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erikagibson126's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Sexual content
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A beautiful end to The Scholomance trilogy with a good balance of adventure, drama, and tenderness. Did not expect the series to end this way when I first began it, but I am pleasantly surprised! I think the pacing could have been a bit slower/more time could have been spent with the conclusion, but overall it was a fun read. A huge highlight of this book and the entire series for me is the focus on female friendships! It was wonderfully executed in a way I found both heartwarming and believable. I think certain aspects of the character relationships could have been addressed a bit better (i.e. El not telling Orion about her and Liesel’s sexual relations ), but that didn’t take away too much from my general, positive experience! Would read again :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Torture
audbaum's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this book. I found the conclusion satisfying, and the way that the characters behave is well-explained based on who they are as people in a way that I find good and important. I had anticipated that somehow Orion would return, to the point where I wasn’t super shocked by the ending twist of book 2. I think the reveals about what makes enclaves was really interesting. I think Orion being a maw-mouth in juman form was interesting and well-foreshadowed, to the point where I had thought “oh, like a maw mouth kinda” without actually thinking that had happened. Admittedly, I am easy to fool in that I don’t often see twists coming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
madameblathers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Torture, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Classism
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Golden Enclaves is yet another series finale that disappointed me this year. Almost everything that made the first two books great is gone now, and the finale itself was just not satisfying and barely gave any conclusion. I lowered my rating a bit to 2 stars since there’s nothing really that I enjoyed about it.
Of course, the main conflict is just as dramatic as ever. Orion was left behind at the Scholomance and El wants to get him out of it, while also finding a way to end the attacks on the enclaves. This sounds great on paper, but the execution wasn’t great. One of the reasons his that El just has no plans for everything and just vegetates for most of the story which became boring and annoying quite fast. It takes them a fourth of the book until they make a plan to save Orion and half of the book until they finally return to Scholomance. I really liked the atmosphere there and I wish that our character would’ve spend more time there. Most of the time though, I wasn’t really understanding what was happening which made it extra boring for me. I was especially irritated by the enclaves and didn’t really understand who fighting whom for what reasons.
Another thing I just didn’t like about the plot was the focus on the maw mouths. I find them so disgusting and hated them from the beginning, so I wasn’t happy with this. Learning their origin was extra terrifying. In general, there is just nothing positive about being a wizard or living in this world. This is of course okay and not every book needs to be positive, but for me personally, it was just a bit too much. I recently had an idea for a novel where humans have to fight for their survival just like animals do, and I think that this is maybe the vibe Novik wanted to achieve with the series.
Additionally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending itself. It was nice to see the graduates working together but I hated that Orion is apparently a maw mouth which was just so weird, his mother is so evil. Furthermore, like I’ve said above, there’s just no sense of closure. There’s nothing good about the ending, and El even says that she thinks that nothing will change in the end since new enclaves will be created anyways which is just so unsatisfying. Why was I even following the characters then ?
Still, the novel had some great emotional moments, like El returning to her home or her getting angry at Orion’s dad. I also still like how she tries to fight the classism of the enclave system. I furthermore always love to see how novels integrate magic into our world, and it was nice that they were travelling around the world for different missions.
Another problem I had is that because Orion is not with El for most of the story and not himself, their amazing dynamic is just gone. I generally hated how weird Orion behaved throughout this novel but compared to many other reviewers, I didn’t have a problem with El and Liesel . Besides this though, I still liked to be in El’s head, and she felt much like a real person.
Yeah, the Scholomance is a series that I won’t be re-reading in the future; it was just too negative even for me. I believe that it should’ve been a duology, ending with our main characters destroying Scholomance and fleeing from it, maybe undermining the enclave system by doing so, or something. But it seems to me that Novik just didn’t want this kind of happy ending and extended on this whole enclave conflict that was just not too interesting, sadly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
crimsonreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It's been a few hours since I finished the book and I am still almost speechless. It was SUCH a good ride and, as always, Novik literally makes me feel all the things; sadness, happiness; fear; annoyance; helplessness; hope; love etc etc. I couldn't stand having to put it down and I truly do not want to leave this world. I know this is the last book but if we ever get The Adventures of El - Maw Mouth Hunter in any form I will be first in line.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, and Murder
library_of_noxx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and War
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
It's been a while since I read book 2 in the series and I contemplated re-reading before picking this volume up because when I initially tried to read it I was overwhelmed. Book 2 leaves on a cliffhanger and book 3 starts right after and so you see the immediate events and it was a little difficult to jump right it.
I thought that the series was quite solid. Book 3 really tied it all together and bits that were resolved were introduced in book 1 so it was quite good closure to see actions that have consequences and a resolution all together.
Some of the reveals were also top notch, since there's (in hindsight) a lot of foreshadowing but to be able to put it all together wasn't something I managed. I don't know if it was because of the gap between the books and it would have been obvious if I read them in closer succession but I was satisfied with how it came together.
I thought that the series was quite solid. Book 3 really tied it all together and bits that were resolved were introduced in book 1 so it was quite good closure to see actions that have consequences and a resolution all together.
Some of the reveals were also top notch, since there's (in hindsight) a lot of foreshadowing but to be able to put it all together wasn't something I managed. I don't know if it was because of the gap between the books and it would have been obvious if I read them in closer succession but I was satisfied with how it came together.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
flyintothestorm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Me ha gustado, pero hubiese preferido un final distinto. Hay veces que la muerte de un personaje importante encaja más que que se salve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Grief, and War
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Dysphoria