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A Deadly Education

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A Deadly Education

By: Naomi Novik
Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.
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The Sunday Times bestselling novel from the award-winning author of UPROOTED

In the start of an all-new trilogy, the bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver introduces you to a dangerous school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death - until one girl begins to rewrite its rules.
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Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal.

Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.

El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.

Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it... that is, unless she has no other choice.

Wry, witty, endlessly inventive, and mordantly funny - yet with a true depth and fierce justice at its heart - this enchanting novel reminds us that there are far more important things than mere survival.
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'Hilarious and wild! Take any fictional magic school, make it as over-the-top dangerous as possible, and populate it with a bunch of snarky teenagers; the result is pure batshit fun.'
N.K. Jemisin, three-time Hugo Award winner and author of The Fifth Season

'Novik deliciously undoes expectations about magic schools, destined heroes, and family legacies. A gorgeous book about monsters and monstrousness, chockablock with action, cleverness, and wit.' Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author

'The Scholomance is the dark school of magic I've been waiting for, and its wise, witty, and monstrous heroine is one I'd happily follow anywhere-even into a school full of monsters.'
Katherine Arden, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

'The wonderful cast of characters will grab a hold of your heart and you'll never want to leave this deadly school ... a fantasy that delights on every level. I loved this brilliant book.'
Stephanie Garber, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Caraval series

'Eyeball-meltingly brilliant. Novik is, quite simply, a genius.'
Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

'Sharp, witty, and darkly effervescent, A Deadly Education is Naomi Novik's fresh take on the concept of the magic school. One of my favorite reads of the year.'
Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls

'Naomi Novik reinvents the magical school story by working a strange, funny, wild, dark magic all her own. This is not just your next great read - it's your new obsession.'
Gwenda Bond

'A delightfully brutal world ... and a practical, ruthless heroine with the guts and wits to survive it.'
Emily Skrutskie

'Fresh, smart, and delightfully unique. It's Hogwarts with higher stakes and sharper claws, and I absolutely loved it.'
Alix E. Harrow

'A nightmare from which I never wished to wake. Savage, inventive, and soulful, Novik grasps the totems of childhood that linger in your mind-schools of magic, curses, cutthroat classmates, monsters-only to twist them into a grand new tale that'll make you believe in magic again.'
Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Age

©2020 Naomi Novik (P)2020 Penguin Audio
Coming of Age Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Magic Magical Realism Witty Funny Feel-Good Heartfelt Suspenseful
All stars
Most relevant  
Wasn’t sure on the style originally but ended up loving it. Persevere if you think it’s not for you. Just like the characters in the books, we as readers need to give Elle chance.

Wasn’t sold initially but then had me in stitches

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a well performed dark Harry Potter-esk story. Engaging Magic system, great start to a series

Outstanding Dark Harry Potter esk magic tale

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Thoroughly enjoyed the world-building interwoven with threads of the present day, the wit and grounded character development!

Read the dang book.

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I really enjoyed the narration in this book. I have been in a slump of dnf audiobooks because of the cringe silly or robot narration of female characters but wow this narrator brought life to El, and put actual emphasis into her speech. Definitely one of the most enjoyable books to listen to. Really enjoyed the creativity of the story as well.

This is the book other people try to copy, very creative.

The narrator was amazing

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It took me a few minutes to get used to the narrator, but once I did the story was enjoyable and an easy listen. The world building was entertaining although it did take a little bit to get used to . the main character was for the most part relatable and overall I would definitely recommend.

Enjoyable and an easy listen

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Novik brings to life a deadly, fascinating world, and El is an entrancing character to be experiencing it all through. The complexity, creativity and ingenuity throughout has kept my constant interest, through many re-reads.

Anisha Dadia goes above and beyond as narrator, enhancing El's witty, snarky personality with on point vocal attitude. Every time I read the hard copy of this book, it's Anisha's voice I imagine. ❤❤❤

A must read for lovers of dangerous fantasy, magic and badass protagonists!

Couldn't put it down - and still can't!!

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A good base for understand how the school work a good set up for the next book. The girl sounds like a sook; where as she should have just sounded like an independent person that wasn’t used to people helping her. Worth a listen though. I will get the next book, so was worth it.

Pretty good

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It's got all the tropes of a YA fantasy, high school romance novel - but it's done very well. The protagonists doesn't dwell in teen angst too long, so you don't cringe at everything they do.
The narrator does an excellent job. Her voice is full of expression and is able to convey the action packed scenes well.

Wonderfully cliche

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This was a very quick and fun read. I really enjoyed listening to the main character’s relationships with other characters throughout the book. The main character did have a tendency to overly describe and get sidetracked with telling long back stories in the middle of the plot which could sometimes get a bit distracting and slow. But overall enjoyed this book and keen to see where this story goes.

The narration by Anisha was excellent, there was good expression and she captured the main characters voice extremely well.

Fun story

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Anisha Dadia has a voice that would lead you to believe she is El, a British teenager with an extra helping of sass, and plenty of bile to spare. Given the the novel is written from the POV of El, the main character, and contains a lot of her inner thoughts and monologues, it wouldn't have made sense to have an older, narrator style voice.

The audiobook feels almost like a movie where we are listening to the young girls thoughts. As for the characters, I love how much, justifiable, rage and bitterness comes from El. Don't worry if this scares you, she will absolutely grow throughout the book.

Orion is one dimensional, kind of, but that us a) actually explainable as you discover his circumstances, and b) there are hints that he is struggling and there is more to him than what we see on the surface. To be honest, any side character that pops up is interesting.

That said, the best character of them all is the scholomance itself. Takes the 'High School is Hell' metaphor and runs with it. If I have to sold you already, then listen to this; Literally, the very last line in the book, is the best line in the entire story, imo. Made me buy the sequel, immediately.

Perfect narrator

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