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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
All stars
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The book starts strangely, effectively landing you in the middle of the story, but if you can get past that it's a good story. Don't expect too much, it's simplistic and a bit "teenagers save the day in an unlikely way" but it is young adult. It's fun and page turning though so as long as you go in with your eyes open and reality suspended, you'll enjoy it.

Enjoyable!

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As an autistic person I can really relate to a character that has always had trouble socialising not because of something they necessarily did wrong but because there's something about them other people just find off. I really enjoyed the unusual world building and I always enjoy a world with an inbuilt system of inequality and knowing by the end of the series the main character will have begun to fix it. This book won't be for every one of Naiomi Noviks' readers especially if you enjoyed the more adult tone of the Temeraire series but if you do enjoy magical worlds, schools of magic, and characters who are good people against their own best judgement and slightly annoyed by it then you will enjoy this book.

Loved it.

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great story, refreshing take on the genre. really hoping it turns into more than a trilogy as I could read a lot of books set in this world.

loved it

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Engaging story - nice, darker take on the wizard school, with a pleasingly foul-mouthed antihero and some imaginatively horrible monsters, plus some well-drawn messaging about privilege - but I did struggle with the narrator. I hesitate to criticise, as I'm sure it's a much harder job than it seems, but the narrator had an unfortunate habit of putting the emphasis in the wrong place in a phrase, which muddled the meaning and was super distracting - I was constantly re-narrating in my head as I was listening, putting the emphasis in the places which the sentences clearly warranted. She is lively and energetic, and had the sardonic voice of the protagonist down, but I wonder if sometimes that liveliness distracted from the meaning of some phrases. Generally, I think the book would have been better experienced on paper.

Engaging story; distracting narrator

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This is one of my favourite books of the year, it's just incredible!

The premise for this was absolutely excellent, a magic school where everything is constantly trying to eat you. It's like a malevolent Hogwarts and I love it.

The world building was top notch, I really felt like I was there and a part of the school, it was so vivid.

I loved El so much, she's just a fantastic character.

This was such a wild ride and I can't wait for book 2!

5 Deadly Stars!

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