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ashley_reya's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
The masterful world building that Novik gets to display in this story was blowing my mind left and right. It truly feels like a completion to the Scholomance Series.
El, Orion, Aadhya, Liu, and even Liesel have a part of my heart with this story. ❤️
El, Orion, Aadhya, Liu, and even Liesel have a part of my heart with this story. ❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror
sweets's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I read the scollomance series this week and after just finishing the last book i took a shower to think about it (and wash some Maw-mouth off). After the first 2 books i thought this was going to be a 5 star read for me for i had enjoyed myself a lot during the first 2 books. Reading the last book i had prepered myself to be devestated and cry my eyes out as was the setup from the sequel however, this just did not happen for me. After reading the first 2 books i thought the story was heading for an eppic end. And yes the end was pretty memorabele but also a little bit to clean for my liking. The hole story went on a return to balace and karma route. You reap what you sow in theorie. In practice that meant i think some of these caracters should have pand a higher price. So i enjoyed the series a lot but in a world of three books that has been so torturous for our students im a little disapointed by how NICE everything wraped up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
searchandrescueteam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
This is the final of the Scholomance trilogy and I read it in about two days (I was on leave!). I think if you have read the previous two books - your understanding of the Scholomance world is deeper, but it’s not essential to reading this book. Understanding the extremes of the Scholomance world certainly helps understanding of the characters’ motivations, actions and frustrations.
Again, the author works with the complexities of friendships, alliances, cliques, conspiracies. Another layer is added - as she walks through power (its use and abuse) and hierarchies. The impact of a single person, with and without the support of others (a few and many) gives the reader much to reflect on.
It’s not a gentle book, not a walk-in-the-park. But I was glad to read it.
Again, the author works with the complexities of friendships, alliances, cliques, conspiracies. Another layer is added - as she walks through power (its use and abuse) and hierarchies. The impact of a single person, with and without the support of others (a few and many) gives the reader much to reflect on.
It’s not a gentle book, not a walk-in-the-park. But I was glad to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War
dejanira's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.75
This book feels like putting together the missing pieces into a puzzle; it's a satisfying ending to a masterfully written series.
I have only one controversial take that cost the book the 0.25 star: I decided that Orion Lake needed to die.
I have only one controversial take that cost the book the 0.25 star:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
kelisabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
katy_bee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
I've raced through this series, rather like a mawmouth. I've seen in other reviews that there are issues with the writing style- lots of telling rather than showing- and I agreed. The chosen one trope is very much present so if that's not your thing, beware. But I just really enjoyed them. I got swept up in the world and El's journey. The first half was definitely more page turning. Things slowed a little in the middle but I wanted to see what happened to the characters and have the mystery of the enclave attacks solved and it all came together very satisfyingly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: War and Injury/Injury detail
whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I absolutely hate disliking books. It honestly causes me physical pain because I love stories and I want to love each story I come to. But every so often I pick up a book that is just too painful, frustrating, or disappointing to like — and I’m so very sad that this has been the case with The Golden Enclaves. Especially because I absolutely adored the first two books and had every expectation that I would love this one.
Unfortunately, there are a many number of things, characters, story elements, and plot choices that I found underwhelming but what really disappointed me the most was that all of the character development we saw in El over the course of the first two books was completely undone in the first half of this one, and then not adequately built back up again by the end. This left me feeling like I didn’t know her, which is not how you want to feel at the conclusion of a series. So many of the things I had come to love about her (such as her resilience, her discipline, her strong foundation of morals, and her journey of personal growth that allowed her to let people in) either faded into the background or completely flipped. She lost her voice, her passion, her ferocity, her community, her drive. And that just wasn’t realistic, interesting, or relatable for me. Not only that, but it made me really really sad.
The wrap up regarding the creation of enclaves and how that is tied to malia was interesting — but the conflict with Ophelia, the revelation of the prophecy, and the resolution weren’t enough to make up for the other ways I was really disappointed.
Finally, I love Orion. And I truly believe he deserved better. Not just from the other characters, but from the author.
Honestly, really heartbroken with this one, guys.
Unfortunately, there are a many number of things, characters, story elements, and plot choices that I found underwhelming but what really disappointed me the most was that all of the character development we saw in El over the course of the first two books was completely undone in the first half of this one, and then not adequately built back up again by the end. This left me feeling like I didn’t know her, which is not how you want to feel at the conclusion of a series. So many of the things I had come to love about her (such as her resilience, her discipline, her strong foundation of morals, and her journey of personal growth that allowed her to let people in) either faded into the background or completely flipped. She lost her voice, her passion, her ferocity, her community, her drive. And that just wasn’t realistic, interesting, or relatable for me. Not only that, but it made me really really sad.
The wrap up regarding the creation of enclaves and how that is tied to malia was interesting — but the conflict with Ophelia, the revelation of the prophecy, and the resolution weren’t enough to make up for the other ways I was really disappointed.
Finally, I love Orion. And I truly believe he deserved better. Not just from the other characters, but from the author.
Honestly, really heartbroken with this one, guys.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thequiltyreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
The book was OK. I felt it a really slow read, often feeling I was slogging through the story. I also found, like the other two books in the series, there was a lot of repetition which didn't add to the story but added to the slog to get through the book. This booked picked up exactly where the second one finished and as much as the second one ended on a bit of a cliff hanger I think it could have benefited from just finishing at that point. I did like the one big revelation but felt that could have been built into earlier books and didn't need a whole book dedicated to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Cannibalism
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
abookwormspov'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