids do act and talk and carry on like this, I don't know. It also felt like we dropped the academia part of this dark academia story in a way that made it impossible to keep track of the passage of time.

This makes it sound like I hated the book. I absolutely did not. The writing (apart from pretentious dialogue) was enthralling, with brilliant descriptions and a great rhythm to the words. I devoured the book in only a handful of sittings, curious to know how everything would unfold. And I'm also always a sucker for gay ladies.

Oh wow. This book.

This is the YA witchy dark academia that we've all been wanting. The dark, twisty plot, the complicated (and LGBTQ+) main characters, the perfect prep school setting. This book had all the right ingredients for a witchy dark academia recipe. And everything blended so well together.

I will say, however, don't go into this book thinking you're going to get an action-packed thriller. That is absolutely not what's going on. While there are some pretty thrilling aspects to this story, it is, in its essence, a character-driven tale. I'm sure some people won't love the slow-burn way of telling this story, but for me, the darkness of the characters themselves made this book unputdownable. And when things really do start to heat up at the climax, the rest is a wild ride.

I wanted to know too much about what was going on inside the main character Felicity's head. As well as the head of her teen novelist friend Ellis. With Felicity dealing with grief, guilt, and the rest of her trauma, there wasn't much room for action. And I didn't miss it too much, either. Even without the action thrills, I spent the whole read questioning everything and trying to figure what was really going on.

By the end, I was blown away, but I was also left with some questions, which is the biggest part of my less than five-star rating. I'll leave the questions for you to discover on your own (very much spoilers), but let's just say they're related to Felicity's and Ellis' individual motivations and some other dark parts of this book.

This was an absolutely wild ride from start to finish. The twists and turns this took! I went in knowing only what Victoria Lee had said about it and I can’t recommend going in with as few spoilers as possible.

A Lesson in Vengeance follows Felicity Morrow as she repeats/finishes her senior year at Dalloway School, an incredibly old and prestigious boarding school. She’s dealing with the death of her best friend (girlfriend) from the previous school year. There’s a new girl at school this year named Ellis and Felicity finds herself drawn to her. But above all, Felicity can’t shake the feeling that all of the ghosts from the year before are haunting her.

The actual ghosts.

The literal ghosts.

This book is appropriately creepy and unnerving as Felicity tries to move on from the events of the previous year while also doubling down on them, repeating mistakes and exploring the murders of five teen girls from Dalloway who practiced witchcraft in the 1700s.

What Lee does in this book is incredibly smart. They reference texts that Felicity is using on her thesis to mirror the experience that Felicity herself is going through. The Yellow Wallpaper? You feel its influence all over this book. The Haunting of Hill House? 100%. As a reader, you get into Felicity’s head and have no idea what you can trust or believe. There are moments where you even stop trusting her as a reliable narrator and then you’re left feeling just as unmoored as she is.

I wish *certain parts* were dived into a little deeper regarding things repeating themselves re: the Dalloway Five. I feel like that would have added a lot to where this book ended up going, but what a solid story from start to finish.

If you’re looking for a book to read this October, add this one to your list.

In this ya thriller, Felicity arrives at Dalloway, a private girls' boarding school with a dark history, for a second chance at her senior year. She returns from her mental sabbatical to her same room, but all her friends have graduated and her girlfriend is dead. As she faces the rumor mill and her own fears from the night Alex died, she falls into orbit around a prodigy writer, Ellis.

This thriller just wasn't a good fit for me. First, the relationships are sapped of any altruism. Felicity has an absent, rich mother, a cruel, dead girlfriend, and faces manipulation, gaslighting, and fear of being outed as a lesbian while grappling with her psychotic depression. Everything is toxic.

In terms of characters, Ellis especially pissed me off from almost the start. She uses her semi-celebrity status and charisma to pressure everyone around her into getting her way, even when the others push back or bubble over with doubts. While much of my energy was devoted to the anti-Ellis train, I didn't develop equally strong positive connections with the other characters, even the protagonist. Felicity's motivations were always murky to me, and while I think this was a tactic to keep her secrets safely hidden until the right moment, it left me detached from her in the (lengthy) interim.

It's also one of those thrillers where I spent the whole time asking: but WHY would you do that? Also, please don't do that. It lacked the spookiness of supernatural thrillers and the visceral tension caused by more human threats, though the story plays with elements of both. It's a very slow build. By the time things kicked off right at the end, I was hanging on out of a need to know the outcome for a fully informed review, not any sense of excitement.

So what might someone else like about this book? Mental health and queer representation are central to the story, although both feature difficult journeys and toxic situations. If you like a literary intelligentsia or witchy vibe, I think you will enjoy the atmosphere and references here.

3.5*
I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book and where the author tried to take it. I really appreciated the dark parts, the twists and what I thought was going to happen. I don't know enough about mental health to comment on that area of the book. The beginning half of the book I found myself simply reading because I liked the atmosphere of the book. The latter half of the book added some interesting twists for myself. I'm this book could fall either way on the scale of good or bad tbh. It's just one of those books. I really do like the cover as well. I'd read another by the author.

It takes a lot for a book to surprise me the way this one did. I was pulled in by the witchy stories and kept enthralled by everything else. I can honestly say this was one of my fave reads of 2021.