I've heard a lot of praises for Naomi Novik's previous works. Close bookish friends always recommend her books to me. That's why I was looking forward to reading this novel when I got the pre-approved digital galley from the publisher. This was my first Novik's book, and maybe I set my expectations too high. I badly wanted to love this book, however, it did not quite work for me.

Reading the synopsis, the premise was really interesting and promising. It seemed to lean toward hight fantasy meets dark academia. The setting was heavily inspired of the Scholomance, a fabled school of black magic which was run by the Devil. There was no doubt that the world-building was very remarkable. It was apparent that the author put massive effort to develop such complicated world and magic system. However, the info-dumping made the pacing too slow. Most times, I didn't really mind info-dumping especially at the beginning of the story since it was necessary to explain the world to the readers. Unfortunately, even the action scenes and between dialogues were interrupted by long expositions. Because of this, the build up and excitement felt bland and flat.

I didn't see much character development. The main character, Galadriel "El" Higgins, was anti-herione. When most protagonists were destined to save the world, El was destined to cause chaos and destruction. She was sarcastic and a little too mean most to everyone so I was not fond of her character. Over time, she grew on me slowly.

Overall, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik has an interesting premise that I'm sure others will find enjoyable much more than I did. Its cliffhanger ending hooked me for the sequel, so I might pick that one once it is released. If you're curious about this book, I suggest you should give it a try.

3/5 stars!

If Hogwarts was enchanted to run itself but Salazar Slytherin got to do the final round of edits and decided to build in a little Hunger Games — with the odds only ever in the favor of the powerful and privileged — you'd have the basic setting for A DEADLY EDUCATION by Naomi Novik.

Then, generations later, our Slytherclaw protagonist El (who is Welsh and Indian and gives me snarky, darker Katniss vibes) shows up. She is definitely powerful (though nobody knows it). But she isn't privileged. At least not in the way that the major enclaves understand it. She's just trying to survive junior year while keeping the dark powers within her leashed so she doesn't destroy, well, everyone and everything — the monstrous mals who keep coming for her and all the students who happen to be in the way. It's incredibly difficult work, but she's determined. Most days. Except when Gryffinpuff golden boy Orion Lake keeps playing the hero and "saving her life." That gets a little old and makes her more murdery than normal. Still. Head down and graduate. Except ... everyone's odds of graduating keep getting worse and worse...

A Deadly Education is exposition heavy at times with an almost stream-of-consciousness narration, but it's so good! I'm not sure I've read a more detailed, believable account of a system of magic or a magic school. Not only is it a fantastically built magical world, but it's also an international one with exceptional cultural diversity rep and acutely relevant observations about privilege, cliques, personal choices, and more. You wouldn't expect it in such a setting, but there's also a healthy dose of adorkable relationship awkwardness — between both friends and "more" — to lighten the dark humor.

Content notes: death of a parent, both light and dark powers, constant mortal danger, gruesome monsters, inequitable systems of sacrifice and privilege, stabbing, murder, cliffhanger

My thanks to @NetGalley and @delreybooks for a digital ARC.

Naomi Novik has written yet another novel in a well-crafted world populated by a diverse group of characters. The story is told from Galadriel's point of view - a young woman attending a Hogwarts-style school of magic. Galadriel is no Hermione Granger though - she knows she's destined to be the dark queen of the world and will stop at nothing to get there. This book is the first of the Scholomance series and leans a little more on the urban fantasy side then Novik's fans are used to. It is a good novel and a great start. Can't wait to read the second book. I appreciate the ARC.

While the beginning of the book took a minute to really hit its stride, this book was so much fun. Novik sets up a compelling and detailed world that is as amazing as it is dangerous.

The system of magic at the Scholomamce is so detailed, it’s quirks and loopholes are all laid out in an organic and natural way. And the characters! My favorite thing about this book, after the magical school intent on killing everyone, was its characters. Galadriel is such a refreshing divergence from the “good guy” protagonist we’re so used to reading about in fantasy. She’s a complex character and it’s the little things about her that make her so fun to read.

This magical world where young wizards are under constant threat is exhilarating. And that ending! Novik has me hooked. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to see where this series goes next.

Thank you Del Ray for the opportunity to read this book!

I stayed up late into the night to finish this! A delightful new take on the rather tired magical boarding school setting. Novik really sticks the landing and I’m looking forward to the second book.

From the publisher: From the New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.

The Scholomance is a legendary school from folklore that author Naomi Novik has claimed for her own in A Deadly Education, the first book in a new series. I love Novik’s Temeraire series and enjoyed her two fairy tales Uprooted and Spinning Silver as well.

It took me about 80 pages to get into A Deadly Education. I was asking myself who wrote it, as Novik normally captivates me from page 1, and that did not happen with A Deadly Education. However, it finally clicked in, and I enjoyed the last two thirds of the book. I feel I need to start over and see what I think of the first third the second time through.

The world building is amazing if at times a little too detailed. There are definitely info dump passages. There are new vocabulary words that are a little too similar and I could have done with a glossary. The character development is surface level – hopefully we will get to know these characters better in book two. The protagonist Galadriel is a little too stereotypically an anti-hero; the hero Orion is a little too stereotypically a hero.

There is a fun obligatory Lord of the Rings reference for Ringers, and the ending is a shock and a slam dunk and makes me wonder how I can wait a year for book two.

My one big issue with A Deadly Education is that Novik’s main character, Galadriel aka El, is a mean bully. She’s smart, talented, powerful, and resourceful. But she’s also throwing herself a lifelong pity party, which got old with her as the first person narrator, and she is a mean, rude, bully. Especially right now, that strikes a very wrong note with me.

I will read book two for the action and wonder, but I hope El shows some serious growth as a person, and I hope we see character development in the rest of the cast. If you enjoyed Harry Potter and might enjoy reading another series about a magical high school, I recommend A Deadly Education. It’s available at the Galesburg Public Library as a print book and an ebook.

I read an advance reader copy from Netgalley, but I did check the final copy to make sure there was no glossary.

A Deadly Education and I have a really complicated relationship. I was very excited to read this book based on the synopsis, but quickly found myself feeling confused and a bit disappointed. Novik wastes no time with introductions and instead throws readers into the deep end, dropping little pieces of insight as she goes. I usually like when an author trusts the reader to figure things out and be imaginative, but in the context of this book I feel it may have been a bit too much. I wish the author had taken the time to explain some things more thoroughly and give the reader a more complete, structured view of the world she's created. I feel like it's a fantastic, really cool world, but I don't feel I was able to fully appreciate it when left to navigate it entirely on my own.

The writing style was challenging for me as well. The entire book feels like a stream-of-consciousness inner monologue, which took getting used to. The first third of the book also felt very infodumpy, but in a way that I also didn't feel I was learning much. Just like the main character was rambling off about random things throughout her day that didn't add up to anything especially useful or relevant besides giving the reader sideways little peeks into the world in which she lives.

Another frustration is that I struggled to find an overarching plot aside from "survive the school year", which was challenging as a reader. I kept wondering what I was reading for as we repeatedly bounced from one little story to another that seemingly had no purpose or relevance to anything else in the story. For example, our protagonist would spend a chapter focused on an important project that never came up again. In another chapter, she finds herself in an intense battle that, again, doesn't seem to mean much later on in the story. I kept thinking things would come together and have deeper meaning later on... then they just never did.

While I spent most of this book interested in the world but frustrated with the execution, I will admit that the final third of the book redeemed the entire thing immensely. Suddenly (keeping things spoiler-free here) a few things came together and many exciting things happened that I actually enjoyed reading. As far as conclusions go, this one is pretty smashing. I think if that same energy and cohesiveness were applied throughout the book, I would have enjoyed this experience much more on the whole.

