Reviews with content warning for Child death - A Deadly Education

Loved this book! The lore is so rich and intricate, and the cast of characters is so lovable and diverse. Loved every second of being inside this universe!!

Content Warnings

blewballoon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had been sitting on this book for a long time and finally decided to read it. I ended up doing the audiobook, and I think the narrator did very well.

This book is quite exposition heavy, but the exposition is in the main character's voice so you get a bit of flavor of their personality along with the info dumps. Sometimes it felt like the story would come to a halt for some fairly irrelevant exposition, while other times the story would plunge along and I felt like I didn't have context to fully understand what was happening. It's a bit of an exhausting story because the Scholomance is such an exhausting place to live. There are monsters, school rules, and complex social hierarchies that make every action and every conversation loaded with potential repercussions, and all of those things constantly need explaining.

All that being said, I did enjoy this book. The main character was a lot more likable than I expected from the blurb, and there were some interesting supporting characters as well. As a character driven reader, these characters worked for me and carried me through the book. I am not sure if I will pick up the rest of the series or not, though.

Content Warnings

alyssaakdefusco's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I think the idea of the book is interesting, but there was so much world building that had to happen in this first book of the series that I found pretty tough to get through. And everything is so terrible that the characters have to go through. No delightful magic, just a version of Harry Potter where everything is terrible and everyone is probably going to die. Not my favorite. But I did get caught up in the more action -packed scenes towards the end enough to keep me going!

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dcdc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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oonawoodbury's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this! I was worried going in that it might be too YA or too dramatic but I got into it easily and enjoyed the tone. It reminds me of The Magicians in a lot of ways but the POV character does a lot less judging every woman by their appearance (a huge plus). I like El's reverse chosen one thing and her dynamic with Orion. The magic is cool and can contain lots of complexity and interesting possibilities without being overwhelming. I look forward to book 2!

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erikagibson126's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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