Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

31 reviews

pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

5.0

Loved this book! The lore is so rich and intricate, and the cast of characters is so lovable and diverse. Loved every second of being inside this universe!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Body horror

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Animal death, and Cursing

mdezetter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I really love Naomi Noviks writing and character building. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the pacing of this book. It felt like the first 75% was slow and being annoyed at the main character not understanding social constructs, then the last 25% was faster but still answered zero questions. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Death of parent

erikagibson126's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and War

pvid's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Oftentimes the world-building interrupts/slows down the action in a way that got a bit boring after some time. But the world is interesting, if very dark and violent, and I liked how Novik explores the moral implications of the system that’s set up to deal with that violence. I liked the characters a lot, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Classism, Bullying, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Bullying, Body horror, Islamophobia, and Cultural appropriation

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. 

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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.

ryyyaaan's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Overall this was a fantastic read. I really had fun with it and it was a great choice for getting back into the habit of reading.

Positives:

• El is a well rounded character who is easy for the reader to like despite her being disliked by other characters.
• The premise and plot is enjoyable and easy to get hooked into.
• The worldbuilding is fantastic. It’s woven into the text so well it never feels like slogging through pages and pages of lore.
• It’s funny at times without taking away from the atmosphere.
• A great stepping point between YA and adult fantasy

Negatives (nit-picking here, the book was great)

• I dislike El’s relationship with Orion towards the end.
  It feels forced to me that she’s starting to have feelings for him already. Or, at all for that matter. They just don’t seem compatible to me. Also, small point, but El mentions wanting kids badly at one point, which feels so out of character for her. Maybe later depending on how she’s developed, but it just didn’t seem right to me.<\spoiler>
• I desperately wish there was any queer rep at all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Grief

malley's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Death, Child death, Classism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Toxic friendship

magnumdanger's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism

applezing's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence