Reviews with content warning for Death - Scholomance - Die goldenen Enklaven

I’m honestly kind of sad that I had to give this only three stars because I had such high hopes for this book. The first 50% of this book I was bored out of my mind but I just kept hoping that it was going to get better. It did get better. It really picked up and was really really good and made me laugh out loud a couple of times….for the last 50% of it. I feel like the first 50%. might’ve been better summarized in a paragraph or two so that way we could just jump into the story. It might’ve made for a really short book but at least I would not have had to sit through 200 pages of awful.

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imds's review against another edition

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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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krisalexcole's review against another edition

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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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coffeebot18's review against another edition

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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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lolamosk's review against another edition

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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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maidmarianlib's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Finishes the series very well, intense action and lots of twists.

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tigger89's review against another edition

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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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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful 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

A fitting/satisfying end, and I genuinely mean that as a high compliment. I was a bit apprehensive after reading The Last Graduate because of the pacing issues, but I suppose "second book slump" is kind of a common problem for many trilogies. I liked how the question of who/what has been attacking and destroying enclaves was answered, both how it tied into the major themes of the series (especially the metaphor for class and privilege) and how the reveal resounds back through the previous books. I don't plan on rereading the series, especially so soon, but I can imagine it would be a satisfying experience. Logically, stylistically, and thematically, it's a consistent series. El continues to have a deep-rooted love for humanity; El continues to have to make difficult decisions; El continues to have empathy for other people (for the most part), even if she deeply begrudges them that empathy. I appreciate Novik for constructing a prickly character with such a heart.

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