This book is a darker, more menacing take on the magic school trope in fantasy. Novik also plays with the "chosen one" archetype in an interesting way. It was an engaging, fast paced read, and I can't wait until the sequel.

What is good about this book?
The premise was very good. I really love the Harry Potter series so I really wanted to read about this school of magic. The main character was intriguing I liked her personality, at least in the first pages. And of course, the cover, my congratulations to the cover designer, the book has a really cool cover.
It has a weak start but a good ending so I could tell it is worth to read it.

What is bad about this book?
The book has a slow pace, especially at the beginning. I felt that I didn't connect to the story.
I learnt about El, however, I wanted to know more about the school, the classes, the background but I didn't get it.
I got more school drama that I would like.

Given that I love UPROOTED and enjoy magic school settings, I had been eagerly anticipating A DEADLY EDUCATION, but I was disappointed. I actually did like the overall story and the dynamic between the two main characters (as well as the main character herself, once I got to better know and understand her). But there was SO MUCH exposition—it seemed there was more explanation than actual story—and the attempts at injecting some humor into the long-winded, rambling voice fell flat for me.

While I've read Novik's Temeraire series before, I hadn't read much that she'd written outside of those. I do enjoy her writing, but this story was very standard to me. I didn't particularly like/identify with any of the characters and it was a typical "magical school" story. Well written, but not sure if I'll continue the series.

First line: I decided that Orion needed to die after the second time he saved my life.

Summary: The Scholomance is a school for wizards. However, this is not your ordinary school. There are no teachers, monsters lurk around every corner and allies are more important than friends. El has spent her years here trying to stay alive, literally. And even though she has extraordinary powers she has to keep them in check otherwise she could destroy the school and everyone in it. With her reputation as a dark wizard and her grumpy attitude she has never made any friends but that all changes when Orion Lake decides to save her life, again.

My Thoughts: This book was crazy! The first few chapters had so much information, world building and magic system in it that it nearly overwhelmed me but I stuck with it. It was worth it! There are many books that are trying to be like Harry Potter but this takes it to another level. Monsters creep out of every nook and cranny. The school is forever changing. Fellow students may try to ally themselves with you or kill you. No teachers or even any adults are in the school. And graduation is a life or death situation.

Everything about this book was different and exciting. I loved the ending. It was thrilling and fast paced. I wish it didn’t have to end but it gave such a good cliffhanger that I am eagerly anticipating the next book. It cannot come soon enough!

FYI: Lots of death, violence and magic.

I will read anything Naomi Novik writes. Her stories are so imaginative and well-written that you just want to keep reading in those worlds, and the Scholomance is no exception. I LOVE the magical world Novik has created in A Deadly Education. The main character El is a snarky outcast with unimaginable (potentially dark) power. In her junior year at a school where the other kids hate her and the monsters are always trying to kill her, El is just trying to get by without causing mass death and destruction. But the closer she gets to Graduation, the more El realizes that she might need a few friends if she's going to make it out alive.

Inventive take on the magical British boarding school. I think it would be a great addition to a high school or public library collection.

Como a Ju falou na 1º resenha de nossa parceria com a Random House Internacional (leia clicando AQUI), de quem recebemos esse eARC (Advance reading copy: algo como “uma cópia de leitura avançada, ou seja, o livro ainda pode sofrer alterações antes de ser publicado), também gostaria de explicar que essas resenhas terão um formato diferente: por serem ARCs, não haverão quotes, já como os livros podem sofrer essas mudanças antes de serem comercializados. Gostaríamos de agradecer profundamente a Editora pela editora de agora sermos parceiros.

Dito isso, vamos ao que importa realmente: o livro!

Galadriel Higgins, ou, como ela mesma se permite ser chamada, El, é a filha de um grande feiticeira que já estudou na Scholomance também, assim como seu pai – mas este morreu porque é assim que a Scholomance funciona e para sair de lá, ou você se forma ou você é morto na cerimônia de graduação. Foi assim que ela nem ao menos conheceu seu pai, e agora, estudante do lugar, você descobre porque ela não tem nenhum amigo: a culpa é dela mesma porque El é terrivelmente mal humorada, ranzinza e até mesmo desagradável. Mas calma aí que temos motivos para a nossa protagonista ser assim.

El tem 16 anos e desde os 14 decidiu se juntar a Scholomance, mesmo sabendo que foi o lugar aonde seu pai morreu. O lugar em si funciona sozinho: sim, é isso mesmo que você leu, não há professores e cada aluno tem o que precisa para aprender seus feitiços e ter sua educação voltada para suas habilidades. Existem bibliotecas específicas, alunos aprendem línguas que já estão até esquecidas e, principalmente, existem os enclaves, que são basicamente grupos de feiticeiros que se unem porque estando com os outros é mais seguro do que ser sozinho, já como há monstros chamados maleficaria (ou simplesmente Mals) que aparecem para os alunos e se alimentam deles Sim, isso mesmo. Mortes são comuns no lugar, o que te faz perguntar por que alguém iria querer ir para aquele lugar, certo? Eu sei que eu me perguntaria. A verdade é que os adolescentes feiticeiros podem morrer dentro da Scholomance, mas fora é ainda pior, já como os Mals tem preferência por feiticeiros adolescentes, então basicamente é aquela escolha: ficar com sua família e sempre tentar fugir da morte ou ir e… também tentar fugir da morte. Por isso os grupos se tornam tão importantes assim.

