The Golden Enclaves

A great way to end the series. It was nice seeing more of the 'real' world, without losing the connections to the hidden spaces walled off by the enclaves. Having invested a day or so with the previous 2 books, it felt important to read carefully and enjoy each experience as it came along.
I did eventually feel that the use of the word wanker was a bit overdone, but perhaps I'm just getting old and conservative. The story, the arc of the characters and the way things wrapped themselves up was very good indeed.

a great ending to the great Scholomance trilogy. had some twists i didn't see coming while still bringing everything to a satisfying close.

like the other books in this series, it manages to feel kinda cozy while super dark 😅

i think it's the lovable cast of characters, particularly the primary protagonist who i find quite relatable as an outcast determined not to be the evil the world wants her to be.

also the darkness is offset by the fact that there is hope throughout, even when things get pretty bleak (though often that hope is more stubbornness than anything 😅)

strongly recommended to anyone who loved the first two entries in the series.

You would be forgiven for looking at a pithy summary of the Scholomance series and thinking this is yet another magical school wish fulfillment story. There’s a magical school, an extra-magical misfit main character who unexpectedly makes friends, a prophecy, monsters and sinister forces. Yet, for all that, this is a tale with a spirit firmly planted in reality that bends all the tropes.

What do you do when you are the best at defeating monsters when the real monster is deep systemic injustice?

Naomi Novik is producing some of the most interesting and creative fantasy stories of this generation. They are well worth your time.

A really strong trilogy. Could not put it down once I started. The last volume had lots of surprises — magic as an eco thriller, if you will.

I think my biggest complaint about these three novels would be that the author does a lot more telling rather than showing, which I tend to dislike. There's no shortage of that in the beginning of this novel, but ultimately this might be my favorite book of the series. It finishes really strongly and I found myself more emotionally invested than I thought I would be. I can't say too much more without giving away some important plot elements, but defs recommend if you've read the first two books.