emilee_paper_elytra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
The conclusion of the Scholomance series. Compelling and powerful, El's furious railing against the inequalities of society and power is tempered with understanding and a willingness to take uncomfortable action. While moments of humour shine through, this installment has an emotional depth and complexity that shows how much the characters have grown.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Torture
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual content
herasrevenge88's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.0
I’m honestly kind of sad that I had to give this only three stars because I had such high hopes for this book. The first 50% of this book I was bored out of my mind but I just kept hoping that it was going to get better. It did get better. It really picked up and was really really good and made me laugh out loud a couple of times….for the last 50% of it. I feel like the first 50%. might’ve been better summarized in a paragraph or two so that way we could just jump into the story. It might’ve made for a really short book but at least I would not have had to sit through 200 pages of awful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, War, Child death, Gore, Body horror, and Genocide
alyssasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racism, Confinement, War, and Kidnapping
keen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
caramiaculpa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
This series really stuck the landing. It really drives home that a good system cannot be built on rotten foundations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, and Torture
Moderate: Child death
oliverreeds's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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
absolutely crushed
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, War, Confinement, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Child death, and Gore
trips's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It just....wasn't a very good conclusion to this series.
The cliff hanger at the end of the 2nd book of course made readers race to get this book, only to be met with a lot of...info dumps that felt unnecessary with it being the finale book, traversing the world with a lot of El angst that was understandable but a bit much, and a conclusion that felt like "ehm...thats it?" in my opinion.
I don't have any problem with El's
What I didn't like is that I couldn't feel anything for Orion. I wanted to, what he had done to him was awful but it just wasn't written in a way where I truly felt like "wow this poor kid" instead it was like "well, he seems to be doing ok" (and I don't like that! I should've been crying after it was revealed what did to him but it just didn't work for me. With that, the villain also fell flat, perhaps because they weren't there all that much, or because of everything written above.
Disappointing, I feel most sad for all the people who love El and Orion together as they got so little in this book!
The cliff hanger at the end of the 2nd book of course made readers race to get this book, only to be met with a lot of...info dumps that felt unnecessary with it being the finale book, traversing the world with a lot of El angst that was understandable but a bit much, and a conclusion that felt like "ehm...thats it?" in my opinion.
I don't have any problem with El's
Spoiler
foray into a kinda weird sapphic sex relationship with Liesl. I thought it was more amusing than anything because Liesl wanted her harem but in the end, El got more of one (lol).What I didn't like is that I couldn't feel anything for Orion. I wanted to, what he had done to him was awful but it just wasn't written in a way where I truly felt like "wow this poor kid" instead it was like "well, he seems to be doing ok" (and I don't like that! I should've been crying after it was revealed what
Spoiler
OpheliaDisappointing, I feel most sad for all the people who love El and Orion together as they got so little in this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Sexual content
mairead_parade'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? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed this series and thought this was a clever and satisfying final book, with some serious emotional gut punches. Novik forces her characters to grow up and reckons with the true costs and inequalities of the society she's imagined in a much more real way than a lot of other teen magic fantasy, which I appreciated. This series also escalates the “big bad” from book to book in an interesting and surprising way that changed my perspective on the previous installments.
Spoiler
My main quibbles are that the ending is a little too tidy, especially in contrast to a lot of the more brutal choices Novik makes in the rest of the series. El and Orion also spent very little on-page time together, which made sense in terms of the plot, but I lost some of the investment in their relationship that I had at the end of book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Death
ashlikes'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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Colonisation, Confinement, Dementia, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
le3713's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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
4.5
Seldom is the final book in a trilogy my favorite, but this one was. The sometimes slow work of understanding the world, magic system, and social order Novik had built paid off in this book. I loved understanding mana, malia, and maw mouths better. It still took me a good chunk of time to get through, but I was deeply invested through the second half. I didn’t anticipate the turns the book would take, and found the ending satisfying - hopeful but not quite happily ever after.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Confinement and Torture