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A review by lilysweetdreams
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
adventurous
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
4.0
Orignal rating 3.5, bumped up to 4 on a reread.
Original review: I didn't like this as much as I expected to; all the reviews I've heard have been glowing and I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. My going-in-blind approach gave me an impression of a classic magic school fantasy novel, maybe historical fantasy even. Instead, what I got was was magic boarding school, if magic boarding school was a prison and also full of monsters doing their level best to kill you.
Which admittedly is a fun concept.
I liked the way lore was presented, tidbits here and there and explanation through anecdote. It's well written and well thought out and I appreciated the world building that's gone into it. I also am a big fan of the 'chosen one is not the protagonist' bit. It's both hilarious and fascinating to see the overpowered trope-y main character be pushed aside for, in this case, an apocalypse contained in a girl who very much does not want to end the world.
My biggest problem was the plot, or rather the lack thereof. We meandered through this story, learning about its setting and its characters, completely undriven for 4/5s of the pages. There's no enemy or big problem to be solved right up until the end, and even then it feels like a midway checkpoint rather than a finish line. It's true that in trilogies or other multi part stories the climaxes in the initial books have to be smaller in order to build up to the big finale, but I didn't feel any groundwork being laid for that at all. The only ongoing threads I can find are El's great-grandma's world ending prophecy and the unexplained source of why Orion is the way he is. I'd gladly be proved wrong and find that all the foreshadowing is just really well hidden, but at this stage I just don't feel it.
Regardless, it was a fun read with an entertaining narrator and a complex, developed setting. Plus, I read the Naomi Novak's bio at the end and found out she's a founder of Archive of Our Own and the OTW, so that definitely scores some bonus points for me!
2024 reread: I didn't have trouble finding the plot this time! Granted I've read book 2 at this point, but it was much easier to just lock in for the ride and enjoy the writing. It DID still meander, but for a lazy holiday read that's completely fine. Rating bumped up to 4 stars.
Original review: I didn't like this as much as I expected to; all the reviews I've heard have been glowing and I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. My going-in-blind approach gave me an impression of a classic magic school fantasy novel, maybe historical fantasy even. Instead, what I got was was magic boarding school, if magic boarding school was a prison and also full of monsters doing their level best to kill you.
Which admittedly is a fun concept.
I liked the way lore was presented, tidbits here and there and explanation through anecdote. It's well written and well thought out and I appreciated the world building that's gone into it. I also am a big fan of the 'chosen one is not the protagonist' bit. It's both hilarious and fascinating to see the overpowered trope-y main character be pushed aside for, in this case, an apocalypse contained in a girl who very much does not want to end the world.
My biggest problem was the plot, or rather the lack thereof. We meandered through this story, learning about its setting and its characters, completely undriven for 4/5s of the pages. There's no enemy or big problem to be solved right up until the end, and even then it feels like a midway checkpoint rather than a finish line. It's true that in trilogies or other multi part stories the climaxes in the initial books have to be smaller in order to build up to the big finale, but I didn't feel any groundwork being laid for that at all. The only ongoing threads I can find are El's great-grandma's world ending prophecy and the unexplained source of why Orion is the way he is. I'd gladly be proved wrong and find that all the foreshadowing is just really well hidden, but at this stage I just don't feel it.
Regardless, it was a fun read with an entertaining narrator and a complex, developed setting. Plus, I read the Naomi Novak's bio at the end and found out she's a founder of Archive of Our Own and the OTW, so that definitely scores some bonus points for me!
2024 reread: I didn't have trouble finding the plot this time! Granted I've read book 2 at this point, but it was much easier to just lock in for the ride and enjoy the writing. It DID still meander, but for a lazy holiday read that's completely fine. Rating bumped up to 4 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Violence