Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Een dodelijke opleiding by Naomi Novik

137 reviews

tsundokuuu's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

Really good fantasy book, read it all in one sitting! Absolutely loved the concept, the crazy school and the characters. I absolutely loved how El and Orion went from snarky enemies to

snarky girlfriend and powerful himbo

. The .5 off is because there were some things that I didn't understand, for example; why was her mum famous and such a big deal?

At the end everyone is shocked when it's revealed who her mum is, like she's super famous even though the vibes we get about the mum before that is just a very hippie feel-good lady that likes crystals and yoga.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Lots of mentioning and describing gore and death because the monsters eat kids, so be prepared for some bloody shit.

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, and Classism

katiieecat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

severelyhopefulcloud's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, and Vomit

space_bandit'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Abandonment, and Classism

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Abandonment

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

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

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