Reviews

Los enclaves dorados by Naomi Novik

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madiskend's review against another edition

4.0

4⭐️+
Impressive pivot for a trilogy where the first two books took place within a closed off school. Multiple times I was decently horrified in some of the world building which felt impressive that I didn’t see things coming. A few things I was either not quite convinced made sense within the world or was confused on which knocked it back a bit. There were parts of the book where i was ready for it to move on so it was probably slightly too long for what it was. Overall enjoyed

alliumlibum's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

4.0

lucycanread's review against another edition

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Adding my thoughts as I read along because I cannot function anymore.

As of Chapter 2

El's grief is killing me, my heart is breaking for this girl and I refuse to believe that Orion is actually dead

As of Chapter 6

WELL DAMM. That was one hook up I genuinely did not see coming. I'm starting to believe that Orion really is dead. There's no reason any one would be able to live in a maw mouth like that. Plus the spell she cast in the earlier chapters only further confirms what I've been unwilling to see. I feel like my heart is breaking because despite how much he pissed me off right at the end, I loved him and El. I'm not sure how I feel about Leisel, mainly because I'm worried she IS using El for her end goals. God idk anymore 😭

blove0312's review against another edition

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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

I’m wavering on the final “grade.” Novik is a masterful storyteller though, and I loved many of these characters completely. So 5 it is.

(A lot of the following was just partial sentences I jotted down as I was reading so I wouldn’t forget. I did try and finagle them into a somewhat intelligible paragraph. But honestly if you finished book two and still came looking for reviews of book three… maybe call your therapist instead.)

Holy shit. This book pulls no punches. Several things have happened that hit me full on in the face, completely out of the blue.

Namely, the maleficer. Spoiler free. WTF.
But also the summoning spell at the beginning, and reaching through the puddle to FEEL HIM AND HE STILL FOUGHT HER! I could’ve vomited I was so sick and stressed and upset!
And then London?! All of it! The maw mouth. The scheming in such a short window of time. Liesel’s offer! The route out. What we learn about the void and how things actually disappear… or don’t.
Liu, Liesel, Aadhya.
Dubai. Mumbai.
Oh my god. The attacks on the enclaves. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE 😳😭

The real truth comes out. (Or many truths is probably more accurate.)

There’s no downtime. There’s no breathing room. We’re jetting across the world and back again, only to head to a new place, and well, only to end up where we began.

I also wish we got more time with her mom. I wanted to see her reaction when she learned her wonderful daughter could kill maw-mouths. Also that her surly daughter actually has friends. Real “I’d die for you” friends. And there’s none or almost no dialogue between them when they’re there.

Dialogue between the characters was sacrificed for the internal monologuing again. I know it’s a quicker way to move the ball along, but El fought for those friendships and relationships and I’d have liked to see them continue to grow and strengthen, instead of just being told or “knowing” they did.

I wasn’t ready for what happened, having already resigned myself to something else, and as soon as my eyes dipped down a few lines and cheated, all on their own I assure you, I just lost it. Sobbing so hard I scared all three of my dogs (my bebes) and couldn’t get it together and just. Damn. (however in hindsight, as I’ve been working on this off and on for nearly 40 minutes jumping around, not much else was added to it. And left many questions behind that I can’t voice here.)

I do not like that there is no accountability. No wizard jail for the worst offenders (or even just The One). Probably because so many of them are okay with the means because the ends and they can say they technically didn’t do the bad thing themselves… I guess it’s probably a good thing that El doesn’t just sweep through with fire and brimstone… especially with the whole maleficer thing… but that’s what some of them deserved. And even better than some deserved. I was full on rooting for it at least two different times for sure, and kept as a solid backup plan for a lot more times.
Worth noting: I suppose it’s more realistic that way. Some bad things are stopped, some bad practices eliminated, but not nearly enough people are held accountable or face justice. And it doesn’t ever prevent NEW bad things from popping up. Not everything can be tied up in a neat bow.

I’m really glad I gave up on the rubbish bargainer series; it felt like good karma sending them on their way bc I landed these 3 from the library in the same day. Which are without a doubt in my top 5 series of the year. (Wolfsong/Green Creek can’t be topped, and I don’t think it’s better than Magnus Chase but I’m partial to Rick Riordan lol). I don’t even want to give them back. For the first time ever I did selfishly hold onto books 1&2 as I finished them in case I needed to go back and look something up. But I suppose I can force myself to relinquish them. If only because El forced herself not to just obliterate mfs that get on her nerves.