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krystaldelusion's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Vomit, and Death of parent
blacksphinx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
What the hell, Novik did it again.
I was getting really frustrated with the first half of the book. At least three times, a character would say a couple of sentences and then El would explain a ton of inferred details to us for several pages. We had some important plot threads established, and pages were ticking by with no progress being made on them. El spent a lot of time not doing a damn thing, thinking for pages about how she didn't know what to do. There was a decent chunk spent on her wanting to accomplish something I thought was extremely stupid and didn't understand her motives - and then, at almost the 50% mark, the chess pieces were finally all on the board and the game began.
I kept saying to myself "there's no way she can solve [plot thread] in [pages left]" and then she DID over and over again until I had every answer I wanted. I actually want to go back and reread the prior two books knowing what I know now, because the reveals in this book were set up long before she started drafting it, there's just no way. It is a little bit of a spoiler to say this, so just skip over it, but watching El walk away from Omelas made me cry. In this present moment of multiple genocides and an ongoing, stubbornly-ignored pandemic, it hit me just right. "You got us all out for good, and they're trying to start a war over the bones. There's a better way. We know there's a better way. And you're trying to find it."
I was getting really frustrated with the first half of the book. At least three times, a character would say a couple of sentences and then El would explain a ton of inferred details to us for several pages. We had some important plot threads established, and pages were ticking by with no progress being made on them. El spent a lot of time not doing a damn thing, thinking for pages about how she didn't know what to do. There was a decent chunk spent on her wanting to accomplish something I thought was extremely stupid and didn't understand her motives - and then, at almost the 50% mark, the chess pieces were finally all on the board and the game began.
I kept saying to myself "there's no way she can solve [plot thread] in [pages left]" and then she DID over and over again until I had every answer I wanted. I actually want to go back and reread the prior two books knowing what I know now, because the reveals in this book were set up long before she started drafting it, there's just no way. It is a little bit of a spoiler to say this, so just skip over it, but watching El walk away from Omelas made me cry. In this present moment of multiple genocides and an ongoing, stubbornly-ignored pandemic, it hit me just right. "You got us all out for good, and they're trying to start a war over the bones. There's a better way. We know there's a better way. And you're trying to find it."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Torture, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Vomit, and Pregnancy
doahdancer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
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
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
kimmag92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.75
I can't decide how I feel about The Golden Enclaves. On one hand I really enjoyed The Scholomance series overall especially the first two books but Enclaves fell a bit short for me. I found much of the plot happened quite quickly in the last 200ish pages and suddenly wrapped up. I didn't find the ending all that satisficing but I think it fit the story and the world Novik built.
One thing I would have liked to see from Enclaves and from the trilogy overall was a deeper exploration on the themes of class, privilege, and power that runs throughout the books but only come to the forefront of the story sporadically.
One thing I would have liked to see from Enclaves and from the trilogy overall was a deeper exploration on the themes of class, privilege, and power that runs throughout the books but only come to the forefront of the story sporadically.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Vomit, and War
recorderkfk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Immensely satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Would have loved to 15 more pages at the end, but Novak pulls it all together in a story that feels finished, but in someway like life and making change: is still somehow continuing. The book also scales up dramatically in terms of visiting other enclaves from the first two books. If you ever curious about where all the students lived and came from this is the book where you learn all of that.
Highly recommend the entire trilogy, one of the best series that I have read in the last two years!!
* some additional thoughts post reading (reviews right after you read the book are not always the best)
- some of the character choices novak makes don't feel consistent with the previous two books. El's graduation alliance for example is really pushed into the background in favor of other chatacters
- resolution feels a little "happy ever after" on q certain scale.
Highly recommend the entire trilogy, one of the best series that I have read in the last two years!!
* some additional thoughts post reading (reviews right after you read the book are not always the best)
- some of the character choices novak makes don't feel consistent with the previous two books. El's graduation alliance for example is really pushed into the background in favor of other chatacters
- resolution feels a little "happy ever after" on q certain scale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Vomit
nefariousbee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
relaxing
fast-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
4.5
after a while, I found a series that gets better with every book. the last one really surprised me in its depth, I didn't think it would be more than a nice, fun read you can get immersed in magic in. but somehow it took this unexpected, serious turn, and I really loved that.
the pacing is wobbly and the characters are not always up to my expectations but the something you want from a book, it's there.
the pacing is wobbly and the characters are not always up to my expectations but the something you want from a book, it's there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Vomit, and War
uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol