A Lesson in Vengeance
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-13 09:52:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Victoria Lee
- ISBN：059330585X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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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 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 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。
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 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 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。
Reviews
Ellie Curtis
，
This sped up so fantastically at the end， so many gorgeous twists and so atmospheric and witchy！！
luma
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 i thought ellis killed felicity before i started so i was surprised… the book was a little boring to me i like felicityellis tho
ilay
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"For Felicity。 I did it all for you。" "For Felicity。 I did it all for you。" 。。。more
kajal
，
i’m actually in love with this book
，
，
only intellectual people get it
Maria （miamaria_348）
，
Maybe 2，5 stars， slow and not so much happeing
Hails
，
I did like this book but why is it labeled as fantasy？？ I was very engaged with the book and had trouble putting it down。 I'm not sure I can say this book is good but I did really like it。 （view spoiler）[ I did think the ending was a bit obvious and simplistic。 Like yeah the woman obsessed with reenacting murders is the murder。 But I did like it so。。。 （hide spoiler）] I did like this book but why is it labeled as fantasy？？ I was very engaged with the book and had trouble putting it down。 I'm not sure I can say this book is good but I did really like it。 （view spoiler）[ I did think the ending was a bit obvious and simplistic。 Like yeah the woman obsessed with reenacting murders is the murder。 But I did like it so。。。 （hide spoiler）] 。。。more
Flavia_GPA
，
2。5 starsOk。。 I have so many mixed feelings about this book。 Lets first do a quick overview of the story。 Everything happens in a all-girls board school upstate New York。 In this school， there was once a group of 5 girls， that people called them witches， that died during their school term。 Now we have our FMC that attended this school a year prior to our story and her best friend died tragically。 After a year away， the FMC comes back to finish her education and is paired up with a extremely driv 2。5 starsOk。。 I have so many mixed feelings about this book。 Lets first do a quick overview of the story。 Everything happens in a all-girls board school upstate New York。 In this school， there was once a group of 5 girls， that people called them witches， that died during their school term。 Now we have our FMC that attended this school a year prior to our story and her best friend died tragically。 After a year away， the FMC comes back to finish her education and is paired up with a extremely driven author that wants to write about those initial 5 girls。 Good points: I really liked the atmosphere of the story。 I am a sucker for dark academia and I think the school portrayal and their activities during the book was pretty cool。 Confusing points: I really got this book thinking it would be a low fantasy， like Discovery of the Witches。 It isn't。 It's a murder mystery book plain and simple。 Which is not bad。。 but it just didn't meet the expectations I had when I started reading。Talking about the plot， this is will be the type of book that you will end up having several theories about the ending。 Some people like it。。 some don't。。 I'm not a big fan of it。Bad points: I really try to read books with some good representations and while this one is has a Sapphic relationship， it was so toxic because of the nature of the story that I was put off of it。 Also， throughout the whole story of the book they were discussing about mental health and how women suffer a bad portrayal in this context。。 but instead of showing how a woman with mental issues could overcome that。。 they just didn't。 Additionally， they added a black character that their sole purpose in the story was to teach the FMC about racism in like。。 3 paragraphs。Overall lackluster and confusing。 。。。more
Kissy
，
A sapphic， elitist， dark academia murder mystery with a witchy and unreliable narrator。 We love to see it。
seph
，
3 stars it was just smth about the writing style that wasn’t working for me。 It all felt like a mess and things were repetitive。 However， the characters were amazing and I really liked the idea of the plot （I just think the execution could have been better） Even if it was slow paced
Mae
，
