A Lesson In Vengeance by Victoria Lee REVIEW

 Summary:

Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School - the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus that was her home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the Dalloway Five - a group of students who all died mysteriously. Some say the girls were witches.

It's Ellis Haley's first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, 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.

But Felicity knows better than anyone how dangerous ghost stories can be. And when history begins to repeat itself, she will have to face that there's a darkness in Dalloway - and in herself.

My Thoughts:

The book starts off a little slow, describing the atmosphere of the setting, but then it gets really good. Felicity isn't sure that going back to Dalloway was a good idea, and she keeps thinking her dead girlfriend, Alex, is haunting her in Godwin House. She has a hard time making new friends at first, as all her previous ones graduated last year, but eventually begrudgingly befriends Ellis and a few other girls.

Felicity believes in magic - why wouldn't she, when she and Alex tried communicating with the Dalloway Five - and she thinks she unleased the spirit of one of them. Ellis is the complete opposite, and she tries to convince Felicity that magic doesn't exist, and that the deaths of the Dalloway Five could have been of non-magical means. The closer they get, the more Felicity falls for Ellis, and the more she remembers the trauma that happened the previous year.

I love the character development in this book. Not only do you get to know Felicity and Ellis, but some of the side characters as well. The element of does magic exist/does it not was done very well in a believable way. The ending was a rollercoaster, and I had to sit for about ten minutes in silence to wrap my head around it. I can't remember the last time a book did that to me.

I would definitely recommend giving this book a read.

My Rating: 5 stars