“The question isn’t whether magic is real. It’s whether I can touch it without being consumed by it.”

A Lesson in Vengeance, by Victoria Lee

Summary

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.

My Thoughts

This book was probably my first foray back into the so-called “YA” genre in a while; most of the other books I’ve been reading have leaned towards adult contemporary or historical fiction, like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, mythology retellings like Circe, or more adult dark academia novels like The Secret History. That doesn’t mean it was bad; I’m a huge fan of fantasy. I love using books as escapism, and fantasy provides the perfect outlet for me to read about other words—I think it’s all the Harry Potter books I read as a kid. 

I really liked A Lesson in Vengeance, don’t get me wrong. It just isn’t my favorite book in the world. The book is basically a gothic mystery centering around our two main characters, Ellis and Felicity. The mystery itself is really well-written, as is all the stuff about witchcraft, but it is also a bit predictable. I knew from around the first half of the book the basic idea of what was going to happen. It wasn’t sure how it would unfold, but I knew what was happening. That’s not to say that the mystery wasn’t still interesting—Felicity is a very unreliable narrator, as we learn early on, and it makes our journey fun because we are not sure if what we are learning from her perspective is even true, and if it even happened.

I think that overall it’s a really fun book. It’s not super mature or dark in themes like other gothic or dark academia books; it’s meant for a younger audience, and that’s okay. It’s a fun ride from start to finish, and I think the strength of the book comes in it’s characterization. Ellis and Felicity are unique and well-written characters who don’t automatically blend in with every other gothic or YA protagonist, and stand on their own. Characterization is important for me, so that made the book a much better read. The worldbuilding around witchcraft is also interesting to me, as is the ending. I actually think that the ending of the book was my favorite part; all the suspense and fear sort of wrap up in a really interesting yet open way that leaves the rest of our character’s lives open to interpretation. I love endings that aren’t final or perfect: the ending of If We Were Villains comes to mind as an excellent example. A Lesson in Vengeance does not live up to that, but it does not have to. It’s a good read.

Review: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

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