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ryyyaaan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
- El is a well rounded character who is easy for the reader to like despite her being disliked by other characters.
- The premise and plot is enjoyable and easy to get hooked into.
- The worldbuilding is fantastic. It’s woven into the text so well it never feels like slogging through pages and pages of lore.
- It’s funny at times without taking away from the atmosphere.
- A great stepping point between YA and adult fantasy
Negatives (nit-picking here, the book was great)
- I dislike El’s relationship with Orion towards the end.
It feels forced to me that she’s starting to have feelings for him already. Or, at all for that matter. They just don’t seem compatible to me. Also, small point, but El mentions wanting kids badly at one point, which feels so out of character for her. Maybe later depending on how she’s developed, but it just didn’t seem right to me.<\spoiler> - I desperately wish there was any queer rep at all
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Grief
malley's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Death, Child death, Classism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Toxic friendship
econsidine's review against another edition
3.5
Reads like a more sophisticated-ly written kind of Cassandra Clare teen urban fantasy, right down to the calling non-magical people "mundanes." But bonus points for a clear, logical magic system, fun characters, and a great main character arc (that fits really well with the magic system) about learning to not see all relationships as transactional, even if you've been raised in and rely on a society shaped around strict transactions. If that sounds at all familiar to, idk, real life, then you've basically got it.
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
magnumdanger's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism
applezing's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence
lily_marigold's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Murder and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death and Vomit
rubyroses's review against another edition
- 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
If you are someone that enjoys a good slow burn then I think you’ll enjoy the romantic dynamic of this book. If your someone that avoids romance then I think you could potentially enjoy this book too. Romance is definitely a theme but it plays such an underwhelming small role that it’s easy to forget it’s even there.
This book’s main focus is its kick ass OP female protagonist & the friends she makes along the way. That’s it’s selling point !! Overall it was a really enjoyable novel and the magical world building was unique.
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
bookcasey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
chalkletters's review against another edition
- 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
El’s character development is awesome, and ties seamlessly in to an action-packed plot. It’s rare that a moment of intense self-discovery will also be an attempted murder, but Naomi Novik manages it. Against the background of self-interest and betrayal, El’s developing friendships shine particularly brightly. While there is a romance, it doesn’t overshadow the platonic relationships.
Even though El’s mother never appears 'on stage’, their relationship is beautifully portrayed. Gwen Higgins is the goodest of good witches, but the mother-daughter bond isn’t all unconditional love and endless support; it’s complicated and realistic and oh, so fantastic to read about.
It’s always a good sign when there’s enough plot going on that the reader can make guesses about a situation and be wrong. No detail of the plot felt wasted or cumbersome, and Naomi Novik manages to set-up such a brilliant cliffhanger that even if you know there is one, you probably won’t guess what it’s going to be.
A Deadly Education was a complete joy to read, despite the darkness of the world and setting, and I can hardly wait to move on to the next book in the series!
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
finesilkflower's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Body horror, Vomit, and Animal death