Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by ariel937
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
4.0
i went into this thinking i'd like it, but by the time i finished it i was surprised by how much i really really liked this. i always say i'm not a fan of fantasy, but really it mostly has to do with what the book is about and how good the writing is--and apparently, i'm one of the few people who actually really like novik's writing.
i read "uprooted" this summer and even though i took a break when i was in the middle of reading it, i still really enjoyed it. there's something very whimsical and magical about novik's books, and *yes* i have to admit...her books literally have no plot. but i LOVE that. i'm very much a character-driven person, and the basic plot was interesting enough to push the story forward, but i was really intrigued by el. most people didn't like her and i totally get that--the whole she's-evil-but-not-really *does* make sense in the context of the story because it was kind of a "reverse" chosen one; she's chosen to be evil incarnate, but she never chose that for herself. her random tangents and info-dumpy world building wasn't annoying in my opinion either--i actually laughed at some of her tidbits. and orion, of course, he was great and there wasn't enough of him. i just really liked what novik did with his character and though it was a really smart way to do the chosen one trope!
i'm not really sure if this is actually drarry fanficiton, and tbh if it is i'm kind of disappointed by that, but as someone who *coughs* has maybe read one to two drarry fics in her life, this didn't remind me of it too much. there became a point where i honestly didn't see any of harry or draco in either the leads, and honestly, when literally ANYONE writes about a magical school, people are always going to compare it to harry potter--there's no escaping it. but what i liked about this story so much was that it was a much darker version of hogwarts that had its own rules and magic. i *loved* that the magic revolved around languages bc i think languages are such an interesting medium to channel magic.
however, like many others, it would be disingenuous if i didn't mention the controversy surrounding this book. as a white person and white reviewer, i don't really have a say on what novik handled well/didn't handle well. having read the passages in its contexts, while i think some of it was taken out of context, it could have been handled much better. these are two reviews on opposite ends of spectrum that (i think) encapsulate both sides very well:
review 1
review 2
overall, i was surprised by how much i enjoyed this book (as someone who keeps saying she doesn't like fantasy yet always reads it lol). in the future, i'd be interested to learn more about the outside world (and how the magical system works outside the school (and more of orion & el's relationship.
i read "uprooted" this summer and even though i took a break when i was in the middle of reading it, i still really enjoyed it. there's something very whimsical and magical about novik's books, and *yes* i have to admit...her books literally have no plot. but i LOVE that. i'm very much a character-driven person, and the basic plot was interesting enough to push the story forward, but i was really intrigued by el. most people didn't like her and i totally get that--the whole she's-evil-but-not-really *does* make sense in the context of the story because it was kind of a "reverse" chosen one; she's chosen to be evil incarnate, but she never chose that for herself. her random tangents and info-dumpy world building wasn't annoying in my opinion either--i actually laughed at some of her tidbits. and orion, of course, he was great and there wasn't enough of him. i just really liked what novik did with his character and though it was a really smart way to do the chosen one trope!
i'm not really sure if this is actually drarry fanficiton, and tbh if it is i'm kind of disappointed by that, but as someone who *coughs* has maybe read one to two drarry fics in her life, this didn't remind me of it too much. there became a point where i honestly didn't see any of harry or draco in either the leads, and honestly, when literally ANYONE writes about a magical school, people are always going to compare it to harry potter--there's no escaping it. but what i liked about this story so much was that it was a much darker version of hogwarts that had its own rules and magic. i *loved* that the magic revolved around languages bc i think languages are such an interesting medium to channel magic.
however, like many others, it would be disingenuous if i didn't mention the controversy surrounding this book. as a white person and white reviewer, i don't really have a say on what novik handled well/didn't handle well. having read the passages in its contexts, while i think some of it was taken out of context, it could have been handled much better. these are two reviews on opposite ends of spectrum that (i think) encapsulate both sides very well:
review 1
review 2
overall, i was surprised by how much i enjoyed this book (as someone who keeps saying she doesn't like fantasy yet always reads it lol). in the future, i'd be interested to learn more about the outside world (and how the magical system works outside the school (and more of orion & el's relationship.