This was one of my most anticipated reads and Naomi did not disappoint! This book was full of magic and mystery and I couldn't put it down!

I have read almost every single one of Naomi Novik's books from the adventures of Temeraire and Will Laurence to her enchanting fairytale stories that I devoured in one sitting, BUT <i>A Deadly Education</i> is her best work so far. A couple of months ago, I requested this book on NetGalley and struggled to start it, but the moment I did it was impossible to put down. It only took me a day to finish because I accidentally took a nap in the early evening, woke up around 11 p.m., and continued reading until 2 in the morning because I just couldn't stop!

Galadriel 'El' Higgins attends Scholomance, where magic wielders learn to hone their craft or die. With no teachers, El along with her fellow students are focused on a single goal: to survive the terrible creatures known as the maleficaria or mals that lurk the school. The only way to escape is to graduate, but graduation is a fight to the death against a multitude of mals, who wait for the senior class to make their exit. Therefore, all the students spend their formative years preparing for this epic battle by building stores of power, forming alliances, and honing their abilities.

El, however, has several problems. The first takes the form of a heroic and mostly moronic boy named Orion Lake, who keeps saving her life. Orion prowls the corridors of Scholomance looking for mals, saving lives, and earning a reputation as a valiant protector, who is held in high esteem by the whole student body. Well, except for El, who is beyond irritated with the antics of Orion as she tries to prove herself and earn an alliance. El, however, has an even bigger problem. She is extremely powerful, but her magical affinity leans towards destruction and darkness. As a result, El stays away from other students to avoid accidentally using their life force but this earns her a reputation as a loner, which can be deadly in a school where alliances protect you from the monsters waiting in the dark.

Novik's characters and wordbuilding are absolutely phenomenal. El has the driest sense of humor and her sarcasm really makes her perspective entertaining despite the bleak situation. This is carefully balanced against Orion, who is just a giant puppy, and takes everything at face value, which means he often falls for El's dark wit and it creates some truly hilarious moments. These two personalities work well together to create some top-notch dialogue and exchanges, which only makes the reader fall in love with the characters as they bicker constantly.

While some may not like what could be construed as infodumps, I think it works well to flesh out the world and give insight to El's character. At first, El comes off as a prickly cactus but as the story delves deeper into the world through her eyes, I began to understand and sympathize with her choices and demeanor. This was not an easy feat since most readers could dismiss El as rude and overly aggressive, but Novik uses her world to show how El is more than her thorny exterior. There were so many moments that made me remember what it felt like to be a teenager with no friends and Novik touches on these themes in heart-warming ways.

However, what continues to astound and impress me about Novik's books is the amount of thought that goes into her worldbuilding. Not only is the concept of the Scholomance different than any other magical boarding school story I've read, but Novik takes this genre and reinvents it in a new and exciting way. Her incorporation of ancient languages, her magic building, high-school cliques—sorry alliances— and murderous monsters is completely spellbinding and creates some truly high-stress moments, where all you can do is read. I desperately cannot wait to read the sequel but it does pain me when I realize this is an ARC and I have to wait even longer. There are so many implications and exciting prospects, which I cannot wait for Novik to explore even more in the sequel.

El is just your normal teenager, dealing with the popular crowd and trying to survive school....literally. With a giant black void in her dorm room (where does it go??) and monsters hungry for her magic, El is a somewhat typical student at the Scholomance, a school for sorcerers in Naomi Novik's first YA book. And while certain comparisons to other magical schools may be tempting, it is much better to view A Deadly Education as it stands on its own. The Scholomance is a school primarily built to protect the children of enclaves - groups of sorcerers who have banded together in what I picture as a very particular type of HOA - but other, non-enclave kids like El still get swept up and given a mostly self-driven education in subjects like alchemy, languages, and how to survive all the monsters that feed off magical energy.

And the enclaves is what gives A Deadly Education the running thread underneath El's story. It is a look at systems of privilege - how they are built and how they are sustained, whether actively or passively, through generations. And El, powerful, with a dark prophecy hanging over her head, trying to not fulfill that prophecy, is a challenge to these systems, and may be the one to change the Scholomance.

When I got this book I think I was still expecting something more similar to her other books that I had read before this, Spinning Silver & Uprooted, that I absolutely loved. I did enjoy the whole twist where your main character has an affinity for powers of darkness and is attending a school where you either pass and survive, or fail and die.

The world building in this story was great but the pace of the story just seemed to be rather slow for me at times. Things just seemed to drag on at times because it felt like way too much information was suddenly dumped on the reader. However by the end of the story I was definitely hooked and I am greatly looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

A Deadly Education is set in a magical school, but Hogwarts this is not. Scholomance is an intense, no breaks, no extracurriculars, no teachers school which gives magical children more of a chance to grow up than not - but it's just a chance. Add one sarcastic misfit and one solitary golden child, and sparks literally fly. Appearances can be deceiving, whether a 'too good' smile, or a system that's taken for granted. Proceed with caution - and enjoy!

I love a good fairy tale retelling, and was introduced to Naomi Novik through her fantastic books, Uprooted and Spinning Silver. A Deadly Education is a different read: it's darker, snarkier, and more cynical.

The novel is told from the perspective of prickly, guarded, unlikeable Galadriel (but please, call her El), a student at the Scholomance, a school of magic that's as likely to kill you as it is to graduate you. She might be a dark wizard-in-training, whether she wants to be or not, but she's also isolated from her fellow students and struggles to survive. Her nemesis is Orion Lake, the golden "hero" of their class who is from a privileged position in an enclave, which means he has more connections and resources than El. There are strong themes of class and privilege in this book. El both desperately wants the safety of belonging to an enclave, and is increasingly disgusted by the way that system abuses those at the bottom.

The book starts slower because of all the world building, but by the end it's so fast paced, I was reading until 4am because I couldn't put it down. There were a few too many info dumps, but they were usually interesting, so I won't knock off a star for that.

I loved this book, and would recommend it to readers of YA fantasy, readers who like strong female characters, and those who like coming-of-age fantasy stories. I can't wait for the next in the series!

I had a hard time getting into Novik's Uprooted, but that was never an issue with this title. I read 1/2 it one sitting and couldn't wait to have time to go back and finish. The world is real, darkly magical, and not like any other school of magic. I love El and her friends and can't wait for the next in the series.

Naomi Novik knocks it out of the park again! I'll start off with the inevitable disclaimer. I hate YA school of magic books. (Harry Potter is an excellent way to knock me out for surgery or whatever.) BUT I actually really enjoyed this one. I mean seriously, kids just end up dead and things are attacking people out of nowhere. It really grabs you by the cheeks and makes you stare it in the face for its entirety.

This is the first in Novik’s new Scholomance trilogy, where she spins quite the dark and compelling tale about a boarding school for students with magical powers. Danger doesn’t exactly lurk around every corner as much as it seeps in under the door or sneaks onto a lunch tray, and the seniors only look forward to graduating with the hope that they can survive the ceremony.

The story is told from the point of view of Galadriel, or El, who isolates herself to protect everyone from her darker impulses. Orion is a bit of a nemesis to El, in that he keeps saving her life and those of fellow classmates, something that causes a few unexpected problems.

The name of the game at the Scholomance is survival of the fittest, and it’s nearly impossible to know just who you can trust. On the other hand, going it alone might not be a viable solution either, no matter how much El would prefer it.

I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy strong female protagonists, suspenseful storylines, and masterfully constructed fantasy worlds. The unexpected ending will have readers clamoring for the next book.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for access to an advance copy of this book.

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.

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.