Just a wonderful book in every way, Novik's take on the "School of Magic" is both a sharp decisive take on issues of class and privilege and a delight to read.

After I read it, I checked the book on Goodreads and found myself in a minefield of what I've seen described as "Problematic Ponies", the type of YA/A reader who goes through a book and excerpts passages without context in a desperate bid to build an audience for themselves and their opinions. I don't intend to deal with these complainants, at all, save to note that their privilege, that of predominantly American readers demanding that the world comport to their cultural imperialist viewpoint, is blatantly on display for all to see.

The one intersectional criticism I would have of the book is that the primary protaganist is herself Anglo-Indian, and she is completely divorced from the culture and norms of her "Indian" half. There's precious little of her identity which is established from being of two worlds. I can see why Novik may have wanted her protag to be something-not-white, but really, she's still written a white woman.

That's a mild criticism, however, and much of the book is about establishing that issues of race are, in world, wholly secondary to issues of class. El's contempt for her "betters" is set out early, in the first page of the book, but this initial contempt deepens over the course of the novel to a deeper understanding of the world and her place in it, the restrictions she's under due to what she is and the circumstances of her birth. El does not go quiet into that dark night, she positively rages, and she brings this rage to shattering usefulness.

Ignore the haters, I'm sorry I even exposed myself to their nonsense. This is a great book. The criticisms I've shared are something I will be discussing with my own YAs at home, when they eventually read this, and I shall make every effort to ensure that they do.