I wasn't sure if I would like this book, or just have my hopes up too high, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! I'm a huge fan of school-focused fantasy things, and this book definitely hit the spot. The magic and pace was a bonus. I liked the style of writing, and I enjoyed the world building involved in both the school and the magic.

I love Naomi Novik's other books so of course I was excited for this one. This story is so different from her other books, and all other books in this genre, making it a groundbreaking work of writing as well as fantastic story. Yet it still had all of the beloved author's fantastic world building and character development for returning fans, making it a true standout and what I consider her most ambitious and brilliant book yet. I can see why so many bestselling authors I love gave gushing blurbs for this book.

I rarely find fantasies written in first person so getting to view the world from this character and her interactions with it made for a unique reading experience. It reminded me of bestselling dark fantasies I loved in 2019 - Gideon the Ninth, Ninth House, and Vengeful - while also bringing something new to the genre. The story is about a dark, dangerous magic school where student struggle to survive monsters and their peers. The nuances and levels of detail were incredible in this book. Usually readers don't get treated to this level of a layered, vivid world until the 3rd or 4th books in fantasy series. This book gave us everything from tiny details about things like grading and spell work, more monsters than I could count, a huge cast of well developed characters, heaps of suspense and danger, and a world described so vividly I felt like I was watching a movie in my head. I can see myself reading this book again and again, and noticing more details each time. When reading, I was taken in by the plot so I wanted to read faster, but also wanted to slow down to appreciate everything the characters were showing me. Then that mysterious ending left me wanting more! Outstanding as a suspenseful, magical story, and gorgeous, well crafted storytelling.

What happens when you stick a dark sorceress and a popular jock hero in a magic prison school where even visiting the cafeteria is like running the gauntlet? Galadriel (she prefers El, thanks), the aforementioned, self-proclaimed dark sorceress herself is about to find out. She's not the best at making friends, but honestly, between classes, killing monstrous maleficaria, and avoiding getting eaten, she doesn't exactly have the time. The Scholomance isn't a place where the weak survive, but El can't take any shortcuts without going straight to the dark side, which she's successfully avoided for the last few years. She definitely doesn't need a hero to save her...or worse, get in her way.

El is everything I never knew I wanted in a budding protagonist. She's angry, she's independent, and she doesn't take any crap from the entitled rich enclave kids if she can help it. El has been fighting on her own for so long; both in the Scholomance and within herself. She refuses to take the easy, dark magic route; even if it would save her a lot of time and get the resident hero off her back. Her overpowered nature is actually more of a hindrance than help, and she seems to have to work twice as hard to master what's easy for the other kids. It's so refreshing to see a protagonist who is angry and unapologetic about it! El could rule the world if she felt like it, but instead, she chooses every day to follow her mother's pacifist path. She obviously loves her mom and wants to make her proud, and it's wonderful to see such a deep connection without ever actually meeting her mom on the page. I also thought that how El builds her unconventional relationships with Orion, Liu, and Aadhya throughout the year was particularly well-written. She goes through some genuine growth; without compromising what she believes in.

I was fascinated by the world-building in this novel. Novik's imagination is inspiring, and her nuanced characterizations are magnificent. I was blown away by the massive amounts of diversity in the novel as well; El for one is Indian-Welsh, and most of the other characters have ties to their countries and cultures noted within the story. The magic is top-notch and also diverse, and students within the Scholomance make a habit of learning and sharing spells from different cultures and languages. Class relations and privilege are also a strong theme, strengthened by El's twinned desire for and disgust with the enclave system. There are some deep currents in this book, and I am so excited to do a re-read and see all the little things I missed in the first pass!

I absolutely cannot wait for a sequel, I spent most of my time reading this one wishing it would never end! This book is a bit different from Novik's other titles, but I fell in love with the narration, the characters, and the world itself almost immediately. I was sucked into the Scholomance from the very first sentence, and could not be more pleased to know there are more books to come. Fantasy fans will love this book; and while I didn't get a "dark Harry Potter-esque" feel from it, I can definitely say that this is a magic school in a league all its own! I wouldn't compare it to anything else out there because it impressed me so much. Refreshing, witty, snarky, and smart; A Deadly Education is a trip into a school of magic that you'll never want to leave!