For a book I didn’t think I’d like， I was glued to the pages。 I loved the dark academia vibe。 Overall， the plot was super interesting and a couple times I was in the dark in my room getting a little chill from the creepiness of a few scenes。 A few people reviewed the practicality of some plot characteristics which I would agree with but they weren’t so distracting that I couldn’t enjoy the overall story。 Minus a star only for the things mentioned above that were pretty impractical （using a typew For a book I didn’t think I’d like， I was glued to the pages。 I loved the dark academia vibe。 Overall， the plot was super interesting and a couple times I was in the dark in my room getting a little chill from the creepiness of a few scenes。 A few people reviewed the practicality of some plot characteristics which I would agree with but they weren’t so distracting that I couldn’t enjoy the overall story。 Minus a star only for the things mentioned above that were pretty impractical （using a typewriter， not using cell phones， a 17 year old Pulitzer Prize winning novelist， the high school kids that act as if they should actually have been written as college kids， and more）。 Overall it was a good read and would recommend for something quick and thrilling。 。。。more
f e r
，
3，5⭐
Mon
，
Me tardé alrededor de un mes en acabarlo。。。 pero no ha estado tan mal:）Y， para despejarme， voy a leer puro libro palomero durante un par de semanas :D
Meg
，
Holy cow WOW
kaz。brekkers。future。wife
，
FIVE STARSUmmm。。。。。I may not ever recover from this book！！！Review to come
ks ♡
，
dnf @ 19% not interested in it might pick it up again some other time
Stephanie
，
I started this book forever ago but kept getting pulled out of the story， either from external activities or just not feeling the book。 It took me a little while to figure out why and I think it was the same issue I had with points in other books。 I just am not a huge fan of character driven books and I struggle when I don’t know what the point of the story is？ Even with this I did something I never do and I flipped to the end and read the ending before I finished it because I just could not fig I started this book forever ago but kept getting pulled out of the story， either from external activities or just not feeling the book。 It took me a little while to figure out why and I think it was the same issue I had with points in other books。 I just am not a huge fan of character driven books and I struggle when I don’t know what the point of the story is？ Even with this I did something I never do and I flipped to the end and read the ending before I finished it because I just could not figure out where this was going。 The final twist/ end felt very random and while it was the one thing that pushed me through to the end， it felt so out of place？HOWEVER I think the interesting thing about this book （and maybe I’m giving it too much credit） is that given Felicity’s thesis idea about women in horror and the whole concept of witches/ mental illness in relation， it does feel like this whole book speaks to that and the term “a lesson in vengeance” seems to be almost like her entire thesis was the point of the book？ I don’t know if that makes sense or if you can figure out where I was going with that but lol。 。。。more
kaitlyns_library
，
A queer dark academia novel that’s both paranormal and thriller-like inside the world of a high society boarding school。 I absolutely loved this novel and I honestly didn’t know what to believe when reading it。 It was so messed up， but in a good way and I just wanted to get into the minds of Felicity and Ellis。 If you haven’t read this book yet， you really need too！
Olivia
，
This was so fun。 The Haunting of Hill House and The Secret History are two of my favorite books and this book has all of those themes， but YA and with lesbians （two of my other favorite things）。 It was genuinely better than I expected; obviously it doesn’t reach the same tier as those other books， but it didn’t need to。 I felt the YA nature even made it feel campy in moments， which totally lent itself to the modern/vintage thriller vibe。 I had a great time。
Megan
，
The two big questions in this book revolve around whether the MC Felicity is being haunted or experiencing psychotic delusions， and whether Ellis is trying to help Felicity or push her over the edge。 The answers to both of these questions seemed super-obvious to me， which really limited the dramatic tension in the story。 Like seriously， this is not one of those books where one character nudges the MC a little farther and then a litter bit farther until the MC realizes they crossed a line they ne The two big questions in this book revolve around whether the MC Felicity is being haunted or experiencing psychotic delusions， and whether Ellis is trying to help Felicity or push her over the edge。 The answers to both of these questions seemed super-obvious to me， which really limited the dramatic tension in the story。 Like seriously， this is not one of those books where one character nudges the MC a little farther and then a litter bit farther until the MC realizes they crossed a line they never meant to。 Ellis’ suggestions include “let’s practice garroting each other。” And not like， “we’re both into erotic asphyxiation so let’s enjoy our shared kink and also here is the safety word”。 No， this is “I want to know what it’s like to choke someone to death， let me try on you。” This is what is known colloquially as A GIANT FUCKING RED FLAG and I felt like all further internal debates the MC had about Ellis’ motivations were a sign that the MC was an idiot。 The pacing was incredibly slow and repetitive。 I expected revelations dolled out in enticing drips， but the plot just plods along with the same “is it magic or am I delusional？” debate with little new info to keep my interest。 For example， you hear about the Dalloway witches over and over and over， but all you ever learn is the five girls’ names and how they each died。 That’s it。 Repeatedly。 Nothing else about them is ever revealed。 They’re basically irrelevant to the story beyond the MC’s obsession with them。 None of the characters beyond Felicity and Ellis have any substance， and even those two are pretty one-dimensional。 Also the characterization of the dead ex-GF is inconsistent。 One minute Felicity is thinking about how all the snotty rich prep schoolers ostracized Alex because she was poor。 The next minute she’s thinking about how “everybody loved Alex”。 I know Felicity’s grasp on reality is one of the on-going questions of the book， but can she really not even remember whether or not people liked her girlfriend？ None of the characters seem like real high school students， even allowing for the fact that they’re supposed to be precocious， rich， prep school students。 Sure， you can absolutely train 17 year olds to dissect literature academically， and they’ll be able to do that for their instructors and they’ll continue those discussions sometimes with their peers。 But what 17 year old ONLY ever talks about viewing horror literature through a feminist lens？ Dude， I’m an academic， as are most of my closest friends。 We do indeed have really nerdy conversations about our disciplines frequently。 But we also talk about internet memes and current affairs and politics and what our pets are doing， because you know， real human beings are generally interested in more than one thing。 Also， I don’t care how fucking pretentious these kids are， and how committed they are to dressing like it’s the 1800s， I just really cannot believe a bunch of high school students don’t have phones because it distracts them from their studies。 And doing your homework and writing your thesis on a type-writer？ Do you know how much writers revise and edit？ Which you cannot do on a type-writer without typing shit out all over again。 And this writing prodigy is just banging out her next masterpiece on a type-writer？ And how the fuck did any of the girls find multiple coordinates somewhere in the middle of the woods without phones？ Do they have hand-held Garmin devices？ This was already bugging me when the MC finally brought it up and wonders if the girls have compasses。 Compasses。 Which show which direction you are moving， not the location of coordinates。 You can find coordinates using a compass if the coordinates are marked on a map and you are good at orienteering。 Which these girls are not。 So I was already annoyed at how unbelievable， repetitive， and slow this book was， before the big reveal that （view spoiler）[ both girls are murderous psychopaths （hide spoiler）]。 At that point I regretted not DNFing this earlier。 。。。more
Emilia Fenwick
，
I’m never recovering goodbye。
Lena
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Es una lectura que en conjunto me ha gustado por la ambientación y la atmósfera muy conseguida， pero siendo objetiva no pasa nada hasta los 10 últimos capítulos o así， esperaba más muertes y misterio al leer la sinopsis。 Cumple lo que promete pero tarda mucho en hacerlo y estás toda la novela esperando a que pase algo。Spoiler: Si esperas un internado con una ambientación oscura y asesinatos misterisoso solo vas a encontrar lo primero。Solo hay 2 muertes hacia el final。El miaterio de las 5 brujas Es una lectura que en conjunto me ha gustado por la ambientación y la atmósfera muy conseguida， pero siendo objetiva no pasa nada hasta los 10 últimos capítulos o así， esperaba más muertes y misterio al leer la sinopsis。 Cumple lo que promete pero tarda mucho en hacerlo y estás toda la novela esperando a que pase algo。Spoiler: Si esperas un internado con una ambientación oscura y asesinatos misterisoso solo vas a encontrar lo primero。Solo hay 2 muertes hacia el final。El miaterio de las 5 brujas se queda sin resolver， esperaba descubrir mucho más sobre ese tema。 。。。more
Amy
，
I wanted to put it down at 16%。 I wish I had。 Alas， tiktok has mislead me again。 This book， the characters， and the atmosphere read like New Adult。 If I had to guess， the author wrote it as such， but the publisher had them change it to make it more marketable。 Not a hydro flask， pair of sweatpants， or a boundary in sight- just gin bottles， up-lifted pinkies， and cigarette smoke。There was an air of pretentiousness that I felt more like a gimmick than an actual tone。 I got the sense that the autho I wanted to put it down at 16%。 I wish I had。 Alas， tiktok has mislead me again。 This book， the characters， and the atmosphere read like New Adult。 If I had to guess， the author wrote it as such， but the publisher had them change it to make it more marketable。 Not a hydro flask， pair of sweatpants， or a boundary in sight- just gin bottles， up-lifted pinkies， and cigarette smoke。There was an air of pretentiousness that I felt more like a gimmick than an actual tone。 I got the sense that the author thought if they could put enough 'dark academia' buzzwords in here， I would believe it， but it just clashed with what everyone understands teenagers to be and act like- trust fund or not。 Hell， even the Gossip-girl books featured more scrunchies and hormones in a way this book wouldn't， despite the attempted depiction of similar social class and academics。The text tries to virtue signal every fifty pages or so but then falls into the trope as portraying mentally ill people as violent。 I'm not saying those things can't happen at the same time; I'm saying it's statistically unlikely and writing the main character as a rotten unsympathetic trust fund kid with a horse higher than her upturned nose undid the work the author tried to do by adding in woke moments every so often。 They also included a token POC character （enough said）。 Sidenote， this book wants to be smarter than you but has a murderer wearing white linen gloves to hide their fingerprints。 What episodes of CSI are you watching？ Oh， but heaven forbid the dark academic kid-genius murder mystery forsake vintage for intelligence。 To top it off， the author falls into a personal distaste of mine: making a character's practice in witchcraft the reason she's "not like other girls。" They sell sage in Sephora， and you can find a fan-made matching tarot deck for any popular series on Etsy; it's not that deep。 。。。more
Jun
，
Inicia muy bien pero luego se va hacia una línea más hacia los juegos mentales que no terminaron por convencerme。El modo en el que abarca el tema de las brujas es diferente y me gustó pero a la larga se vuelve algo pesado de seguir， esto de jugar con la mente de la protagonista dio más vueltas de los necesarias。La ambientación es muy buena y me dejo con ganas de leer más libros de la autora。
Blue
，
Want to see more。。。 Bookstagram Website Thank you NewSouth for this book in exchange for an honest reviewI really must stop reading books based in a school atmosphere， it kills my buzz。 Let me introduce you to the Dalloway School， which is upper class， private girls school – the kinda school that legit suck the life out of you but with a bit of a gothic twist。 The place is almost haunted but not， kinda witchy vibes。 It was a little all over the place。 Felicity， our leading lady， is back the yea Want to see more。。。 Bookstagram Website Thank you NewSouth for this book in exchange for an honest reviewI really must stop reading books based in a school atmosphere， it kills my buzz。 Let me introduce you to the Dalloway School， which is upper class， private girls school – the kinda school that legit suck the life out of you but with a bit of a gothic twist。 The place is almost haunted but not， kinda witchy vibes。 It was a little all over the place。 Felicity， our leading lady， is back the year after her friend Alex died and she has promised to put the witchcraft behind her and attempted to give the haunting Dalloway School a go。 Ellis， an acclaimed writer teams up with Flick to solve the mysterious deaths of the Dalloway Five， but their journey takes them further then originally intended。 Lee is a brilliant writer but to be honest， I would have loved to see this written as an adult book， with a lot more darker elements。 It felt really contained and PG’d to me。 Overall， it was entertaining – just needed to hit that darker element for me。 。。。more
Shiane
，
Una historia de misterio que mezcla brujería， supersticiones y muertes， todo ello con una ambientación oscura y estilo dark academia。 Una muy buena lectura que te mantendrá enganchado a sus páginas。
Giovanny
，
¿Qué acabo de leer？ 😯Es de esos libros que se tornan más retorcidos conforme avanzan las páginas y al final no sabes qué pensar de la historia。
Maff
，
La ambientación de este libro está muy bien lograda， las referencias que hace a escritoras clásicas fue algo que me gustó bastante。 La primera mitad del libro es interesante y te hace querer seguir leyendo para averiguar todo， la narración del libro también es atrapante， sin embargo el problema está en la segunda mitad。No sé si esa era la intención de la escritora pero la trama principal que era intrigante pasa a segundo plano y de repente la historia va por otro lado que ni al caso con lo del i La ambientación de este libro está muy bien lograda， las referencias que hace a escritoras clásicas fue algo que me gustó bastante。 La primera mitad del libro es interesante y te hace querer seguir leyendo para averiguar todo， la narración del libro también es atrapante， sin embargo el problema está en la segunda mitad。No sé si esa era la intención de la escritora pero la trama principal que era intrigante pasa a segundo plano y de repente la historia va por otro lado que ni al caso con lo del inicio， el final fue lo que menos me gustó， las acciones de los personajes al final pierden sentido y el misterio del inicio deja de ser relevante y hace que te desconectes de lo que está pasando en el libro。 También me hubiera gustado que las protagonistas estuvieran en sus 20’s tenían pensamientos o actitudes más de jóvenes adultas que de adolescentes。 。。。more
Melissa | melisthereader
，
I liked the first half。 Second half felt off。
Marianinna
，
Nada novedoso， siento que ya he leído esta historia antes。 Me gustó， pero no la recordaré con el paso del tiempo。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=A Lesson in Vengeance
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=A Lesson in Vengeance&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,A Lesson in Vengeance&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0