Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

144 reviews

pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

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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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blewballoon's review against another edition

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

4.0

I had been sitting on this book for a long time and finally decided to read it. I ended up doing the audiobook, and I think the narrator did very well. 

This book is quite exposition heavy, but the exposition is in the main character's voice so you get a bit of flavor of their personality along with the info dumps. Sometimes it felt like the story would come to a halt for some fairly irrelevant exposition, while other times the story would plunge along and I felt like I didn't have context to fully understand what was happening.  It's a bit of an exhausting story because the  Scholomance is such an exhausting place to live. There are monsters, school rules, and complex social hierarchies that make every action and every conversation loaded with potential repercussions, and all of those things constantly need explaining.  

All that being said, I did enjoy this book. The main character was a lot more likable than I expected from the blurb, and there were some interesting supporting characters as well. As a character driven reader, these characters worked for me and carried me through the book. I am not sure if I will pick up the rest of the series or not, though.
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scarlett_f's review against another edition

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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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lasikukka's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious fast-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

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katy_bee's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.25

I picked this up as an easy read before tackling something more weighty and my expectations were fairly low if I'm honest. I was expecting a fairly standard YA popcorn fantasy. I surprised myself because I really enjoyed it! I got swept up in the characters and the story and read it pretty fast as I kept coming back to it. Yes there are some tropes- lots of weird and wonderful monsters, unusual names and an overpowered main character- but I liked El, Orion and their spiky interactions and the set up of the way magic worked in this universe was entertaining. I also enjoyed the other characters and friendships that emerged. There's a bit of a cliff hanger to draw you into the next book but the plot of this one does come to a satisfying end. I'll definitely read the next one in the series and if it weren't for the weighty book hovering over my shoulder for book club, I would dive straight in
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haley_mil_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

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saskiahill's review against another edition

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fast-paced

5.0

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slyveimaeve's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.75

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mdezetter's review against another edition

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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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dandelionlily's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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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