A Deadly Education

What a great book. I had originally skipped this; the last thing I wanted to read was another book about kids at a school for young wizards. What I didn't realize is the setup is more Hunger Games than Hogwarts. That certainly makes for an interesting twist.

But what most distinguishes this book is the protagonist's point of view. She's just so.. cynical. And harsh, and mean. And also smart and effective and in her heart the best person in the book. She's no Mary Sue, she's vulnerable and makes mistakes and is just so socially awkward. All normal adolescent stuff but with the author / first person narrator's cleverness and centering to make her both vulnerable and really compelling at the same time.

I also appreciated how the book felt authentically a book that's young-woman-centric. And multicultural. Without at all being clumsy, just genuinely some diversity and variation.

On top of all those virtues it's just a really fun book. Great story, excellent pacing, the writing is very dense and evocative without being hard to follow or too writerly.

Great book, can't wait for the next.