Not sure why the publisher granted my request THREE YEARS after publication, but I'd already read and loved A Deadly Education.

Here's the review from my blog:

At Scholomance, a cutthroat school of magic, students are expected to graduate or die. The main rule: don't ever walk the hallways alone for monsters lurk everywhere. A standoffish loner, El doesn't have the advantages of the bigger cliches, but she does have a powerful magic that tends toward destruction. When she befriends the popular hero of the school, El must balance her survival with the survival of the other students in one of the best dark magic books out there.

Of the fantasy books I read this month, A Deadly Education was by far my favorite. My husband told me I had to try the "Dirty Harry Potter" series he was reading, and I quickly fell in love with Novik's fantasy series. With top-notch world-building and a great premise, A Deadly Education blends the perfect mix of teenage angst and romance to make it a perfect YA series to read. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book from my library.

It's like a dark Harry Potter if Hogwarts tried to eat the kids. Dark, hilarious, and highly entertaining, I highly recommend this series.

**I was provided an electronic copy of this book post-release by the publisher through NetGalley.**

Naomi Novik's completed Scholomance Trilogy begins with A Deadly Education. El is a girl especially gifted with magic, but in a school designed to attack student mages as they pursue their studies, her loner status is almost more dangerous than her magic.

In full disclosure, I am leaving this review because this was a "wish granted" by NetGalley nearly three years after the wish was made, but I read this book in 2021. As such, my memory does not allow the level of detail typical to my reviews.

I enjoyed the dynamics between El and her classmates, particularly her himbo academic rival Orion. This book does cater to its intended age demographic (young adult) and I would say it edges closer to the middle of the age bracket. There is a humor to Novik's storytelling in this series that will either be a hit or miss for readers. Some reviewers find El's characterization to be grating, but I would say I did not find that to be the case when consuming the book via audio.

Overall, I thought this was a decent start to a series I enjoyed.

Naomi Novik books always suck me in without me even realizing it. A Deadly Education was one of those books.

The world building for the school and the monsters was absolutely enthralling. I loved every second of it.

Every character made you want to know more and I honestly can’t wait to read the other books in the series.

I would highly recommend A Deadly Education!

I loved this book, the author has an amazing and descriptive writing style and El is such a wonderfully dark and loveable character. The descriptions and setting in this book were beautilly terrifying and macabre. You really feel like this is a place in the real world you can actually visit. The best part of the book I think is the side characters who are all fully fleshed out and realistic and I really came to adore them.

I can't wait to finish this series!

I definitely enjoyed this book! It has dark academia and it has magic, and combined those are two of my favorite things. And honestly, I just work really well with Novik's writing style, it always draws me into the book. I find that she's a talented writer and knows how to make use of "common tropes" and turn them into something fascinating.

At some parts I was a little like ??? but then I was all "OHHH" This book was a wild ride on so many levels. I enjoyed those moments where I could get lost. Novik is able to bring this world to reality, and she mixes our everyday world with this magical one, but she does it in a seamless way that works for me. Sometimes you get parts that almost don't mesh, but I felt like that was the point at times, to show how odd this whole situation was. Like a rite of passage.

El as a main character was excellent, especially her narration style. It worked for me, and I thought how Novik built out her relationships in the book was done well. There are a few reasons for this, and the main one is it felt like they naturally progressed. And it gave a real look at friendships -- they can take work, and you can make mistakes in them. So in those aspects I think she did a great job. I even enjoyed the "romance" in this book.

Overall, this was an excellent book, and such a unique take on a magic school and dark academia!

If I were to sum this book up quickly, it would be "Harry Potter meets Gideon the Ninth." There’s even a moment early on where our decidedly-not-Harry-like protagonist makes a point of telling the reader how much she hates treacle tart. I see what you did there, Novik.


Our protagonist is a junior at the Scholomance, a magical academy for wizard students from all over the world. Her name is Galadriel (not her fault; her mom is something of a hippy) and she goes by El. El is focused on a single goal: surviving to and through graduation. Because as the title of the book suggests, the Scholomance is not a safe place. Monsters of all sorts (called “mals”) are attracted to young wizards, and Scholomance was built as a relatively safe place for young wizards to learn. The “relatively” bit is key here - even with all the protections built into the school, mals are constantly finding their way in. Managing the day-to-day routines of class, the cafeteria, and going to the bathroom requires constant vigilance. Graduation is even worse - the mals know where the exit to the school is, and know that a few hundred tasty morsels brimming with mana will be leaving the school’s protections. The fatality rate at Scholomance is high (though much better than the 60% or so it is for young wizards outside), and to make it out of graduation alive requires having allies to watch your back.


And this is where things get tricky. Everyone at Scholomance wants to survive, of course, and as the old saying goes, if you and your classmate are desperately trying to escape a horrible tentacled monstrosity from deepest nightmare, you don’t actually need to outrun the horrible tentacled monstrosity from deepest nightmare - you just need to outrun your classmate. Nothing personal, but better you than me. And if I happen to trip you, well, do unto others before they do unto you.


Many of the students come from wizard communities on the outside, and as such, come with alliances pre-arranged. All the students from the same wizarding enclave will support each other. For independent students, getting allies is key. The preferred way is to find a group of enclave students that will take you on, with the possibility of being admitted to the enclave after (hopefully) making it out alive.


