The first book in the Scholomance series! This is the perfect book for fantasy and magical school lovers.

I am a huge fan of fantasy book especially magical school books. A Deadly Education was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020 and it did not disappoint! This gave me Harry Potter vibes because of the magical school but it’s a much gritty story. It’s also a introspective look into El’s life and accepting who you are. I also could not help comparing it to The Lord of the Flies since the school is basically just students trying to survive on their own.

There has been a lot of criticism about the book being culturally insensitive due to a passage about dreadlocks. However, in my opinion, this has been completely blown out of proportion. I won’t get into the controversy because I don’t want to. I really hate that Book of the Month took it off their site as well due to this. But I found this book to be incredibly inclusive and had such a diverse range of characters!

This book is a bit slow to start with, and most of that is due to the world building the Novik does. It took me about 75 pages to really get into the story but once I did, I was hooked! The unique world that Novik has created for us is completely different than any other magical story I’ve read. The fact that monsters are continuously trying to feed off of those that can do magic and the need to fend them off is ever present, really presents a lot of organic conflict in the story.

I know the extensive world building isn’t for everyone but as a lover of high fantasy, it was perfect for me. Naomi Novik has a masterful imagination and is such a talented writer. I am extremely anxious for the second book The Last Graduate to release this summer.

The Last Graduate REview | The Golden Enclaves Review

AMAZON | GOODREADS | ★★★★★ 

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on A Deadly Education . If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.