I can not say enough good things about this book. I was on the edge of my seat. She eas an unlikable heroine that I didn't know I needed. This is a reread book.

I've heard so much about this book and have had this on my tbr for ever and I'm so glad to have received a review copy it was amazing. I loved it so much.

This is not for me. I wasn’t interested in the magic or monsters and someone dying every hour is more boring than it sounds.

3.75 stars I would have bumped this up to a solid 4 stars if I was not a bit confused about the magic system and school system. At first, I didn't care for how the story was shoving information at the readers, and still think it was a bit fast in giving out info but all the info was important. My main dislink is how long the chapters were, and that is something that may only affect me, I prefer shorter chapters to have more stopping points, but not a huge factor in the long run. By the end of the novel I was invested and now and have the next book in my TBR.

This is one my favorite reads of 2023. No, I'm not kidding. This book was sooo good. The villain gets the guy, enemies to lovers, trapped in a school that's literally out to kill you and you only expect around half of your graduating class to graduate alive vibes are perfect.

The Scholomance is a school for those with magic. Contrary to many wholesome depictions of magical schools, the Scholomance could possibly be one of the worst schools ever, given that there's the constant threat of death. El, the protagonist, is preparing for her graduation that is coming up after her next school year and which is perhaps the most dangerous event after years of enduring constant threats. With no allies, her task is quite daunting. That doesn't stop her from expressing herself, perhaps a little too frankly. All together, El's chances aren't large of making it out alive, even with her dark powers that could endanger others however. Still, El is determined to succeed.

I really liked the characters’ developments throughout the story, particularly El’s.

At first she appeared quite bitter and rude, arguably due to understandable reasons, but later on she kind of lost that. Even though she could technically still come across as rude, it wasn’t with bad intentions anymore and as a joke. Due to the threats and competition in the Scholomance, El often acted only for her own gain initially, but became more selfless the more allies and better relationships she had with her peers. I really like how El began to trust and rely on others.

Orion was pretty naive at first, but it was also understandable due to his sheltered life in the New York enclave. The other enclave students, particularly New York, were no better. However, he started to become more aware, especially due to El’s comments, of the issues the other students experienced and that the world wasn’t as simple as he thought. He didn’t let these bad news change his character and his inherent kindness though, so it was good to see him grow, but not turn into a completely different person.

Aadhya and Liu were great characters as well. It was interesting to read about them, especially when El got to know them better and more of their personality started to show.

The presentation of the enclave children was also well done. As they grew up in their sheltered enclaves, they never had to truly experience the fear of being devoured by the maleficaria. Because of that, it was understandable why they did not understand the privilege they had and also why El disliked it so much. Especially in a situation where less privileged students have to fear for their lives, the ignorance of the enclavers must’ve been frustrating.

The plot moved quickly which I loved. It made the book more addictive and fun to read. Even when I had some issues with the book throughout, it was still too much fun to really stop.

One of the biggest issues perhaps was the descriptions of the Scholomance for me. Some descriptions seemed a bit convoluted and not clear. However, the clearer Scholomance descriptions were interesting to read about due to the fascinating and sinister nature of the school.

While I was reading “A Deadly Education”, I was often debating on whether I should continue reading this trilogy and had actually already decided on “no”, however, about the last 20% convinced me to read the remaining books. Now I can’t wait to pick those up and see how El’s journey in the Scholomance and outside of it proceeds.

I really did not know what to expect from this book. I went in with bare minimum knowledge of the plot.

All I can say is ..... wow! I really enjoyed this book! Sometimes YA Fantasy is really hit or miss for me. It's a genre not really written for adults...so at times it's a bit too juvenile or I just feel the story line doesn't hit the mark for me. But when I find a YA book or series that really does hit the mark with me despite my being 55 -- I really get excited! The story lines can be so adventurous, interesting, and new. And, this book, I am thankful to say hit all the marks for me.

