A deadly education is set in a magic school where you either graduate or you die. We follow El who is the year before graduation year as she navigates her time at school. El has enough power to protect herself against the monsters but this power also seems to put other people off being close to her. El is therefore working hard to figure out how she can create some allies if not friends.

There is a lot to like in this book. The idea of the monsters attacking young people with magic and a school setting which no longer protects them the way is should. The development of El with other chararcters (I will not say any more as I do not want to enter spoiler territory), the diversity - the school accepts people from all over the world which leads to a diverse group of characters.

However although I enjoyed this book it wan't a new favourite. I sometimes felt a little overwhelmed by the terms used within the book in relation to the magic system. Also at times it felt as if I was being told so much that I was slightly removed from the story itself.

Having said all that I am excited for more books in the already established world (I am guessing there will be more books). That last line has got me asking questions!

Thank you so much NetGalley for giving me these e-ARC. First of all, I love Naomi Novik's UPROOTED so much and when I heard she's going to release A Deadly Education, I know right away I pre-ordered the book immediately. I got the chance to read the book earlier which I was very excited!!

A Deadly Education is a dark magical story about our lead character, El, short for Galadriel (As in Galadriel in LOTR!) and her journey in this magical school for wizards called The Scholomance. The Scholomance is not that type of school of wizards (not like Hogwarts), you can find monsters here lurking in the dark and ready to eat you, you will never be safe in this school if you're going to class / library / cafetaria ALONE. If you do go alone, trust me, be ready to find monsters (in here it's called as Mal). What I really love about this book is the world-building in here, I love how Naomi crafted the world and the magical system in here is captivating! The fact that you have to take out 'a life force' or in here called as 'mana' to do some magic is very interesting. I love El so much, she's independent, she had to learn to be independent because of her differences (her dark magic power) , her character is quite relatable to me and i adore her so much.

I give this book a 4-star rating! I almost gave it a 5 stars, however, I find the plot was a bit boring at first maybe because the author wants to tell us about this new world of 'the scholomance and its magic system' but i feel like this book is lacking in action scenes, i wish there was more actions between the students & the mals, it felt a bit draggy at first but overall I still enjoy the book. I'm really looking forward for the second book though, i hope it'll get better!

I loved Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and expected something similar here, something fairytale-esque, but what I got was something completely different. It’s a weird world of a magic school without teachers, where it’s accepted that not all of your class will survive to graduate. A school the moves and changes and that is infested by creatures eager to harvest the lives of the student’s within.

It took me longer than I usually like to get into, as the world Novik has created is so bizarre and wonderful it took me a while to wrap my head around. Once I did however, I was drawn in. Everything worked so well together, and I think Novik proved again, at least to me she’s a talented writer.

If you struggled to begin with like I did, definitely push through. I found the payoff so rewarding, and I can firmly say this book is my favourite of the year so far.

I stayed up until 5am reading this in one glorious burst, and I feel dead today but it was so worth it. If there's anyone in the world I stan, it's Naomi Novik (she MADE ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN!! she writes stories which INFECT MY BRAIN! her plot mechanisms are feats of engineering!) so I was incredibly excited for this.
This is a take on the 'magical school' trope, which examines the idea that magic is a free, unlimited resource for students who are good enough at casting. Instead, you have to put real effort into collecting enough energy to cast spells (knitting or doing sit-ups are popular choices). Otherwise, you have to take life force from other living things to cast spells. It's something I examined in my next book The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, where I wanted to examine the source of ghosts' energy - they have to fight amongst themselves to get the most power, or disintegrate. So this hit me in my sweet spot, in a topic I've thought a lot about recently.
It's the most brutal, wonderfully cutthroat world of death and horror, within the closed environment of a metal school under siege by creatures desperate to consume the students' magic.
The characters are great too: a girl who is destined to be evil, and a boy who is destined to be a hero. Both of them aren't entirely happy with accepting their fates, and rebel against it in different ways. El's mum was also brilliant - I love how the truth about her crept in slowly, starting with little references and growing into something really impressive.
The beginning of the novel is a little exposition heavy, but that's only because once it gets going, it literally does not pause for breath until the final page. Novik is a master at setting up a plot to unfurl in a series of staggeringly well-thought out bursts of action, weaving together into an imaginative climax. This is no exception, and I am so, so excited for the sequel. I want more of vicious El and her lovely, besotted Orion.