I almost DNF’ed this book many times. I stared it after so many people raved on numerous threads about it being a strong FMC that not only didn’t need a man but got annoyed by one constantly trying to help her. After reading it, that really isn’t an accurate synopsis, she did need him but not in a direct way.
Okay so up until about half way through the book I was really fed up with the MC’s poor me attitude and her general attitude. I kept reminding myself she’s 16 or 17 so expecting maturity isn’t fair. She starts learning enough by that point that her attitude starts to change. Growth, I like seeing growth, took a while to get to it but I’m glad I stuck it out.
Now I’m 80% finished and the book is amazing. It has so many incredible perspectives in it. It shows how even those born with privilege who want to help and do right by those without it, have so many blind spots even when they do try to be better. It shows how those with privilege who want to help others are still scared like everyone else but in tough times they can fall back on that privilege while those without it can’t and must keep fighting because it *is* their life. How people, privilege or no, will accept horrible behavior to protect themselves, and while it’s literal life on the line in the book, it is easy to translate that into social standing, the power of networks, etc. of our would. The us vs them issue. Etc. etc. It felt like it took half the book to really get good, but it does.
I guess I’m writing this because I came here after getting about 10% into the book because I so strongly wanted to DNF it. The posts were strongly love it or hate it and I was torn. Now, I’m glad I didn’t, although I couldn’t tell you why I kept going. If you’re like me and starting the book and not sure if you want to continue due to the MC, well, it gets better, but you have to stick it out quite a while.
Anyone else feel similarly about the book? Or want to discuss the social parallels?
Do you have any books that fit the pattern of, “wow I want to DNF this,” that turn into something wonderful? Maybe that felt like a slog for longer than most would want to wait it out.
by esotericbatinthevine
28 Comments
Can’t relate to the first half – I was sucked into the book from sentence one, lol. I’m glad it grew on you and you ended up liking it though!
Would love to discuss social parallels. I read the trilogy a couple weeks ago and was super disappointed to find that the fandom/subreddit was *tiny* and there was no one to talk about it with.
The trilogy as a whole is a wonderful deconstruction of capitalism, but the discussions of privileges and the choice to do the hard, good thing over the easy thing are more universally applicable, and very moving, imo.
It took a while for the MC to grow on me, but I really liked the setting so I kept reading. I recommend reading the other two books in the trilogy because it gives even more development to the characters.
The world building was brilliant – the book unfortunately gave the protagonist the power to cut the Gordian knot on every complex moral problem, it ruined the book for me.
Everything was foreshadowed very well, and caught me by surprise a few times, so it was a good book, it just felt like it was setting itself up for a terrible choice, then the annoying protagonist took the moral high ground and somehow terrible thing didn’t happen. I honestly (almost) felt sorry for the villains towards the end.
I can understand why you found Galadriel annoying, especially in the earlier parts of the book. Personally, I liked her snark because it was just so uniquely her. Her voice was so compelling to me because it felt fresh, albeit with typical teenage attitude! The setting and world building blew me away too, and I loved the other two books in the series.
I got the sense that the author had done a ton of research into other cultures and languages, and I think it was a smart choice on her part that the haves and the have nots are tied to enclave status instead of race, religion, etc. I think that distance (and the life and death stakes, lol) made it easier to draw some of the parallels you talk about in regards to how systems of privilege operate in our world.
The books made me think about allyship differently. Like, what does it mean for me to be able to retreat back into my privilege? To have that choice, and to think about situations in which I’d want or need something badly enough to do everything in my power to get it.
I literally just finished reading this book during my vacation, and was so excited that I purchased the last graduate on my phone so I could start reading it straight away.
I actually liked having a fmc that was kind of problematic, woe is me. It feels really authentic as someone who works with people who have been abused as children, it fundamentally shapes the way you interpret the world. So when Aadhya pointed out that what people were experiencing around El was more of a sense of a storm coming, and it creates a self fulfilling prophecy, almost felt like a therapeutic revelation that would take a lot of time to get to IRL, but, without getting into spoilers connects nicely to a revelation that comes to El in the last graduate.
I loved the allusions to classism that happened throughout the book, and how many enclave kids are just unaware of the privilege that they have. Orion is obviously the pentacle of the clueless privileged kid, who is not malicious per se, but is wholly oblivious to the daily reality for most of the other students. You also have some who clearly feel that they are better than the other children, which entitles them to use people who want to join an enclave to do work for them, and a school system that doesn’t punish people for cheating or taking advantage of other children.
The version of a Deadly Education that I read has been revised after the author was made aware of how her comments about dread locks was deeply problematic. I think that it was good that this revision was made, and that she was still able to get the point across that elaborate clothing, hairstyles, furniture etc are all markers of privilege that many students take for granted
The concept was super interesting. The execution … not really. I don’t generally mind annoying characters, just like I don’t mind villains, but there has to be a good, believable motivation and I didn’t see it in this one. Other than being a teenager and that’s kind of your job at that age.
But the thing I really hated was all the info dumb. On every single corner there was another one waiting. This is how the library works. This is how the cafeteria works. This is how …
Yes, that’s partly to blame on the format because we didn’t get introduced to the world through a new student instead we get a second (third?) year student. But I still think it could have been handled better by this experienced writer.
Yes. I groaned through the first 30-50 pages. I’m very glad I powered through, and I loved it by the end.
It was also one of the rare series in that general genre where it seemed like the whole trilogy was planned and accounted for at the beginning and which reached a very satisfying conclusion. It wasn’t just a one book idea that then suddenly needed to be expanded upon because of success.
I freaking loved the book from the start and devoured it and the entire series.