As it stands, I can't say whether I will read the sequel or not. I'm a bit on the fence after experiencing such a mixed bag with this one. Part of me feels like this entire book was setting up the future books, which both inspires and frustrates me. Super cool world, interesting characters, questionable execution.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Included as a top pick in bimonthly September New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached).

Link to the longform review below as well.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly had a very hard time with the beginning of Naomi Novik’s newest novel, A Deadly Education. But based on my experience with her prior work, I kept going and though I don’t think this novel nears the strength of ones like Spinning Silver or Uprooted, I was happy I did.

El (short for Galadriel) Higgins is a student at the Scholomance, a sort of sentient, no-professors-here, boarding school for sorcerers. Students have various tracks of magic, the school presents them with lessons, supplies, and space. Which sounds nice and all, save that the school is filled with lots of monsters (called maleficaria or “mals”) of varying sizes and danger, and so opening up, say, a cabinet in a lab or taking a book off a shelf in the library might see you maimed or killed. And that’s the “good” day-to-day danger. At graduation, the seniors end up in the basement and have to fight their way free of a sea of the oldest and most dangerous maleficaria. Between the daily problems and the big graduation day, as El says, “Most of the time less than a quarter of the class makes it all the way through graduation.”

El herself is powerful, but her power comes from the ability to use other people’s lifeforce, and that, and other reasons, means she hides her abilities from her classmates. She’s a loner and has convinced herself (true or not) it’s by choice. Meanwhile, one of those classmates, the super-powerful Orion, decides it’s his job to keep an eye on her even as he’s saving hundreds of their classmates. Eventually El gets pulled into a circle, though she makes it as hard on herself and her classmates as possible, even as they hurtle toward the near-suicidal graduation “ceremony.” The question is, can she survive both her new “friends” and graduation.

As noted, I had a hard time at the start of A Deadly Education. El’s voice was too YA, too forced-snarky for me. And the first third of the book is also heavily (overly I’d argue) expositive. So I wasn’t enjoying the voice or liking the character, and the plot was constantly be interrupted by info dumps. Thus my problem.

Past the first few chapters, though, the snark starts to get toned down, the explanations are either behind the reader or more lightly dropped in, and it felt (though I can’t swear this is actually true) as if the book moved out of YA style/tone/vocabulary into more adult territory (as vague as that seems and as unintentionally dismissive of YA as that may sound). As El takes her tentative steps out from her circle of one, Novik shows a wonderfully deft manner in presenting true-to-life young anxieties. I could have done without the romance element, but outside of that, the relationships are warmly and realistically portrayed, with each of the characters deepening in tenor and richness.

The plot offers up lots of suspenseful moments and culminates with an exciting and costly battle. Along the way, Novik also drops in some pointed social criticism to add a bit of depth, as well as some lighter and laugh-worthy moments to balance out the darker, more serious aspects. And I absolutely loved the school itself, its oddness, its sense of truly wild magic, its many wonderfully original quirks, none of which I’ll spoil here. Believe me, if you think you’ve seen everything there is to see in a “magic school” story, you haven’t. This take is all Novik.

A Deadly Education still was a bit too YA for me (though I think it will be hugely enjoyed by younger readers and deservedly so), though it certainly grew on me past the first quarter or so, its sharp character insights and fantastic originality rewarding my perseverance.

Boarding schools for the peculiar have been all the rage since a certain bespectacled young wizard achieved global fame, and the latest offering in this genre is A Deadly Education. A YA tale about friends, love and growing up, this charming story has a lot to offer.

