Title: A Deadly Education
Author: Naomi Novik
Series: The Scholomance #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark academia, Dark fantasy, Magic
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020
A Deadly Education is an absolutely fantastic book, one that was completely impossible to put down. The story building and ideas hooked me from the start, and the further you get into the story, the darker it gets. Which I expected a little bit, but the depth of darkness in this was astounding. I couldn’t wait to see what horrors the school conjured next, and how Galadriel was going to deal with it. Plus, there’s so many lovely little nerdy points in this that made me smile, whilst everyone was running for their lives.
Whilst I’ve seen A Deadly Education multiple times over the past few years, and heard good things about it, I’ve been somewhat reluctant to read it. I was kind of expecting it to not live up to the hype and be another take on Hogwarts if I’m being honest. But, it is nothing like that. This definitely lives up to the hype. And I loved the uniqueness of the school and how it (and the lessons) are structured. I loved how intricately and well thought out not only the school, but the world and laws of magic were built. The entire structure gives a great basis for all of the character growth that El goes through, and the potential for what’s going to happen next.
One of my favourite things about El’s character was that she is so damn prickly and resistant to friendship. Which, the more you find out about her history, the more you can understand the why’s and the how’s of this. But, as the story unfolds, she finally starts to find others to let in. She is able to find her people, even though she’s not exactly the gentlest and kindest of the students. I love reading about strong women who don’t fit the mould, and who aren’t afraid to tell others to get lost when it’s needed. I particularly love her strength of character and morals that she displays throughout – turning down opportunities because she hates the hypocrisy and double handedness.
Whilst I really liked the Orion and El relationship, I did find Orion kind of foolish in moments. He just… didn’t think through the consequences of his actions throughout and was then really shocked when they were pointed out to him. And then, he was incredibly ignorant of his privilege. Which, I know is 100% what a privileged person is generally like, but damn was it frustrating at times. I really enjoyed how Novik consistently called out privilege and how blinding it is for some people throughout this story. A great commentary on something that is a silent battle every day.
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Earth and Skye 