I do think she’s a strong female character but I feel one of her lessons is learning to ask and receive help. She doesn’t need a MAN but she does need friends and she is worthy of love.
I read that people really disliked the internal monologues but I honestly loved it.
I agree with most of what you said, I just found her amusing enough and the setting interesting enough that I still enjoyed the first half as well.
But yes. Yes yes yes I will say this in every Novik topic I see. Her characters are always amazingly written. They may not all be treading new ground, but a good number of them are unique enough that it feels fresh. And familiar can be good too. But what I think really sets her apart is the way the characters interact in a believable way. And not just that they grow, but that she shows the motivations they have for making the decisions they do, and how everything, all those decisions are interconnected and affect each other in ways the vast majority of authors don’t bother to go into. And how those decisions affect things long term.
I’m on the third book in the series and am determined to finish it because I’m a completionist but the mc has annoyed me so much throughout the whole trilogy. She’s such an edgelord. Also I’m tired of her being so incredibly powerful, it’s not very interesting.
OK, I have tried to read this a few times now but have been so incredibly put off by the MC that I could never get very far. I guess i’ll give it another college try since it was able to change your mind.
I struggled to get through this book. It was mostly a stream of consciousness type of writing and it just wasn’t for me. I felt like not much happened and I was being TOLD rather than SHOWED when it came to the writing. I’m glad others liked it, but it wasn’t for me and I won’t be continuing the others.
I didn’t realize until the third book that whatsherface wasn’t white, but mixed or whatever.
Which then made me realize that she had probably faced a fair amount of racism and bigotry growing up, even more because of her mom’s “I’m gonna be a hippie my entire life.”
I also thought she was a MASSIVE bitch pretty much the entire first book and it carried over into the other two.
HUGE chip on her shoulder.
I thought her being bi-sexual was pretty cringe, VERY shoehorned into the story.
Her ‘growth’ as it were over the series of books was mostly believable, but she isn’t someone I’d want to hang out with because I’m sure she be resentful towards me for something.
I listened to it as an audiobook and the constant complaining was too much. I finished but won’t be back for more
I won’t go more than three chapters or so without something that interests me. I’m not slogging through anything with unlikeable characters for any longer.
It took me two reads of the first 2 books in the trilogy to really like the series even though I LOVE this author. Unfortunately, the third book almost ruined everything for me. I haven’t been able to read it a second time yet. I would be interested to hear others perspectives on the trilogy as a whole.
I loved book 1, lovvvvvvvvved book 2, and really liked book 3.
Thank you for this post, I have DNF’d this book TWICE over the past six months and the only thing that’s kept me thinking about trying it for a third time is the number of glowing reviews for the series as a whole. I keep being like ‘what am I missing????’.
I really enjoyed Leigh Bardugo’s dark academia book series (Ninth House/Hell Bent) so I went into this with high expectations but so far I feel like we’re getting wayyyyyyyy too much frontloaded worldbuilding and infodumping and it’s really difficult to keep going. When would you say the plot really picks up and Things Finally Start Happening?
DNF’d at maybe 10%. I’ve read two other books by the author, so I expected to like it. I just couldn’t get past the melodrama and the very YA-like tone. It’s not my thing.
I DNFed it about 100 pages in. I love Naomi Naovik since HMD, and I’ve read everything up til this trilogy. I thought it was over allegorical and I had a hard time existing in Galadrials head. I think it had too much exposition/contemplation, and not enough character interaction.
Maybe this series just wasn’t for me? I’d consider trying it again.
I tried to read it but had a hard time comprehending what was going on. I then tried the audiobook and that made a huge difference for me
I’ve read the series it’s good.
I feel like the characters will strongly resonate with all of us who read certain types of books or fanfiction, and everybody else is gonna struggle until the other themes kick in and some of the character work becomes obvious. A significant theme in the series(in addition to the social themes surrounding privilege) involves playing with a lot of character tropes, especially having to do with chosen ones. If you don’t have that background, you’re not going to pick up on what the author is doing. It’s definitely a series made for those of us who spent our childhoods and teen years curled up with the fantasies of the 90s/00s.
I felt that this series was Novik’s attempt at a more pop-fiction series. I liked it. MC needed the boy for social development, not for skill development. The way the series ended was disappointing. Over all I liked it though.
I thought it was… ok. Both her standalone novels were a lot better, as were the early books in the Temeraire series.
I’m not clear if you’ve finished the series, so I don’t want to ruin anything for you, but I also just read the trilogy lately! I didn’t struggle as much as others seem to have with El’s personality and manner of speaking; I felt like it was a great way of portraying a girl in an alternate universe who has been discriminated against from the moment she was born, in one way or another. SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 2 & 3: >!I don’t blame her for having trust issues or a chip on her shoulder; after all, even when she’s home her mom’s buddies are ruthless to her and make it clear she’s unwelcome, despite the obvious power disparity between a child and adults, and her mom does absolutely nothing to intervene aside from chiding El for her crankiness and making her feel guilt over having negative emotions in response to cruelty. Then El turns into a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, where she’s distrustful, aloof, and snappish because she’s been treated badly and she’s afraid of betrayal and vulnerability, so people become meaner, reinforcing her prejudices. As much as I enjoyed the series, though, I was incredibly dissatisfied with the conclusion and I feel like Novik’s endings are her weakest point. There was nothing satisfying about it and it made the journey she went on feel meaningless. “Absolutely nothing has changed and the most horrifying maleficer the world has ever seen still has incredible power, although she did say sorry to Orion for making him a monster, yay!”!<
The mc just wouldn’t shut the fuck up with her pitty party
I really liked the trilogy (so I wasn’t a big fan of the last book) but “Spinning Silver” by Naomi Novik is even better in my opinion and really just one book and not a series.