And here’s where our protagonist has a problem. El is snarky, sarcastic, has a huge chip on her shoulder, and is constitutionally incapable of doing anything that might possibly be viewed as sucking up to the enclave kids. Given the depth of her talent, she should have the various enclaves in a bidding war over her. Instead, she conceals her talent and hopes to … well, she’s working that part out, but she’ll think of something.


And then Orion Lake, mal-slayer extraordinaire, protector of the student body, scion of the peerless New York enclave, burts into El’s room one night and “saves” her from a soul-eater even though she would have been fine, she didn’t ask him to save her from anything, and now everyone will think she’s just the latest of oh-so-great-and-wonderful-Orion’s damsels-in-distress. Big shot has been in classes with her for three years and he doesn’t even know her name. Asshole.


Things develop from there, and it’s a pure delight to read. It’s got all the angsty teenage drama you could hope for, with a backdrop of absolute mortal danger at every turn that is nonetheless completely banal. I called it “Harry Potter meets Gideon the Ninth,” and seldom have I ever seen an X-meets-Y that fits so perfectly. Naomi Novik hardly needs me heaping more praise on her, but holy hell was this book awesome.

Fans of dark academia are in for a treat with Novik's first book in a series set at the Scholomance, a school that is for those with magical talent. Also, the Scholamance itself is actively trying to kill those students, it seems. When El, who is always prepared and is always on the straight-and-narrow, finds herself aligned with those she never would have dreamed of, she finds out if she can make it through the school's dangers and fight through the monsters that are out to get the students. Will she make it to the end of the term?

Naomi Novik is one of my favorite contemporary fantasy authors. Her writing style and knack for absorbing stories doesn't fall short with this new series. Dark academia, teenage drama, monsters, and friendships (maybe? Jury is still out on if they are really friends), take center stage in this fantastic book. This was a 5-star read for me!

My favorite part about this book was the relationship between El and Orion. El’s prickly attitude towards Orion, who does nothing but nice things for her, totally amused me from beginning to end and I found their dynamic to be silly and endearing.
The writing style very much rambles since it’s directly from El’s voice, and is therefore peppered with sarcasm and brooding petulance. This book would be better enjoyed by people who like reading dark academia YA stories (it definitely steers younger rather than adult), expositional world building, and lots of inner monologue. You have to be invested in the world of these magic schools to want to go through the info dumps, as well as like the main character to enjoy her style of rambling.

I agonized over what to read after this book before giving in and just reading this book again. I wasn't ready to leave El, the stubborn sorcereress who doesn't want to murder all her classmates even though it would be so much easier. I wanted to stay with this magical school where the high death rate isn't a bug, it's a feature. I just loved everything about it so much. Is it too soon for me to read it again a third time?

I requested this book before some word got around about problematic passages in it, and I unfortunately no longer wish to read it.

Though extremely dark, this one also had some boughts of fun and hilarity. I loved the snarky, sassy heroine and it felt fun to escape into another magical world that felt a little more grown up! I can't wait to read the next book in this series!

I LOVED this series! I loved the female characters grit and need no help attitude. I loved the dynamic between her and the just want to help male. I loved the idea of kids in a unsupervised environment. I was not a fan of Lord of the Flies, but I thought this was a more interesting play on the same theme.

3 stars. I admire the creativity of the world-building. I also seriously love me a snarky main character. But the plot, the story, and the development of the characters really suffer in this book because of the way it's told. To be honest, this book feels like 75% info dump, 15% snarky commentary from the main character, and 10% actual action. All that being said, I will read volume two.

If I were to describe A Deadly Education, I’d say think Harry Potter but make it way darker, with a main character that has a bit of an attitude problem, major anger issues and whose magic affinity is destruction, plus the cherry on top, a school that’s hellbent on killing its students. If the dark academia genre had a baby with the fantasy genre, this book would certainly be it. An all-time favorite for sure!

I'm not a huge Naomi Novik fan, but I enjoyed this title well enough! Looking forward to the next in the series.

This book drags the "special wizard children have adventures together in a special school" plot into a back alley, shakes it down for loose tropes and subverts them into a breathtaking thrill ride of a read that oozes originality & excitement from every dark, deadly, monster-filled corner.

It delivers scathing class and economic commentary in the voice of a lonely, indomitable young woman whose heart is much bigger than she knows and who isn't nearly as cynical and bitter as she thinks she should be.

hands-down the best thing I read all year. I loved every word and I cannot wait for the second book in the series.

I love this author. Sadly this book was a miss for me. Most people love it but I found it really difficult to follow and I couldn't really connect with any of the heroine's actions. Still curious about the next book though.

Wow! This isn’t the average wizarding school. Main objective: stay alive. El is sarcastic and friendless in a school where it’s dangerous to not have friends, or at least allies. Everyone, including the Scholomance itself, seems to expect her to go malificer, stealing others’ life force and creating mass destruction. But she doesn’t want to. She just wants to stay alive and make it through graduation.

This story is wonderful. Danger and action at every turn. The characters and their relationships are entertaining. Starting book two immediately!

I love Naomi Novik's Uprooted, and I've kind of like Temeraire book 1 too, but even if the story of A Deadly Education is really interesting, I'm struggling too much with the writing style. It's really heavy and confusing, I can't follow properly the plot. And it frustrates me, because the dialogues are good and I think all the characters have a great potential but.. I stopped.
I'll try again another time, but for now is a big (and sad) no.