Staff Picks: Laura Kemp’s Favorites

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is one of those books that I will recommend to everyone I know if they say they’re even a little bit interested in fantasy. It takes the magical school trope and turns it on its head. Just think Hogwarts if it was suddenly filled with deadly creatures trying to kill the students around every corner. The book follows our main character Galadriel, “El,” as she takes us on an all-encompassing survival guide of how to make it through four years of attending the Scholomance without losing life or limb. Securing a position at one of the sought-after magical enclaves is most students’ goal, but El somehow just can’t quite fight her pride and moral sense of responsibility to grovel for a position. Did I also mention she’s constantly fighting to not give into her incredibly powerful dark magic, to stop herself from becoming an evil sorceress and killing everyone around her? She takes selflessness to a whole new level. Along the way she manages to make some friends, even if one of them happens to be wonder boy hero Orion Lake, and learns that just maybe she doesn’t have to go it alone anymore. And of course, she ends up attempting to save the school in the process. This is the first book in a trilogy and all of the books are available to read! Which is always a wonderful thing to discover when starting a new series.