In the start of an all-new series, the bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver introduces you to a dangerous school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death - until one girl begins to rewrite its rules.
Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.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.
Wry, witty, endlessly inventive, and mordantly funny - yet with a true depth and fierce justice at its heart - this enchanting novel reminds us that there are far more important things than mere survival.
Comes without a dust jacket. Instead, the exclusive cover is printed directly on the hardcover case, with foil elements. The book has gilded foil edges, exclusive end pages, and a sewn ribbon bookmark.
- Publish Date 29 September 2020
- Publish Status Unknown
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Cornerstone
- Imprint Del Rey
- Edition OwlCrate Exclusive Edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 336
- Language English
- Special Exclusive Design Signed Sprayed Edges
Reviews
brdsk
I appreciated the themes of balance and price for magic and one's actions through the story. Together with a technical approach to magic skills that go beyond the classic "think it very hard and wave your wand", it adds realism to this world.
The heroine is a a snarky antisocial teenager who manages to be realistic and engaging. Her backstory makes her often rude behavior easy to understand as a defence mechanism, and left me rooting for her. The book covers a very short time frame, but the heroine still manages to go through interesting changes and personal growth. I hope there is more development for secondary characters in the future book as well, as they are only mildly explored thus far.
The slightly rumbling inner monologue writing was definitely a highlight for me, adding personality and humour to the simplest expositions.
Overall, 7 hours well spent and I'm looking forward to the second book.
thepunktheory
It took me a hot minute to get fully into this book. I don't know why. But all accounts, I should have loved it from page one. Nevertheless, I was fascinated by the premise and ended up reading up on the Scholomance a fair bit. 10/10 would recommend doing that if you enjoyed the book!
I'm not sure if it was the worldbuilding that startled me or if it simply was the protagonist. El is a tad annoying and, to be honest, acted quite bitchy a number of times. I got quite annoyed with her at the beginning but she did grow on me. So, after a rocky start, I soon got sucked into this dark and scary world full of monsters and magic.
Once those initial difficulties were overcome, I was here for it 100%. The world-building is amazing and I am so intrigued by the system of magic. I've read my fair share of books featuring magic, and I can't help but marvel at how unique the approaches to magic are oftentimes. I just love that there will be a sequel just so I can learn more about how magic works here.
Also, the book ended with a pretty significant cliffhanger. I need to know what all that is about, so I hope Naomi Novik is a fast typer and the sequel will be out soon. In A Deadly Education not a lot happens, while at the same time a lot of shit goes down. I feel like I'm unable to capture the specific essence of this book, it just has such a different vibe from everything else I've read recently.
Joséphine
I hope that the sequel to A Deadly Education will offer a lot more substance now that the world building is behind us. I enjoyed the concepts and ideas as well as the writing style enough that I am curious to continue. Besides, magical boarding schools have a way of suckering me in. Still, The Last Graduate needs to bring so much more for me to care about the third book in this trilogy.
Terri M. LeBlanc
The world of Scholomance so rich and Novik adds her own twist. The only downside is that El rushes through much of the world building business that is necessary to understanding how the every works. She assumes the readers know it all and I did not. (In fact, I'm still not certain, by the end if I completely understand it all.) A Deadly Education is like that other magical YA series that took the world by storm 20+ years ago, but imagine the only classes are Defense Against the Dark Arts and there are no professors. Got it? Well, you've got A Deadly Education.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
alindstadtcorbeax
RE-READ #1! 5 Stars AGAINNN! I truly just appreciate the eccentricities of this novel & the dark academia setting with the anti-heroine, and all... just everything about it makes me feel such... wonderment.
I absolutely love this book
_________________
Star Rating: —> 5 Stars
GAHHHH THIS WAS EVERYTHING I WAS HOPING FOR & MORE !!!!
*screams excitedly, albiet a little annoyingly fangirl-y (#sorrynotsorry