Native American Heritage Month
Brigid asked this question about A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1):
Hearing tell of some incredibly racist passages in this. Who else is taking this off their TBR?
James Obviously people can do what they will. The author definitely got some things wrong about which cultures subscribe to which mythological creatures, an…moreObviously people can do what they will. The author definitely got some things wrong about which cultures subscribe to which mythological creatures, and apparently invoked a racist stereotype about a certain hair style. It would be good if she did better in the future. Not denying it.

However, I would say that most of the problems in the book stem from an attempt at inclusion that applied some effort, but not enough to get everything perfect. The author could have gone full Harry Potter and just had white people, and 90% of the issues that are being discussed would not have been present in the text. But it would have been a worse book for racial inclusion.

The author has made an apology, and has committed to taking actions to repair her most prominent mistake and prevent future mistakes of a similar nature. If you think that this is behavior that, nonetheless, deserves your boycott, that is your prerogative. I personally don't think it is helpful.

I also question whether you will be able to apply this policy consistently. I doubt you'll be able to read many books by people that contain a mix of ethnicities and cultures where mistakes like this don't happen to some degree or another. The question will simply be whether the dragon that is Twitter has noticed or not. I think you'd be better off reading what you want, and supporting anti-racist policies like more taxation for the rich, voting rights, healthcare, and better schools for the poor. These types of policies matter vastly more to most racially underprivileged people than some relatively subtle and unintentional racist tropes in a fantasy novel.

Note: I am a socially progressive white person who generally supports BLM and similar anti-racist organizations. Take the above opinion with the appropriately sized grain of salt based on that knowledge.(less)
flag
More questions about A Deadly Education…
Image for A Deadly Education
A Deadly Education
by Naomi Novik (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more