Although I cannot tell you how hard I originally rolled my eyes at the school name ("Scholomance"!), I ended up really enjoying this book. The comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable due to the setting at a school for magic users, but that's where the similarities end. The premise is really quite brutal, with high school-aged kids dying in all manner of horrible ways (another inevitable comparison is to The Hunger Games), but out of this context emerges a story about structural inequality and forging genuine friendships. In addition to the snappy narrator (I always enjoy Novik's protagonists!), I liked the international character of the school, the social dynamics of living in a context where every resource and relationship needs to have strategic value, and the complication of Orion Lake's "hero" status. I can't wait for the sequel!

This is a very different kind of wizard school -- where most of each class does not live to graduate. Novik is a compelling writer and does a brilliant job of taking fairy tale elements and legends and building believable and readable stories. Even for fans of high fantasy and world building, this one has a very slow moving beginning and a lot of detail and backstory to get through -- but as the pace picks up, you won't be able to put it down. Interesting characters and a strong heroine contribute to the page-turning. Like her other books, it will get shelved as YA, but shouldn't be limited to that readership, though these characters are teenagers. Recommended for fantasy fans. #LJDayofDialog #NetGalley

Just, wow. Naomi Novik has had my heart for a while now, as one of my favorite tropes is a fairy tale retelling. Uprooted and Spinning Silver were both fantastic reads for me. This is very different, and yet I still got the character development and world building I expect from Ms. Novik, making it another truly excellent tale. Galdriel is a student in a very nontraditional school, and she's having the worst time because Orion Lake keeps saving her life. As the plot goes on, the descriptions of the school and education the students receive both fascinates and horrifies, and everything keeps ramping up to a final battle. I loved it, and read it entirely in a sitting, too excited to find out what might happen next. The final sentence has me excitedly anticipating a sequel.

Harry Potter meets magical dystopian-survival. guide. El is a junior at the Scholomance, a school for magically gifted students who have to stay alert while learning all kinds of magical skills or die trying while also trying to keep her impressive magical skills under the radar. Will she survive?

At first, this book was a little confusing. There was a lot of fantasy magic-world building going on within this school and it was hard to keep track of in an e-book version. I think if I had read it in print form it might have been easier because I could have flipped back and forth when I needed to remind myself of some detail. I enjoyed the dialogue and action. El is very easy to get to like, especially how she treats the other characters. She's no-nonsense and understands what it takes to survive in a school that is constantly trying to kill the students. I'm hoping the next book will give a little more perspective on the outside world that they will all eventually be going into (if they survive graduation.)

Smart, dark, and cynical. A Deadly Education shows a sharp turn from Spinning Silver, Novik's last work, into dark fantasy, wrapping the reader up in a world of competitive anti-heroes and heroes, each determined to outlive the next. Couldn't put it down.

I wasn't a fan of Novik's work until now! I have been missing out! This book is another in a line that doesn't have definitive heroes and villains. The division between good and bad isn't there, which I love!

You ever finish a book and end up furious that it's over? That there's not more? That you have to wait for the next book to come out?

Yeah, that's me with this book.

The fact that I got to read this book several months early just makes it worse, because it means I have to wait that much longer for book two.

I wanted to throw my phone across the room in frustration that I'd read the last page and there was no more to read.

Don't get me wrong. I knew there was going to be at least a second book, if not more, and not just because the cover says "Lesson One." You can tell early on that this is a story too big for a single book.

When the story gets started you're OK that it's not going to be contained to this single volume, but then before you know it the story is barrelling forward and you're caught up in the action. You can see the end coming, the story arc is utterly satisfying, but still when the end comes you're just not ready as a reader to put the book down and walk away.

My only hope is the knowledge that Novik writes at a blistering speed, because I am very invested in seeing how this story continues.

This was fun. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Novik’s first foray into YA but this was really well done. The main character is funny and sharp and definitely a heroine who only sometimes needs saving.

