#Orion: we are ENEMIES the war went on for THOUSANDS of years but before that we were like brothers-

[eisenartworks]

Me, delusional: oh boy I sure hope if there's ever a tfone trilogy Megatron gets a redemption ar-

Me, louder: OH BOY I SURE HOPE IF THERE'S EVER A TFO-

[tcplnyteens]

Review: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The classic magic school meets the morally-gray heroine in A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Sixteen-year-old El (short for Galadriel) is among a few thousand other high schoolers living in the Scholomance, a wizard boarding school where they learn spells, alchemy, and artifice (making magical artifacts). But there’s more to this magic school than what meets the eye, because it’s hiding a monstrous secret (literally): the school is constantly under siege by magic-hungry murderous monsters. 

I got this book as my summer reading freebie from TCPL! The library’s summer reading challenge runs from June 25 to August 5 this year, and all you need to do is stop by the teen desk and register to receive a prize book that’s yours to keep! You also get a form to record the number of minutes you spend reading each day, and for every 140 minutes you read, you get one entry into a gift card raffle. There are a lot of really good prize books being offered, so in my opinion it’s totally worth it to sign up for the challenge and get a new book to read! 

A Deadly Education follows El’s junior year of high school as she struggles to survive the monsters lurking in every corner of the school (again, literally) while staying on top of her coursework; trying to make allies and maybe, just maybe, some friends, despite her status as the unpopular loner; and building power for her graduation ceremony, when she must fight a horde of terrifying monsters to get out of the school. El’s not just a typical Scholomance student, though, because of a terrible prophecy that is trying its best to catch up to her. The gist of it is that El has a powerful affinity for spells of mass destruction, and she must painstakingly build up magic or else she’ll turn into a bloodthirsty dark wizard. Because of this, it’s actually quite difficult for her to use magic. On top of all of that, El has to deal with the pesky hero wannabe Orion Lake, who might just turn out to be the friend she’s been looking for. 

I absolutely loved the worldbuilding in this book and I enjoyed learning more about the Scholomance and its monsters as the story went on. The idea of having monsters being the main enemy of this world was a pretty refreshing deviation from the classic wizard-wars trope. The monsters’ lore, the way they can hide in innocuous places and lay siege to the Scholomance at certain times, and the detailed magical procedures the students must take to protect against them were all super unique and fun. The Scholomance itself and all of its quirks, including the murderous library with a mind of its own, the hallways that target students’ mental states, and the spooky void in the dorms, set it apart from all of the magic schools that have come before it and made it into a character of its own. Unlike some other book series, if there were ever a spin-off about the creation of the Scholomance, I would totally read it, because that’s how appealing and interesting this world is. 

On the other hand, the characters in A Deadly Education paled in comparison to the worldbuilding. I’m not saying the characters are bland—they definitely are not—but they are kind of underwhelming. I find it hard to believe that the entire class (minus El) basically worships Orion, who is about as likable and sociable as a sock. And, if I’m being completely honest, I thought El was annoying for a good half of the book. At some point, her edgy brooding monologues about not wanting to turn into a dark sorceress (of which there were many) got old and cringey. I also never really understood why she had to be so rude and bad-mannered to everyone. Even though she was unpopular, it didn’t seem like she was being targeted by the enclave kids, so I found it frustrating that she couldn’t show at least some basic decency to other people. We do eventually get some explanation as to why she acts the way she does when the author explores her hatred of enclaves, so I did eventually come to understand her perpetual rudeness. I really wish this explanation came sooner in the story, because I actually grew quite fond of El by the end of the book. It was super heartwarming and wholesome when she finally realized what friendship feels like after becoming allies with Aadhya and Liu. 

Overall, I would totally recommend A Deadly Education for anyone looking for a fun-filled read to devour in one sitting or let stew over several days, since this book is well-suited for either. There is a substantial amount of violence and foul language in this book, which is not so out-of-place for YA fantasy, but proceed with caution nonetheless! The many parallels to the real world in A Deadly Education make it a thought-provoking read—for example, the enclave kids’ status, which shields from the dangers other wizard kids face and gives them a leg up in getting out of graduation, mirrors the wealth disparities in our world that affect children’s future success. Although this book’s characters are unlikable at times, the exciting plot and rich worldbuilding more than make up for it. A Deadly Education will leave you hungry for more. 

~Tania

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[darrowsrising]

Red Rising Rage Review:

Ok, so @apex-aureate asked me to share my opinion on Pip's Read's 'Red Rising Rage Review'. Particulary what she thinks about Darrow.

Before all of that, I have to say that Darrow is my favourite character. My absolute favourite character! So take this with a grain of salt.

I'm not trying to change opinions or something, this is just my opinion of the review. I respect the reviewer's opinion in general.

I'll problably get hate anyway, but you asked for this and I'll deliver without sugarcoating (you know, like some people don't do with Roque...sorry, couldn't help it)

Now to the tea spilling:

First of all I have to adress the blasphemy: the Women of Red Rising aren't bland. And they don't exist for Darrow's sexual frustration. There was a single minor incident in GS when Victra tried to seduce Darrow. And that was all. He refused her and that was the end of story. He didn't use her in any way sexually (or otherwise) Victra went on and became one of the fiercest warriors in the Rising. Also, his love for Virginia was in no way only sexually orientated. And Holiday, Orion, Evey, Harmony, Pebble, Harpy, Aja etc. are in no way, shape or form there for Darrow's sexual frustration...he never, ever, ever sees them like that. I mean...did we read the same books?

Secondly, the reviewer is mad at Darrow because he is the only one who narrates. And she's mad that he's not a political person. Yes, he's more of a social-justice fighter, sorry he doesn't like to play political games with the lives of his people when he isn't even good at it. He himself admits Mustang is way better at politics than him, he's more of a man of action. Now, I think the charm of the trilogy is Darrow's pov. But I do understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea.

The reviewer is also mad that there are too many deus-ex-machinas in the series. And Darrow is a dick, because he holds back from the reader. Well, I think that this is a very subjective matter. In my opinion, Darrow holding back stuff from the reader is understandable because there are time gaps between the books, so of course he isn't going to make a recap of everything jist because you want to know everything. And all the mocking she did was really...inaccurate? I think that's the word. For example (if I'm not mistaken), in Golden Son, Darrow says that Cassius deserves his Morning Knight title because he is indeed amazing with his razor and Darrow feels like he would die if he fought like Cassius did - using kravat. But he uses the Willow Way, taught by Lorn himself in that time gap between RR and GS. So, I think this one is a matter of perspective. I loved it. She didn't.

Also, I think it's not fair that she reduced those instances to 'Darow makes deus ex machina plans and it's annoying'. The deus ex machinas work because it's not Darrow who just gets out of tough spots like a breeze. He's saved, he's helped all the time. Mustang, Fitchner, the Howlers, the PitVipers, they always save him from dying. Sometimes it's his own abilities to balance out stuff. But it is as realistic as possible, imo at least.

Also, I think it's not fair to say that enhancing a human being made us think that limb loss or other stuff are nothing. On the contrary, through out the trilogy there are explainatiin as to why people keep dying if we have such technology: Carving a Red to a Gold is very hard and not many survive (Darrow and Titus survived, but then not many survive the Intitute or the Academy - the risk of dying is always high and I doubt there are hundreds of Carved Reds), Carvings are really, really expensive (ask Fitchner), losing limbs isn't always going to end with Carving back the limb - mostly it is going to end to bionic prostheics - see Sevro is Golden Son and Thraxa in Iron Gold and thousands of soldiers in MS, there are Golds who believe in eugenics so they'd rather die or let their loved ones die than use advanced medicine.

