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ryyyaaan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall this was a fantastic read. I really had fun with it and it was a great choice for getting back into the habit of reading.
Positives:
- El is a well rounded character who is easy for the reader to like despite her being disliked by other characters.
- The premise and plot is enjoyable and easy to get hooked into.
- The worldbuilding is fantastic. It’s woven into the text so well it never feels like slogging through pages and pages of lore.
- It’s funny at times without taking away from the atmosphere.
- A great stepping point between YA and adult fantasy
Negatives (nit-picking here, the book was great)
- I dislike El’s relationship with Orion towards the end.
It feels forced to me that she’s starting to have feelings for him already. Or, at all for that matter. They just don’t seem compatible to me. Also, small point, but El mentions wanting kids badly at one point, which feels so out of character for her. Maybe later depending on how she’s developed, but it just didn’t seem right to me.<\spoiler> - I desperately wish there was any queer rep at all
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Grief
thequiltyreader's review
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
It was a good read. I really enjoyed the world building but found the story a but repetitive at times.
There was an attempt to address inequalities due I class which was good.
Overall a good read and I'll try the sequel.
There was an attempt to address inequalities due I class which was good.
Overall a good read and I'll try the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
bethanycrowepowell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Galadriel Higgins is destined to bring death and chaos to the wizarding world, or so it was foretold. "El" doesn't want to rain destruction, but is finding it harder and harder to avoid in a school that is actively trying to kill her.
Scholomance was built to protect teen wizards from the evil creatures drawn to their magic, but after some major technical failures, it doesn't quite work that way. Instead, students have to be on guard constantly, and their graduation is a gauntlet through where the largest of the monsters gather. When El starts to question whether it can be fixed, she's up against a lethal status quo that not everyone wants to change.
This book launches a trilogy that deconstructs magical school escapism with an eye to societies built around power disparities, full of compellingly complicated characters. El is a cranky but very relatable heroine whose fight against her prophesied destiny as a dark sorceress kept me reading through the whole series in a matter of days.
Scholomance was built to protect teen wizards from the evil creatures drawn to their magic, but after some major technical failures, it doesn't quite work that way. Instead, students have to be on guard constantly, and their graduation is a gauntlet through where the largest of the monsters gather. When El starts to question whether it can be fixed, she's up against a lethal status quo that not everyone wants to change.
This book launches a trilogy that deconstructs magical school escapism with an eye to societies built around power disparities, full of compellingly complicated characters. El is a cranky but very relatable heroine whose fight against her prophesied destiny as a dark sorceress kept me reading through the whole series in a matter of days.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Bullying, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
malley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Death, Child death, Classism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Toxic friendship
eule's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Fire book. Dark, tense and somehow completely different from any other magic school story. It instantly grabbed my attention and I devoured it. Just imagine a combination of Hogwarts and Hunger Games with eerie monsters and a school without teachers that wants to kill its students. El is a badass and snarky female lead and her powers are immensely cool. Furthermore, I love the magic system in this world (think about learning languages but in exiting and for the purpose of casting spells) and the world itself (not the world building though). Consequently, I really look forward purchasing and, of course, reading the next two books of this trilogy.
What was a little off? The nearly constant inner monologue with sometimes too much details (info dumping about unnecessary politics and background stuff)? Her personality was somehow too careless in my opinion…?
What was a little off? The nearly constant inner monologue with sometimes too much details (info dumping about unnecessary politics and background stuff)? Her personality was somehow too careless in my opinion…?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
applezing's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence
athryn's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
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
It's a little abrupt to start, and the MC is a little bit on the prickly side to start out with but she and everyone else quickly grew on me. This was hard to put down, and I had to make myself take breaks.
If you have a Harry Potter type itch, this book will do a great job of scratching it, with being a far superior story to boot.
If you have a Harry Potter type itch, this book will do a great job of scratching it, with being a far superior story to boot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
eni_iilorak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
3.0
Interesting concept of an unusual magical world. Not only the magic system but also the society with its complex mechanisms of privilege are well thought out. Thinking through the details of a complex society is Naomi Novik's strength.
Writing emotions is not.
A first-person narrator with little interest in other people is a baffling and unfortunate choice. As a result, most of the other characters are completely forgettable. As the protagonist rarely talks to anyone, there is very little dialogue. The narrator takes us through the details of this fictional world. Very little is shown or discovered, almost everything is explained. Large parts of the book read less like a novel and more like an essay that outlines the rules of its universe. This style of writing left me detached from the story and characters.
I'm not sure I would have finished the book if it hadn't been for the excellent audiobook narration.
With one single sentence, the very last one in the book, Naomi Novik made me want to read the sequel, and I don't know if I am impressed or angry.
Writing emotions is not.
A first-person narrator with little interest in other people is a baffling and unfortunate choice. As a result, most of the other characters are completely forgettable. As the protagonist rarely talks to anyone, there is very little dialogue. The narrator takes us through the details of this fictional world. Very little is shown or discovered, almost everything is explained. Large parts of the book read less like a novel and more like an essay that outlines the rules of its universe. This style of writing left me detached from the story and characters.
I'm not sure I would have finished the book if it hadn't been for the excellent audiobook narration.
With one single sentence, the very last one in the book, Naomi Novik made me want to read the sequel, and I don't know if I am impressed or angry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Classism, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, Racism, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Pregnancy
danicakvcs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse and Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Addiction
quirkykayleetam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
This is a brilliant and hilarious deconstruction of "Dark Academia."
In a school full of monsters where, it's established, the only way to survive is to look out for yourself, the prophecised Destroyer of the World discovers that she would rather help everyone else make it out too. And, yeah, she's grumpy about it.
El, full name Galadriel, has seen how the system works, how it throws anyone not born in The Right Families under the bus. She's focused on being smart to stay Not Evil and alive. Then she meets Orion, the Boy Wonder, who comes from privilege, but has been White Knighting his way through the school, saving everyone who can, and she tells him that he's doing this in the stupidest way possible.
Watch El and Orion join forces, make friends (a new concept), and maybe find a way to make things better for the future.
El's snarky, suspicious, and permanent pissed first-person narration makes this book a hilarious read that tackles racism, classism, bullying, grief, and how freaking annoying it is to be a good person sometimes, even when you discover it's the only thing you can bring yourself to do.
In a school full of monsters where, it's established, the only way to survive is to look out for yourself, the prophecised Destroyer of the World discovers that she would rather help everyone else make it out too. And, yeah, she's grumpy about it.
El, full name Galadriel, has seen how the system works, how it throws anyone not born in The Right Families under the bus. She's focused on being smart to stay Not Evil and alive. Then she meets Orion, the Boy Wonder, who comes from privilege, but has been White Knighting his way through the school, saving everyone who can, and she tells him that he's doing this in the stupidest way possible.
Watch El and Orion join forces, make friends (a new concept), and maybe find a way to make things better for the future.
El's snarky, suspicious, and permanent pissed first-person narration makes this book a hilarious read that tackles racism, classism, bullying, grief, and how freaking annoying it is to be a good person sometimes, even when you discover it's the only thing you can bring yourself to do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Murder, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Racism, Classism, and Bullying