It's sort of like Hogwarts meets Hunger Games? But not exactly....it's too hard to explain. Read the book! I don't want to give any of the plot away, as I enjoyed this more coming in without any spoilers. The premise makes total sense really. Magic would be inherently dangerous. And a school of magic with no instructors, just the goal to survive, plus real monsters lurking around....yikes! Gives surviving school a whole new meaning!

I love it when a book whisks me away into a world where I can imagine actually being there....and whether I could survive the situation. This story is awesome!

If you like magical fantasy -- read this book!!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Random House Publishing. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

So excited I finally read this. It exceeded my already high expectation and I can't wait to continue on with the series.

The main character truly enjoys to info bomb. which does make it a lot to grasp and slightly confusing. But nonetheless it’s very entertaining and so funny and cute. The LETTER at the end had me absolutely gasping. Can’t wait for the sequel. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Once I adapted to the writing style and overcame my inability to truly connect with our FMC, I found the book more enjoyable. The rambling style of El did take me some time to get used to and I think this would be more enjoyable on audio. Once El and Orion's relationship picked up, I found myself relaxing and enjoying myself more and wanting to see how things were going to progress. I think based on previous discussions surrounding the book I was also expecting more dark/gruesomeness, but once my expectations shifted more to darker vibes, I was hooked.

A Deadly Education is the story of Galadriel or just El who is a magic user studying at the Scholomance. Scholomance is a lot like it sounds, a magic school somewhat like Hogwarts, except that it seems to be the only magical school in the world and so children from all over the world go to it. Very much unlike Hogwarts, as the title suggests it's quite dangerous there and many children don't make it to graduation.

El is an outcast at school. She doesn't have any friends, she's just making her own way when all of a sudden one of the most popular kids at school befriends her out of nowhere, and many shenanigans are had.

I listened to the audiobook, since I had it already to go, and I really enjoyed it. I finished it in just a day and a half. The narrator, Anisha Dadia did a fantastic job and she really brought El to life for me, so it was really easy to stay immersed and listening.

I'd recommend a deadly education to anyone that likes a good magical school story that isn't all sunshine and rainbows

The amount of info-dumping in this book was extreme. I feel like I couldn't go two pages without being introduced to a new/different concept, even towards the end of the book. I understand the amount of world-building fantasy books have to include, but sometimes it took me right out of the actions and emotions of the scene I was reading. That being said, I still enjoyed this book a lot! The magic system is intricate and confusing, but in a good way. The mals (monsters) are honestly kind of terrifying. The school itself sounds like it might be on an acid trip all day every day. And the f*cking politics happening at every moment are super interesting; Novik does a great job of describing the intricacies of every interaction El has with other students. I've seen some people call this a romance or give it points for the romantic moments, but I don't see that at all. El is a prickly person, and when Orion Lake (class hero) starts hanging around her, she knows that people think they're dating, but she's adamant that they're not. Their relationship is honestly really funny. Lake is such a doofus and almost as socially awkward as El, and she's just constantly mean to him. I would never call it enemies to lovers, though El does want him dead at the beginning. They're more like stand-offish acquaintances to maybe dating. It's adorable. The writing in this book is amazing and really sucks you in once you get past the info-dumping. I thoroughly enjoyed it and already bought the second book!

I just could not get into this book. I can totally understand how people enjoy this writing style, but it was not for me. This book is just one long internal monologue. I made it about 50% through before giving up.

Hello Fellow Readers,

Dark Academia is a genre I have not read too much of but have been looking to read, so when I got the chance to read Novik's A Deadly Education I was very excited. I do know it is a Young Adult book but I still loved El. She's a BAMF who, although very unpopular, knows what it takes to survive Scholomance Magic School. Of course, when she is saved (but absolutely didn't need to be saved) by the popular cinnamon roll Orion, things start to change for El.

The dynamic between El and Orion was entertaining, but very much reminded me of high school. Their dynamic brought a bit of light to what would otherwise be a dark book. Despite it being high school (but you know with magic) I was interested in the intrigue and politics that goes on at the school as well as the theme of class and privilege.

