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.

I had a hard time with this one, unfortunately. I confess I struggled with Novik's other works, however, I heard this one was quite different - an assessment I'd agree with. It was so much more voicey than Uprooted and Spinning Silver - and honestly, from the first few pages, I suspected this would land a solid five stars. There's so much to love - particularly the main character's sass and grim outlook on life. She's fun to follow and a perfect MC.

However, I couldn't seem to get a footing in this world. It's very abstract and most of the terms are glossed over, so I was honestly lost half the time. I felt unsettled and I couldn't visualize anything.

I wanted so badly to love this book, and I truly thought I would. The relationship between her and Orion was addicting, and yet I couldn't bring myself to finish because I felt so clueless and lost in the world itself.

I will probably try this again via audiobook in the future, but for now, I don't think I can continue.

Regardless, I'm so grateful to have had the chance to dive in!

DANG IT HOW IS NAOMI NOVIK SO GOOD? Just when you think all the magic has been wrung out of the magic boarding school concept, along she comes with A Deadly Education to pull you back in again with a fabulously angry and potentially world-destroying heroine, full of sharp commentary on societal inequities and dealing with trauma and trying not to let your worst impulses get the better of you. It is a perfect book for this moment.

4.5 stars. The half star was knocked off for some plodding pacing/"telling" in the first couple chapters, but I have very minimal complaints after that. This book was maybe exactly what was needed for this former Boy Who Lived fan disillusioned by She Who Must Not Be Named. Looking back at Hogwarts as an adult, it seems insane to think that these large groups of children could regularly face demons and life threatening situations and only lose a few over years and years of battles. The Scholomance, on the other hand, has students dying left and right as part of regular daily life.

Initially I loved Galadriel purely for being named Galadriel, admittedly, but I have to say that I LOVE her voice as well as her growth through the novel. It was nice to see the trope of "awkward friendless loser at a magical school" dealt with in such an aggressive evil sorceress way.

I love the monsters, I love the terrifying minutiae of the school (especially the void in everyone's bedroom and the demons waiting to attack students trying to bus their trays in the cafeteria), I love the magic system here and its heavy emphasis on education.

I had so, so much fun reading this. That ending was so freaking intense and so deliciously wicked and enjoyable. I can't wait for book 2!

Thank you Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC!

First of all, as ALWAYS, thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey books, and Ms. Novik for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested although not required.

I should preface by saying I'm a big fan of Ms. Novik. The Temeraire series, and then her standalone fantasy titles (Uprooted, Spinning Silver), all warmed the little Grinchy corners of my heart. I had high hopes for this. I mean, it's practically been marketed as a reverse image Hogwarts, amiright?

WELL. I am on a real book high this month because between this and Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews I am absolutely maxed out on awesome awesome awesome awesome fantasy. How did I get so lucky!!!!!!!

I devoured A Deadly Education in two great big gulps, ironically enough like a great big mal chomping down an unfortunate freshman. The first half got me through a five mile run on the treadmill, and the second half saw me through a nice epsom salt soak. I literally could do nothing else until I had gobbled this book right up.

Galadriel - or El to her (few) friends - Higgins is a real delight. She has the kind of sarcastic outer voice that I can only claim to have as an inner voice as I'm not brave enough to be rude to other people. However, neither have I been practically shunned and treated as an unwanted outcast my entire life. That could really make a girl rude, ya know? Why keep trying to "get along" with people who don't even try to hide that they don't want you around? I loved her.

The so-called info dumps did not bother me too much. This is a large, grandly conceived world and frankly I think Ms. Novik really had to set up Scholomance on her own terms, fully-fleshed out in all its details, or be accused of ripping off Hogwarts. And while there are a few similarities - the school moves its parts on its own, for example - it really is its own distinct place. And it's SO cool! But I digress. I think that part of the reason El imparts these big chunks of knowledge "to the reader" (she does, in fact, address the reader a few times) is that she obviously had to figure all this out on her own when she got to the school. No one helped her. No one wanted her around. And then she had no one to talk it over with, no one to compare notes - so sharing her experiences with the way the school works with "the reader" is probably the first chance El has EVER had to do so. Of course she has a lot to say! Am I over thinking this? Maybe. But I was so in love with the school and the atmosphere that none of it, NONE of it, really bothered me. I just wanted to wallow in this world a little longer.

If I could have changed one thing, I would have wished that El didn't come across as looking helpless quite so often. I mean, we ("the Reader") know that she's not, but it's so aggravating that someone who knows so much and quite obviously is loaded with talent ends up looking like a bumbler all the time.

Other than that, though, I'm completely hooked. I loved the multicultural diversity amongst the students; it was a lot more multinational than Hogwarts which was refreshing. I loved the inventiveness of the mals, and the politics of alliances and trades between the students. I loved the social aspects of the enclaves and the jockeying to get in. I loved the whole set up of the sentient, semi-evil, professor-less school. I loved hapless Orion and El's puzzlement over whether they were "dating,", lolololol. I loved it ALL. And I am dyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying to get my hands on book #2.

I will be re-reading this, oh I don't know, at LEAST four times I am sure before book #2 comes out.
At this point I would purchase this author's grocery list if she chose to publish it. Ugh.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to review this title.

I was intrigued by this novel, but unfortunately was let down. This book, while the premise of prickly protagonist reluctantly teams up with a golden boy hero at the magic school that's actively trying to kill the students all the time is good, was a slog and a half to get through. It was EXTREMELY exposition-heavy, with pages and pages of Galadriel explaining the school and the rules of magic to us. This made the story choppy and clunky. It sadly ended up being a bit of a mess with too much telling and not enough showing. I was very bored throughout and therefore chose not to finish the book.

I really tried with this one, but I haven't even hit the 20% mark on this one and I desperately need to DNF this book.

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to books is assuming that your readers are incapable of grasping complex worldbuilding, so you feel the need to constantly be condescending with monotonous exposition interludes.

Chapter one starts with our MC Galadriel 'El' being rescued by Orion, another magical student at the Scholomance from some magical beast. That takes up all of a few pages. The reader is then subjected to one of the most painful info dumps that I've ever experienced for 20+ pages as the MC addresses the audience with every painstaking detail and history surrounding said creature. After my eyes were done rolling back to my head, we finally get back to El and Orion only for the chapter to abruptly end.

Cue chapter two. Now we have sentences that last a full page. Talk about flashbacks to the tedium that is T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. And again, there's a page or two of action before the El goes back to her pedestal to lecture the reader about the history of the Scholomance rather than just letting us experience it for ourselves.

I got through half of chapter three, but as soon as El started her history lesson again rather than, oh I dunno show so character depth or her experiences at the Scholomance, I realized that I had enough.

Thank you to Del Rey Books for providing a review copy through NetGalley. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

A terrific first entry in the Scholomance series. It's difficult to not mentally reference a certain school of witchcraft and wizardry, but this high school for magicians is lacking all of the comforting ghosts and portraits of wizards past. All of the kinder, softer elements are replaced with monsters -- called maleficaria --primed and ready to devour our magical scholars at any second. A meditation on class and a host of fantasy tropes, A Deadly Education is a perfect spooky season read and is tailor made for any fans of Lev Grossman or She Who Must Not Be Named.

Naomi Novick has created another world that I would love to live in if it weren’t so scary. This book reminds me of a cross between Harry Potter and the Hunger Games starring a rude Hermione Granger. At first I thought, meh, another magical school story, but I’ve loved Naomi’s other work, so I decided to request an Advanced Reader’s copy. I’m very glad I did. Instead of a beloved castle, the wizards are basically in a death trap of a school that is filled with creatures trying to eat them for their magic while they try to learn as much as possible and avoid getting eaten on their graduation run right out of the Scholomance (their school). The relationship between the white knight of the school Orion Lake and the dark, bitter, amazingly bitchy Galadriel, who is basically the unwilling recipient of dark magic powerful enough to level cities, but is determined to take the less destructive road. Good humor and strong relationships bring a unique flavor to this novel. The prose is much more conversational and humorous than her other novels, but it builds an immersive world. I definitely stayed up too late to read this novel and I wouldn’t be surprised if readers stay up late to swallow it whole as well.

I seriously enjoyed the school environment, which is rich in danger, strategy, and politics. Students must protect themselves while they're vulnerable (sleeping, collecting supplies) and even ensure their food isn't compromised before eating. Alliances are made for survival or in exchange for help. There are only two ways for the students to leave the school -- upon their graduation or their death. There's a lot of action for a book that takes place entirely within the school building. It makes for an interesting fictional environment, but it's not a school I'd want to enroll in!

The characters' studies are also interesting -- El's track is languages, which allows her to find and learn more spells. Students at the school trade spells like Chocolate Frog Cards, and spells aren't easily translated from one language to another. Students must have enough background in each language to be able to effectively cast a spell. Other skills like metallurgy and alchemy are studied, but each student has a specialty. The specialty can be determined by their natural affinity for a type of magic or by a strategic decision to make themselves more useful to others.

El is an appealing character because she has the potential to be a great dark sorcerer, but she doesn't want to use the "bad magic" stolen from others and continues to only use her own power. She's been a loner for most of her schooling so far, but when the most popular boy in her year starts paying attention to her, everyone is suddenly interested in aligning themselves with her. As the novel progresses, you start to realize that El is more powerful than those around her as long as she can acquire enough mana to cast her spells. The ending will leave the reader wanting to know what happens in the next book in the series!

Recommended for adult fans of Harry Potter and readers of contemporary fantasy. Teens really into YA fantasy would enjoy this book, and it's less adult in content than some YA titles like Sarah J. Maas.

A Deadly Education is a fascinating, fun, and dangerously exciting concept. I was continually delighted by the ways in which the school tried to kill its students and the imagination behind the monsters. El is at times a frustrating character, but charming despite all efforts not to be. Novik throws you into this world and expects you to survive, much like she does her characters. Overall, it was a very enjoyable reading experience.

This book only misses the five star mark because of some repetition that became distracting in the second half of the book. (If I had to read one more time about how the NYC enclave is elite and doesn’t make friends with the rest of them, I was going to throw the book across the room.) That said, this was a strong start to a new series, and I will be picking up the next eagerly.

This book was an utter delight to read and I devoured it in one day on my vacation. My enjoyment of an older book about a school of magic has been... severely complicated this year, and while this is certainly darker and geared toward an older audience, I feel like I've gained some of that joy back. Thank you, Naomi Novik.

This is being sold as an adult book, which is fine, but I'll probably also buy a copy for my library's teen section. There's nothing here a high schooler who likes the Hunger Games couldn't handle.