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pickledcraig's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
ruuuooooo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
- 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? Yes
4.5
ciaramonae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
katedispenza's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.75
maninhaler's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.75
At times it felt like all I was reading was infodumping it was still very good. I loved how El spent more time fawning over the fact that she might actually have friends then Orion, I really felt that romance wasn’t the focus and I personally love that
mscastl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
aceinit's review against another edition
3.0
2022 Update: The book is slightly less annoying after rereads in preparation for books 2 and 3, respectively, but most of my initial review, which starts in the next paragraph, still stands.
After being absolutely blown away by the utter brilliance of Spinning Silver (not my first Novik read, but far and away my favorite), I was really looking forward to her next book. When it was announced that it would be a take on the magic school trope, I was thrilled. And, at its heart, A Deadly Education is a fun ride. However, the book can’t quite stop getting in its own way.
Given what a small volume it is, I was expecting a brisk story with no fat. But soooooo much of the story is spent infodumping at every available opportunity. The narrative will literally stop in the middle of a life-or-death moment for the the main character so that she can explain, with appropriate teenage melodrama, Exactly How Perilous Things Are Right Now (With a Full History of Why, Dating Back Several Hundred Years).
You can’t turn more than a handful of pages without being told, yet again, why everything the students encounter is The Most Dangerous Thing Ever. It’s like 300 pages of listening to someone who doesn’t know how not to be dramatic. Don't get me wrong: the world-building is phenomenal and, in a longer novel, it would have had a chance to be more organic, but after the 10th instance of something that should be mundane instead being Utterly Life Threatening (and here is three pages of exposition to tell you why), you just want to drop all the drama and get on with the story already.
The Constant!Peril!Infodumps! are exhausting, and frequently positioned in such a way to interrupt the narrative rather than enhance it.
And I understand WHY the school exists (thanks, infofumps). But, I mean, really, this is the best solution people could come up with for giving their magical kids a chance to make it to adulthood? And literally no one is trying to fix it to make things safer so their kids might survive the Magical Hunger Games?
I mean, really? This is the best we can do? REALLY?
I guess I also wasn’t quite prepared for this novel to be as young adulty in tone as it is. El, our narrator and chief-explainer of All The Drama And Peril, does so with a copious amount of teenage huffing and “as-if's” worked in for emphasis. The novel really does read exactly like what it is: a moody self-proclaimed outcast of a seventeen-year-old telling you why everything is THE WORST.
Still, the novel is, at its heart, a fun ride you’re not supposed to think too hard about. But after seeing how utterly brilliant Novik can be in her previous work (is Spinning Silver, one of the best novels of all time? Yes. Yes, it is.) this one left me with an overall impression that it could be so much better. I expected more from Novik, and was left underwhelmed.
After being absolutely blown away by the utter brilliance of Spinning Silver (not my first Novik read, but far and away my favorite), I was really looking forward to her next book. When it was announced that it would be a take on the magic school trope, I was thrilled. And, at its heart, A Deadly Education is a fun ride. However, the book can’t quite stop getting in its own way.
Given what a small volume it is, I was expecting a brisk story with no fat. But soooooo much of the story is spent infodumping at every available opportunity. The narrative will literally stop in the middle of a life-or-death moment for the the main character so that she can explain, with appropriate teenage melodrama, Exactly How Perilous Things Are Right Now (With a Full History of Why, Dating Back Several Hundred Years).
You can’t turn more than a handful of pages without being told, yet again, why everything the students encounter is The Most Dangerous Thing Ever. It’s like 300 pages of listening to someone who doesn’t know how not to be dramatic. Don't get me wrong: the world-building is phenomenal and, in a longer novel, it would have had a chance to be more organic, but after the 10th instance of something that should be mundane instead being Utterly Life Threatening (and here is three pages of exposition to tell you why), you just want to drop all the drama and get on with the story already.
The Constant!Peril!Infodumps! are exhausting, and frequently positioned in such a way to interrupt the narrative rather than enhance it.
And I understand WHY the school exists (thanks, infofumps). But, I mean, really, this is the best solution people could come up with for giving their magical kids a chance to make it to adulthood? And literally no one is trying to fix it to make things safer so their kids might survive the Magical Hunger Games?
I mean, really? This is the best we can do? REALLY?
I guess I also wasn’t quite prepared for this novel to be as young adulty in tone as it is. El, our narrator and chief-explainer of All The Drama And Peril, does so with a copious amount of teenage huffing and “as-if's” worked in for emphasis. The novel really does read exactly like what it is: a moody self-proclaimed outcast of a seventeen-year-old telling you why everything is THE WORST.
Still, the novel is, at its heart, a fun ride you’re not supposed to think too hard about. But after seeing how utterly brilliant Novik can be in her previous work (is Spinning Silver, one of the best novels of all time? Yes. Yes, it is.) this one left me with an overall impression that it could be so much better. I expected more from Novik, and was left underwhelmed.
greydaze's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
gpaez's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
zcarver's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0