Title: A Lesson in Vengeance
Author: Victoria Lee
Published: 22nd February 2022, Titan Books
Pages: 400
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC
Rating: 3/5
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.
Pages: 400
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC
Rating: 3/5
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.
Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she's returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumoured to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students - girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds.
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.
It's Ellis Haley's first year at Dalloway, and she's already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called "method writer". She's 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. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource.
And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway - and in herself.
A Lesson in Vengeance tells the story of Felicity as she returns to boarding school a year after her girlfriend was killed and meets a teen prodigy writer, Ellis, writing her next book. Felicity is also obsessed with magic and the legend of five girls believed to be witches.
I found A Lesson in Vengeance to be an okay read. I was completely immersed when I could bring myself to pick it up, but it was also slow which stopped me from picking it up. So it took me a while to read. It was very spooky though and did creep me out at times.
The story is set in Felicity's boarding school and it's a very isolated location full of old buildings. I could really picture the setting quite well and it really helped with the whole creepiness of the story. It also fits the character's personalities quite well.
When it comes to the characters, they were interesting but not memorable in the slightest. the side characters also brought nothing to the story. I did like that Felicity was a bit of an unreliable narrator suffering from a sort of self-imposed memory loss. However, I did not care in the slightest about her or any of the characters. There was a lot of LGBTQ+ rep though which is always fantastic.
I did enjoy the writing style. The story was fantastically written and flowed easily. I did find it hard to follow at times, but I think that was my indifference to the characters causing my mind to wander.
The plot was okay, but I really didn't understand the motives and I didn't find the ending too surprising. But it generally made sense. It just dragged a bit and wasn't the most satisfying ending. It was climatic but expected. I was hoping for a more spooky cause and it just wasn't there.
So as I've said A Lesson in Vengeance was okay. I enjoyed the writing style and the worldbuilding but was let down by the characters and plot.
My favourite parts? I really can't think of one...
My favourite character? No strong feelings for any of them
Did I learn something? Dark academia might not be for me
Will I read Victoria Lee again? Unlikely
Will I read the rest of the series? N/A
Worth the price? N/A - Netgalley
Yikes, I'm sorry you didn't love this one. I hope your next book is better.
ReplyDeleteI was so disappointed
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