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A review by ladyazulina
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
5.0
I wasn't expecting too much, honestly. I have known Naomi Novik for a while now, I knew her with a good-looking book with a dragon's silhouette on the cover at a book fair. I was so lucky I got to buy the first four books of that dragon's series I knew nothing about, but it was the best of the gambles: Temeraire's saga sparked up my unknown love for Naomi. And lately, I wanted to know her in all her expressions, say, I looked out for all her books. Uprooted, Spinning Silver.
Now, the Scholomance. As I said, I wasn't expecting too much. I hadn't read a word about this trilogy, I just knew it was another of Naomi's books, waiting for me to love it. And I do love it.
There, you will not find your known main character, no. El is the whole opposite. And I started feeling pity for her, for her condition and circumstances, but more soon than late she showed me how much respect I had to have for her. She's not a damsel in distress, she's... I'm not going to spoil it for you. Sorry not sorry, I'm anti-spoiler.
What I can say to you is that I misconstrued El in the first four chapters thinking of her as him. And I felt deeply ashamed when I had to fix her image in my head. It was completely logical to me that she was a he, until it wasn't anymore. And from then, all was fast-paced. Even with every drop (that wasn't a drop, more like a whole jar of water) of information about the school or the magic world, or her life or another life before or during the Scholomance. My original intention was to read only one chapter per day, maybe two if they were short, but two turned into the norm (and not because they were short), wanting to take back the book a second after I left it to go to sleep (because, yeah, I read before going to sleep), but leaving it be because I wasn't able to keep my eyes open no more. I enjoyed it all, and I'm fighting against myself to start the second book. I was planning to read anything else after this, but it seems I'll not be able to do it. I read non-stop three chapters before the last one, and I was barely able to continue with my life the next day, until I stopped fighting against the urge and finished reading before noon.
It had been a while since a book decided for me my pacing. I knew the Scholomance was going to be crowned as my favorite long before finishing it, long before reaching the half. If I had read the synopsis, it would be crowned right there, without joking. I love Naomi enough to give her the benefit of doubt, naming her as my favorite writer until proven otherwise. And after assimilating the obvious of El's genre, my forever companion little voice woke up, whispering to me “there will be romance!”. You have to understand me, I live for romance, so I was totally up for it. Until the very end. I swear to you, I was expecting a cliffhanger because everything was too smooth to be the final, just as it should end, honestly, and then it was there. My cliffhanger. The thing driving me crazy because now I can't think of anything else.
Good job, Naomi. Thank you so much for giving us the Scholomance.
Now, the Scholomance. As I said, I wasn't expecting too much. I hadn't read a word about this trilogy, I just knew it was another of Naomi's books, waiting for me to love it. And I do love it.
There, you will not find your known main character, no. El is the whole opposite. And I started feeling pity for her, for her condition and circumstances, but more soon than late she showed me how much respect I had to have for her. She's not a damsel in distress, she's... I'm not going to spoil it for you. Sorry not sorry, I'm anti-spoiler.
What I can say to you is that I misconstrued El in the first four chapters thinking of her as him. And I felt deeply ashamed when I had to fix her image in my head. It was completely logical to me that she was a he, until it wasn't anymore. And from then, all was fast-paced. Even with every drop (that wasn't a drop, more like a whole jar of water) of information about the school or the magic world, or her life or another life before or during the Scholomance. My original intention was to read only one chapter per day, maybe two if they were short, but two turned into the norm (and not because they were short), wanting to take back the book a second after I left it to go to sleep (because, yeah, I read before going to sleep), but leaving it be because I wasn't able to keep my eyes open no more. I enjoyed it all, and I'm fighting against myself to start the second book. I was planning to read anything else after this, but it seems I'll not be able to do it. I read non-stop three chapters before the last one, and I was barely able to continue with my life the next day, until I stopped fighting against the urge and finished reading before noon.
It had been a while since a book decided for me my pacing. I knew the Scholomance was going to be crowned as my favorite long before finishing it, long before reaching the half. If I had read the synopsis, it would be crowned right there, without joking. I love Naomi enough to give her the benefit of doubt, naming her as my favorite writer until proven otherwise. And after assimilating the obvious of El's genre, my forever companion little voice woke up, whispering to me “there will be romance!”. You have to understand me, I live for romance, so I was totally up for it. Until the very end. I swear to you, I was expecting a cliffhanger because everything was too smooth to be the final, just as it should end, honestly, and then it was there. My cliffhanger. The thing driving me crazy because now I can't think of anything else.
Good job, Naomi. Thank you so much for giving us the Scholomance.