When Orion Lake kills a soul-eater in Galadriel ‘El’ Higgins’ dorm room, Orion not only steals her chance to show the Scholomance just how capable El is of defending herself, he waltzes out to receive the glory and accolades, leaving her to deal with the odorous, slimy mess he left behind. That’s when she decides he has to die. She’d forgiven him for dropping an entire lab ceiling on her head a few months earlier while he was fighting a chimaera, but she can’t allow him to keep ‘rescuing’ her. She might not survive the experience. Not only will it make her a target for all the maleficaria (wizard eaters) roaming the school in the hope of making a tasty snack out of the budding sorcerers in the building, it will prevent her from attracting the attention of an Enclave. And El desperately needs their attention. In a world where monsters gobble up the magically gifted, the chances of surviving as a lone enchanter are slim. The more powerful you are, the more delicious they find you, and she’s an alchemic nuclear bomb. Literally. Her magical affinity is world destroying, powerful sorcery desirous of murdering thousands and leveling cities. An Enclave, a banded group of witches and wizards who work together and protect each other, are the only people who could use her talent and thus, are her only chance of survival. Otherwise, once she graduates from the Scholomance, she will attract the attention of all the nasty magic munching creatures out there and will either have to stoop to truly heinous actions to fight them off or surrender to her own demise.

Needless to say, El isn’t excited about either of the latter two options. Gaining the strength to truly work her magic on her own will require pulling malia, a process of stealing the life force (prefarably through torture) of sentient beings (preferably humans). The only other way to gain power is through mana, which can be earned through manual labor or suffering, or joining an Enclave, where power is shared as a group and grows exponentially as a result. Orion has a ton of mana. The son of a powerful sorceress in the New York Enclave, he has a core group of friends, also sons and daughters of New York wizards and witches, who share their magic with him. So why does he seem so obsessed with El?

Initially his interest is more a case of wariness. He believes she’s practicing dark magic and wants to protect the school from her evil. Once it becomes abundantly clear she’s not the guilty party, though, he continues to hang out with her. This is a totally new experience for El because she’s been persona non grata since she arrived at the facility two years ago – she’s ostracised for the weird vibes people get off her, and her less than endearing personality hasn’t helped. But Orion seems to see the caring person behind her snarky repartée and belligerent manners, which is making her feel almost too kindly towards him for murder.

The strengths of this story are the intricate world building, El’s journey of self-discovery and the author’s terrific writing. Ms. Novik has a gift for combining magic and mayhem to deliver a realistic look at human relationships, and for using her tales to examine the importance of having justice and equality in the world. Her smooth, clear prose and strong character building help to create a fascinating story for that worldview to shine through.

El and Orion serve as catalysts for change at the school – and the main reason for that is the change their relationship works in them. Both are freakishly powerful but while Orion has used his gifts for heroism, saving hundreds of lives, El has hidden her abilities for fear she won’t be able to keep them from wiping out the world. Her awkward frenemies relationship with Orion gives her hope and changes her perspective enough that she starts forming some tentative friendships. These aren’t Enclave kids but people like herself, outsiders whose families have had to struggle to survive. The author does a lovely job of capturing El’s growth as she figures out what she really wants from life.

For all that he is the hero of the school thanks to all the lives he’s saved, Orion doesn’t have any real friends. There are sycophants who hang out with him because their possibility of surviving goes up by doing so, but few who treat him as a real person. El does and that refreshing change allows him to share more with her than he ever has with anyone else. From El he gets an idea of what it’s like to live outside the privileged world of the Enclaves, and both of them start to question if the world their ancestors created is really the one they want to live in or if they want to build something better.

El makes a good narrator for our first person account of life in the Scholomance. The daughter of a loving and powerful good witch who is respected by the Enclaves but isn’t a part of them, El knows the intricacies of her world like few others could and eagerly shares every aspect of that knowledge with the reader. This slows the pace of the story at times, making the book a bit heavy in terms of information dumps but the positive aspect of that is that we thoroughly understand why the characters make the choices they do.

Ms. Novik’s fantasy novels always contain a dangerous battle between good and evil, and in this case that gives a somewhat dark, heavy tone to the tale. People die while going to school in this story, especially poor kids who have little magical training, are ill equipped to fight the maleficaria and often have to trade dangerous manual labor in exchange for the tools they need to survive. Kids use other kids as human shields on a regular basis, and to graduate seniors must battle their way through a room of starving monsters. Fortunately, there are funny moments which brighten up the story; I loved El’s dry, sarcastic wit, and El and Orion’s frenemy-ship moving towards budding romance adds joy as well. However, the focus is less on their (possible) love and more about the two of them sharing stories, realizing the unjustness of their world through their joint perspectives and questioning if what is is what has to be.

