Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK - Del Rey for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads Synopsis
Lesson One of the Scholomance Learning has never been this deadly A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) — until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets. There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate… or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.
Review
The minute I heard that this book was coming out I knew I had to read it. Whilst I have not read any of Naomi Novik’s books (I’m sorry! I have Uprooted on my TBR!), the concept of this book just drew me in and lets be fair dark academia is definitely something I love reading about.
As soon as I was accepted for this e-arc and received the confirmation email (see picture on the left) I knew that this book was going to be a new favourite and I was spot on. I devoured 57% in one sitting and grudgingly had to put it down as I needed to get some sleep. This book is absolutely brilliant and I loved the world building and the characters.
Galadriel, or El as she prefers to go by was such a great protagonist. Sarcastic, smart, rude and incredibly angry El was brilliant and I loved watching her journey and her development throughout this story. Although she should be unlikeable, I never found myself frustrated or annoyed by her behaviour or attitude, instead I liked reading about a abrasive main character because in all honesty it was a breath of fresh air! She’s been shunned by people most of her life due to her affinity for dark magic and because of that she doesn’t know how to let people in, with her mother being the only person she cares about.
Orion was in my opinion quite hilarious with his clueless yet brave personality that makes him the hero of the school. He is everything you’d imagine in a hero and is loved by everyone but El who honestly hates the fact that he’s managed to save her life countless times. I also found myself growing to love Orion and all the side characters and what they brought to the book.
I’ve already mentioned the world building but seriously guys, it’s amazing. Everything was just so captivating and intriguing that I couldn’t help but want more. You can tell that Novik has put so much thought into this book with how detailed everything is.
Overall, this was a brilliant book and is now one of my all time favourites. From the sarcasm, to the plot and it’s characters this book ticked all the boxes for me. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!
Rating: 5/5 stars