A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There's some call to name this the slightly more hardcore magic successor of Harry Potter, but I personally like to think of it as an overpowered destruction-magic teen just trying to deny her heritage while going to school in a void-enhanced pocket universe Hogwarts that doesn't mind killing a vast portion of its students for the sake of keeping them in line.

Oh, and there aren't any teachers. Spells are learned directly from the void and the intelligent library and clans.

For me, I fell HARD into this tale and got snappy with the people in my life when they wanted me to pay attention to them when I really wanted to focus on THIS TALE.

I loved it. It was wild, very YA, but also all those no-holds-barred tropes that make me tumble in love. You know, like saying screw all the cliques, going total nonconformist, feeling that vast loneliness, and yet -- somehow -- making really good friends. Old stuff, but I honestly fell entirely under its spell. No icky stuff. Just pure-fun. I was reminded a bit of a mix between Hogwarts and Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children in a really good way.

And now I honestly can't wait for the next book in the series.

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