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kymopolaya'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
3.75
A lot of exposition, especially in the beginning but all those details end up making the world and magic system really come to life in the end
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
hzamrzla's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While I loved the world of this book and the possibilities it presented, the story itself was weirdly paced. I felt like it spent a LOT of time building up to a major, menacing reveal, and then the climax was told with the same weight as the rest of the story, the ending felt abrupt and jarring, and overall, it just seemed like a lot of buildup for not much payoff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Bullying and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Emotional abuse
One scene is not a sexual assault, but a pretty blatant sexual assault parallel. It was the only thing in the book that really gave me pause.allisnbc's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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
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 against another edition
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: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. 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:
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