Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

69 reviews

imds's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Classism

krisalexcole's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

The previous two books had "what the fuck" endings in a good way. This one had a "what the fuck" ending in a bad way.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

coffeebot18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

5.0

A stunning conclusion - to a brilliant trilogy - that

makes sense of the events of the first two novels and clarifies El’s purpose

. Novik’s magical world is desperately dark, but protagonist El and her people are tenacious in their pursuit of a glimmering, golden hope for a better future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Abortion, and Murder

lolamosk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, and War

keen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

tigger89's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

What a conclusion! It was a pleasure to be back in El's head once again, for pages upon pages of internal monologue. Honestly, if you've gotten this far in the series, you know what you're in for. It was another book of exactly that. I have to say, I liked the ending with regard to the fate of a certain character. Without getting too much into spoilers, I think I can say that Novik foreshadowed enough to make that result believable. But I believe she also could have written the opposite result and made it work just as well. It really could have gone either way, and I felt that her choice was logically and thematically backed up by the rest of the novel, building up to that pivotal moment.

The book starts off slow, as El processes the fallout from the last epic cliffhanger. I actually really appreciated the fact that Novik kept us here, mired in El's feelings, until she was finally ripped out of her own head and forced into the greater plot. Of course it wasn't pleasant to read. It was a devastating description of someone falling into depression, which is a completely realistic reaction to everything that had just happened. Much of the Scholomance trilogy is an examination and deconstruction of common YA fantasy tropes, and this part was no exception. If you were unsatisfied with the romance in this series, I suggest you step back and ask yourself what Novik might have been trying to say, on a meta level, when she wrote it the way that she did.

I didn't find the real-world setting to be as compelling as the school setting of the previous two books. I understand why the scope had to be expanded in order to facilitate the plot, and I thoroughly appreciated the story that was told(especially the horror twists), but something unique was lost when we left the Scholomance behind. Every student has to graduate one day, though. This is a trilogy I can definitely see myself picking up again to revisit in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, War, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

purplatypus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and War

Minor: Body horror and Death of parent

oliverreeds's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

absolutely crushed

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail