Publisher: Del Rey Books
Release Date: September 29, 2020
Genres: YA fantasy
Format: audio
Rating: 3.75 stars
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.
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.
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Before I proceed with my review, if you've missed the discussions surrounding this book, please look into the reviews written by BIPOC readers when it comes to the accusations made against the author and this novel. I researched and searched for my own answers when deciding on reading this novel. My review will not discuss the accusations made or the discussions established as it isn't my place to say whether this novel is harmful to marginalized groups. The issues surrounding this book seem subjective when it comes to worldbuilding and some issues seem to be taken out of context. Please read reviews and decide whether you would like to read this book for yourself.
A Deadly Education takes place in a magical school called The Scholomance. The Scholomance is a bananas hellscape where kids are magically sent for what is essentially a four-year independent study where monsters are constantly at their throats, the school is scheming to test and/or kill the kids as they learn. Throughout their stay, the kids are stuck in the school where they struggle to shower, study, and eat without monsters creeping out to kill them and eat them for their magical essences.
Throughout the book, the reader is taken through the school from the perspective of Galadriel during her junior year. El's powers are so intriguing. The book is written as a sort of unreliable first-person stream of consciousness. Not only did it improve the overall ambiance of the novel, the lack of information that El provided just added to the mystery surrounding the prophecy surrounding her existence, the chaotic, magical void that is the school, and the overall culture within the school.
At first, it was a lot to take in, but wow was it fun. El is such an interesting narrator because she's already been in the school for just about three years. She knows the ins and outs, the secrets, and the culture of the students is already her whole life. Looking in from the perspective that she gives us -- it's hard to get behind her biases, her nepotism, her narcissism, and her trust issues. El, as an unreliable narrator doesn't really give the readers much leeway and sometimes makes observations that are clouded by the trauma she's faced in her past. There's a really wonderful discussion that could be had surrounding her dysphoria and the perpetuated dysphoria one can experience in the school.
The school, as a whole, does perpetuate a sense of dysphoria. It encourages students to think for only themselves and to think of only surviving the hellscape it invents and allows to breed in its walls. This then leads the reader to not exactly enjoy El, but also not to enjoy any of the other characters as much as they usually would if the book hadn't been written as it was.
Overall, the novel was really well written. I really enjoyed the many layers that were masterfully written throughout the story. However, there were some aspects that just seemed so info-dumpy when one would think about how short the book was, how El would just stop and explain for a page or so, etc. There are definite moments that I would understand to be upsetting to BIPOC readers, but that isn't my tale to tell.
If you're interested in reading more reviews from a more informational lens please, check out the reviews of BIPOC readers. Here are some really wonderful ones:
Have you read this one? What did you think?
Happy reading!
Olivia
~ Liv the Book Nerd ~
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