Snarky but with intricate world-building detail that might put off the casual reader looking for a light read (unless they want to skim about half of it to get to the action scenes and laugh out loud dialog), this book will appeal to older teens and adult readers alike who are looking to fill the Harry Potter- and Magicians-shaped holes in their hearts. Novik has moved her retold fantasies into the modern day and has succeeded brilliantly. I was truly sad when the book ended and am waiting for the next one impatiently. Yes, before the first one is officially out.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Normally I'm very against YA because I can't stand whiny teens, but this was very good, and perhaps the mortal danger a lot of the characters are in gives them a little maturity. The only thing I would say is that the book spends a lot of time on world building, the narrator spending a lot of time explaining things about her world. I hope the next book (books?) dive more into the characters themselves.

There are a lot of gaps here, but for some reason this book about a school where most students end up dead appealed to me. The Scholomance is a place, a school situated somewhere in the void - neither here nor there. There are no teachers, instead course materials appear and you will - somehow - learn. Students are brought to the school by some magical process, assigned a room they will live in for the next four years, and they left to learn the rules and how to survive. Why? Because monsters. Lots and lots of monsters.

Some alliances are necessary to survive, but our heroine El isn't the alliance type. Because she's a seriously bad person, per her grandmother. So when the school good guy starts being nice? You just know that's not going to go well.

I loved El's anger and rudeness, her suspicion of those around her. The setting is different, and the combination of the way the school operates and the students challenges will be even greater in the next book.

eARC provided by publisher.

I am obsessed with this book and loved it with all my heart and am deeply upset that I don't have the sequel right this now!

Have you ever read a book you knew was going to be 5 stars before you even finished chapter one? This was that book for me. From the very start, I loved El's grumpy voice, her terrifying school of wizardry, and its resident idiot savior Orion Lake. For all those who, like me, are absolutely obsessed with jock/tsundere romance, this one is for you.

Don't be fooled. This book is not very romantic. Emily Duncan was absolutely correct when she said the romance is exclusively comprised of two wizards yelling at each other. But I am easy to please. I love wizard love interests who yell at each other. The sass was endless and I cherished every hilarious moment of it.

I loved this book. I loved every single bit of it. Did I mention that? This is the third book I have read by Naomi Novik and this is without a doubt my favorite of the three. Naomi Novik excels at many things and one of those things is writing snarky witch protagonists. Galadriel Higgins is without a doubt the snarkiest and witchiest protagonist among those I have read from Novik. A sorceress of apocalyptic proportions, El has spent her life an outcast and her school years trying her absolute best not to accidentally murder her classmates. And right along with her apocalyptic powers come bad vibes. El has never been liked by a single person other than her mother her entire life. Our story opens on a diligent, friendless, grump of a witch only trying to get by in a hellishly dangerous school. As if the resident monsters weren't enough, El's gifts give her a natural aptitude for razing cities to the ground and turning everyone within a 1o mile radius into an army of dedicated minions. El's classmates have no idea what wort of world-ending power hides among them. To her classmates, El is merely a rude outcast. Enter Orion Lake.

Orion Lake is the school's resident hero. Similar to a certain Boy Who Lived, Orion spends his school years saving the populace from certain death by destroying every scary thing stalking the students day and night. After a few coincidental encounters fueled by Orion's white knight personality, the golden hero himself begins to follow our favorite snarky witch around like a monster-slaying puppy. Wizard love interests yelling at each other ensues. If I could have lived inside this book for 500 more pages I would have done it gladly. Be warned. You will not be able to put this thing down.

An instant new favorite for me, I'll be salivating for book 2 for the rest of the year. Darkly atmospheric, hilarious, and with an impeccable voice, this book has zero flaws and a hundred strengths. My lizard brain craves an immediate reread. Whether I can resist remains to be seen.

A fun, fast-paced read perfect for ages 15+. Naomi Novik introduces readers to the Scholomance, a school built to keep young wizards safe despite the fact that it also, more than occasionally, eats them. This deadly school is filled with maleficaria, monsters set on devouring the mana of the students and many of them seem particularly attracted to Galadriel (El for short). Our snarky heroine is in her junior year and her voice is both distinctive and refreshing. With hints of romance, supernatural action, and strong social themes, I believe this book will appeal to many.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to review!

