Review

El (actual name: Galadriel) is a wizard, and a student at the Scholomance, a wizarding school. But this is no Hogwarts. The Scholomance is full of deadly mals (monsters); the food is scant, bad and sometimes dangerous; and there’s virtually no contact with the outside world. To graduate, students must cut their way through a graduation hall full of ravenous mals. On average, only a quarter of each cohort survives, but this is an improvement on outside survival rates, as teen magicians are a mal’s favourite snack, and the school provides a modicum of protection.

In this environment, there’s cutthroat rivalry and constant jockeying for position. Enclave kids, from powerful wizarding communities, have big advantages over absolute losers, like El. No one wants to form any sort of alliance with El, who is snarky and sarcastic, and seems like a dark wizard, even though she’s actually pretty ethical. But then, popular, heroic Orion comes bursting into her room to kill a mal, and she’s very rude to him. And then Orion’s just around her. A lot. Why? And will El be able to survive and even… make some friends?

*

I loved this book. (Currently plowing through the rest of the series.) I adore snarky narrators, and El is the Queen of Snark. The worldbuilding is fabulous, and I was quite happy to have all the details explained to me. There was adventure and comedy, and I just loved it all. There are a lot of interesting themes: good and evil; just because people think you’re evil, does that mean you should be; the thorny issues of class and privilege.

And it was well written. What a delight! This is classic YA fantasy. Highly recommend. (And the audiobook is great.)

> Click here for content info – potential mild spoilers, enter at own risk!

YA depictions of: fantasy violence; actual violence, including one scene that isn’t a threat of sexual violence, but seems like it in some ways (all ends well – except for the perpetrator); characters in perilous situations; school popularity/exclusion situations and general teen-on-teen ruthlessness; social injustice & privilege; traumatic situations. Tragic death of El’s father in backstory. Some swear words, including f-word, and mild British swears (like w**ker), and mild sexual innuendo. One kiss.

*

Novik, N. (2020). A deadly education (A. Dadia, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Penguin Audio.

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