Reviews tagging 'Classism'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

76 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

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

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

I wasn't planning on reading this as while I love Novik's Temeraire series the premise of this book is very far from what interests me. However, my parents were adamant that it was good so I borrowed their copy and was pleasantly surprised.

I think the one single thing that makes this book so fun is the protagonist, El, who is the amusing combination of constantly brimming with rage while also being extremely self aware about how angry she is. Not sure what it says about me that I find this absolutely hilarious. It gets even funnier when El being furious and passive aggressive is what helps her make friends. She is doing social interactions completely wrong and yet it works for her! Really enjoyed this take on an antihero protagonist.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Classism, and Murder

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Classism, Gore, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Racism, Death of parent, and Murder

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

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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

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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

ka_ke's review against another edition

As interesting as the summary makes A Deadly Education sound, I had a hard time immersing myself into the world of the Scholomance. I found ‘El’ to be one note. As a loner myself, I understand the difficulty of making friends, but El doesn’t even make an attempt. Her attitude was really off putting. I also found that the magic system, while complex and interesting, was poorly explained. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Bullying, Classism, Death, and Violence

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Body horror, Classism, and Gore

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Racism

that_kid_with_the_sword's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

While there is no sexual assault in this book, there is a scene in which a monster attack (trying to eat the protagonist) is metaphorically compared to sexual assault.

rosemarygrace1211's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted 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

4.0

Remember how in Harry Potter, there were “serious concerns about student safety”? If you’ve ever thought “I want a book set in a magical school but I want every moment of every day to be dangerous,” then this is the book for you! 

Honestly let’s leave Joann in the past

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Child death, Classism, and Death of parent