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A review by gracieleig
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
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? Yes
4.25
Ok, so... this book. This book is a dark, funny and highly entertaining fantasy set in one of the most unusual magical schools I've ever read about. For me it was an addictive read, BUT it's not without its issues.
Warning that this will be long, and may contain some minor spoilers, so if you're anything like me and need lots of info before deciding whether or not you'll like a book, then read on.
______________________________________________________________________
Let's break it down.
World Building:
In this universe, witches and wizards are constantly hunted by maleficaria, or 'mals', magical monsters who are attracted to their magic, or 'mana'. Those privileged enough are mostly protected in their powerful 'enclaves', but nothing can protect magical people during puberty, when they are most delicious to the mals. The Scholomance was built not only to educate young wizards, but to provide better protection to them during their most vulnerable period of time, so that a higher percentage will survive into adulthood. But the school's protection is far from perfect. Built in a dark void almost entirely removed from the rest of the world, the Scholomance is still infested with mals, and students still have to fight for their lives every day in this professorless school with only a percentage surviving until their, even more dangerous, graduation day, on which they must fight their way through a sea of the worst maleficaria to leave. Naomi Novik does a wonderful job of describing in explicit detail the inner workings of this world, from the logistics of their school assignment and the different magical specialities to the politics of the magical communities around the world. Novik's world is vivid and dark and mysterious, but she has an explanation for just about every potential problem or question the reader might have about its functionality. However, Novik devotes too many pages to info-dumping, often in the middle of major climactic moments, and often about small details that are irrelevant to the characters or plot. We don't need four pages about the history about of a particular kind of maleficaria in the middle of a life or death stand off with one of them. We don't need exposition between two lines of dialogue between characters that goes on for so long, you forget what they were talking about in the first place. We don't need to know about the detailed function of magical scissors when there aren't any actually being used by any of the characters at any point in the story. But, if you can get used to the (occasionally torturous) exposition, you'll get sucked by the highly original, surprisingly funny and deliciously complex world Novik has created. Also, the main character's cynical and sarcastic narration does help keep it fresh ⬇️.
Characters:
The best part of this book by far is its well-developed and multi-layered protagonist. Galadriel, or 'El', is an endearingly grumpy and hilariously rude teenagee girl with an affinity for dark magic, and a secret burning desire for justice and equality. Like many magical heroes, she has a prophecy hanging over her head, but unlike the typical 'chosen one' trope, this prophecy foretells El's transition into a powerful, evil sorceress, destined to be a harbinger of death and destruction. Everyone who meets El, magical and non-magical alike, can't help but sense her affinity and keep their distance from her. It's easy to understand El's bitter, almost misanthropic, attitude, as she has always been treated as a bad person, despite never having done anything to deserve it. Despite everyone's expectations of her, El was raised by a kind and generous mother who always believed in her goodness, which instilled in her a strict moral code. El is repelled by the idea of using dark magic, or 'malia', and spends the majority of her studies suppressing her full power and avoiding the destructive magic that comes easiest to her. She recognizes her faults and works very hard to retain her goodness, even as everyone around her continues to suspect her of wrongdoing. She's like an even darker and meaner Katniss Everdeen, but her cynicism is never annoying, and her heroism is somehow understated, yet in no way insignificant. Her prickly exterior bounces nicely off the infallible niceness of the school hero, Orion Lake. Orion Lake saves people, that what he does. He's selfless, brave, kind, and good at killing monsters, everything you'd want in the typical hero, everyone except El. Even though Novik uses Orion to explore the ignorance that often accompanies privilege and the stupidity that often comes with heroism, no amount of obliviousness or foolishness can make Orion an unlikable character. He's the sweet to El's sour, and their banter and quiet friendship is the highlight of book for me. Though in the beginning he seems like nothing more than the embodiment of the 'golden boy' trope, be becomes more three-dimensional as the story goes on. Just like El, he suffers under the weight of people's expectations, though in his case, everyone expects him to be perfect. He doesn't really know what it's like to be treated like a regular person. Enter El.
Notes on Plot and Themes:
• The diversity in this book is great. The main character is biracial, half-Welsh, half-Indian, and the supporting characters are literally from everywhere, as the school accepts students worldwide. The school is taught in two primary languages, Mandarin and English, and many of the students spend a large portion of their education learning multiple languages. The protagonist herself speaks and reads upwards of 10 languages.
• As mentioned above, Novik really delves into the theme of privilege and how deep a divider it is. The difference between wizards raised in enclaves, like Orion, and wizards raised by independents, like El, is explored really elegantly.
• The theme of good versus evil throughout is handled in a very original way, breaking tropes, and eventually becoming more of a how-to on living up to your own expectations, instead of others'.
• The maleficaria are truly frightening and often disgusting, but in like the best way
• As I've already said, the info-dumping is excessive and as a result the plot and character-relationships suffer a bit. Though the plot is exciting, Novik constantly stopping to explain things makes it a bit uneven. I could have done with fewer paragraphs on all the ways you can die in this school in favor of longer and more detailed action sequences. The same goes for character-focused scenes; the characters could have benefitted from a few longer conversations/bonding moments.
• The romance. This book has the perfect amount of romance, in fact it's barely there. I love how Novik doesn't rush the romance between the leads, it's subtle and is still so early, even by the end of the book, that it almost doesn't count as romance yet. Which works perfectly on two accounts, 1. ) Neither El nor Orion have ever even had real friends before, so going slow as they figure that out makes the most sense, and 2.) There's two more books, so its perfectly set up to be a nice slow burn.
Overall impression:
Though this book can drag at times, for me it was totally worth the effort, and I will one hundred percent be reading the rest of the series.
Warning that this will be long, and may contain some minor spoilers, so if you're anything like me and need lots of info before deciding whether or not you'll like a book, then read on.
______________________________________________________________________
Let's break it down.
World Building:
In this universe, witches and wizards are constantly hunted by maleficaria, or 'mals', magical monsters who are attracted to their magic, or 'mana'. Those privileged enough are mostly protected in their powerful 'enclaves', but nothing can protect magical people during puberty, when they are most delicious to the mals. The Scholomance was built not only to educate young wizards, but to provide better protection to them during their most vulnerable period of time, so that a higher percentage will survive into adulthood. But the school's protection is far from perfect. Built in a dark void almost entirely removed from the rest of the world, the Scholomance is still infested with mals, and students still have to fight for their lives every day in this professorless school with only a percentage surviving until their, even more dangerous, graduation day, on which they must fight their way through a sea of the worst maleficaria to leave. Naomi Novik does a wonderful job of describing in explicit detail the inner workings of this world, from the logistics of their school assignment and the different magical specialities to the politics of the magical communities around the world. Novik's world is vivid and dark and mysterious, but she has an explanation for just about every potential problem or question the reader might have about its functionality. However, Novik devotes too many pages to info-dumping, often in the middle of major climactic moments, and often about small details that are irrelevant to the characters or plot. We don't need four pages about the history about of a particular kind of maleficaria in the middle of a life or death stand off with one of them. We don't need exposition between two lines of dialogue between characters that goes on for so long, you forget what they were talking about in the first place. We don't need to know about the detailed function of magical scissors when there aren't any actually being used by any of the characters at any point in the story. But, if you can get used to the (occasionally torturous) exposition, you'll get sucked by the highly original, surprisingly funny and deliciously complex world Novik has created. Also, the main character's cynical and sarcastic narration does help keep it fresh ⬇️.
Characters:
The best part of this book by far is its well-developed and multi-layered protagonist. Galadriel, or 'El', is an endearingly grumpy and hilariously rude teenagee girl with an affinity for dark magic, and a secret burning desire for justice and equality. Like many magical heroes, she has a prophecy hanging over her head, but unlike the typical 'chosen one' trope, this prophecy foretells El's transition into a powerful, evil sorceress, destined to be a harbinger of death and destruction. Everyone who meets El, magical and non-magical alike, can't help but sense her affinity and keep their distance from her. It's easy to understand El's bitter, almost misanthropic, attitude, as she has always been treated as a bad person, despite never having done anything to deserve it. Despite everyone's expectations of her, El was raised by a kind and generous mother who always believed in her goodness, which instilled in her a strict moral code. El is repelled by the idea of using dark magic, or 'malia', and spends the majority of her studies suppressing her full power and avoiding the destructive magic that comes easiest to her. She recognizes her faults and works very hard to retain her goodness, even as everyone around her continues to suspect her of wrongdoing. She's like an even darker and meaner Katniss Everdeen, but her cynicism is never annoying, and her heroism is somehow understated, yet in no way insignificant. Her prickly exterior bounces nicely off the infallible niceness of the school hero, Orion Lake. Orion Lake saves people, that what he does. He's selfless, brave, kind, and good at killing monsters, everything you'd want in the typical hero, everyone except El. Even though Novik uses Orion to explore the ignorance that often accompanies privilege and the stupidity that often comes with heroism, no amount of obliviousness or foolishness can make Orion an unlikable character. He's the sweet to El's sour, and their banter and quiet friendship is the highlight of book for me. Though in the beginning he seems like nothing more than the embodiment of the 'golden boy' trope, be becomes more three-dimensional as the story goes on. Just like El, he suffers under the weight of people's expectations, though in his case, everyone expects him to be perfect. He doesn't really know what it's like to be treated like a regular person. Enter El.
Notes on Plot and Themes:
• The diversity in this book is great. The main character is biracial, half-Welsh, half-Indian, and the supporting characters are literally from everywhere, as the school accepts students worldwide. The school is taught in two primary languages, Mandarin and English, and many of the students spend a large portion of their education learning multiple languages. The protagonist herself speaks and reads upwards of 10 languages.
• As mentioned above, Novik really delves into the theme of privilege and how deep a divider it is. The difference between wizards raised in enclaves, like Orion, and wizards raised by independents, like El, is explored really elegantly.
• The theme of good versus evil throughout is handled in a very original way, breaking tropes, and eventually becoming more of a how-to on living up to your own expectations, instead of others'.
• The maleficaria are truly frightening and often disgusting, but in like the best way
• As I've already said, the info-dumping is excessive and as a result the plot and character-relationships suffer a bit. Though the plot is exciting, Novik constantly stopping to explain things makes it a bit uneven. I could have done with fewer paragraphs on all the ways you can die in this school in favor of longer and more detailed action sequences. The same goes for character-focused scenes; the characters could have benefitted from a few longer conversations/bonding moments.
• The romance. This book has the perfect amount of romance, in fact it's barely there. I love how Novik doesn't rush the romance between the leads, it's subtle and is still so early, even by the end of the book, that it almost doesn't count as romance yet. Which works perfectly on two accounts, 1. ) Neither El nor Orion have ever even had real friends before, so going slow as they figure that out makes the most sense, and 2.) There's two more books, so its perfectly set up to be a nice slow burn.
Overall impression:
Though this book can drag at times, for me it was totally worth the effort, and I will one hundred percent be reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence