The best of Naomi Novik's recent books. I loved the main character. She was an imperfect prickly anti-hero. The world building is robust, the environment is just the right amount of spooky and stressful to keep you on the edge of your seat. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and look forward to more in this universe.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

A Deadly Education
By: Naomi Novik

REVIEW ☆☆☆☆

Imagine graduation being dependent upon survival. Either, the school building kills you, or you get to graduate. What??? El is the sarcastic and perpetually angry heroine who possesses, but doesn't really use, great power. El faces a consequence of some kind if she uses her power, so it's easier to just not go there. Orion is another student, a boy El dislikes, but she doesn't like anyone anyway.

Circumstances throw them together, and the ensuing love hate dance is so entertaining and tension filled-not to mention the witty banter between El and Orion. This story is refreshingly different from others with similar premises. El attends a school of magic that is entirely unique, fascinating and dark. She is not your typical girl, either. And, the end will leave you with??!!!?? I definitely recommend for magical readers seeking a new and exciting experience.

I could not shut up about this book. Such a fun world to dive into. A whole new world to explore, so many layers of information, making for a slow start. I was particularly confused by the different types of magic with similar names. The ending was such a shock, making the wait for the follow-up seem like an eternity away. Read if you are looking for a series where an outcasts becomes fast friends or if you liked/loved The Magicians by Lev Grossman. I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley and Berkley, thank you to them. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The world of Scholomance so rich and Novik adds her own twist. The only downside is that El rushes through much of the world building business that is necessary to understanding how the every works. She assumes the readers know it all and I did not. (In fact, I'm still not certain, by the end if I completely understand it all.) A Deadly Education is like that other magical YA series that took the world by storm 20+ years ago, but imagine the only classes are Defense Against the Dark Arts and there are no professors. Got it? Well, you've got A Deadly Education.

El (short for Galadriel) is a junior at The Scholomance, a school of magic users. The Scholomance has the feel of Hogwarts crossed with The Hunger Games crossed with Alien. In other words, the only reason a young person would want to go there is because as bad of the odds are of surviving The Schoolomance, the odds of surviving outside were worse. Mals of all shapes and dispositions try to get the students. Some are large, some are small, but all are nasty. You get teleported in as Freshman, strive to survive for four years and make a dash through the Graduation Ceremony to escape the mass of mals waiting for you on the ground floor.

El has a been working on a plan on how she will manage to survive graduation. But it will be tough when she barely has any acquaintances, much less allies until Orion Lake saved her life, again. That is the opening of the book. All their adventures, disasters, weird insights that follow shape the narrative until the surprise ending. Which make this reader anxious to see how the next book will resolve this conundrum! A fun, twisty read!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!

If you loved Harry Potter you'll love the first in this new series by Naomi Novik. Galadriel (El) is fighting to survive her junior year in a school for the magically inclined that is built to literally kill them. Like Harry Potter but with a kickass heroine more like Katniss Everdeen.

I received an ARC through NetGalley thank you to Random House. I loved it! I know there has been a lot of polarizing discussion about the book. I feel that Novik did a great job at world building and telling the story from El's point of view as a teenage girl who is not accepted into many/any circles because of her looks and background. I work with teens and know that many feel excluded for various reasons. The character is real in that she feels angry and frustrated lashing out when it is not always warranted. Besides all this the school is trying to kill her while whispering to her to go to the "dark side." Many reviewers the story had many moments of long rambling, usually that bothers me but I didn't notice it here. Excellent cliff hanger at the end, looking forward to the next book.

Truly, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik was a fine book, but considering how high it was on my list of most anticipated releases this year, I can’t deny I was disappointed. For a novel with such a tantalizingly title and synopsis, I guess I had expected a little more action and intensity, but clearly I had misjudged or let the hype get the better of me. Still, it was enjoyable for what it was, and I think magic school fans will be well pleased, though word of advice, you might want to brace yourself for a slow-burner.

Our story takes place in Scholomance, a school for magically gifted children. Galadriel “El” Higgins is the main character of this tale, and she has long been burdened with a prophecy. Before she was born, her father had died while protecting her pregnant mother at their graduation ceremony, where both of them had been seniors facing their final challenge—a battle against a swarm of maleficaria, or “mals”, which are magic-feeding monsters of nightmare that routinely break into the school to devour unwary students. Heartbroken and grieving, El’s mother had brought her infant daughter to her father’s family after she was born, hoping for love and support, but instead receives a dire warning. El has an affinity for dark magic, and one day, she is foretold to bring destruction and ruin to the world’s magical enclaves.

Having something like that over your head can be rough, and not surprisingly, El grows up to be a rather cynical and surly young woman. Herself now a student at Scholomance, she has poured her full attention into her studies, scoffing at the idea of making friends. Still, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting when nobody even seems interested in getting to know her. Everyone who has heard about the prophecy and of her destructive magic has wisely decided to stay far away—all except another student named Orion Lake, who himself is a bit strange. A promising wizard and talented monster slayer in his own right, Orion has apparently made it his personal mission to rescue El from all mal attacks, not realizing he is spoiling all her carefully laid plans. With graduation fast approaching, El has no choice but to alter her tactics, overcoming her disdain for relationships in order to form some new alliances. With this year’s crop of mals especially strong, vicious, and hungry, there will be no surviving the gauntlet without help.

Doesn’t that sound amazing? I thought it sounded amazing. Which is why I’m mystified as to why this book was such a struggle, especially at the beginning. In all likelihood, it was a combination of factors, like the character’s personality, story pacing, an excessive abundance of emo schoolyard drama, etc.

We’ll begin with our protagonist El, who is ill-tempered and snooty—and not in a cutesy endearing way either. She’s plain obnoxious, has a chip on her shoulder the size of Texas, and seems to take pride in being awful to everyone around her. Look, I get it. It’s not easy being known to the magic community as the bringer of death, but bloody hell, woman! When you’re drowning and someone offers you a life preserver, can you for once maybe not act like a massive bitch? Worse, every time it seems like El is finally making some headway in this area, next thing you know, she immediately turns around the blows it.

Next factor is the pacing. Like I said, the first half of the book is pretty sluggish. Novik is usually so good with world-building in terms of working the details naturally into the narrative, which is why I was shocked to see so much info-dumping in the early chapters. In fact, it felt like a good chunk of the novel was exposition, mostly of the main character going on and on about some trivial matter or another in great detail. I hate to say it, but the first half felt like a lot of talk and no action. I also think the author was trying for a more mature tone, but the amount of teen drama and angst coming off of El gave this one too much of a YA feel, except with less excitement and interest.

The good news is that the second half picked up immensely, and the fact that this coincided with a sharp uptick in mal action should come as no surprise. I enjoyed the whole “survival of the fittest” idea behind the school, but it wasn’t until I was well into the book that I finally began to understand and appreciate the stakes, which definitely raised the intensity levels and made the book so much fun to read. However, my main concern is that this might be too late for some readers. Not going to lie, it was almost too late for me, but thankfully, the strength of the second half went a long way in making up for a lackluster first half.

All in all, a weaker start with a strong finish is still always going to be better than the other way around, at least for me. While the first half might have been a bit of a slog, the second half and ending won me over, and I am convinced to carry on with the next one.

With the exception of some racial bias scattered within the story, this was an okay read. Novik knows how to write fantasy elements and how to keep the reader in interest. It would be worth it to hope that the next book will be without the biases.

I really tried to savor this book I really did (I really couldn't and it took me two days). A Deadly Education is everything I wanted to read and didn't know it yet. Schoolmance is a great place to learn magic of all types the trick is learning and surviving Schoolmance. Galadriel is a junior, just one year away from graduation and has learned how to keep her head down, form favorable alliances with her peers and is trying to figure out her future if she survives graduation. She is saved by Orion who is the scion of the New York enclave. Drawing attention to herself for one of the very first times since attending the school bringing her to the attention of her peers. A school rife with magic and dangers El is in for a junior year she hopes to survive it.

I read the entire book and even if one ignored the racism, I was not a fan. Look, I really liked Spinning Silver and Uprooted, but this was just not it for me. I kept reading because I was determined to finish, but if I wasn't, Novik would have lost me about 40% of the way in when there was not a clear sense of plot or action. I'm fine with 'slice of life' stories and even with stories just about a year of school, but the amount of clunky paragraphs dedicated to explanations made it hard to slough through.

In addition, I felt like it was almost 80% through with the book before I felt like, "okay the action is going, the plot seems to be moving somewhere", before I was just stumbling around. I'm also all for 'unlikeable heroines' (I mean there is a huge conversation I can't get into now with that....), but El was really pushing it for me. I understand that everyone in the school is basically your competition and you have no real reason to befriend anyone, but many of her decisions didn't make any sense to me. Additionally, it was hard for me to figure out who El was as a character, because I felt like her internal narration or emotions just weren't delved into deeply.

I was very excited to read my first ever Naomi Novik book. Thank you very much to PRH International for the eARC.
Though life was a little hectic, I wanted and managed to read a few pages every day, or more when the story was getting really intense.
There are many aspects I loved, from the appearance of the familiars at the end, to the exciting yet painful maintenance scene! I enjoyed reading about El's background and reason for adversity, was very glad when she managed to find people she could trust and call friends. Her relationship with Orion was naturally developed and the last line blew me away! I am looking forward to the second book! This was definitely an "I-need-the-sequel-right-now" book for me.
P.S. A longer review to come on my bookstagram and Goodreads accounts

4/5 stars

I truly enjoyed this weird kind of anti-YA fantasy novel. But I don't think this book will be everybody's cup of tea.

Regarding the racist passages some people have addressed, I've read reviews and various threads on Twitter and I have to say that most arguments seem forced to me. However, I agree that the author could've avoided using the word "dreadlocks". Maybe the info on Indian culture was not as accurate as it should've been, but the novel is coherent, so everything makes perfect sense within the narrative to me. I really don't see how this book could be considered racist whatsoever.

A Deadly Education criticises societies that are based on selfish individuals who'd do whatever it takes to survive. Every single day inside of the Scholomance can be your last and most of the times you pretend to be friendly to others just because you need something. All the characters mind their own business and believe me: these are terrifically imperfect characters. Both El and Orion are annoying some times, and yet you end up caring for them. They are cold and serious, but also generous and comic. Don't expect to find badass heroes or heroines in this book because... Well, there aren't. As I said, they basically do what they think is best to live another day.

In fact, the word "absurd" as in "this cannot be true", crossed my mind several times while reading this book; not because of the plot, but because of its underlying ironic tone. El is super powerful, but she often needs to be saved because if she used her powers, she would kill all the monsters plus the rest of the students. Orion is the naïve knight in shining armour who desperately tries to save everybody, the one all the students adore, but in reality they just want him to serve as the monsters' happy-willing meal. Ironic. Surrealist. Absurd. You get what I mean?

On another note, this is a very dense book, with lots of "info dumps", since the worldbuilding is complex and shady as you have no idea. I personally loved it, but I'm sure many readers won't. It kind of reminded me of Kristoff's Nevernight, but better. What can I say: I love Naomi Novik.

The ending was not epic, true, but it sure leaves you on a cliffhanger. I need more. I'm so excited to see where this story goes!

This was my first Naomi Novik novel, and it was phenomenal! I look forward to the next in the series.

I am a huge fan of Naomi Novik's previous work so I jumped at the chance to read this book. This story involves a magical school unlike any other. It exists in a void, has no staff, and oh by the way-is chock full of mals who roam the school snacking on the student population. Students come here at the age of 14 and try to survive until age 18, where they run the mal gauntlet at their graduation ceremony and *if* they make it out alive might be lucky enough to become a member of an enclave, a much coveted position. Much covted to everyone except our protagonist Galadriel "El". El is a loner with an affinity for destruction on a massive scale. Other characters include Orion Lake who is some sort of mal killer extraordinaire. The world built here is fantastic, even if it seems you're kind of thrown into it at the beginning. The school is populated by many characters from all over the globe and the politics and jockeying for position is savage. It took me til about halfway through the book to get a sense of the school and characters but I am glad I stuck with it as I really did end up enjoying it. Also there is a bit of a cliffhanger that makes me very intrigued for the next book. People who liked the Magicians or Catherine House will probably like this. People who are expecting stories like previous Novik outings (Spinning Silver/Uprooted) might be a little disappointed

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

High school is normally hard but at Scholomance the school is actually trying to kill you. Scholomance is a deadly boarding school for magic with no adults and nasty creatures trying to eat all the students. You have to survive four years while learning spells and even then you have small odds that you will make it.

