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A Deadly Education

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A Deadly Education

By: Naomi Novik
Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.
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The Sunday Times bestselling novel from the award-winning author of UPROOTED

In the start of an all-new trilogy, 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.
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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.
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'Hilarious and wild! Take any fictional magic school, make it as over-the-top dangerous as possible, and populate it with a bunch of snarky teenagers; the result is pure batshit fun.'
N.K. Jemisin, three-time Hugo Award winner and author of The Fifth Season

'Novik deliciously undoes expectations about magic schools, destined heroes, and family legacies. A gorgeous book about monsters and monstrousness, chockablock with action, cleverness, and wit.' Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author

'The Scholomance is the dark school of magic I've been waiting for, and its wise, witty, and monstrous heroine is one I'd happily follow anywhere-even into a school full of monsters.'
Katherine Arden, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

'The wonderful cast of characters will grab a hold of your heart and you'll never want to leave this deadly school ... a fantasy that delights on every level. I loved this brilliant book.'
Stephanie Garber, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Caraval series

'Eyeball-meltingly brilliant. Novik is, quite simply, a genius.'
Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

'Sharp, witty, and darkly effervescent, A Deadly Education is Naomi Novik's fresh take on the concept of the magic school. One of my favorite reads of the year.'
Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls

'Naomi Novik reinvents the magical school story by working a strange, funny, wild, dark magic all her own. This is not just your next great read - it's your new obsession.'
Gwenda Bond

'A delightfully brutal world ... and a practical, ruthless heroine with the guts and wits to survive it.'
Emily Skrutskie

'Fresh, smart, and delightfully unique. It's Hogwarts with higher stakes and sharper claws, and I absolutely loved it.'
Alix E. Harrow

'A nightmare from which I never wished to wake. Savage, inventive, and soulful, Novik grasps the totems of childhood that linger in your mind-schools of magic, curses, cutthroat classmates, monsters-only to twist them into a grand new tale that'll make you believe in magic again.'
Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Age

©2020 Naomi Novik (P)2020 Penguin Audio
Coming of Age Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Magic Magical Realism Science Fiction Women's Voices Feel-Good Witty Heartfelt Funny

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All stars
Most relevant
For me, the least favourite of Novik's books. There's just no heart or warmth in it. There's nothing modulating the cold, harsh, killing environment of the school, of the main character's mood, of the events. Its just an everlasting trudge of animosities and aggression - from everyone.

There's just no heart in this story

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Took me a while to get into this, but I persevered because I knew Naomi Novik wouldn't let me down! And she didn't! Really great story with interesting, likeable characters. And a really interesting take on a magical school. Can't wait for the next book!

Hogwarts meets the Hunger Games!

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In this series, Novik depicts a fascinating world that forces the reader to consider 'the void' and education as a means for survival in an unusual way. I was gripped by this and the magical world that she creates for us. I enjoyed the unusual names, monsters and mechanisms used. The new names and dangers of this world take a bit of getting used to.
I liked the main character (El), she is tempestuous and feisty, I empathised with her but found her to also be quite immature. This would grate on me at the start of each book until I got used to her again. This book (and whole series) is written from El's point of view. The books are largely made up of El's monologues/ back stories/ opinions of what is going on around her. El often goes off on angry 'rants' that last minutes - which I can imagine a frustrated teenager doing but it takes patience to listen to them. I listened to this series whilst driving and sometimes it was like being stuck in a room with an ranty teenager who goes on and on with explanations.

El's use of language is repetitive and cyclical. She does not have a wide vocabulary (except for magical words) and uses the same descriptions/ phrases - multiple times. This gets a bit dull. I feel that the series would help to widen someone's imagination but not their vocabulary or use of language, which is unfortunate as it is probably most read by young adults.
I guess El received a limited education until she went to the Scholomanse (school) but I would worry that an impressionable young adult may start talking like El if they read this series, which may be too much to bear!

Yet, somehow I still enjoyed the series, particularly the first two books, which are based in the school. I did care about the characters.
A 1/3 of the way during each book, I would relax into them and be able to let El's words wash around/ past me.

Fascinating but...

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An excellent change to magic that makes it more believable.
The characters have depth, thoughtful interactions and leave you caring about what happens to them.

Spoilers below.

The story is generally positive, starting in a dark setting and building hope as it develops.
I will stop there as any more ruins the journey.

I used a credit on the second book within 5 seconds of this one ending, before writing this review.

Wonderful

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I'll update this review on the content. First point on the reader. Excellent. They found someone with a cultured English accent (characters mother) with a touch of Indian (as the characters father was). The reader captures the humour as well as the drama of this story.

Devilish fun and perfectly read.

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