Reviews tagging 'Child death'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

145 reviews

danicakvcs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25


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quirkykayleetam's review against another edition

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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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iksme's review against another edition

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

4.0

Solid book, the main character couldn't be more self insert if she tried, if you ignore all the cliche it's kinda a good premace.
The world building is why this book has a 4 star rating because the characters are iffy.

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liv_renee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

a fun idea, poorly executed. 

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myaphrodiite's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

4.0

‘a deadly education’ is set in a boarding school for magically gifted students. the downside is in this school failure = death, not very inspiring huh? 

in this school survival is more important than anything, due to the school not letting students leave until they graduate..or die. 

el, the main character of this story is a student determined to rebel against what the school wants to make her, which is evil. 

this book is magical and dark with lots of tension and suspense, it’s a good read that i would recommend to anyone. 

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lily_marigold's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.5


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salty_morton's review against another edition

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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

4.25


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rubyroses's review against another edition

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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

This book has been described as: Harry Potter (if the school was sentient & trying to kill the students). In my opinion this couldn’t be further from the truth and overall undersells the premise. Yes, okay… sure. The book contains wizards and a magical school but that’s where the similarities end. Deadly Education is it’s own entity. 

If you are someone that enjoys a good slow burn then I think you’ll enjoy the romantic dynamic of this book. If your someone that avoids romance then I think you could potentially enjoy this book too. Romance is definitely a theme  but it plays such an underwhelming small role that it’s easy to forget it’s even there. 

This book’s main focus is its kick ass OP female protagonist & the friends she makes along the way. That’s it’s selling point !! Overall it was a really enjoyable novel and the magical world building was unique. 

Whilst the book is quite diverse with its range of characters from different backgrounds… I wish there was more discussed about El’s. Like sure it’s mentioned briefly but not really explored at all. I get it’s not a focus of the book but would of been nice.

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akswhy's review against another edition

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Read like a wily confusing, trying-to-be-darker Harry Potter with a side of lite Hunger Games. The world was too difficult to make sense of and I didn’t connect with the main character enough to stay and figure it out.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m sorry to report that I found the narrator / heroine so rude, annoying, and just plain bitchy that I didn’t enjoy the book. I got the point about why she was so angry at the world but that didn’t need to be repeated again and again and again. 

I also wasn’t very excited about a school that’s full of dangerous creatures within a world even more full of dangerous creatures - and for that to be the only plot point. There wasn’t a lot of complexity: high school students in endless struggle to stay alive. While I appreciated the wealth of bizarre creatures within the bowels of the school, and I enjoyed seeing how each would manifest its menace, that wasn’t enough to sustain my interest. 

I know everyone else adores this book so clearly there’s a personal flaw that prevents me from appreciating it properly. I just didn’t like it. 

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