Book Review: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

I picked up this book solely because Naomi Novik’s name was on the front cover. I loved Uprooted (because of the fantastic natural magic and the enchanted forest) and I enjoyed Spinning Silver as well. And this Novik book didn’t have dragons. (Don’t get me wrong. I love dragons, but only in Ursula Le Guin’s books for some reason?) Anyway…

It took me a while to crack this one open because I wasn’t excited about the premise – a grumpy, powerful student/wizard bound to a magical school that is constantly working to kill the students within (to prepare them for the challenges of wizard life?). The food is poisoned, there are maleficaria lurking around every corner, and the only way to survive is to be an enclave kid or form an alliance.

Despite my meh feelings about the premise, the quality of the writing kept me reading. Novik’s skills are top notch. This book is worth a read just because of the writing. I easily understood what it was like to be in Galadriel’s shoes (AKA El) and the deep internal emotional challenges she was facing. This invested me in her story – despite her not being terribly likable. That’s an impressive feat for a writer.

I loved the use of theme in ADE. El’s inner dialogue about her social struggles – and the resulting loneliness, isolation, and trauma – had me riveted, because I saw myself and my high school experience. It rang true. I love this quality in a book– when a fictional story with made-up characters reflects the true struggles and reality of life, illuminating them and helping readers see and understand from another perspective. It’s a powerful and vital function of art.

Another powerfully illuminated theme was privilege. El has to store up all her own magic herself, struggling to stay alive without the benefit of being part of a magical enclave. She comes close to dying multiple times, saved only by luck. As opposed to the enclave kids, who already have a tribe in place, and power sharing devices; they don’t have to exhaust themselves storing up their own power, or mana. The non-enclave kids are almost like human shields, as the monsters (or mals) go for the weakest links first. It was almost nauseating to experience such an unjust system, to see the cluelessness of the enclave kids to the extent of their privilege and the struggles of others. Again, it rang true. Books that reflect real societal issues and deepen our understanding of them are so valuable. In this respect, ADE really shines.

The interplay of El and Orion’s relationship is nice too, and El does seems to grow as a character, even though her rudeness gets tiresome at times.

Sometimes I felt there were too many holes in the world building. As a reader-author, I really enjoy description and world building. Some authors use a light touch with this, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks with their imagination. I don’t know if this was what Novik’s goal, but I had so many questions that were unanswered, things that I didn’t understand.

Let me explain: In ADE, the outside world is populated by magical and nonmagical people, but some wizards live among nonmagical people and some live in enclaves depending on their social connections/power/talents, etc. There are monsters everywhere trying to kill wizards, especially adolescent wizards. So the school is supposed to be a safe place for them to develop their magic, but it actually tries to kill them too? And pit them against each other? That felt contradictory to me. I was incredulous that adults would allow their kids to go to a school when they knew that maybe a third of them might not come out alive. That did not ring true. Especially as some of the critical functions of the Scholomance structure weren’t functioning, and they knew this was a problem. Being a parent, in that situation, I would never willingly have sent my son there. I would’ve sacrificed myself to protect him, and to find solutions other than “a deadly education”.  In this respect, the whole premise felt a little wobbly. This wizarding world is not a progressive one. Like in many YA novels, the adults are incompetent morons who neglect basic needs. (this gets so old)

Thumbs down to the brushed over, casual multiple student deaths. Super dark and not my cup of tea. Many of the characters (El included) are so desensitized to death they don’t even grieve. Social trauma is there, but ironically, there is a marked lack of trauma associated with constant danger and loss of life. So strange.

I’ll wrap up with this; at times ADE felt like a cool, market-driven YA concept that wasn’t thoroughly fleshed out, but that Novik was able to get published because of her status (guaranteed $$$). Isn’t this publishing in a nutshell though? (sorry, author rant)

There are many reviews on GR from the perspective of POC about the content of this book that are worth checking out. (Topics I have no business weighing in on.)

Overall I gave this 3.5 stars because of the quality of the writing and the valuable thematic content.