I'm grateful to have had the chance to read this book, and I fully plan to dive into the next two books. This is exactly the type of "fun" YA series I was obsessed with as a teenager - a little prickly, a lot dark, and with a rich, interesting world. At times I wondered if the world building wasn't TOO complicated, with just a few more mals then were actually necessary, but by the end I felt very immersed in the reality of the school. It worked for me, definitely.

I just went out and acquired the next two books in the series, which is the strongest endorsement I can give.

I plan to publish my review on goodreads for all three books once I have finished the series. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

5⭐️ Set completely in a dark and twisted magic school for young wizards who are sent there to develop their magic and keep them safer from the monsters who seek to feast on their mana (magical energy). This dark academia has a cast of quirky characters who are trying to survive their time at The Scholomance. Having so many mana fueled wizards in one place is magnet for the monsters which their parents are trying to keep them safe from, left without teachers on a self directed learning journey, each student only has a small chance of making it out alive on graduation day. Not only are the students fighting the monsters but they are fighting each other to make sure they are the ones who survive.

I absolutely LOVED this book!

Written in a single POV to help me feel like I was El (Galadriel), the main character, allowed me to completely immerse myself in this world. We hear El’s every thought, the good, the bad, and at times the deranged… and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!

We follow two main characters, El (Galadriel) the outcast, who is grumpy, snarky, sarcastic and absolutely not interested in making friends or even tolerate human interaction. She’s had enough of people! And Orion, the privileged hero of one of the biggest enclaves (magical communities) who spends all his time saving his classmates and being fawned over. When these two cross paths the banter is fun and El’s snark fires freely.

I thoroughly enjoyed walking with El as she reluctantly started to collect allies. Watching as their strategic partnerships, designed to increase their chances of graduating safely, grew into friendships was deeply satisfying. I especially enjoyed the awkward relationship that she had with Orion who kept trying to save her when she absolutely wanted to save herself.

The story kept me intrigued the whole way through, rarely did I find myself predicting what was to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect as I was constantly surprised.

The author created a complicated and interesting world with such a unique magic system. Due to the way that we were inside El’s head the whole story there was a tendency to throw a whole lot of information at us all at once, but I appreciated this as I wanted to understand this magic school as soon as possible.

A Deadly Education was an amazing first instalment to this trilogy, and El is now one of my favourite characters.

Galadriel (El) and Orion are both dorks and I love them. The prickly outcast girl and the golden boy hero are a snarky, overpowered, sometimes dumb as rocks duo that make for non-stop shenanigans, moments of heart, and all-around good fun. The sheer amount of information about the spooky school the Scholomance can get overwhelming, but it’s no big deal to skim a few paragraphs here and there.

Absolutely love Naomi's writing and imagination. Insane to think you would want to read a story about a school that is trying to kill you and you want to keep going to this school. Loved the characters and the whimsical nature.

The world building and magic system is SO COOL and smart and unique and I really enjoyed it. such a captivating world, and I haven’t felt similar about a book since the world of Harry Potter! Very happy I finally picked this one up.

While Naomi is a fantastic writer with an incredible imagination, the writing left some to be desired for me, and sometimes I found my eyes going a little cross eyed. There was a lot of descriptions and words and no white space. I personally prefer more talking and less Inner monologue / diary writing etc. but it was entertaining overall and unique. I wasn’t confident I’d want to read the next books in the series, but of course that ending piqued my interest and has me running to Libby to place the next book on hold.

Thank you to Naomi, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Bellatine for the gifted copy to read - all thoughts and opinions are mine and not influenced!

I really enjoyed this book! the beginning was too clogged with exposition dumps but the rest was lovely!!

This really should have been right up my alley, parodying The Chosen One tropes with dark adacemia? Yes please. I actually found the protagonist too sarcastic, and the satire hits a little too mean-girls for me. I didn't get very far so maybe things level out.

What an absolutely fantastic book, the characters, plot and setting were so intricately thought of and unique. It was such a beautiful book to read and I wish I could read it for the first time again.
It was such a magical book that took the reader on a journey through their fantastical plot.

4.75⭐️

A lot of info dumping within the first few chapters.
And very very long chapters, like 1 hour long chapters to be exact! No one need chapters this long, my monkey brain needs a break every 10 minutes.. 😅

But all this aside : I got to chapter 5 and went ahead and purchased the rest of the series because even 26% in I could see this was going to be one of my favourite magical reads.
I love the idea of moving classrooms and a sentient school. I love the unique magic system.

I don’t particularly love being in the EL’s mind. I do find her a little annoying if not frustrating at times, however I can overlook it because I really enjoyed the story itself.

I reeeeaaally wanted to like this as it's been recommended to me many times by different people and I liked the concept, but absolutely did not vibe with the writing style nor the FMC's inner dialogue. 🫣 I just felt like the plot wasn't really there for a long while, and the worldbuilding took way too long for me to feel anything about it. I might try out book 2 but not in the near future. 😭 This is my first Novik read, but I know I absolutely do want to try out other novels by the author as well.