Basically, the reviewer really, really doesn't like the 1st person narration at all that she channels that into Darrow. Or she doesn't like Darrow at all and she channels that into the narration. Can't really tell, so it's probably both. Anyway, after laying out how much she disliked the narration and the narrator, she said that Darrow is annoying, she wants to punch him in the face, he is boring, he is so damn self-absorbed and selfish.

My opinion on that is that...idk, did we read the same books? Yes, Darrow is a drama queen. Yes, Darrow is proud of his abilities. He also constantly reminds us that his image is exacerbated. There is a distinction between Reaper and Darrow. Reaper is an image that Darrow and his allies created to be god-like with the purpose of sending a message of hope and fear into the worlds. Darrow - the man - is just that. A man. He is a good friend (not all the time, but who is a good friend all the time), he is a good fighter, he loves to dance and eat strawberries. He genuinely loves his family, his friends, his love. He is from time to time way too focused on his goal that he forgets everyone else. He becomes self-absorbed once in a while. He forgets some important things - like when he was left alone for like 2-3 years and had to be reminded why he fights by Harmony. But that's not entirely making up his character.

Edit: there was also this thing that she disliked - Darrow seeming like he can read people's minds...I guess that is a matter of perspective, but I never even thought of that as a problem. And now that I think about it...I don't feel like it's such a big deal. Many 1st pov are like that. Plus, Darrow is sometimes so damn sure of what other people think and it ends up with him being wrong all along...so, I don't think it's a proble at all. But that's a matter of perspective too...although I think that's nitpicking to hell, but that's just me.

Another thing I noticed the reviewer didn't like was the fact that Darrow has beautiful monologues before battles and that's unrealistic, because he makes stupid decisions immediatelly afterwards ...err, have you ever read a war journal wrote by a soldier? I did. His name was Camil Petrescu, he had very beautiful monologues before he went to battle...where he fucked up and survived through a miracle. After that his carreer as a writer skyrocketed.

Anyway, my point is that...I don't understand why it's unrealistic. Believe it or not it seems to me easier to be contemplative and to philosophe like a true master when you sit in a duroSteel box which will send you into the stratosphere while enemies will shoot at you. I bet it makes you think a lot about life and death and warfare and love and why you are fighting and stuff like that. You know...exactly what Darrow talks about...idk, this again I think it is a matter of perspective.

Can I reitterate that the women of Red Rising aren't looked at from a sexual pov ? I'll hang myself with this one if I have to.

No but really, that's the only thing that propelled me into rage in that review. Darrow of Lykos? Seeing every female as a vent for his sexual frustration? Where? When? How? What the fuck? I can never agree with this. Ever! They are not there for him to get his dick hard! What the actual fuck! The guy refuses Pinks on a daily, why are we even debating this?

I get it that she didn't like the books that much. I respect that. I get it that people who say it's the best sci-fi are stretching it more than a little.

I also understand why she wants a 3rd person narration.

But her points about Darrow being selfish and self-absorbed (and generally a stupid jock tm), her opinion on the women of Red Rising (especially this one), her downplay of Victra's character (she's so much more than her hitting on Darrow that one time and I hate that I have to remind everyone of that, wtf) ar things that I can never agree with. This is so far from factual I can't even.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful or anything. And I'm sorry if it came that way.

Edit: the Women of Red Rising are amazing and the stuff said about them in this review are blasphemous. You can argue with me all you want, you can't change my mind, sorry.

Anyway, hope I don't get hanged for this one! Per aspera ad astra!

Oh, and if you want to, you can still send me asks with 'your opinion on...'. It is a tumblr game thingy I rebloged a while ago and this was @apex-aureate 's ask basically.

I tried to edit the mistakes I made, because I answered this on my phone. I also added some stuff I remembered from the review, but I didn't address in hopes to be as thorough as possible. Hope it is satisfying grammatically speaking. I'm not a native speaker, so if I made mistakes, please point them out and I'll rectify them.