Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

17 reviews

scarlett_f's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

3.5

Takes 2/3rds of the book to get to any real story or action. Too much detail-building. Maps of the school and cross-sections are at the end of the book. Should've been at the beginning for better understanding of the layout. Strong female protagonist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content

litliz's review

adventurous challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Suicide

jaedia's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Classism, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Minor: Grief, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

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

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

quirkykayleetam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

This is a brilliant and hilarious deconstruction of "Dark Academia."

In a school full of monsters where, it's established, the only way to survive is to look out for yourself, the prophecised Destroyer of the World discovers that she would rather help everyone else make it out too.  And, yeah, she's grumpy about it.

El, full name Galadriel, has seen how the system works, how it throws anyone not born in The Right Families under the bus.  She's focused on being smart to stay Not Evil and alive.  Then she meets Orion, the Boy Wonder, who comes from privilege, but has been White Knighting his way through the school, saving everyone who can, and she tells him that he's doing this in the stupidest way possible.

Watch El and Orion join forces, make friends (a new concept), and maybe find a way to make things better for the future.

El's snarky, suspicious, and permanent pissed first-person narration makes this book a hilarious read that tackles racism, classism, bullying, grief, and how freaking annoying it is to be a good person sometimes, even when you discover it's the only thing you can bring yourself to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Murder, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Classism, and Bullying

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

A bit less dark academia than I was expecting. The world building is a bit confusing, you kind of just have to go with it. Since it's a series, I hope that a lot of things will be much more fleshed out and deepened in the subsequent books. I really loved the MC's mom ~haha. There's a bit of dry humor throughout. Minor romance subplot. I will be continuing the series, but I am expecting a lot now from the next books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief, Pregnancy, and Racism

mariareviews's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective 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

Orion and Galadriel officially hold my whole heart. Their names are so well thought I love it. The whole concept of The Scholomance is so well thought and I like the way it connects with the scholomance folk tale. 
I’m a bit disappointed because it took me quite a while to realise that this book’s part of a series (that’s my fault honestly) and I refuse to read the second book until the third one is out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Bullying, Grief, Violence, and Stalking

mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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

I could kick myself for not picking this one up sooner - there was so much I enjoyed and loved from this, especially the main character and the friendships that developed! I also really appreciated that this world has a magical school for kids but it isn't exactly a dream, and magic is cool, but it also has major consequences to it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Bullying, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief

cgn's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense fast-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

Wow. I haven’t had such a strong five-star in ages. This book fed me energy. I took several moments to breathe and just process the emotions running through me. It gave all the delicious tension and reward I want from both the plot and the characters, and I can’t wait to see where both go next. I was only 15% into the book when I put the sequel on hold, and I’m so grateful for past-me. I’m already thinking about buying the book and re-reading it, especially to catch all the social commentary I missed the first time around. What a blessing of an experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Violence, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Murder, and Medical content

Minor: Pregnancy