Title: A Deadly Education (Scholomance #1)
Author: Naomi Novik
Page Count: 336
Published: 29th September 2020
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction

I got this as a preview copy from the nice people at Netgalley. I will always be honest about a book no matter if I paid for it or not. There are also affiliate links in here, too 💜

*Flings door open* HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS BOOK? It’s about witches and wizards at a schoo… HOLD ON.

Before you nope right outta here, let me give you a few key nuggets:
– This ain’t no happy school where everyone LOVES every minute of it
– Things are constantly trying K I L L you (which sucks)
– The lead is a bad-ass bitch-witch who’s half Indian and with literally zero time for your shenanigans

Perhaps that’s got your attention. Perhaps not, but if it has, let me tell you that this is a very easy read and will absolutely suck you right in. BUT (and I feel this is important to say now) there are a lot of infodumps and I went from OMG-I-LOVE-THIS to oh-god-I-dont-want-to-continue and back again. Perhaps it’s just me.

This is the story of the Scholomance – a school that was built in the void that was historically only open for the rich witches and wizards of the world. That was, however, until nasty ass creatures started breaking in looking for an easy lunch ticket and only then did the doors get opened up the less fortunate. Needless to say, a lot of students never made it home. If being constantly in fear for your life wasn’t enough, this school has no teachers, no staff of any kind, assignments that just appear and you MUST follow the bells to a tee or, you know, die a very long and painful death.

And then there’s our main character – Galadriel (yes, Lord of the Rings). El (as she hates to be called) has been scurrying around doing her damn best to survive, smacking anyone who gets in her way with a hefty dose of sarcasm and wit. Needless to say, she’s not exactly popular but you need to form alliances if you’re going to survive graduation. Which can be tricky to do when you’re trying to control your own powers and not take out the whole school.

Enter Liu and Aadhya who form a very unlikely group of outcasts and Orion – the emo enclave ~mysterious~ kid that has a penchant for killing monsters / potential other-end-of-the-personality-spectrum love interest. I know opposites attract, but I reeeeeally need to know where that one is going.

This is an excellent little book especially if you’re looking to continue in the YA magic world leaving ‘she who will not be named’ in the past. If the story continues on the same mental trajectory as this one, then book no. 2 The Last Graduate will be excellent.