Reviews with content warning for Racism - Een dodelijke opleiding

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Een dodelijke opleiding by Naomi Novik

55 reviews

wizardingwisteria's review against another edition

I really tried to enjoy this book. The premise and the plot were interesting but it has so many issues. The writing style is dense. Normally I enjoy a lot of description, but this book is so thick with needless detail. This is compounded by the main character's perspective being heavy-handed and incredibly judemental. Side characters are not described as people but described as tools or assets to help El graduate. This is also what makes the romance feel so odd. I didn’t read far enough in to see them fall in love with each other, but the groundwork being laid was shakey. El as a character is unbearable. She is so obnoxiously rude for little reason. I understand having a flawed character that learns their lessons but El's flaws were turned up to such an extreme that I couldn't stand watching her transformation. To make it worse there is some minor instances of casual racism. This book cleary had good bones to start with but is written so poorly overall.

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tinybluepixel's review against another edition

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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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mariebrunelm's review against another edition

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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.

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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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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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breaktheshell's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

i really enjoyed this!
really solid worldbuilding, and the near-constant stream of strategizing and political intrigue kept me hooked. it is somewhat infodumpy, but i didn't mind; the concepts are fun enough to be enjoyable.
unfortunately i found that the first-person narration took away from the setting - el understandably doesn't pause to take things in, she's focusing on survival, and that leaves you without a strong sense of place. i think third-person narration could have emphasized the dreary/gothic/horror elements of the magic school. as it is you mostly get el's sarcastic YA quips and elaborate descriptions of monsters who are coming to kill her (between trying to form strategic partnership with other students).
i enjoyed el as a protagonist, she's a really interesting take on the question of destiny and trying to be a good person in a world that is designed to implicates you in its horrors. very relevant to all teenagers growing up in the imperial core!
i did not love orion as a deuteragonist, firstly because he's a dweeb, second because he and other side characters weren't fully developed and his rapport with el felt lacking - the friendly insult thing had a very limited effect on me.

i will say the execution of their romance as something of a plot twist by the end was really well done. even if i don't love their relationship itself, i enjoyed reading it, and that's what's important!

all in all this is a really fun read. it's full of YAisms, so be prepared for that if you're not the target audience. though some potential is left unrealized, overall it's a good experience.

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caesaraugustus1812's review against another edition

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0.25

I thought that this edition of the book would have addressed the issues of the previous print which included a number of micro-aggressions. Unfortunately the modern Arabic comment still remains, and really made reading this book offputting. Aside from this, the book has one of the most annoying main characters that I have ever read and it's really difficult to sympathise with her. There is so much info-dumping in this book, it was a real chore to get through. I personally did not enjoy it, which is disappointing as I felt it had so much potential.

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theinfinitebookcase's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

This was a book I was highly anticipating, but admittedly I had a hard time getting into it at first. I really did not like the main character at first because I felt she was constantly unnecessarily mean, but as I learned more about her she definitely grew on me. It was more action-packed and fast-paced than expected and once I got a grasp on the story I couldn't put it down. I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel.

My one big complaint about the book is the same that many other reviewers have had - there was one paragraph about 75% through that was dedicated to describing monsters that embed themselves in locs - the context was that a character (non-black who did not even have locs) was cutting her hair because having long hair in a school where monsters can grab you is dangerous. Since no character even had locs to begin with, it felt very random for the paragraph to even be in the book (and even if it was relevant to the plot, it still has racist connotations and to be honest has no reason to be in the book).

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