A review by theinfinitebookcase
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

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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