Reviews with content warning for Racism - Een dodelijke opleiding

This was already on my reading list, but when I realized the author was the same author who wrote Spinning Silver, it jumped to the top of the list. And it was 100% worth it.

I'm going to start here with an apology. I hate when people compare books to the Harry Potter series, not in the least because Harry Potter is just not that great. (I will do a full post on this eventually but for now please bear with me.) So it is with the deepest apologies that I call A Deadly Education "Harry Potter but darker and much, much better."

You want a magical school? I give you the Scholomance. You want a magical school with halls that move on their own? I'll do you one better: A magical school that is sentient to some degree, warps space for its own purposes, will only put classrooms and staircases in a particular place if you believe they will be there hard enough, and is literally built inside a magical void.

You want a powerful protagonist? I give you El, the protagonist, whose magic specialty means that defending herself with magic could mean killing everyone in the Scholomance. You want a protagonist with interesting heritage and a prophecy about them? I'll do you one better: El's mother is famous for her magical ability, and El's own extended family tried to kill her due to a prophecy about her.

You want a constant sense of danger even on school grounds? The Scholomance is infested with malevolent monsters, to the point where every bite has to be checked for poison, every cafeteria table has to be inspected for monsters, and going to the bathroom alone is a death sentence. There are no teachers because it isn't needed - if you don't learn, you die. You only have an 80% chance of surviving the Scholomance, but only a 40% chance of surviving the monsters out in the world without the training the Scholomance gives you. The Scholomance may be hellish but it's everyone's best shot.

El herself is fantastic. She doesn't know why people don't like her on sight, but she hides under layers of anger and sarcasm and biting ... I was going to say biting wit, but it's not even witty, it's just biting but I enjoyed it. She is prickly and unfriendly but so damn relatable at times and the kind of absurdly-powerful-but-always-underestimated that I absolutely love. Plus she has so much character growth in this story and I can't wait to see where she goes in the rest of the series.

Admittedly, this book is not perfect. There is a ton of exposition dumped in to explain the world, the way the Scholomance and the magical world works, and El's backstory. It did slow the action and very much felt like an info-dump. I found it to be interesting info, and I was intrigued enough by the world that it didn't interrupt my enjoyment of the story. I do recognize, though, that if you're not engaged enough in the world, it will come across as really boring and poorly paced.

I cannot say enough good things about this world, this magic system, this magic school, everything. It's dark, violent, magical, and real, with all the grittiness of a bunch of high schoolers cloistered in a sentient school where at least 20% of them will die before graduation and the dark whimsy of a magic system that would just as soon drain you dry and toss aside your desiccated corpse as help you create a magic mirror. Classism and privilege are major themes and they fit seamlessly into the story. I can't say too much more without spoilers - this story unfolds like a black rose, each petal opening and revealing more darkness and danger within. And it deserves to be read without spoilers. It deserves to be experienced as fully and wonderfully as it exists - unapologetic, dark, enthralling, full of beautiful and hideous magic.

Content Warnings

ellythequeen's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

The worst book I've ever read!!!!

Content Warnings

ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

I haven't read a book with a magic school setting since I read The Magicians Trilogy a few years ago and I'm so glad I picked this up. We follow Galadriel as she introduces us to the world of the scholomance where high school aged students must attend and survive until graduation. While at the school, they must defend themselves from monsters and the sentient school itself. With the amount of dangers within the school, you might wonder why the students go there at all. However, the school is apparently the safest place for these magical teenagers. This part of the setting reminded me of Percy Jackson and the way that the demigods in that world are more protected within camps than they are in the outside world. There are pages of dense information about the world within the book. This may bother readers who don't appreciate info dumps in their books. I personally appreciated it because the information is given by Galadriel (our main character) and I like her sarcastic and witty tone. It gave me insight into her personality, life experiences, and intelligence which helped me understand her personality and decisions throughout the book.

There was a lot of discourse online pertaining to racial/ethnic representation in this book which I will address here. Galadriel is half Indian on her father's side, and white British on her mother's side. (Mild spoiler following)

Galadriel's father died at a young age before she was born and she did not spend any extended time with her Indian family.

Secondary to this, Galadriel does not have a strong connection to her Indian heritage. I saw many reviewers see this as a weak point for Indian representation within the narrative of the story. I beg to differ on this point because I feel that those who took this position are gatekeeping the identity of people of color. I will explain further, just bear with me. I am an American first generation Latinx individual who has grown up in a diverse Latinx community. I am fluent in Spanish because my parents are fluent and I grew up with a strong cultural connection to my parent's heritage. I have friends who are also first generation Latinx who do not speak Spanish and are much more far removed from their Latinx culture than I am. Despite our differing experiences with our respective cultures, their experiences are as valid as mine. Not speaking Spanish doesn't make them less Latinx. I think the same applies to a character like Galadriel. The erasure of her experience because it does not fit what others believe should be the experience of someone of Indian ancestry is exclusionary. Therefore this is not a criticism I can say I support.

On the other hand, there is a passage in the book that I was in the original first printing that I do deem to be racially inappropriate. This passage referred to magical creatures who have a propensity to make nests on the scalps of students with thicker hair. The eggs eventually hatch and cause paralysis making the victims easy prey. Hence, the danger. The problem is, dreadlocks were used as an example of a hairstyle that should be avoided for this reason. As I'm sure many people know, there is a long standing history of hairstyles popular within black cultures all over the world being discriminated against. In the U.S. army, for example, dreadlocks/locks were banned for personnel in uniform up until a few years ago. I remember listening to a white celebrity commentator opine that a black celebrity's dreadlocks smelled unpleasant when said celebrity wore dreadlocks to a red carpet event. Obviously a lot of this kind of commentary stems from discrimination and racist rhetoric that has existed for generations (Disclaimer: I am American and Afro Latinx, so I am speaking from that perspective and cannot speak for others on this, only from my own experience). I felt this passage was unnecessarily discriminatory and offensive and did not add any relevant information to the text. The author in response to criticism issued an apology and made a commitment to remove the passage from future printings from the book. I believe that her response was appropriate and I hope that this will not occur again in future works. (Whether the apology is accepted or not is up to the other members of my community who were the target of the offense. Personally, it is one of the best apologies and responses I have seen from an author, so I'm willing to give this author another chance.) I will not be commenting on that further since it is not directly pertinent to the book review. I mention it because I believe it was important to note this since it may deter someone from picking this book up.

