Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

20 reviews

searchandrescueteam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first in this Scholomance trilogy - I found it very difficult to engage with it initially.  As the author builds the Scholomance environment it is dark and deathly and fast-moving.  Encouraged by others who had read it, I kept going.
Suddenly I simply became immersed in it.  And it was worth persisting.  The world built here is intricately described in the narrator’s matter-of-fact style - that is a constant guide for the reader.
The narrator's reflection on her time at “mundane” school and the way those experiences built her expectations of relationships and friendships in the future is poignant and important.
By the end I was hungering for the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

lirio_dendron's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Murder

Minor: Vomit and Grief

littlestdread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

scarlett_f's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Takes 2/3rds of the book to get to any real story or action. Too much detail-building. Maps of the school and cross-sections are at the end of the book. Should've been at the beginning for better understanding of the layout. Strong female protagonist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicide

jaedia's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Grief

ryyyaaan's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Overall this was a fantastic read. I really had fun with it and it was a great choice for getting back into the habit of reading.

Positives:

• El is a well rounded character who is easy for the reader to like despite her being disliked by other characters.
• The premise and plot is enjoyable and easy to get hooked into.
• The worldbuilding is fantastic. It’s woven into the text so well it never feels like slogging through pages and pages of lore.
• It’s funny at times without taking away from the atmosphere.
• A great stepping point between YA and adult fantasy

Negatives (nit-picking here, the book was great)

• I dislike El’s relationship with Orion towards the end.
  It feels forced to me that she’s starting to have feelings for him already. Or, at all for that matter. They just don’t seem compatible to me. Also, small point, but El mentions wanting kids badly at one point, which feels so out of character for her. Maybe later depending on how she’s developed, but it just didn’t seem right to me.<\spoiler>
• I desperately wish there was any queer rep at all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Vomit, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

applezing's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

quirkykayleetam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a brilliant and hilarious deconstruction of "Dark Academia."

In a school full of monsters where, it's established, the only way to survive is to look out for yourself, the prophecised Destroyer of the World discovers that she would rather help everyone else make it out too.  And, yeah, she's grumpy about it.

El, full name Galadriel, has seen how the system works, how it throws anyone not born in The Right Families under the bus.  She's focused on being smart to stay Not Evil and alive.  Then she meets Orion, the Boy Wonder, who comes from privilege, but has been White Knighting his way through the school, saving everyone who can, and she tells him that he's doing this in the stupidest way possible.

Watch El and Orion join forces, make friends (a new concept), and maybe find a way to make things better for the future.

El's snarky, suspicious, and permanent pissed first-person narration makes this book a hilarious read that tackles racism, classism, bullying, grief, and how freaking annoying it is to be a good person sometimes, even when you discover it's the only thing you can bring yourself to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, and Classism

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A bit less dark academia than I was expecting. The world building is a bit confusing, you kind of just have to go with it. Since it's a series, I hope that a lot of things will be much more fleshed out and deepened in the subsequent books. I really loved the MC's mom ~haha. There's a bit of dry humor throughout. Minor romance subplot. I will be continuing the series, but I am expecting a lot now from the next books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Grief, and Pregnancy