The book is from El's point of view and she is a broody edgy girl, so there is a lot of brooding and sarcasm (think Wednesday Addams) but I was absolutely not prepared for the ramblings, info dumps, and over-detailing of everything. This is what really hurt the book for me, the book could have been significantly shorter had they edited out all the unnecessary details.

Overall, an interesting and unique spin on magic schooling.

Actual rating: 1,5 stars

A Deadly Education was my first book by Naomi Novick, and it will definitely be my last. The first chapter is a huge info-dump, the worst I’ve ever read. But I was willing to move past it because we all know that fantasy books have a few infodumpy parts here and there. Well, this book is, simply put, all info-dump, no plot and characters flatter than a sheet of paper.

The narration is so cluttered with repetitions, monologues and info-dumps that when something finally happens, I lost interest. There was also a lot of telling rather than showing, which made this book even more boring. And don’t get me started on the main character. I didn’t think it was possible, but we reached a new level of annoying main character with this one.

If I hadn’t kindly been gifted a digital copy of it by Netgalley and the publisher, I would have DNFed it pretty early on. A Deadly Education had the potential to be phenomenal but was far from being so. I will not continue the series or recommend it to anyone.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Naomi Novik does the impossible by writing a dark academia story that isn’t slow and trying to hard to be smart. I loved this series with my whole heart. It was engaging and fun to read. The entire series made it into my top ten list of books I’d save in a fire.

A Deadly Education was everything I was hoping for in a dark academia, YA novel. Full of magical demon creatures, a budding romance, found friends and a sarcastic, longer, strong FMC, this was a recipe for success. It did take me a little while to get a feel for the rambling prose told from El’s POV, but once I did, I didn’t want to stop reading. The descriptions gave me a great mental image for how the Scholomance was setup and how it looked. There are a lot of different creatures to get your head around and I think some of the descriptors for these could’ve been expanded a little, but overall, I enjoyed this novel and I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy!

I ate this book up like a maw-mouth and am savoring it just as long.

A Deadly Education has been on my TBR forever and I'm rather mad at myself for waiting so long to read it. This book is so sarcastic, bloody and violent.. yet some how still manages to evoke warm fuzzy found family feels. I absolutely love El. I would probably hate El in real life, but as a book character I really enjoyed how tainted against the world she is (and continues to forever be even when proven wrong). Orion is like a lost little puppy that you cannot help but just love. He is El's opposite and twin at the same time and I love their dynamic.

Only thing I really disliked about this book was the cliff-hanger ending (though it wasn't too bad).

4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'll be honest. It took me a little while to get into this book. But when I finally did, I truly enjoyed it. El was actually really likeable for me. I really liked her grumpiness and when you understand the politics of the education system for them, I was surprised she wasn't more of a b-word. The relationship between her and Orion was quite comical and with the ending of this book, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.
The world building was done really well which was helpful because this world is quite complex. I liked how dark and dangerous this education system is. It's like a dark 'Harry Potter'.
All in all, a really solid read. I can't wait to finish the rest of the series

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to review this book

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did.
I've really enjoyed the previous books from Novik's that I've read, which is why I was curious. But this book was a hard-sell for the simple reason that it is a magic school series, and I'm too old for magic schools... or so I thought.
The strength of the voice in this book is mind blowing, the pace and tension is masterful and the analogy of social class privilege is pat-down perfect. Because yes, in this world some people are born in a position where it is impossible for them to fail, and then some unlucky ones are born in a position where it's impossible for them to succeed, and Norvik had crafted a beautiful analogy for this without ever being preachy, and hitting us right in the gut.
I loved that our hero is full of rage, but this only serves as a protective layer for all her ideals, and so, we very much root for her. Because she fights the good fight, despite all the odds turned against her, including her very own personality.
If you cheer for the chaotic good team, just grab this fantasy novel and enjoy the ride.