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finesilkflower's review against another edition
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
4.0
A gritty magic school story that is inevitably easiest to describe as "dark Harry Potter" (though it draws more from the Harry Potter fanfic tradition than from HP itself.) I found the first half hard to get through because it is so grim - the main character is a loner in a school that's so dangerous that student death is commonplace and you can't get too attached to anybody, which makes it relentlessly bleak - but the second half really drew me in as our protagonist El developed real friendships and caught a few breaks in amongst the trauma, and the adventure plotline kicked into gear.
The world details felt novel, clever, and well thought-through. Novik gives enough detail to the worldbuilding and the magic system to make it seem grounded, complex, and rules-based, but handwaves enough to give plenty of room for future plot hooks (and/or leave plot hooks for fanfic).
Tonally, I would say it is pretty similar to "Hunger Games," though where HG is dystopian commentary on inequality and exploitation in the real world, this book is more of a dystopian commentary on inequality and exploitation in Harry Potter. Deadly Education says the quiet part out loud, and fully commits to things that are true-but-disavowed in Harry Potter: that the school is actually super fucking dangerous; wealth and connections are crucial to survival; it's lovely that everyone has their own special talent but some of them are straight up evil; the status of hero-celebrity is lonely and unenviable; the monster-killing jock is somewhat boring and the smart friend who can see the writing on the wall is the real protagonist.
Also thematic shades of vampire or werewolf fic, as the main character is one of those "dark magic creature too powerful for their own good who has to constantly be alert against being evil" types. Typically these characters show up a lot in fanfic because they are reformed versions of antagonists in canon, and it was fun to see such a character as the main POV protagonist here. El's dynamic with Orion reminds me a lot of Draco/Harry, Baz/Simon from Carry On (also derived from Draco/Harry), or other (typically m/m) ex-villain/hero fanfic pairs. It was a nice touch to have El call Orion by his last name.
The world details felt novel, clever, and well thought-through. Novik gives enough detail to the worldbuilding and the magic system to make it seem grounded, complex, and rules-based, but handwaves enough to give plenty of room for future plot hooks (and/or leave plot hooks for fanfic).
Tonally, I would say it is pretty similar to "Hunger Games," though where HG is dystopian commentary on inequality and exploitation in the real world, this book is more of a dystopian commentary on inequality and exploitation in Harry Potter. Deadly Education says the quiet part out loud, and fully commits to things that are true-but-disavowed in Harry Potter: that the school is actually super fucking dangerous; wealth and connections are crucial to survival; it's lovely that everyone has their own special talent but some of them are straight up evil; the status of hero-celebrity is lonely and unenviable; the monster-killing jock is somewhat boring and the smart friend who can see the writing on the wall is the real protagonist.
Also thematic shades of vampire or werewolf fic, as the main character is one of those "dark magic creature too powerful for their own good who has to constantly be alert against being evil" types. Typically these characters show up a lot in fanfic because they are reformed versions of antagonists in canon, and it was fun to see such a character as the main POV protagonist here. El's dynamic with Orion reminds me a lot of Draco/Harry, Baz/Simon from Carry On (also derived from Draco/Harry), or other (typically m/m) ex-villain/hero fanfic pairs. It was a nice touch to have El call Orion by his last name.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Body horror, Vomit, and Animal death
berglindsh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Abandonment, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Body horror and Toxic friendship
phoebemurtagh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Abandonment and Racism
colie923's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
tinybluepixel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Classism, Gore, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Racism, Death of parent, and Murder
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
3.75
Galadriel, known as El, is angry. Who wouldn't be, when the school you're doing your best to attend is trying to kill you and her promotion's equivalent of a prince charming keeps trying to save her (and succeeding)? It's El's third year at the Scholomance, and things are getting... complicated.