Which is, I believe, what the author really wants readers to think about as they peruse A Deadly Education. Is the world we live in fair and is it really the world we want? If that question intrigues you, if you are a fan of YA fantasy or of Ms. Novik, or if you enjoy books set in magical schools, then this is the novel for you.

Okay I LOVED this book. It blew my mind. El is amazing and powerful, and I wanted to give her a hug. I loved the whole concept of this book and was super impressed by the magic system.

I think the whole idea of a magic school is incredible but Naomi Novik managed to create something special here. It gave me Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Slytherin house vibes. I liked that the main character was herself, and recognized the flawed system. I was proud of the progress she made throughout the book and was really happy she found her people. Her snark and attitude though are EPIC!

The way this book ended though left me feeling like WHAT???? MORE PLEASE. NOW!

If I’m going to read about a magical boarding school, forget Hogwarts and Harry Potter . . . This is the story I want.

What if you were born to be a powerful dark sorceress, a source of death and destruction, the stuff of nightmares . . . but you really would just rather not? That’s Galadriel’s (El for short) problem. Her raw magical ability is off the charts, but it naturally turns to darkness; if she tries to write an original spell, for example, it turns into a way to create a supervolcano instead of something useful. El also makes people uncomfortable, to the point that nobody ever wants her around. El doesn’t want to be evil; her mother, a renowned healer and yurt-dwelling hippie, has taught her well. That doesn't matter to others, though, so it’s not surprising she’s got a chip on her shoulder. Also not surprising? That she can’t stand Orion Lake, whose unthinking heroics have earned him the worship of all the students at the school and who El believes has “all the sense of an unvarnished deck chair.”

At a tough school, students might joke about surviving until graduation, but that’s literally a problem at the Scholomance, which is a magical construct that sucks students in as freshmen and keeps them there until they are ready to graduate four years later. The school is a terrible place that seems designed to torment students as it educates them. But on top of that, it’s become infested with a plethora of terrifying magic-draining monsters that are happy to kill any student they can. Graduation Day involves making it through a great hall filled with the most powerful creatures of all to get to the doorway to the outside, and needless to say, many students don't make it. It’s survival of the fittest—or it would be, if some of the students didn’t come to the school with the built-in advantage of belonging to powerful groups of magic users in the outside world. As in many stories set in boarding schools, class matters.

El is an amazing character, clever and sarcastic and not nearly as tough as she puts on. Perhaps she’s supposed to be an unlikeable narrator, but it was impossible for me not to sympathize with her. I was rooting for her all the way through the book, whether she was taking Orion down a peg or ten or finally opening up to others enough to find potential friends. She ends the school year in a much better place than she was before, thankfully. Now she just has to make it through her senior year . . .

One thing about the novel that some people might have a problem with is the amount of exposition. It didn’t really bother me, because the worldbuilding is complex and there’s a lot to explain. But readers who like a quick pace and lots of action may feel frustrated with the sheer volume of information presented at times.

In the very last line of the story, there’s a major “What the heck?” moment that has me desperate to find out more. Is there a spell to speed things up so I can get the next book now? 😊

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for me to review; all opinions expressed are my own.

First novel in a series set at a magical boarding school. Unlike most other entries in this genre, monsters are out to get the students, and the school is indifferent towards their survival. It reminded me of Peadar O’Guilin's Invasion books and The Hunger Games and A Deadly Class: teenagers are sent to a place without adult supervision and many won't make it out. At the Scholomance, however, students are a lot more willing to work with each other. The novel explores how friendships can begin and grow.

Novik takes great care is creating a world with overt systemic inequities that are not based on race or nationality (though those forms of racism also exist.) The main couple, of course, are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Without being too didactic, she illustrates how the privileged can be so blind to their advantages.

As always, Novik has does great world-building (and magic systems), writes characters with distinct voices, na as some plot twists. I really liked it.

A Deadly Education was such a surprise! At first, I had a hard time getting into the flow of the book and I was confused with the way the author just drops you into the story with so little information, but once I realized what she was doing, I. Was. Hooked.

Novik starts A Deadly Education with no introduction and no explanation. She uses invented words and terms you're unfamiliar with and begins the story in the middle. You, as the reader, are left flailing and stressed and unsure of what's happening - much like many of the students who attend. It's such a powerful technique that really brings you right into the world and minds of the characters and creates an emotionally charged atmosphere that has you looking over your shoulder, scrutinizing the dark for nightmares hidden in the shadows.

This book was everything I was hoping for and more. The characters were whole and complex, with little of the stereotypical broodiness and cheese that I often find in YA books. I can't wait for the follow-up to see what fresh, new horrors await senior year. This would be perfect for readers 14 and older and contains a lot of monsters that eat students, discussions of students and magicians who do dark deeds or kill others for magical powers, and a little language.

A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where every day the students are fighting for survival. There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships. The students barter for friendship and for supplies. The students will either die at Scholomance or they will graduate. The number one rule is to not walk the halls alone. There are monsters lurking everywhere looking for a student to snack on. You also have to keep an eye on your fellow classmates because they could be coming for you too.
El possesses a lot of dark power, but if she unleashes it she might kill everyone at the school. She gathers an unusual band of misfits throughout the book. Mostly because everyone thinks she is golden boy Orion Lake. Orion is the hero that is loved by all. While most people suspect El of being evil. I greatly enjoyed this book. El has a sarcastic wit that is on display throughout much of the book. Whether it is displayed in the dialogue or in her thoughts. I could not have asked for a better narrator.
I am anxiously looking forward to the next book in the series. I loved that the author left us with El receiving a cryptic message to end the book. This was an excellent tool to make readers anticipate the next book in the Scholomance series. I would recommend this book to YA and adult readers who enjoy science fiction and fantasy.
I was provided an ARC of A Deadly Education by NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an honest review.

The author built an amazing world with many curiosities and I always felt immersed in the plot. Right from the start, the author plunges the readers into the plot and the dark and frank tone of the main character.

Although it was a bit confusing in the beginning, with so many unexplained details thrown at me. It made me excited about the setting and Novik certainly did unravel the world in a coherent manner.

I loved the diversity portrayed in this book! This is more of a feministic approach on a magic school with a focus on inequality and injustice, which comes at just the right time for 2020. It's definitely darker than Harry Potter, but not scary! If that's not up your alley, then this may be a hard pass for you. It's honestly a perfect read for October!

Naomi Novik has been the darling of fantasy in the last few years, with her best-selling award winners Uprooted and Spinning Silver, but she’s bit off a new challenge this year with A Deadly Education, the first of the Scholomance trilogy.

While Novik is known for her spell-binding fantasy, this book brings a surprising amount of social commentary to the mix. Novik’s protagonist, El, is one of thousands of young wizards ensconced in a mechanical marvel of a school reminiscent of Howl’s moving castle. The haves in this case are “enclavers” young wizards from prominent or established families who belong to an enclave, a wizard community. The have-nots are pretty much everyone else, wizards from all over the world who are less well-connected, and less prepared for the trials of wizarding life. Isolated from the world, these teenagers must survive nearly constant attack by maleficaria, monsters with the fervent wish to consume tasty wizardlings.

El is a have-not, a girl used to being disliked. She has no one but her mother, a healer who could have her pick of enclaves but chooses to live apart. El is just looking for her best shot to impress the enclaves, and with her particular power, she knows that a show of force would get her the moon. She did not plan on being aggressively befriended by the class golden boy, who suspects her of a kind of magical corruption. El is eminently likable, a character with a short fuse and an observant nature. While she is closed-off from others, she has a big heart and a huge capacity for love, just little opportunity to exercise it. She is a great view into a world teeming with complexity and potential. It’s also great to have a female character who isn’t a missish teen with a hero complex- El isn’t out to save the world, and she has a realistic, if a little cynical, view of things. She’s a sweet little prickly hedgehog and I adore her.

