This YA wizard school book is my favourite political thriller of the year. 

The overwhelming impression I get from A Deadly Education is that Naomi Novik is really, really smart. Here is an author who sets up an original, punishing world and keeps prodding more and more fun plot elements out of it, never popping the membrane of verisimilitude. Never a dull moment in a school where mashed potato can drain your life-force - not even in the book's final sentence! 

Yes, Novik has El info-dump about people and mechanics as they become relevant instead of sowing those details in along the way. Yes, El is bitter and bursting with (well-earned) angst. I give these flaws a soft pass however, since the book is intended for young adults. This style of exposition is the simplest way to ensure the reader has understood the information they need when they need it, and my bitter, angsty teenaged self would have whole-heartedly supported El.

The Enclave kids are also a nice little tap on the shoulder for the reader about opening one's eyes to privilege. They aren't evil, just selfish in a very human way. Much more subtly done than the exposition.

Shoutout to the audiobook narrator, Anisha Dadia, for rising to the challenge of imbuing a standoffish protagonist with real earnestness and warmth.