A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Aug 26, 2020 Trin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020s, fantasy, american-lit

An endlessly fun rollercoaster of a book. The somewhat breathless first-person voice contributes to the unrelenting pace and lets the exposition slide down easily; this isn't my favorite of Novik's books, stylistically, but it's fitting to El, the cynical teenager girl who is our narrator.

El and her foil, Orion, are like the epitome of the Sunshine x Grumpy Kitten entry in the Ship Dynamic meme, and it's great. The world-building is dark and creative, and really really great, with a well-though ...more

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Feb 22, 2021 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pocmaincharacters, fantasy

Galadriel is the only child of a heroically deceased father and a nigh-saintly healer witch mother. She's in her second-to-last year at magic school, and it's gotten harder every year. And then she forges an unlikely and very unwanted sort-of-friendship with the school's golden boy, and suddenly she has to rethink not just her own survival tactics, but how the entire magical world should operate.

There are a few ways in which this is an interesting twist, commentary, or subversion of expected fa Galadriel is the only child of a heroically deceased father and a nigh-saintly healer witch mother. She's in her second-to-last year at magic school, and it's gotten harder every year. And then she forges an unlikely and very unwanted sort-of-friendship with the school's golden boy, and suddenly she has to rethink not just her own survival tactics, but how the entire magical world should operate.

There are a few ways in which this is an interesting twist, commentary, or subversion of expected fantasy, YA, or boarding school story tropes. The basic premise is that magic is awesome, but incredibly scary things are attracted to those with an affinity for magic. Magic kids in particular need to be constantly watched and protected, otherwise they'll be eaten. The magic school is the magical world's latest attempt to protect and teach kids, but it's a clearly flawed system. The magical scary things still manage to creep into the school, and the mechanisms to protect kids have broken down over the years. Kids from powerful Enclave families usually survive, because not only do the Enclaves give them magic to use, but non-Enclave kids will also give their skills, manna, or actual bodies to protect them in exchange for a place in the Enclave for themselves or their families. You can completely understand how this kind of unequal situation developed and see it played out in miniature in the goings on at school, but it takes (view spoiler)

I really liked the main characters and would love to see more of their misadventures together. ...more

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Nov 29, 2020 katayoun Masoodi rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook, fantasy, ya

i really liked this story, very interesting magic world. i liked all the characters and though they were not always delightful and definitely dense at times, still i found them likeable. the story is sometimes a bit slow and does go on and on at some points, but i think that's really novik's style and for me it was not a deal breaker, and enjoyed reading it and look forward to the next adventure.
(view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 22, 2021 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, pocmaincharacters, ya

Still so good on a reread! Man I love this book.

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Oct 14, 2020 Emma rated it really liked it

Shelves: on-kindle, edelweiss, owned

Scholomance is a school for magically gifted students and a solid way to avoid the deadly monsters intent on eating tasty young magicians until you can form a strong alliance, learn the proper spells, and build out your arsenal of magical supplies. All of this is complicated for Galadriel "El" Higgins, whose powerful dark magic means that the school would much rather teacher her deadly incineration spells than simple spells for cleaning her room.

El has a good plan for surviving her junior year a ...more

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Apr 05, 2021 Liz marked it as skipping-because-problematic

There's a few reviews by BIPOC that explain why this book is problematic. I have liked some of Novik's other work, but ultimately I'll probably give this one a pass.
https://nusantaranaga.wordpress.com/2...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ...more

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Nov 19, 2020 martha rated it liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, audiobook, year-2020

Did I *enjoy* this? I'm not sure. It was kind of unrelentingly grim. Did I whip through it in 3 days? Yep. Am I going to read the next one, especially after that last line? ... yes, yes I am. ...more

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Jun 09, 2021 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons-beasties, fantasy, witches_wizards, ebook, books-about-books, horror, to-reread

The Harry Potter books throw a long shadow. Sure, there were schools of witchcraft/wizardry before Hogwarts, but that school is the one that sticks in the mind when experiencing others, to the point where it can be hard to write anything about a magical school that's not just a pastiche.

Naomi Novik does not have that problem. 'A Deadly Education' acknowledges its influences, then gets right down to telling its own story. There may be moving staircases in these hallways, but they're not whimsical ...more

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Apr 10, 2021 junia rated it liked it

Creative world. I'm impressed at how much i learned about it given how many new things there were. Fun, prickly heroine. Cool building of friendship and relationship. I like stories set in schools. But kind of sad... How did she not make friends for 3 years? And kind of random that Orion only.. began saving her in year 3?

Interesting, light analogy to privilege but yeah. ...more

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