Regarding the characters in general, I appreciated that the school feels as diverse as I would expect for an international magic school. Students have different accents, nationalities, cultures, and connections. The side characters have personalities and backgrounds that stand out and it made me appreciate their relationships to Galadriel throughout the story. There is good representation of female relationships in the story with the girls supporting one another

Galadriel and Orion have a particularly interesting dynamic that seems to swap their gender roles in many ways. Galadriel has a colder exterior and is rude and blunt most of the time. As the story goes on and you spend more time with her thoughts it is clear that her cold exterior is a defense mechanism that she has developed in response to her experiences. This explains her disposition to be an unpopular loner which is usually a demeanor attributed to boys or men in fiction. Orion, in contrast, is quite popular and well connected with other students and has a strong sense of responsibility to act as a savior to others.

We later learn that he is not hunted down by monsters the way the other students are which makes it much easier for him to catch them off guard and protect others. He seems like a good natured person to begin with, but I'm sure this level of protection contributes to his willingness to put himself at risk. The level of danger for him will always be lower than that of another person. He knows this and takes advantage of it, I think.

For all of Galadriel's rudeness, Orion meets this with good natured humor and teasing witty banter. He is also a kind person overall, which makes it hard for Galadriel to find things to hold against the poor guy. He is kinder and more willing to sacrifice himself with others that Galadriel, which I have found to be characteristics more often attributed to women/girls.

The most important component of the relationship between Galadriel and Orion is that they are the only people that really treat each other as equals compared to everyone else they interact with. Most of the time other students are seeking approval from Orion and in turn are scorning Galadriel because they are afraid of her (for reasons revealed throughout the novel). Their interactions are entertaining and also serve as a gateway for Galadriel to meet others and become open to being more vulnerable with others. Orion is also most emotionally open with Galadriel and we get more insight into his character through her. Their relationship is interesting and I think it's nice to see how they help each other become better people. They are both lonely in very similar ways and their relationship to each other buds from this mutual loneliness. It's an interesting dynamic and I'm looking forward to see how it develops in future books.

This was a very enjoyable experience and I can't wait for the next book. I want to learn more about the monsters in this world and what the future holds for this group of students we are following. If dark magic and interesting characters that subvert expectations are things you like, this book might be for you.

Content Warnings

courtsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

muchadoaboutliz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

meg_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful fast-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

3.0

I know there are definitely elements of this book that are really problematic. As a whole though, the book was interesting and engaging. I think the writing choice for it to be in first person was definitely a good one and I feel like it's one of the main things that kept me interested in reading. Galadriel's voice and narration helped make the really dense world building and at times confusing plot manageable. At the same time, sometimes her commentary was overwhelming and eye roll worthy. I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters and the developing friendships (although I was literally suspicious of everyone except for Orion the whole time that they were going to betray her somehow). Overall, this was fun and I will likely pick up book 2 just to see what the heck that last line of this book was about. P.S. I love El's mom. She seems like the best.

Content Warnings

nixieba25f'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

5.0

Content Warnings

geno'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"Una Educacion Mortal" cuenta con una premisa básica del género de "escuelas mágicas": hay algo terrible en el colegio que pone en peligro al alumnado. La particularidad del caso es que esta vez es la escuela en sí, habitada por criaturas horribles y repleta de recovecos ideales para propiciar a conciencia situaciones de peligro.

En este contexto, El - nuestra protagonista- nos va mostrando un mundo cuyo sistema de magia exige que por cada acción haya un precio, lo cual le suma peso a las decisiones que van a ir tomando los personajes.

A mi entender, uno de sus puntos fuertes es no arancar en el primer año, no necesitamos crecer en este mundo, porque lo importante es salir.

La otra parte interesante son las amistades y alianzas que se van creando, ver un grupo de amigas buscando formas de sobrevivir en lugar de pelear por el amor de un chico se siente mucho más novedoso de lo que debería.

En general, para ser parte de un género extremadamente explotado, es un libro que rompe con estereotipos, presenta vueltas de tuerca interesantes y nos deja con ganas de saber más. Es una lectura rápida y entretenida ideal para los que disfrutamos del rubro fantástico.

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The book takes place in a magical school that is actively trying to kill its students. It's a nice take in the magical school setting that normally would rely in the mentor and learning process to explain us the world.

The world building it’s incredibly and very atmospheric. It give us as readers the sense of how stressful this school really is. To complement it, the magic system is quite interesting, there is different types of magic and there is always a price to pay.

Regarding the characters there is a mix bag, some of them are well developed but others show up in the end when thee is no time to present their abilities correctly. That being said, some friendship dynamics where great -specially between females- and I hope to see more in the upcoming book.

The writing style was a surprise, we are in El's head and while she is sarcastic and chaotic, she also makes for a very enjoyable POV.

In the end I was waiting more bloodshed and deaths but it was such an entertaining story that I will give it a pass. It's a fast paced read that leans heavily in world building so if that's not your cup of tea maybe be this one won't be for you.

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