This books is well written and interesting but I struggled to get into it. It has dark academia/fantasy vibes but for a younger audience. If you are into that you'll love this one. I like a little more action and less of the high school feel.

I give this book a 3 star. This book was very different then what I thought it was going to be. I think I let the book talk and hype excite me way to much. I was kind of disappointed as this book read more like a girls school diary. I did not hate this book by any means but it didn’t keep my attention like I had hoped it would. I found myself reading a few chapters of this book and the reading other books in between. I feel as though this book requires a certain type of reader. I will recommend it to those that would like books like this and encourage readers who like books with an educational feel to them to give this a try. Personally for myself I needed a little more action the what was given.

A deadly education is a blend of dark academia with fantasy. The characters are well developed and overall plot was intriguing. But the execution was done poorly for my liking.

The large info dump mostly occurred in between the action or something quite interesting and it disturbed the flow of the imagination. It was totally unnecessary, sometimes felt even forced to make the whole plot even more forlorn or menacing.

It felt like Harry Potter mixed up with some hunger game or Divergent set up making it even more stark and dark. Lot many things didn't really make sense even after the info dump.

Overall not a book for me but I might already start to read the second book atleast the starting few pages coz of that cliffhanger at the end.

Thank you Netgalley, Naomi Novik and Random House publishing group- Ballantine for providing me with ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This story follows Galadriel, a student in a school for magically gifted individuals where danger is common place. With no adults in the school, students must be responsible for their own learning while avoiding the mals- creatures drawn to magic that cause only harm and destruction. Students are forced to walk a fine line between finding allies to support them while also competing in the cuthroat environment. Unfortunately, Galadriel more often than not finds herself a loner due to a mix of how others perceive her and her less than desirable social skills. When a fellow junior throws off the balance with his actions, Galadriel and the entire school find themselves at even greater risk than anticipated. Even worse, Galadriel worries that her classmates actions might ultimately destroy her chances for success both in school and beyond.

This story takes the premise of Lord of the Flies but creates a very unique and interesting social structure. The characters are perfectly flawed and relatable, and the plot has good pacing. I am excited to see where this series goes next.

Naomi Novik’s Urban Fantasy” Scholomance” series is the epitome of the Dark Academia subgenre. The first novel, “A Deadly Education” does not merely take place in a school with a dark twist, but in a killer school. Students either graduate or literally die trying. Novik has created a world where magical children attract monsters that love to kill them and eat their magic. These maleficaria, or 'mals' are especially attracted to adolescents going through puberty. The teenagers are locked in a boarding school that is in a mystical void and cannot be entered or exited except at graduation time. However, this school is no Hogwarts, there are no teachers, only lessons to be learned, lest you are killed by the many mals roaming the school. Although the odds of living to graduation are slim, chances of survival on the outside are almost nonexistent. Novik is a masterful world builder. Her world is full of hidden buildings, magical spells and dark atmosphere; and every part rings true to the reader.

The main character is Gladriel (El) Higgins who is a Malicifyer, a dark sorceress. It is quite common for a fantasy to hav3e a main character who is destined to be great. There is indeed a prophesy about El. She is not expected to save the world, but to bring death to thousands. She has a powerful dark magic inside. She could easily destroy all the mals in the school but she could just as easily destroy all the students as well. El is afraid of her powers and is insecure and antisocial. She also has a sarcastic acerbic wit, and that voice sets the predominate tone of the book. Despite the dark setting, I was frequently laughing. The other main character is Orlando Lake, He is the exact opposite of El, and the popular young man with a hero complex is always saving everyone… including El, much to her own chagrin. Students are advised not to make friends but alliances. But the loner soon finds herself among a found family. The featured characters are all well rounded and fully fleshed out.

Although this book is labeled as Young Adult because of the protagonists’ age, it is not filled with the normal teen anxiety and will appeal to fantasy lovers no matter their age. I first read the book when it was recently first read it and waited on tenterhooks for each new book of the series. I recommend this book to anyone who loves Urban Fantasy. If you enjoyed Harry Potter or Fourth Wing, you will love these books. I loved this book when I first read it and waited on tenterhooks for the each of the following books. My advice is to have all three on hand to avoid the cliffhangers.

A great fall read! Dark academia vibes while also being a fun read. The grumpy/sunshine romance kept me binging! I also thoroughly enjoyed the representation in this book as a brown girl. It was refreshing to read a brown girl MC without it being centred around her heritage. The world-building and magic system was unique and easy to follow. At times there was too much internal dialogue and the pacing fell short. However, still a great book and I will be reading the next!

