A Lesson in Vengeance

By: Victoria Lee

Narrated by: Lindsey Dorcus

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

A dark, twisty 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 dangerous romance and atmospheric setting makes it a perfect read for fans of dark academia.

Felicity Morrow is back at the 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 finish high school. 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. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds. 

Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway's past. 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 now, 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 has already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at 17, 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 to help her research 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 herself.

©2021 Victoria Lee (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"A Lesson in Vengeance is at once dark and mesmerizing, with spine-tingling suspense and mind-bending twists. I loved it." (Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders and That Weekend)

"A smart, layered, thought-provoking thriller about female desire and the intimacy of violence.” (Ava Reid, author of The Wolf and the Woodsman)

"Darkly radiant and brilliantly wicked, A Lesson in Vengeance is a sharp dissection of queerness, ambition, and the forbidden luster of the occult. This book will possess you from first pages to its haunting, final words.” (Ryan La Sala, author of Be Dazzled and Reverie)

unsure how I feel about it

I struggled a bit until about 75% of the way through. The ending made it worth it. It was very dark for a YA novel. Overall I enjoyed it. I have mixed feelings about it being marketed to teenagers though. Think I'm going to read a Penelope Douglas book to chase away the edgy vibe this left behind. Can you tell I have mixed feelings? No regrets. Don't listen to this in the dark though.

Finally an excellent female dark academia novel

I adored this book, I knew I loved it by chapter 2 and I had to finish it by the end of the day by chapter 8. Dead Poets Society meets The Craft, but seamless, immaculate, and completely original.

Meh story, good listen

The story was meh. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, but the performance was fantastic. The different accents were a lot of fun.

Haunting

This book is such a refresher. It's thrilling and I can't explain how much my soul loved it. I don't think I'll ever stop thinking about this.

The Heathers but make it goth witch lesbian

Beautifully written exploration of queerness and trauma, haunting in a way that lingers with the reader for weeks or longer. It's like the Heathers, if the Heathers' horrible teenage girls were goth witch lesbians.

DNF

I feel bad leaving a review for a book I chose not to finish but I'm afraid, despite the enticing write-up, this novel did not appeal to me at all.

Icy

Dark and a slow burn. The characters and plot are complex and captivating. I loved the repeating motifs and visible queerness. This book made my stomach churn by mixing feelings of disgust, astonishment, apathy, and empathy - it was great!

Good story, awful writing

I read a lot of literary fiction AND a lot of genre fiction, so, while I do have certain potential for style snobbery, I am usually able to put it aside and just enjoy the story.
In the case of this book, no story could distract me from absolutely awful writing. It reads as if written by a middle-school graphomaniac who (over)uses every cliched, tortured comparison and metaphor they can possibly search out. I really, really wanted to like it. I enjoy the 'dark academia' genre a lot and I also believe audiobooks are more forgiving since you're usually doing something else while listening to them, so can tune out sometimes. But this book just really needed an editor and for some reason didn't get one. I tried to listen to in four times and finally stopped 47 min short of the end.
Just to give you a taste, here is an excerpt from the very first paragraph of this book:
"I read that drowning is a good way to go. By all accounts the pain fades and euphoria blooms in its place like hothouse flowers, red orchid roots tethered to the stones in your pocket.
Falling would be worse.
Falling is barbed-wire terror ripping down your spine, a sharp drop and a sudden stop, scrabbling for a rope that isn’t there.
My cheek is pressed against the snow. I don’t feel cold anymore. I am part of the mountain, its frigid stone heart beating alongside mine. The storm batters against my back, tries to peel me off this rock like lichen. But I am not lichen. I am limestone and schist, veined with quartz. I am immovable."

Conclusion: the book's writing style is pitched at a YA reader at best. If you are at all discerning, you will find it so annoying that you won't be able to enjoy the plot.

Disappointing!!

I wanted this to be everything from my spooky sapphic witchy dreams. It's not and doesn't even come close.
Hard pass honestly.
The performance was the only thing this story had going for it.

Good story, a few leaps too far

Narrator was great. Story was good and tense a few deus ex machina made me roll my eyes. The ending was a bit confusing as each "aha moment" got undercut way too quickly.