Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

69 reviews

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.

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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

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A brilliant ending for this trilogy. Full of twists and turns that I did not see coming. We finally learn how the Scholomance came about.
The book explores themes such as balance, destiny, friendship and fairness

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Classism

illegalitch'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

5.0

This one got me.  I teared up at a couple scenes.  Getting an emotional reaction is one thing, but for that emotional to manifest physically with tears in my eyes... that another level.  And the big secret!  I was NOT expecting that.  It's not very often a story can surprise me or leave me guessing.  Half of the time, when they do, it's because the big surprise is just so far out there that it doesn't make sense.   This book does not fall into that category.  The big surprise flows so well with the story that I'm almost kicking myself for not seeing it in the earlier books!  Which means this book (and series) is an automatic 5-star rating.

Well paced, especially for an anti-hero story written in First Person.  I read the first book itself and listened to the second two audiobooks because I couldn't wait to finish the story, I had to know what was next.  The narrator was perfect!  Naomi Novik definitely earned a spot on my Favorite Authors list with this series and I cannot wait to read more of their work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Although the content may be upsetting for some, I feel it was presented well and not gratuitously.

beccaand'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and War

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

erikagibson126's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexual content

elfyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

Wow. I hope we get more books in this world, cause I love it! I thought it was a really good ending, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Murder, and War

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

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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

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

A huge fan of El and all the other side characters, I really liked the linking of certain monsters to the world building, I am happy with how the series and ended, just wished the writing was a bit less descriptive at times 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail