A review by lukesanby
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-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

 El is an anti-social loner, and destructively powerful. She has worked to survive her magical education at the Scholomance with stubborn sarcasm and alternative angst. Graduating requires alliances, and this is the last year she can build those relationships. She went in with a plan, and she means to follow it. 
But when the school hero, Orion Lake, insists on saving her, El finds everything she believes about herself, the people around her and the school itself upended. 

A Deadly Education is a masterclass of how to reveal information to the reader when the protagonist isn’t new to the world, written in the 1st person perspective, past tense. It is the first book of THE SCHOLOMANCE trilogy. 

The frequent attempt to compare this trilogy to Harry Potter is lazy, the trilogy is in better company with Lev Grossman’s THE MAGICIANS trilogy. The depth of trauma and issues like drug abuse aren’t explored in this book, but the tone is similar—this is not an inconsequential romp made for children. At least I can’t remember Harry using quite so many four-letter-words to describe fellow students the was El does, and enthusiastically. 

If you are familiar with Novik’s other stories, you’ll know to expect the influence of European folklore. What you might not expect is the vast roster of creatures, called maleficaria in the series inspired by folklore, classic fantasy, TTRPG and card game monsters, and Science Fiction constructs. 
The 13 chapters glide by, paced to perfection with a story structure subtle enough that you might not realise it is there at all. 

A WORD OF WARNING: do not look up the Maleficaria to see fan art and the like. I looked up what a maw mouth looks like, to see if the image in my head was accurate and google auto complete had the biggest spoiler from book three. 

To read more, go to: https://lnsanby.co.uk/2024/06/24/book-review-a-deadly-education-by-naomi-novik/