A review by chezler24
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What a wonderful dark academia. magical school series to find! I enjoyed every second of this book from learning about the Scholomance to figuring out the magical systems and discovering more about our enigma of a main character, Galadriel, or "El" for short. The attention to alchemy and the more physical aspect of magic (e.g., mana building and storing) in addition to the flashier spell casting helped flesh out this world in subtle ways that were seamlessly integrated so the descriptions felt natural. Also, the cliffhanger at the end of this book has me chomping at the bit to get ahold of the next book in the series! 

(Many thanks to my friend for the recommendation and for lending me her copy.)

I also found this review which was an insightful read and touched on things I hadn't considered when reading: 
https://nusantaranaga.wordpress.com/2020/10/11/the-intersectionality-of-magical-academia-a-review-of-naomi-noviks-a-deadly-education/ 
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