Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Een dodelijke opleiding by Naomi Novik

102 reviews

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

slimepuppy's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? It's complicated

4.0

A very fun read, I breezed through this one in less than 24 hours. One of the best YAs I've read in the last couple of years, a considerable feat coming from a genre that has turned into a collection of repeated tropes stacked on top of each other.

The characters were detailed, multidimensional and flawed, while still having plenty of charisma to go around the wiiide variety of personalities available. Galadriel and Orion were especially endearing, and I found myself rooting for them, despite not being a huge fan of romance. Thankfully, that's not really the focus of the book, because the slowburn worked wonders for me.

The world and the setting are intersting and surprisingly detailed for such a contained tale; the reader never gets to leave the school and see what the life is like for wizards outside, but you still get the broadest idea.

Despite liking it a lot, there are still some... considerable flaws to talk about. You can read all about them online, I'll just point something that irked me, personally:
the moment where the main character is attacked by a maleficaria and for no apparent reason, the attack is described as if a sexual assault is taking place, with explicit comparative language.
It's not a short passage, either, and felt completely out of place, even in such a grim tale of teenagers being left to die in this school. If the writer wished to discuss it further, say anything at all about it, I'd hold back on my criticism. But nothing is done with it, it just... happens. Galadriel is shocked for a moment, and then she moves on, and we move on with her without diving deep in what just happened.
 
I hope Naomi has read the plenty of justified criticism this book garnered and taken them into account, I'm very excited to read whatever comes next in the series.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

caramiaculpa's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

carbs4life's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

c_arthur's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

greatu's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

louise_french_rider's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

 Even though I found the world building a bit long, I really like the story and the main character! I’ll read the second one for sure!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sezzler's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pvaia's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny sad 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? No

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

amyejones's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

I loved this book! The protagonist is from Wales (like me) so massive bonus. Her inner thoughts and dark humour had me laughing throughout, despite the challenging and often scary situations she was in. A must read for lovers of dark academia and school settings.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings