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blewballoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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? Yes
4.0
I had been sitting on this book for a long time and finally decided to read it. I ended up doing the audiobook, and I think the narrator did very well.
This book is quite exposition heavy, but the exposition is in the main character's voice so you get a bit of flavor of their personality along with the info dumps. Sometimes it felt like the story would come to a halt for some fairly irrelevant exposition, while other times the story would plunge along and I felt like I didn't have context to fully understand what was happening. It's a bit of an exhausting story because the Scholomance is such an exhausting place to live. There are monsters, school rules, and complex social hierarchies that make every action and every conversation loaded with potential repercussions, and all of those things constantly need explaining.
All that being said, I did enjoy this book. The main character was a lot more likable than I expected from the blurb, and there were some interesting supporting characters as well. As a character driven reader, these characters worked for me and carried me through the book. I am not sure if I will pick up the rest of the series or not, though.
This book is quite exposition heavy, but the exposition is in the main character's voice so you get a bit of flavor of their personality along with the info dumps. Sometimes it felt like the story would come to a halt for some fairly irrelevant exposition, while other times the story would plunge along and I felt like I didn't have context to fully understand what was happening. It's a bit of an exhausting story because the Scholomance is such an exhausting place to live. There are monsters, school rules, and complex social hierarchies that make every action and every conversation loaded with potential repercussions, and all of those things constantly need explaining.
All that being said, I did enjoy this book. The main character was a lot more likable than I expected from the blurb, and there were some interesting supporting characters as well. As a character driven reader, these characters worked for me and carried me through the book. I am not sure if I will pick up the rest of the series or not, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Murder, Child death, and Gore
Minor: Death of parent
scarlett_f's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
Takes 2/3rds of the book to get to any real story or action. Too much detail-building. Maps of the school and cross-sections are at the end of the book. Should've been at the beginning for better understanding of the layout. Strong female protagonist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content
clairelikesbooks95's review against another edition
dark
funny
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
4.0
Very fun! But dear god what a lot of exposition. It was disguised in the sassy internal monologue of the MC, but you can’t fool me, Naomi!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
violinknitter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Death and Violence
andriacarver's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Overall a very entertaining read. It took a while to get oriented into the world but picked up nicely once there. The main character is a bit of a mixed bag. It's hard to like her at first, she's rude to everyone and then wonders why she doesn't have friends. Later on the story gets more into the social hierarchy and classist system of the world and her attitude starts to make more sense. The world is intriguing enough that I'm definitely going to read the next one!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
fronk10's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A good magic school, and really unique creature mythos that I enjoyed. The first bit is definitely a hard transition into first person, but as you ease into El’s narrative it’s a lot easier to immerse yourself in. A cute read but nothing to really grasp my imagination. I’m intrigued to read the sequel, but not sure how much milage the idea has for a whole series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
mabechel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Animal death
baestation's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Classism
katy_bee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
I picked this up as an easy read before tackling something more weighty and my expectations were fairly low if I'm honest. I was expecting a fairly standard YA popcorn fantasy. I surprised myself because I really enjoyed it! I got swept up in the characters and the story and read it pretty fast as I kept coming back to it. Yes there are some tropes- lots of weird and wonderful monsters, unusual names and an overpowered main character- but I liked El, Orion and their spiky interactions and the set up of the way magic worked in this universe was entertaining. I also enjoyed the other characters and friendships that emerged. There's a bit of a cliff hanger to draw you into the next book but the plot of this one does come to a satisfying end. I'll definitely read the next one in the series and if it weren't for the weighty book hovering over my shoulder for book club, I would dive straight in
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Bullying, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
vlouis11'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? It's complicated
5.0
CW lots of danger and death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence