Scan barcode
A review by pages_with_panda
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I want to start off by saying that I did read the diversity controversy regarding this book and I don’t think it was intentionally malicious. That being said, I’m not a part of either culture that was being affected.
There was criticism from some about having a Welsh/Desi character who didn’t shower often and how that may have played into negative stereotypes for that culture. There was also a section of world-building that included bug monsters that would love in dreadlocks, feeding into a negative stereotype about locs being unclean that was harmful.
The edition of the book that I read had the entire section of dreadlocks removed.
I think it’s important to note that the entire school had monsters filled in every nook and cranny, and that this section was talking about the lack of cleanliness for ALL students, because of the monsters that lived in shower-heads, shower drains, everywhere. Not to mention that El lived in a hippie commune with her Welsh mother before moving to the school. I’m not making excuses, but think the context is important for her lack of cleanliness. I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was a negative statement against Desi people when none of the students could shower for fear of their lives.
OKAY, now to the rest of the book: I think the slow pacing for this made me feel like I keep waiting for the book to start and it never did.
It was very different from her fairy-tale stories that I really liked. The action scenes seemed to be over too quickly, contrary to the rest of the book and there was a mix of monologuing and info dumping and getting side tracked before getting back to the point or plot. There was a lot of information that I had a hard time keeping straight especially with names of monsters.
I did like the premise, and did find it interesting. However, Orion was a bit bland and boring and even though we’re introduced to him from the first page of the book, I feel like we didn’t really get to see much of him. He was loyal and dumb to our heroine's smart and cunning which was fun. El’s personality was great, I loved seeing a heroine who was mean and bitter and just cunning.
The climax and end of the book was a bit boring and despite the slow pacing for the whole book, the ending felt rushed. Felt like an interesting start to a whole series.
There was criticism from some about having a Welsh/Desi character who didn’t shower often and how that may have played into negative stereotypes for that culture. There was also a section of world-building that included bug monsters that would love in dreadlocks, feeding into a negative stereotype about locs being unclean that was harmful.
The edition of the book that I read had the entire section of dreadlocks removed.
I think it’s important to note that the entire school had monsters filled in every nook and cranny, and that this section was talking about the lack of cleanliness for ALL students, because of the monsters that lived in shower-heads, shower drains, everywhere. Not to mention that El lived in a hippie commune with her Welsh mother before moving to the school. I’m not making excuses, but think the context is important for her lack of cleanliness. I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was a negative statement against Desi people when none of the students could shower for fear of their lives.
OKAY, now to the rest of the book: I think the slow pacing for this made me feel like I keep waiting for the book to start and it never did.
It was very different from her fairy-tale stories that I really liked. The action scenes seemed to be over too quickly, contrary to the rest of the book and there was a mix of monologuing and info dumping and getting side tracked before getting back to the point or plot. There was a lot of information that I had a hard time keeping straight especially with names of monsters.
I did like the premise, and did find it interesting. However, Orion was a bit bland and boring and even though we’re introduced to him from the first page of the book, I feel like we didn’t really get to see much of him. He was loyal and dumb to our heroine's smart and cunning which was fun. El’s personality was great, I loved seeing a heroine who was mean and bitter and just cunning.
The climax and end of the book was a bit boring and despite the slow pacing for the whole book, the ending felt rushed. Felt like an interesting start to a whole series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Death of parent