A Deadly Education
Reviewed on 29th August 2026
We join El Higgins in her third year of four at an oddly American-style school in Britain, which has no staff but still punishes students for not learning properly. It was a great choice to not start us off in the first year - it gives a totally different vibe to learn not as the character is learning, but from them, and I think sets us up for a more interesting adventure.
The first half of the novel presents El as moderately unlikeable, and this section was a bit of a challenge to push through before the second half flows more easily.
There's a lot to imagine here - strange dimensionality, creepy creatures, and a magic system - and I'm not sure that fitted perfectly with the way my brain fails to fully picture things when reading.
And yet, with retrospect, it was an enjoyable story - with a decent sprinkling of humour throughout. I wanted to find out more about the characters and the world, and how the plot would evolve. But I still feel a bit like more world-building would have kept me entertained more.
