Library's review
For starters, there are no adults at Scholomance; students arrive as
I was fairly bewildered through the first couple of chapters of this book. Novik drops the unsuspecting reader smack dab in the middle of the story without explaining anything (the previous paragraph's summary was gleaned over the course of the whole book; you're welcome), trusting her readers to be able to go with the flow and piece things together. If she wasn't such a good writer, that might seem like a slog. But even when I had no idea what the hell was going on, I was hooked by the first-person narrative by Galadriel, who after nearly three years at Scholomance finds herself a an outcast among her classmates and completely lacking in the sort of alliance that will be her best chance for survival at graduation.
Fortunately, I was already a big admirer of Novik's work, having read her Temeraire fantasy series (the Napoleonic Wars with dragons) and her standalone retellings of Eastern European fairy tales, Uprooted and Spinning Silver. I had faith that she wouldn't leave me hanging forever, and she didn't. In some ways, that aspect reminded me of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, where he makes no attempt to explain how the magic works — it's just there, and the wise reader who goes along for the ride is rewarded with a thumpingly good read.
There are two more books in the series (the third will be published next month), and I'm definitely on board to visit Scholomance again.
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Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered: There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won't allow its students to leave until they graduate -- or die. The rules are deceptively simple: Don't walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school's dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students. So El is trying her hardest not to use her power -- at least not until she has no other option. Meanwhile, her fellow student, the insufferable Orion Lake, is making heroism look like a breeze. He's saved hundreds of lives -- including El's -- with his flashy combat magic. But in the spring of their junior year, after Orion rescues El for the second time and makes her look like more of an outcast than she already is, she reaches an impulsive conclusion: Orion Lake must die. But El is about to learn some lessons she never could in the classroom: About the school. About Orion Lake. And about who she really is.… (more)