A review by aliciasrealm
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

3.0

This was such a struggle for me. The story crawls forward at a snail pace because so much of the narrative is El explaining things to the reader. Sandwiched between every action are tangential paragraphs of exposition detailing which booths are best to sit in for language classes, explaining which languages are the most useful to learn, or El reminiscing on her childhood, so by the time you get to the next action you have likely forgotten what was happening in the first place. The entire book covers only a period of three weeks.

I really did like El as a character and I found the concept and relationships intriguing. I enjoyed the reluctant alliance between the outcast El and popular, privleged Orion. Magic is chaotic, and the school itself is home to dangerous creatures and has strange proclivities that prompt El to take bizarre precautions to avoid unfavorable outcomes. However, there is so little time spent on the present story and far too much time on details that did nothing to move the plot forward. If you enjoy lengthy tangents and a stream-of-consciousness narrative with rambling explanations of the inner workings of magical schools, this book might be more enjoyable for you.