I learned of this book during Library Journal’s online Day of Dialog event. As in Naomi Novik’s previous novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver, here too Novik’s worldbuilding skills shine. Scholomance is rich with details that will appeal to many audiences. Fantasy and horror fans can enjoy the magic usage and monsters; young adult fans, the high-school-age characters’ emotional and social struggles. There are hints of flirtation and potential relationships that might satisfy romance fans. The supernatural action scenes might draw in reluctant readers who do like video games of a similar nature. Readers seeking deeper themes with their entertainment can appreciate how Novik uses the troubled world of the Scholomance to explore current issues in real societies such as the ultra-capitalist U.S.

Since this title is fiction, and its official publication date is not until September 29th this year, that is all I will say in this review in order to avoid spoilers. I believe this book would be a good purchase for libraries with readers in any of the interest groups I’ve mentioned.

What a fantastic read in an extraordinarily interesting world. I finished my ARC in 3 days - I hardly ever finish books in 3 days. I would recommend it to fans of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Six of Crows and similar books. My favorite part of this story is how it subverted my expectations of what a magical school should be. I may have to pick up the audiobook when it comes out because the character voice is dynamite. I love Novik's spin on the 'Hero' character archetype, it reminded me a bit of Rainbow Rowell's Simon Snow. I was very happy to learn that A Deadly Education is going to be the first installment of a trilogy, the rest of which, cannot come soon enough..

I received a digital review copy of A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Welcome to the Scholomance, a school for wizards ages 14-18, where there are no teachers, no adults, and no ways out except for death and graduation. The school is filled with maleficaria of various types, monsters set on devouring the mana (life/magic/energy) of the students, and surviving these ongoing attacks is part of the preparation for the gauntlet of the largest and deadliest maleficaria that stand between graduating seniors and escape in the graduation hall. As a junior, Galadriel doesn’t have to worry about graduation just yet, but she already has plenty to deal with: a prophecy that she might end the world; an aura that scares off anyone who meets her, which makes building a graduation alliance difficult; an affinity for magical destruction on a terrifying scale; and the fact that unlike everyone else in the school, she can’t afford to dabble in even the greyest of malia (dark magic) without risking going overboard and killing her fellow students. On top of this, Orion Lake, the golden boy of the school with a talent for slaying mals, is making a habit of saving her life and damaging her chances of getting into a wizarding enclave on a reputation of destructive ability and competence. The only possible solutions are to either kill Orion before he can cement her reputation for needing someone to save her, or use the rumors that they must be dating to finagle her way into the good graces of the enclave students who might be her ticket out after graduation.

I didn’t even know that I wanted this book, but here it is and I love it. I requested the ARC solely on the basis of adoring Novik’s previous books, even though I was initially iffy on the premise of A Deadly Education, which sounded a bit too much like Hunger Games meets Harry Potter. I should never have doubted Novik’s skills with narrative and world building. El is a dark queen in waiting who is steadfastly refusing the role the world seems to have chosen for her. Meanwhile, Orion Lake starts as your stereotypical oblivious hero, but latches on to El as the only person who has never treated him as special, much to her irritation and growing bafflement. Neither of them is happy with the roles the world has given them, although Orion’s unthinking acceptance of the status quo and obliviousness to social realities makes a nice foil to El’s hyperawareness of the systemic inequalities that carry the enclave students (rich, powerful, well-supplied, and guaranteed a safe place after graduation) through the Scholomance with minimal danger and leave students like El to make their way alone. The Scholomance itself is fascinating, both in its organization and the magical system that sustains it – effort equals magic and misery equals reward, so things like push-ups, crochet, and Sudoku puzzles can build energy for spells and if you go through something truly awful, you’re likely to receive something really good in compensation. The growing relationship between El and Orion is compelling without overtaking the focus of the plot. I like their dynamic, as two incredibly socially inept people navigating their way into accidentally caring about one another while sniping all the way. My only regret over getting the advance copy of A Deadly Education is that I am already impatient for the sequel and have that much longer to wait for it.

Review will be posted on Goodreads two weeks before publication and added to Barnes and Noble and Amazon after publication.