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ashleycvirga's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. I love the concept of the magical school! But the narrator’s egocentric negative attitude is annoying. She spends the majority of her narration anxiously rambling about what other people think of her. Sure this is normal for a teenager and the trauma of her poorly described environment. This may have been influenced by the acting of the reader in the audio version. The world is not well described and takes too long to get into details. I found the main character irritating. There doesn’t seem to be a cohesive direction or overarching conflict for the book but rather a series of constant minor conflicts. I kept reading hoping for something interesting to happen or some major theme and purpose to present itself but nothing well developed ever did.
pjm221's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
4.25
fantasynovel's review against another edition
4.0
The Scholomance is one of the best magic schools I've ever read. The constant fear of death really kept the book moving. Unfortunately, there were about a billion info dumps about things I cared 0% about. There was also that dreadlocks paragraph, which was rough. Why single out dreadlocks out of all hairstyles? There was no reason for that to be in there. The book dragged a little, which seems surprising for a book with so many monsters fight, but somehow it managed it. I'll probably read the second book, though. I just love the Scholomance so much.
brianajamanila's review against another edition
4.0
i enjoyed this book for what it was. while i didn’t care for the writing style very much as it read really childish even for YA, it was an extremely fun read once you got a decent understanding of the world and how magic works there.
lindsayaunderwood's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn’t get into this one despite putting in the effort for about 20%
starsnotshadows's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I will say, it's pretty heavy on the exposition, and that got a little tiring at times. But the lore was so good, and more often than not, I was rooting for the main character and her growth.
mack_e's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
Spoiler free:
Genuinely loved this book series. It was easy to sink my teeth into and cruise through. Great cast of characters, interesting magic system, and I loved the way the romance was written, I only wish there was more of it.
My only gripe truly comes from what I believe is just the writing style. I haven’t read anything else by her yet (I definitely will after this), but just based on this series alone, I would say she’s definitely a “teller” and not a “show-er.” This happened a lot in the other books in this series as well, but something will happen in the plot, whether that’s a revelation, something discovered, etc., and she will take the next couple paragraphs or pages to talk about the main character’s thoughts and/or add world building. There were points it got to be so frustrating, I couldn’t stand it. There was a big reveal in this last book and she took 5 - YES, FIVE - pages of thinking detour before she got back to the plot! Like I said, not enough to deter me from reading more, but definitely enough to bother me to mention it haha.
That being said, a solid series and I have a lot of love for it.
Genuinely loved this book series. It was easy to sink my teeth into and cruise through. Great cast of characters, interesting magic system, and I loved the way the romance was written, I only wish there was more of it.
My only gripe truly comes from what I believe is just the writing style. I haven’t read anything else by her yet (I definitely will after this), but just based on this series alone, I would say she’s definitely a “teller” and not a “show-er.” This happened a lot in the other books in this series as well, but something will happen in the plot, whether that’s a revelation, something discovered, etc., and she will take the next couple paragraphs or pages to talk about the main character’s thoughts and/or add world building. There were points it got to be so frustrating, I couldn’t stand it. There was a big reveal in this last book and she took 5 - YES, FIVE - pages of thinking detour before she got back to the plot! Like I said, not enough to deter me from reading more, but definitely enough to bother me to mention it haha.
That being said, a solid series and I have a lot of love for it.
ac2626books's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.5
cobysb's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5