The world Novik is building here is beautiful and interesting, although the book indulges a little too much in exposition towards the front end, by the halfway point, any reader will be on edge to find out if El will survive junior year. The book also leaves some lovely tension about El’s destiny to keep you excited for her next adventure.

A Deadly Education is out on September 29, 2020. You can buy it anywhere books are sold, or borrow it from your local library. If you are buying it off of Amazon, you can do so using our affiliate link.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. Thank you so much, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Del Rey, for the chance to read and review this book.

A deadly education is set in the dangerous and exciting world of Scholomance, a school for magically gifted, a peculiar place without teachers or holidays, but full of lurking monsters, strategic friendship and death.
Galadriel, El, is a powerful student and lonely one. She doesn't have a group of friends or allies, but she's really well prepared for the school's dangers, because of her power, able to level mountains.
All her life El is told she will an evil witch and everyone at school assumes so, but she's ready to prove them wrong. She's willing to make out of Schoolmance alive, fighting not to hurt anyone with her powers and she's unwilling to become the dark sorceress everyone thinks she is. Finding herself becoming a friend of the school's shining hero, Orion Lake, isn't in her plan, but their friendship is refreshing and brilliant and what they will both need to survive.

A deadly education is the first book written by Naomi Novik I've ever read and I'm in love with her imagination and writing style. The reader is thrown in Schoolmance, following El, the MC, avoiding dark halls and corners, fighting monsters, coming up with plans and strategies, in a very captivating first book of a new series. Told in first person, the story is funny, angaging, creepy and really brilliant.
The setting is amazing and so eerie, a school full of dangers and monsters, where students risk their lives everyday, above all when they have to graduate, in a constant fight for living, creating alliances and strategic friendships to survive and protect one other.

El is a wonderful character. She's brilliant, strong, defiant and fierce. I love her voice, so full of wit and sarcasm, her attitude, her stubborness. She's been fighting against a prophecy, an assumption about her all her life and she's an unwilling dark sorceress. Her anger and loneliness was so relatable and lifelike, I could feel and understand her feelings and thoughts about her classmates, the school and the unfairness. In a world starkly separated between influential students, those in the Enclaves, places able to protect them inside and outside the school, and the others, fighting to be part of the Enclaves, El is a stubborn character, ready to do it on her own, with her own strength, without, though, hurting anyone in the process (even those who hurt her).

Her friendship with Orion is refreshing and amazing. Orion Lake is the school's shining hero, willing to fight against mals (monsters ) and save his classmates and since El isn't one of his adoring fans their friendship is genuine, made of sarcasm, jokes and relying on one other. When Orion starts to be interested in her company, her life changes because students, who previously ignored her, now want to know and ally with her. The way she deals with their fake interest is brilliant. I loved reading how El opens up with Liu and Aadhya and their alliance, her witty remarks, their plans and talks.

I found really interesting the difference between mana and malia, between vital force and stolen magic, good and bad and what people would do to get what they want and how hard El is ready to fight for not to be what people thinks she already is.

Plotwise there's not so much plot in A deadly education, because it feels like the author laid down the beginning of the story, focusing more on the school, the characters, their classes and dangers, but that doesn't hurt the book. It's a gripping first book, with complex and intense characters, a captivating setting and the end leaves the reader wanting more.

I recommend this book to those who loves a gripping story, witty characters, actions and monsters. I can't wait to read the next one and, ironically, to return in a lethal school!

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4*
Pros: Very original and refreshing world-building. Interesting and fun biracial MC. Witty and natural dialogues. Introduction to new wizarding worlds, and fantastical creatures. Awesome spell-casting battles. Dark, gritty and bloody. Multilayered relationships between characters. Centred around proving your worth, despite being an underdog.
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Cons: No real plot whatsoever, just a series of interesting events. PoC lead from a non-Poc writer, which is always iffy.