Book Review - A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

I have had this book on my TBR list for a while now. I bought A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate last year but never actually sat down to start reading until it was recommended to me by a friend. I regret not starting the series sooner because I loved A Deadly Education. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter because it's about Scholomance which is a magical school for magic wielders. This book seemed more YA-focused since the main characters are around the age of 16, but I loved the characters and story. The magic system in this series is so interesting but I didn't find myself confused at all. The author does a great job of world-building and I was hooked from the first few pages.

The main character is Galadriel, or El, who's been fighting against her dark prophecy while trying to stay true to the way her mother raised her. Throughout the story, she describes the way she struggles to control her rage and anger which has led to her becoming somewhat of an outcast. She comes off as rude and abrasive so other students at Scholomance tend to stay away from her. However, in a school where you often either need to be in an alliance or an enclave to survive, El is going to have to figure something out.

Orion Lake has earned a reputation as a hero while attending Scholomance. He's always saving other people from the dangerous creatures that lurk around the school, and everyone seems to adore him for it. However, when Orion "saves" El from one of the dangerous creatures, he's met with outright disdain rather than gratefulness which piques his interest in her. 

I absolutely adored the characters in this book. El is so relatable and the more you learn about her, the more you feel for her. I found myself feeling more for Orion though. Though everyone seems to adore him, you'll quickly realize that people at Scholomance are just taking advantage of him and his abilities. I thought the relationship between El and Orion was really interesting, although El is constantly pushing him away and being dismissive toward him, it's clear that there's something between them that makes them care for one another. It'll be interesting to see how their friendship/relationship progresses throughout the next books. I thought the best relationships, however, were between El and Aadhya and Liu. Although they form a strategic friendship, I really enjoyed how their friendship progressed. The relationships in this book felt very natural because they weren't forced and rather went from rather tentative and careful to more real. 

Overall, this was a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm for sure going to be reading the next 2 books when I get the chance.