El tem todas as características que falei cima porque algo em seu passado a marcou: ainda criança, sua bisavó previu um possível futuro catastrófico para ela. El própria sente que sua magia é sombria e caótica, e a previsão de sua bisavó somente fez as pessoas temerem a garota e nem ao menos se importarem se ela estava viva ou não quando um Mal a atacou. É algo bem intenso para um primeiro livro, mas me chamou a atenção e me fez gostar mais ainda na narrativa.

E na outra ponta de El, temos o personagem masculino principal: Orion Lake é basicamente o aluno modelo que vive para caçar e matar os Mals, cuidando de todos que estão próximo dele. E ele fez o pecado de justamente salvar El. Duas vezes. Claro que ela está de saco cheio de ser salva por ele, e é claro que o destino tem outros planos para os dois.

Eu sei que parece somente mais outro livro de escola de feiticeiros e bruxaria, mas não, não é. A construção do mundo aqui é nada menos do que meticulosa em seus mínimos detalhes, e é tão bem descrito que muitas vezes se torna até mesmo cinematográfico, enquanto a autora cuida de responder perguntas que parecem obvias para o leitor, porque como uma escola vai funcionar sozinha, certo? Porque cada aluno cuida de si mesmo e faz suas coisas ou morre.

Outro ponto que preciso deixar claro é a representatividade que o livro tem. Desde El (que sim, tem esse nome por causa dos livros “O Senhor dos Anéis” – sim, dos livros, não dos filmes!) a diversos outros personagens que permeiam a narrativa, o livro traz personagens de diversos lugares, e isso fica bem claro já como os Enclaves são normalmente de cidades, tendo o de Londres como um dos mais antigos.

Mas, pra mim, o livro me ganhou pela El. O livro é todo em primeira pessoa e quebra a barreira da narrativa, já como El chega até mesmo a falar diretamente com o leitor. Ela é sarcástica, ranzinza, chega até mesmo a ser grosseira, mas também é o tipo de personagem que você entende porque é assim já como ela implode diversas vezes e você lê isso, sentindo a dor da personagem. Há passagens que ela sente vontade de chorar, mas se controla porque precisa mostrar que é forte já como é rejeitada por muitas pessoas, o que é bastante doloroso de se ler.

O livro é o 1º de uma série e o final deixa claro que podemos esperar mais da Scholomance e, sinceramente, eu quero ler e saber o rumo que a história irá tomar porque o livro flerta com o terror ao descrever os Mals – sério mesmo, há uma variedade imensa deles e do tipo que te faz imaginar como ele seria esteticamente. A tensão está presente em cada um dos alunos e você pode ler isso saltando as páginas, afinal, o colégio já pode ser difícil o suficiente, agora imagine se você correr o risco de morrer. Mas, é como aquela máxima: as melhores coisas são as mortais, e para se formar na Scholomance ou você estuda o suficiente para se formar e sobreviver ou você não sairá de lá. A escolha parece fácil de ser feita.

Thanks for the free book, Penguin Random House International.

DNF @ 152 pages

uh...I wish to be rid of the crushing disappointment that's been crushing my chest since I tried reading this book, was bored among other things and ultimately decided to put it down for my own sanity and happiness.

The good:
- The premise. That's it. This book, from the synopsis, sounds absolutely brilliant. A magical school that no one fails and survives? A girl with an affinity for mass destruction? Succeeding at the cost of annihilating everyone else? Sign me up. Because of all of the above this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I was ecstatic to be sent an early copy.

The bad:
- This book is boring. I read 152 pages of it and all those pages were basically a very VERY wordy way of repeating the synopsis. I got nothing from those pages that the synopsis didn't already supply aside from more characters and mysterious creature and a better look at how the school functions. But none of that deserves to take up half the book, and none of it is enough to make for a captivating story. I read all of that and I still had no idea where the plot was headed or if there was a plot to begin with.
- The appropriation and lack of research. I genuinely do not think there is any excuse to be appropriating Mana from polynesian folks in the year of our lord 2020 when they have been advocating for years that fantasy media stop doing that, because it is extremely disrespectful. It is not my place to comment further on this but I highly encourage you to research and look for Polynesian folks' opinions and words on the matter.
- The very stereotypically white written biracial main character. And by that I mean that El, the main character, checks all the boxes for everything white authors do wrong when they write biracial main characters with a white parent. She's completely cut off from the Indian side of her family and is even rejected by them and the only time she even acknowledges her heritage it is in regards to when she needs the languages in relation to her magic. I don't know why white authors thing biracial characters are "POC lite" but that's really not how it works.
- The little to no research. The couple times we got a mention to El's heritage, the author just threw anything that sounds even vaguely Indian to her into this book and hoped for the best. and it showed in the lack of nuance in the way all of it was written. This also makes me circle back to the use of Mana as well as it being called "the current trend" when it comes to magic on page 8.

I was made aware that the author has apologized for the mess that came out of this book a couple weeks ago, but I haven't looked into it so I don't know if the apology is any good. So do with that information what you will.

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.