Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

29 reviews

eni_iilorak's review

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

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, 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: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Grief, and Pregnancy

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: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

bookishchef's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I was bored for most of the book. Some of the worldbuilding was interesting. I liked the concept of the school library and different books showing up based on the hardship you went through to get to that part of the library.

The rest of the book did not pique my interest though. A shame, because I do love some of Novik's other work. I had high hopes for this one and it started off with a lot of potential. 

Unfortunately, for me it did not stick the landing.

The introduction of a bazillion new characters to fill out the climax also did not work for me. I don't know how I was supposed to care about the death of a character I met barely 10 pages ago, but I didn't. The climax itself also seemed a bit contrived and deus ex machina.

Suddenly a new character gets introduced (like 75-80% into the book!) who thinks of a plan with the MC and her love interest to get rid of all the mals (monsters) in a part of the school. It comes out of nowhere and feels very cheap.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

isabellew6'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy

blissofalife's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

No love triangle, no real angst, believable interactions, developed relationships, solid world building without info dumping! It was a fun read that seemed to straddle the line of Hunger Games and Hogwarts. I can’t wait to read the next one!

4.75 because some of the grammar read weird to me and was a tad distracting at times.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

nixieba25f'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

rini's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation