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abirdwithnowisdom's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
4.5
Beginning of the book was great, middle eventually turned into a slog, and the end was a good end, albeit I have issues with how the pacing went. Not quite perfect, but still very good.
hotpot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
parpacifica's review against another edition
3.0
I think I’m going on a strict no “R Lee Smith” period, if only for my health. Her work is so brilliantly dark, disgusting and horrifically erotic that I feel myself falling deeper into the burnout depression I was trying to use books to escape from.
I’m still recovering from reading about the heroine’s sex with slithering slimy eel-penises that pop out of magical black slits.
I’m still recovering from reading about the heroine’s sex with slithering slimy eel-penises that pop out of magical black slits.
sarbear1216's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
exjf56's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
elmshouse's review against another edition
4.0
I have never read anything like this, and I don’t even know where to start. I don’t know how to feel. I don’t even know if I liked this very odd & disturbing yet whimsical journey I went on.
I cried at the end lol
real review coming maybe?? i must process
I cried at the end lol
real review coming maybe?? i must process
pamgodwin's review against another edition
5.0
Welcome to the Scholomance. This isn't a nursery school. It attracts the most depraved humans. Shoving fellow applicants off a Romanian cliff increases the odds of admittance. Tuition is affordable too. That is, if your life has little value.
This is a trippy but effective shock-suspense horror about a psychic girl on the hunt for her "missing friend, her best, her only friend." The sick sympathy this book extends to its heartless anti-hero, Mara, separates it millions of worlds away from the traditional hero/villain horror fantasy. Often, it's inappropriately sensual in a beastly-eel-penis kind of way. Sometimes, it's overwrought in a repetitive kind of way. And once in a while, it's shockingly touching.
RLS uses the densely mysterious plot to create a tucked away world packed with unforgiving rules, sadistic magic, and terrifying demons with myriad attributes, such as quills, horns, countless eyes, and overlong arms that cling to the memory even if you don't want them to.
This exploration into the darkest, filthiest tunnels of the demons' mountain is just as easily a study of the suppressed depth of Mara's true identity. With her knife cut white eyes, she wades through a savage student body and a pompous clergy of demon Masters, panning their nonsensical and frightening truths. Bold, even for a horror novel, it's a touch slow in the middle, but its mission glows like a beacon throughout. Find her friend. Get the hell out of Dodge.
Engrossing, different, and very long, this book is poised to reach a narrower audience with its horrific, creepy-crawly tour of the rectum-like passages of the Scholomance, which are vast, dark and skin-slithering alive, by the way. It's not a gore-fest, but you might feel like taking a shower when you're finished. And in the same spirit as RLS' Heat, you might fall in love with the cruel monsters against your best judgement. Really, it's hard to dislike a book in which the fearsome demon consistently asks, "Shall I disrobe?"
This is a trippy but effective shock-suspense horror about a psychic girl on the hunt for her "missing friend, her best, her only friend." The sick sympathy this book extends to its heartless anti-hero, Mara, separates it millions of worlds away from the traditional hero/villain horror fantasy. Often, it's inappropriately sensual in a beastly-eel-penis kind of way. Sometimes, it's overwrought in a repetitive kind of way. And once in a while, it's shockingly touching.
RLS uses the densely mysterious plot to create a tucked away world packed with unforgiving rules, sadistic magic, and terrifying demons with myriad attributes, such as quills, horns, countless eyes, and overlong arms that cling to the memory even if you don't want them to.
This exploration into the darkest, filthiest tunnels of the demons' mountain is just as easily a study of the suppressed depth of Mara's true identity. With her knife cut white eyes, she wades through a savage student body and a pompous clergy of demon Masters, panning their nonsensical and frightening truths. Bold, even for a horror novel, it's a touch slow in the middle, but its mission glows like a beacon throughout. Find her friend. Get the hell out of Dodge.
Engrossing, different, and very long, this book is poised to reach a narrower audience with its horrific, creepy-crawly tour of the rectum-like passages of the Scholomance, which are vast, dark and skin-slithering alive, by the way. It's not a gore-fest, but you might feel like taking a shower when you're finished. And in the same spirit as RLS' Heat, you might fall in love with the cruel monsters against your best judgement. Really, it's hard to dislike a book in which the fearsome demon consistently asks, "Shall I disrobe?"
halffast's review against another edition
5.0
A telepath searches for her best friend who vanished after enrolling at a mysterious magical school run by demons, but even her cold-hearted nature is pushed to the limit from the horrifying and savage acts of the school's teachers and students.
As per usual, R Lee Smith’s books leave me speechless. The multiple twists at the end were both brilliant and awful. I can’t believe I didn’t figure out one of them because there were so many hints, but the reveal was awesome. Mara is a complete ice-queen, and while she can be hard to sympathize with I ended up loving her bad attitude and calculated actions as she made an entire mountain of demons her b*tches! Trigger warnings abound, including SA between numerous characters in some rather grotesque ways.
As per usual, R Lee Smith’s books leave me speechless. The multiple twists at the end were both brilliant and awful. I can’t believe I didn’t figure out one of them because there were so many hints, but the reveal was awesome. Mara is a complete ice-queen, and while she can be hard to sympathize with I ended up loving her bad attitude and calculated actions as she made an entire mountain of demons her b*tches! Trigger warnings abound, including SA between numerous characters in some rather grotesque ways.
_mea_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.25