A Deadly Education gave me everything I love in a fantasy book: a main character who takes no shit from anybody (El, you are MY QUEEN), an action-packed narrative, friendships and Orion, who completely stole my heart.

I think people who don't enjoy El won't like this book, but honestly, she's the reason I'm giving it 5 stars. I LOVE El, she's rude, sarcastic, she doesn't care about being "nice" or making a good impression: she'll say what she thinks or feels, no matter if it's going to piss people off (even it it's rich and influential enclavers who expects her to suck up for them). She's pessimist and always ready for the worst scenarios, but also clever and very hard-working at the same time. She's a protagonist I not only loved but also rooted for.

Even though this is a character-driven novel - we see most of what's happening through El's eyes, and there's a lot of inner monologues and thoughts as well -, there's lots of action. Since the Scholomance is magic school full of monsters who are attracted to mana (the power wizards use to make spells), we see El and her fellow students being attacked constantly. It's really a survival thing: if you don't pay attention, you can get killed or eaten at any time. I enjoyed specially the worldbuilding regarding to how the school works. The independent study, how each language has different spells, how, if you stare too long to an arabic book, for example, you can end up assigned to arabic class, and who knows what will happen if you don't learn it fast to cast your spells.

I think this story will please not only people who like romance, but the ones who doesn't. We see a bound being created between El and Orion - she, who's always being avoided by everyone, and he, who only has shallow relationships, since everyone who approaches him only wants to take advantage of his power and his protection. Both of them had never had true friends before, people who really cared about them, which makes their friendship even more meaningful. Besides, Orion has a puppy personality: he's polite, sweet, really cares about people and has a big heart, while El is rude and bad-tempered. Basically: I SHIPPED THEM ~SO HARD~. I was screaming heart-eyed at every interaction they had.

At the same time, Naomi Novik didn't make an insta-love or anything: they are friends and that's all. El is very practical, she's focused on surviving the Scholomance, so she's not interested in dating or romance (even though Orion follows her around all the time and everyone thinks they're dating). I hate when a protagonist only thinks about romance and loose focus of her goals, and this has NOT happened here, which I appreciated a lot.

The book ended with a plot twist, and I'm so excited for the next one!! I've just finish it, but I'm already missing El, Orion and everyone. ♡

A Deadly Education is set at The Scholomance, a magical school where there are no teachers and hungry monsters waiting to devour students behind every corner. There are some serious cliques at The Scholomance, but generally each student is out for themselves and will only help you if there is something in it for them. This is rough when you need some friends to watch your back just so you can take a shower to ensure something doesn't come out of the drain to to eat you.

This book was difficult to get into. A Deadly Education is told from the perspective of the main character and the beginning starts off with a lot of world terminology that is very confusing with no context. I'm still uncertain if I understand how the world and magic work. The ending also threw me off because I'm not sure if their plan succeeded and what it meant for the seniors because hardly any narration was happening.

Overall, I enjoyed the dark academia setting and the witty yet snarky main character's view point, however, I wish there was more information about this world so I could truly appreciate what was going on. Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and the author for giving me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating-4 Stars
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik completely captive me from start to finish. Set in a British magic school, this coming-of age story is perfect for fans who love Harry Potter but wanted something more darker and more sinister.

A Deadly Education is set at the Scholomance, a place where monsters lurked everywhere. A place where death is always around the corridor. Instead of a male protagonist, this story follows a female protagonist called Galadriel who slowly starts to unravel the secrets of the Scholomance. The main aim of the Scholomance is to survive. Survive and graduate out of the Scholomance.

Starting this book, I was really sceptical about A Deadly Education. On many times, I had tried to read the other authors books but have been unable to get into them. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and really enjoyed it. At first, I felt very overwhelmed by the amount of world building but soon grew to be fascinated by the school history, I grew more fascinated by the world building as I move more into the book.

Throughout the book, Galadriel had a love/hate friendship with majority of the characters through A Deadly Education. It was lovely to see the reluctance Galadriel had about these friendships and the way she swayed between love and hate. I really enjoyed the dynamics between Galadriel and Orion- the heroine who saved her multiple times throughout the story despite her saying she did not need it. It was refreshing to see how this friendship bloomed throughout the story and was lovely to see the meaning why Orion stayed with her.

This book is more aimed at YA but progresses to adult the further you get into the book. This is perfect for people who loved Dark Academic books who are looking for their next magic school read. I was sucked into the Scholomance and I am now really excited to pick up the next one in the series. It had also made me really excited to try again to read other books by Naomi Novik.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group and the author Naomi Novik for letting me have the opportunity to read this book and post a honest review.

This story is written by Naomi Novik and is about a school of magic, where there are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die. El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.

Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it . . . that is, unless she has no other choice.

These books are absolutely brilliant and written in such a smart way, I just loved everything about them. Novik is a genius with storytelling and world creating and it is just a pleasure to read her books. Definitely recommended!