allisnbc's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Suicide
charlies_shelf's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Honestly I'm so confused about how i feel. Book has some good quotes though
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism and Classism
bluenarcissa's review
adventurous
dark
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Violence
freckles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Solid fantasy story. As usual with Naomi Novik's works, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the characters.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
lawmaker14's review
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For the positives, I thought that this book was a fun read and I am looking forward to reading the next installments. The world building is complex and interesting, while the monsters are grotesque and scary. The book is humorous, mainly due to the witty main character, and there is character development as El learns to let people in.
But Novik puts so much information on the page that it is sometimes difficult to get through such intense internal monologue. I also found some plot points to be thrown in with little to no direction- mainly the combat portions. This left me a little confused and I had to read certain scenes more then once.
But Novik puts so much information on the page that it is sometimes difficult to get through such intense internal monologue. I also found some plot points to be thrown in with little to no direction- mainly the combat portions. This left me a little confused and I had to read certain scenes more then once.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
saintsunshine's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While neither original nor profound, Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education makes for an enjoyable subversion of magical school tropes popularized by the less than admirable J.K. Rowling. Galadriel is also a charmingly reluctant protagonist and I'm eager to see how she continues to grow as a character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: War, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
thewileyseven's review
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
This book is fascinating. A lot of this first book felt like exposition? But I REALLY enjoyed it--the world is SO unhinged and dangerous. Novik is excellent and growing and developing her characters so subtly you don't even realize they're changing, which is always really rewarding when you finally notice. This is a like... wizard school battle royale monster of the week total fuckery and I'm already grabbing the next one to wolf down.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
There is a magical creature that devours souls that is briefly described as waiting to open the main character up and consume her by getting inside either her mouth or between her legs. It's just suggestive enough of assault to be disconcerting and worth mentioning!slimepuppy'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? It's complicated
4.0
A very fun read, I breezed through this one in less than 24 hours. One of the best YAs I've read in the last couple of years, a considerable feat coming from a genre that has turned into a collection of repeated tropes stacked on top of each other.
The characters were detailed, multidimensional and flawed, while still having plenty of charisma to go around the wiiide variety of personalities available. Galadriel and Orion were especially endearing, and I found myself rooting for them, despite not being a huge fan of romance. Thankfully, that's not really the focus of the book, because the slowburn worked wonders for me.
The world and the setting are intersting and surprisingly detailed for such a contained tale; the reader never gets to leave the school and see what the life is like for wizards outside, but you still get the broadest idea.
Despite liking it a lot, there are still some... considerable flaws to talk about. You can read all about them online, I'll just point something that irked me, personally: It's not a short passage, either, and felt completely out of place, even in such a grim tale of teenagers being left to die in this school. If the writer wished to discuss it further, say anything at all about it, I'd hold back on my criticism. But nothing is done with it, it just... happens. Galadriel is shocked for a moment, and then she moves on, and we move on with her without diving deep in what just happened.
I hope Naomi has read the plenty of justified criticism this book garnered and taken them into account, I'm very excited to read whatever comes next in the series.
The characters were detailed, multidimensional and flawed, while still having plenty of charisma to go around the wiiide variety of personalities available. Galadriel and Orion were especially endearing, and I found myself rooting for them, despite not being a huge fan of romance. Thankfully, that's not really the focus of the book, because the slowburn worked wonders for me.
The world and the setting are intersting and surprisingly detailed for such a contained tale; the reader never gets to leave the school and see what the life is like for wizards outside, but you still get the broadest idea.
Despite liking it a lot, there are still some... considerable flaws to talk about. You can read all about them online, I'll just point something that irked me, personally:
Spoiler
the moment where the main character is attacked by a maleficaria and for no apparent reason, the attack is described as if a sexual assault is taking place, with explicit comparative language.I hope Naomi has read the plenty of justified criticism this book garnered and taken them into account, I'm very excited to read whatever comes next in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
aliveironically's review
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
sofiya's review
adventurous
dark
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? No
5.0
When it comes to rating books, I put 5 stars as either "this book had a profound effect on me" or "I loved this book through and through and already want to re-read it." This book falls into the latter category for me, despite any of its minor flaws. I thought the world was really interesting and enjoyed El's snark even though I'm not generally a fan of first-person POVs. I like her growth as a character and that even her bad qualities revolve around really realistic things (trying to survive) rather than just her being mean for no reason.
Unlike other reviewers, I didn't have a problem with the "info dumping" and didn't really notice it until I read reviews, but there was a point where I (aloud) said "Okay, okay, I get it. Just do it already!" But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I think that was more the character herself than the writing.
Also, I really enjoyed the writing. It felt reasonably elevated for the genre, and I personally never thought "adult Harry Potter". Overall, just really enjoyable to me and I'm excited to get to the next one.
Last thing, but I half-listened, half-read this book, and the person who recorded the audiobook did an amazing job.
Unlike other reviewers, I didn't have a problem with the "info dumping" and didn't really notice it until I read reviews, but there was a point where I (aloud) said "Okay, okay, I get it. Just do it already!" But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I think that was more the character herself than the writing.
Also, I really enjoyed the writing. It felt reasonably elevated for the genre, and I personally never thought "adult Harry Potter". Overall, just really enjoyable to me and I'm excited to get to the next one.
Last thing, but I half-listened, half-read this book, and the person who recorded the audiobook did an amazing job.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Gore
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Sexual assault