I thought the first third of this novel was really strong, intriguing and imaginative (I was very glad not to have too visual an imagination because it sometimes leaned towards horror and we know how I deal with that (I don't)). Then it slogged a bit in the middle, when it got quite repetitive and not much happened, until the rhythm picked up in the last third. I wasn't much convinced by the prince charming character, who I vainly hoped was going to be the occasion to subvert the trope. Too bad it only happened in the very last sentence of the novel.
One thing I loved, though, was the way language was treated, especially with regards to the magic system. The whimsical library wasn't bad either, in an annoying sort of way. But all in all I wasn't entirely convinced by this book I'd had high expectations for.
Rep : Welsh-Indian MC, international cast of characters.
I thought the first third of this novel was really strong, intriguing and imaginative (I was very glad not to have too visual an imagination because it sometimes leaned towards horror and we know how I deal with that (I don't)). Then it slogged a bit in the middle, when it got quite repetitive and not much happened, until the rhythm picked up in the last third. I wasn't much convinced by the prince charming character, who I vainly hoped was going to be the occasion to subvert the trope. Too bad it only happened in the very last sentence of the novel.
One thing I loved, though, was the way language was treated, especially with regards to the magic system. The whimsical library wasn't bad either, in an annoying sort of way. But all in all I wasn't entirely convinced by this book I'd had high expectations for.
Rep : Welsh-Indian MC, international cast of characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Child death, and Death
Minor: Racism
kadtide's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Murder and Classism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Vomit
cdt96's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Child death, and Murder
kingcrookback's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
I went into this without knowing more than the back cover blurb. I'll admit, within the first few chapters, I was tempted to put it down. The heavy exposition threw me off, and I'm no longer in a place where I really care about stories about characters in high school--or, you know, Novik's fantasy equivalent of. Even now, I'm more of a mind to class this as YA. But I grew used to the exposition, and I grew to really like El as it became clear that her anger and her abrasiveness actually stems from a deep love of humanity--a love that El feels but never receives from anyone but her mother. I appreciated the theme of doing and being good being an active and ongoing choice, not a default. And I appreciated the fact that Novik constructed El as understanding the motivations behind the selfish choices that other characters make, even though they endanger her and despite the fact that she doesn't agree with them.
I did notice things that others have criticized, namely Novik's dodgy handling of race, which I felt was more ignorant than anything else. I have also heard that she's listened to that criticism and readjusted in the next book, so there's that. Interesting, given that the enclaves and the apportionment of enrollments in the Scholomance work as a very good metaphor for classism and neo-imperialism.
Anyway, yes, I will be checking out The Last Graduate once it's available at my library and once I've taken a long enough break to ensure that I don't burn myself out on the series.
I did notice things that others have criticized, namely Novik's dodgy handling of race, which I felt was more ignorant than anything else. I have also heard that she's listened to that criticism and readjusted in the next book, so there's that. Interesting, given that the enclaves and the apportionment of enrollments in the Scholomance work as a very good metaphor for classism and neo-imperialism.
Anyway, yes, I will be checking out The Last Graduate once it's available at my library and once I've taken a long enough break to ensure that I don't burn myself out on the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Body horror, Classism, and Gore
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Racism
gowlstick's review against another edition
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
On base level this can read as a fairly dark YA fantasy but otherwise the themes and actual events & politics say otherwise. The main character develops her own sense of morality and takes action based on that. Even in a magical world a big player in the safety of many of the characters is due to long standing racism. It does a very good job also exploring the ideas of privilege and colonialism. An idea often explored is "What gives them more of a right to live than me?". Eventually the El does still give a shit but rises to the much higher ground of still choosing to think "What gives me more of a right to live than them?" The romance is some of the most refreshing I've come across in YA and honestly I'd have loved to explore their dynamic even as just adults. Overall, there is some info dumping and some sections that might not be entirely accurate seeing as the Author is white. Even with that this book is a pretty cold glass of water in the new YA scene and I'm looking forwards to see how the series wraps up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Death and Death of parent