I really liked the main character El. She has the potential to become a powerful evil witch but she works hard to control those impulses. She is an outsider and loner in a world where you need others to watch your back. El learns to open up and find her way at the school. I thought there was great world building describing the wild school. I am looking forward to book two in the series.

The Scholomance is a school like no other. There are no teachers. There are no vacations. There are no friendships. There are only magical students, locked up to learn to protect themselves against a world that wants to devour their powerful essences. And El is the most deadly of them all—except she can't prove it unless she wants to destroy herself and murder the rest of her classmates and fulfill her prophecy of death and destruction. Until the hero of her year, Orion Lake, swoops in to save her not once, not twice, but three times! El will not abide.

I really, truly enjoyed this book!

I loved El, the snarky, antisocial heroine who is very much a product of her times. Her mother is the most amazingest white witch on the planet, and her father died getting them (her mother was pregnant at the time of graduation) out of Scholomance. She has been rejected by the Indian side of her family, who saw death and destruction within her, and has been ostracized and terrorized her entire life thanks to her powerful latent magic.

The side characters weren't as powerfully drawn as I would have liked, but I did enjoy how they were all products of their environment and the circumstances that being a wizard meant in this weird world where demons are everywhere.

They wanted comfort, then they wanted luxury, and then they wanted excess, and ever step of the way they still wanted to be safe, even as they made themselves more and more of a tempting target, and the only way they could stay safe was to have enough power to keep off everyone that wanted what they had.

The privilege of those who were in the enclaves versus everyone else, and the compound wealth of having things passed down from student to student within the school and the sharing of magic, was very well done. There were so many parallels to the inequalities of now within Scholomance, and how the enclave students saw their privilege and didn't care because it allowed them a better chance at survival in this cruel, cruel world. It meant that the non-enclave kids had to be meaner, smarter and more ruthless in order to survive in a world destined to have them be demon food for the rich.

The most ridiculous character, then, in this world where everyone was little stabbing each other in the backs for a little something nicer, was Orion Lake. The scion of wealth, power and privilege and utterly unaware of just how good he had it and how he too was being exploited.

I enjoyed his not-a-relationship with El, and how El was just like, ugh fine yes let's everyone think we're dating so I can get some street cred but not like pity-cred but omg no Orion can't find out we're fake-dating because then my plan is ruined!

The downside to this book was that the info dumps hit, and they hit hard. That is the problem with writing an introspective, antisocial character. Everything is in their head, and El is so smart and so isolated that it's not like she has friends she can talk to. Plus, she's so smart that she's thinking in a bajillion different angles every second even when awful, horrible things are happening and because she's terrified that she will turn back and accidentally use life-force magic instead of white magic and fulfill the prophecy.

However, while I understood the exposition, there was...a lot of it. And I enjoyed El's voice, but sometimes the snark and sarcasm were a little overwhelming and I kept thinking stop fucking THINKING and get a move on with the action, kid!

BUT. There is a shit ton of action and a lot of creepy shit, even if sometimes it felt like it was creepy for the ~aesthetic~ of dark academia meets demons. The demons were all creepy as fuck, however, which made it all the more believable that everyone was as locked into survival mode as they were. Generations of this hell meant everyone was a rat bastard.

And the ending. What a cliffhanger!

Holy exposition it cannot end like this! I need book 2 in my life right now.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

A really fun, compelling novel that is sure to appeal to fans of Harry Potter! The world building was fantastic and I loved the main character.

This book has by far the most unique take on the concept of magical schools I have ever read. The whole concept of this story can be summed up as "magic users are super delicious as adolescents, so they need to be put away in a school filled with monsters and no adults until they know how to protect themselves. Or death. Whichever is first."
Reading about the daily grind (literally) of school and the main character constantly trying not to be eaten were almost distracting enough to hide an otherwise weak plot. However, I also feel that the book is leading up to a phenomenal Part Two, which I am already looking forward to.
This book is so much different than Naomi Novik's other books that I had to double check that I had the author right. She is a phenomenal writer and I think this book is a slow start to a great series. I can't wait to see how it progresses.

I was a bit disappointed, the plot seemed boring and uninteresting. For me, the characters seemed flat, I didn't like them at 100% and I found the main character annoying. While the atmosphere of the academy was great, it didn't meet my expectations, I may read the next book but it's not that I'm dying to read the sequel.