Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

62 reviews

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: Abandonment, Bullying, Classism, and Confinement

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

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

charlinem's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Bullying

bujo_bellel's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, it was very interesting although at first I had no clue what was going on at all. However, as I started to understand the magic system, I got more hooked to the book and the characters. I especially loved Galdriel's sassiness and sarcasm. Really amusing. I like that she started out alone but ended with more people then she imagined, which was pretty heartwarming to me. I am very tempted to start the next book right away now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Murder, and Death of parent

mycology's review

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.
  Spoiler

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

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

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

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

It was a good read. I really enjoyed the world building but found the story a but repetitive at times.

There was an attempt to address inequalities due I class which was good.

Overall a good read and I'll try the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

bethanycrowepowell's review

adventurous 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

4.5

Galadriel Higgins is destined to bring death and chaos to the wizarding world, or so it was foretold. "El" doesn't want to rain destruction, but is finding it harder and harder to avoid in a school that is actively trying to kill her.

Scholomance was built to protect teen wizards from the evil creatures drawn to their magic, but after some major technical failures, it doesn't quite work that way. Instead, students have to be on guard constantly, and their graduation is a gauntlet through where the largest of the monsters gather. When El starts to question whether it can be fixed, she's up against a lethal status quo that not everyone wants to change.

This book launches a trilogy that deconstructs magical school escapism with an eye to societies built around power disparities, full of compellingly complicated characters. El is a cranky but very relatable heroine whose fight against her prophesied destiny as a dark sorceress kept me reading through the whole series in a matter of days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Bullying, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

malley's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Death, Child death, Classism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Toxic friendship

eule's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Fire book. Dark, tense and somehow completely different from any other magic school story. It instantly grabbed my attention and I devoured it. Just imagine a combination of Hogwarts and Hunger Games with eerie monsters and a school without teachers that wants to kill its students. El is a badass and snarky female lead and her powers are immensely cool. Furthermore, I love the magic system in this world (think about learning languages but in exiting and for the purpose of casting spells) and the world itself (not the world building though). Consequently, I really look forward purchasing and, of course, reading the next two books of this trilogy. 

What was a little off? The nearly constant inner monologue with sometimes too much details (info dumping about unnecessary politics and background stuff)? Her personality was somehow too careless in my opinion…? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

applezing's review

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

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

athryn's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

It's a little abrupt to start, and the MC is a little bit on the prickly side to start out with but she and everyone else quickly grew on me. This was hard to put down, and I had to make myself take breaks.

If you have a Harry Potter type itch, this book will do a great job of scratching it, with being a far superior story to boot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy