Book Club May 2021 Pick: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

 Hello my dear readers, I am so sorry for the pause. Book Club picked A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik to read for our May 2021 book. 

I love the concept and the world the author has created. She has a great voice welcoming us into the Scholomance with the students. The story itself is fascinating. Novik definitely has a vision of her world, the powers, magic, limitations, creatures, actions and reactions on every level, in mind as she’s writing and developing. I would love to see her notes, dictionary, doodles and idea boards in her writing space. I think the author has created a world that has the feel of Harry Potter fan fiction. I haven’t done any research to verify the validity of this statement, it’s just what I think and what the feeling of the book/potential story line is.

Just to be honest, I will say, I was thrown when I started the book because it felt like I was already in the story and should know the terms specific to their world as well as events, expectations, etc. I had to check to see if I accidently started on a book later in the series. I didn’t, this is the first book in the series. As I have read on,  I am left  wondering if it’s because we are dropped into the characters’ lives when they are in their junior (prospectively) year in school? All things are leading to their murderous senior year and graduation?

The author has a strong grasp on describing things in such a way that you can feel it, see it, smell it, and imagine what it might sound like. She engages all your senses which is a magical author who can do that. I am definitely glad I can’t smell it and my kids will never have to experience it. Some of the images she creates really enhance the magical atmosphere we are in. For example, Galadreil having to read the spines of books so she can get down an aisle of books that doesn’t want her to reach the end. You can feel the almost time warp she is fighting as she simply is trying to get through an aisle of books.

I admit, I found myself getting frustrated about ¾ through the book. I am growing to know the characters, especially the main girl, Galadreil. What is frustrating is that it feels like Novik wants the readers to know and understand the mounting anxiety and angst of the characters, to feel and realize their emotions, to reiterate how everything they feel now and how they react now is due entirely to their future senior graduation. It’s getting to be a little…. Redundant and it makes me want to ask the author if she should have done a longer novel, to really enhance the characters and get through their years in school or to say, “HEY, can we focus on the story now? There are adventures to be had, mana to store, mals to kill, lets do this!” I don’t think Novik wants to have a book with romance in it at this point, but I also can’t tell if she knows that. It’s almost like there is so much hate trying to build between Orion and Galadreil that they almost have to have a romance of some kind. I kept falling out of the book and I hate that!

I do appreciate that Galadreil knows she is flawed by her angry attitude. However, like I mentioned previously, it took a while to get there. Once the admittance was out, it allowed me to want to read more about her journey and future knowing she’s aware she has a problem, not more likeable, but maybe redeemable. It allowed me to dive back into the story and continue on.

I will say I was excited to read the novel, then felt a little confused but pushed on. After a bit I got frustrated with the characters but “just knew” the author would shift focus from our meeting of the characters and getting to know them to the story arcs and we would continue to know the characters through the story. It took longer than I wanted for this to happen. Novik has such a strong grasp of the school, magic, creatures, and environment everyone is living in, I wanted the same for the kids running around in it, fighting to build mana and live. I wanted the story to move to the forefront.

The story ended well enough, everyone seemed to make it to their next year of school with alliances and relationships building and solidifying… I will most likely read the next book in the series but I won’t rush out to get it. The author threw in a last minute cliffhanger to try and rope you back in. I don’t know that it is enough, but it did spark some curiosity about how she would get the story to incorporate it, especially with how isolated the students are.