Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

25 reviews

thequiltyreader'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? Yes

4.0

It was a good read. I really enjoyed the world building but found the story a but repetitive at times.

There was an attempt to address inequalities due I class which was good.

Overall a good read and I'll try the sequel.

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Content Warnings

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

eule's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Fire book. Dark, tense and somehow completely different from any other magic school story. It instantly grabbed my attention and I devoured it. Just imagine a combination of Hogwarts and Hunger Games with eerie monsters and a school without teachers that wants to kill its students. El is a badass and snarky female lead and her powers are immensely cool. Furthermore, I love the magic system in this world (think about learning languages but in exiting and for the purpose of casting spells) and the world itself (not the world building though). Consequently, I really look forward purchasing and, of course, reading the next two books of this trilogy. 

What was a little off? The nearly constant inner monologue with sometimes too much details (info dumping about unnecessary politics and background stuff)? Her personality was somehow too careless in my opinion…? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

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

saintsunshine's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: War, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

athryn's review

dark 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

5.0

It's a little abrupt to start, and the MC is a little bit on the prickly side to start out with but she and everyone else quickly grew on me. This was hard to put down, and I had to make myself take breaks.

If you have a Harry Potter type itch, this book will do a great job of scratching it, with being a far superior story to boot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Minor: Child death and Pregnancy

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? No

3.0

Interesting concept of an unusual magical world. Not only the magic system but also the society with its complex mechanisms of privilege are well thought out. Thinking through the details of a complex society is Naomi Novik's strength.

Writing emotions is not. 
A first-person narrator with little interest in other people is a baffling  and unfortunate choice. As a result, most of the other characters are completely forgettable. As the protagonist rarely talks to anyone, there is very little dialogue. The narrator takes us through the details of this fictional world. Very little is shown or discovered, almost everything is explained. Large parts of the book read less like a novel and more like an essay that outlines the rules of its universe. This style of writing left me detached from the story and characters.

I'm not sure I would have finished the book if it hadn't been for the excellent audiobook narration.

With one single sentence, the very last one in the book, Naomi Novik made me want to read the sequel, and I don't know if I am impressed or angry.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Pregnancy

its_kievan's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

I loved this book so much. The setting felt really unique but completely authentic, the magic system was handled really well, and of course the characters were fantastic. It's like YA but good (sorry YA fans) and written by someone who clearly knows exactly what they're doing.

UPDATE 5/6/23: Reread in the space of like two days because I finally caved and bought the sequel. God this book is good.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pregnancy

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

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