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_rowantree_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really enjoyable throughout. I knew something was coming but omg what an ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Sexual content
whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Firstly, I obviously loved this book — hence, the five stars. But here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- This is the 2nd book in the series…so you’ve got a bit of a slower pace at the beginning, which I think stumps some people. However, the cliffhanger at the end of the first book is immediately addressed (which I really appreciated because oh my word that shook me the first time I read A Deadly Education).
- And then we see El really struggling with the concept of no longer being completely on her own — she has to overcome a lot of fear, as well as her natural inclination to think only of her own survival. This makes the pacing of this book a bit slower right at the beginning because El hasn’t quite decided what kind of person she wants to be.
- But once El decides, oh my word the action picks up like crazy! And it is definitely worth it! We see lots of character development, not just in El but across the board. Everyone is challenged — including the Scholomance, which makes for a really engaging story of struggle, sacrifice, and personal growth.
- Remember, Novik is a world builder! And El isn’t necessarily a reliable narrator, which leaves the reader, well, reading between the lines to get at the truth. This creates a lot of suspense, and had me hanging on to the edge of my seat up until the final page.
- And finally, that ending…I mean, we all knew there would be drama and heartbreak and probably some destruction…I think I just didn’t expect that it would be my own! Ahhh! I will be grabbing the final installation of this series ASAP. Send actual help.
But seriously, this book is easily 5/5 ⭐️s
- This is the 2nd book in the series…so you’ve got a bit of a slower pace at the beginning, which I think stumps some people. However, the cliffhanger at the end of the first book is immediately addressed (which I really appreciated because oh my word that shook me the first time I read A Deadly Education).
- And then we see El really struggling with the concept of no longer being completely on her own — she has to overcome a lot of fear, as well as her natural inclination to think only of her own survival. This makes the pacing of this book a bit slower right at the beginning because El hasn’t quite decided what kind of person she wants to be.
- But once El decides, oh my word the action picks up like crazy! And it is definitely worth it! We see lots of character development, not just in El but across the board. Everyone is challenged — including the Scholomance, which makes for a really engaging story of struggle, sacrifice, and personal growth.
- Remember, Novik is a world builder! And El isn’t necessarily a reliable narrator, which leaves the reader, well, reading between the lines to get at the truth. This creates a lot of suspense, and had me hanging on to the edge of my seat up until the final page.
- And finally, that ending…I mean, we all knew there would be drama and heartbreak and probably some destruction…I think I just didn’t expect that it would be my own! Ahhh! I will be grabbing the final installation of this series ASAP. Send actual help.
But seriously, this book is easily 5/5 ⭐️s
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
ladypalutena's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
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
Oh boy, where do I begin with this one?
When I read A Deadly Education, I had nothing to compare El to. Now that I'm several years older, and many anime series deeper, I can confidently say that she reminds me of Saitama, the hero from One Punch Man. His entire schtick is that he trained himself so hard that he can defeat any enemy in one punch, and as such, life is boring for him now. He even joins a super hero squad, and ends up in like, D-Class, because he doesn't see the point in showing them how he's actually above and beyond S-Class or S-Tier or whatever.
That's El.
No matter what the Scholomance throws at her, she's able to throw it right back. And the vast majority of the book deals with her running the obstacle course that the school sets up for seniors during their second semester of senior year. A whole lot of the book, actually, which is where it really starts to drag for me.
Obviously, I haven't read the third book yet, so I don't know if my prediction of "this was originally supposed to be a duology but expanded into a trilogy, so there's got to be a lot of bloat in there" will ring true, but I can confidently say, at least in my opinion, that there were many pages that could have been cut from this book. Mainly, the unending chapters of the obstacle course. This is a 386 page book. Over one hundred of those pages are dedicated to lengthy descriptions of the obstacle courses,and how El just destroys everything in her path in each one, along with Orion, and how they end up escorting 400+ kids at a time through the courses, when it used to be just a handful of kids would take a turn at one time. The middle dragged on for so long that it took me almost a week to get through this book.
There is one big difference between Saitama and El, however: Saitama is likeable. While El got better at the end of the first book, she's still angry and hurting in this book, which causes her to be rude to everyone.It's in the last hundred pages, when she goes down to the graduation hall and finds the hall completely empty, with not even a maw-mouth to be found, that she begins to realize why the school has been throwing everything it has at her: it wants her to be the one to "save" the school. The Scholomance can no longer complete its primary directive, and as such, it's been grasping for ways to do so for centuries, at the expense of thousands of kids every year.
The first book ended on a cliffhanger, and this second book ends on an even more massive cliffhanger, and even then, I'm not certain what else you can drag out of the third book to warrant spending several hundred more pages on this story.I assume in the third book, El is going to have to answer for the whole "Destroying the School" business, and then she'll try and build her enclaves with the spell that she uncovered in the first book, and then she'll convince someone somehow to go back to what used to be the Scholomance in hopes of rescuing whatever might be left of Orion. I'm sure we're going to be in for some major twists and turns.
When I read A Deadly Education, I had nothing to compare El to. Now that I'm several years older, and many anime series deeper, I can confidently say that she reminds me of Saitama, the hero from One Punch Man. His entire schtick is that he trained himself so hard that he can defeat any enemy in one punch, and as such, life is boring for him now. He even joins a super hero squad, and ends up in like, D-Class, because he doesn't see the point in showing them how he's actually above and beyond S-Class or S-Tier or whatever.
That's El.
No matter what the Scholomance throws at her, she's able to throw it right back. And the vast majority of the book deals with her running the obstacle course that the school sets up for seniors during their second semester of senior year. A whole lot of the book, actually, which is where it really starts to drag for me.
Obviously, I haven't read the third book yet, so I don't know if my prediction of "this was originally supposed to be a duology but expanded into a trilogy, so there's got to be a lot of bloat in there" will ring true, but I can confidently say, at least in my opinion, that there were many pages that could have been cut from this book. Mainly, the unending chapters of the obstacle course. This is a 386 page book. Over one hundred of those pages are dedicated to lengthy descriptions of the obstacle courses,
There is one big difference between Saitama and El, however: Saitama is likeable. While El got better at the end of the first book, she's still angry and hurting in this book, which causes her to be rude to everyone.
The first book ended on a cliffhanger, and this second book ends on an even more massive cliffhanger, and even then, I'm not certain what else you can drag out of the third book to warrant spending several hundred more pages on this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, and Blood
dcdc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War
aleclikesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Murder
erikagibson126's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content
themorrigan43's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, and Violence
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
I didn't expect this series to get that much better but it did! I loved the story in this one! All the friendships and working together because you choose to and not just because you need to hit me just right. The ending was amazing as well and I immidiately continued reading the 3rd book. I'm very excited for the conclusion of this Trilogy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Abandonment
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Dysphoria, and War