3,25/5 Stars
I liked this one, but not as much as the rest of the series. To be fair, I kind of expected that, because one of my favourite things about this series was the totally messed up magic school, and after the end of the second book I already knew that this book wasn't going to be set there like the first two. I did think it was a solid end to the series, but it felt a little all over the place to me. I did love seeing El and her friends again, and getting a glimpse of the way the magic in this world works outside of the school. Overall, a solid end to the trilogy.

Oh my gosh, The Golden Enclaves was SO good! It’s the third book in the Scholomance series, and it totally ties everything together. El is the main character, and she’s this super powerful sorceress, but she’s constantly battling with the whole "chosen one" thing and the weight of her abilities. The magic world she’s in is crazy dangerous, and the school is seriously lethal—it’s full of these deadly creatures that could kill you at any moment. I love how the story keeps you on edge, but it’s not just about survival. There’s a lot of heart, especially when it comes to the people El cares about.

What I really loved, though, is how the book explores that "found family" trope. El's relationships with her friends just get deeper, and it adds so much emotional weight to the action. There's this huge struggle between what she wants and what’s best for everyone, and it really makes you think. The world-building is amazing, and the characters grow so much. Honestly, it’s such a satisfying conclusion to the series, and I think you’d love it—if you're into dark fantasy with lots of twists and emotional moments, it’s totally worth the read!


Stars ⭐️ 3.5
Spice 🌶️ 0

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read the first book and hated it. I decided to try the 2nd cause people love this series. I can't get myself to finish the 3rd. I hate the characters and do not like the plot.

What an ending to this series!! I'm glad I stuck with it because I really ended up enjoying this dark fantasy trilogy. It was kind of weird for the characters to have graduated school and be out in the real world in this one, because I got so used to the setting of Scholomance. However, as someone who grew up loving Harry Potter and would've loved to see those characters outside Hogwarts as grown ups, I did enjoy seeing these characters take on new roles and adventures.

In The Golden Enclaves, I really loved the complex world the author builds on. What I think this series really excelled with was its breakdown of morality, injustice, and good vs. evil. The villains are not portrayed necessarily as the worst people ever, they are flawed and complex beings. This book focuses on sacrifice and whether it is necessary to sacrifice one life for the good of the majority, which I always think is such a complex moral issue. In this book especially, we see several character arcs, and especially Eli, come full circle and really grow into complex and understanding characters. The plot of this one felt a bit slower again, with less action, which had me rating it a bit lower. However, I really loved the themes and topics throughout this series. It is so much more than a series about a magical school and people with magical powers, it is a dark world that reflects on a lot of the injustices and issues in society today. Overall, a very well done fantasy series!!

Thanks Del Rey for the free book!!

Loved this series more than I can describe. I will backlist these books forever and continue to hand sell them until I can no longer work.

Wow. Naomi Novik really knocked it out of the park with her final installment of the Scholomance Trilogy.

Her books are ones that I have and will continue to recommend to new readers first stepping into urban fantasies and wanting to explore unique magic systems, and have a bit of fun with the characters.

The Scholomance Trilogy has such distinct world building and easy to follow writing, I was gripped by every page. I can’t wait to see where Novik takes us next.

"The Golden Enclaves," the final book in Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy, provides a thrilling and satisfying conclusion to El's journey. The story expands beyond the school, delving into the complex and often dark world of the golden enclaves. El's character growth is impressive, and her relationships, particularly with Orion, add emotional depth.

Novik's world-building shines, offering fresh perspectives and rich details. The plot is well-paced, balancing action with introspective moments, leading to a surprising and satisfying climax. Themes of sacrifice and privilege are thoughtfully explored, resonating with real-world issues.

While some resolutions may feel a bit convenient, the overall impact of the story remains strong. "The Golden Enclaves" is a fitting end to the series, leaving readers with a sense of closure and plenty to ponder.

The last thing Orion said to me, the absolute bastard, was 'El, I love you so much'.

The Golden Enclaves takes off with this and is a superb conclusion to the Scholomance trilogy. The most satisfying aspect, to me, is to see El and Orion's character arcs complete and stable, making space for each other. Naomi Novik has done a few fantastic fairy tale retellings before (Spinning Silver and Uprooted), but in my head I think of this story as The Beast and the Beast retelling - where, spoilers, neither is a Beast, not really. A perfect short quote that made me think of this again - 'But they'd loved Orion only in exactly the same way they'd hated me. Neither one of us were ever people to them. He just made himself useful, and I refused to.' I loved that their character arcs started in very different places and have been complementary to each other, evolving beautifully since the first book.

El's snarky sarcastic sassy voice brings it's own unique flavour to this book, and series; her thoughts and analysis just makes her more relatable to me though the exposition might be too hyperactive for some people. Novik writes masterfully - of complex young adults in one layer, of a brilliant fantasy tale in another and of moral philosophy as the foundational layer. The premise of the series, as El finally recognizes in this book, is paraphrasing the trolley problem - is it okay to save many people by sacrificing one person? And what are the consequences of this decision?

Everyone has to decide for themselves, and El more than anyone as she's a budding dark sorceress (a tertiary order entity really). Intent and belief are more important than the words of any spell, and El finds that she has to keep deciding to not be a dark sorceress every step of the way as she races from one place to another. Because once she takes a step down that path, it'll be so much more difficult to stop. The story is paced well, weaving together action, magic and all the good intentions behind the worst politics.

The intricate magic system and the world-building also support the central question of this series; it dwells not just on the mechanics of the magic, but more on ephemeral concepts like overarching balance in the universe, hard earned mana and easily stolen malia.

Overall, a definite recommendation to pick up this series!

Scholomance #1: A Deadly Education https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4226535850
Scholomance #2: The Last Graduate https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4281576439

Thanks to NetGalley, Naomi Novik and the Random House publishing group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[One star for the premise and the whole book; One star for the characters; One star for the writing; One star for the story; One star for the world-building - Five stars in total.]

I've heard so much about this book and have read Naomi's other books and liked them alot. I loved it so much. This series is amazing.

The last book in the scholomance series. And i have to say this one was really good. I didn't like the writing in the other two books, found them a little bit chaotic in the writing.
But this was a huge improvement.
In The last chapters where some rambling nonsense that i could be without.
It just felt like the author just wanted more words in to get more pages in the book.

I've read better books by Naomi.
So im glad this serie is finito.

DNF at 38% I just couldn't take her rambling anymore. Every single time I picked up this it truly and wholeheartedly put me to sleep. I could not for the love of me finish it in two months.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

Great ending to one of my new favorite series! I was completely satisfied at the ending- of course, I would LOVE more in this world but the ending was spot on for me. So glad I had the chance to finally read this series!

The pacing for this book is a lot quicker than the first two. Most of the events in this book happen within a short time frame. This one ties up the character endings perfectly.

This was such a great wrap up to this series! The first two books definitely felt more high paced but outside of that, this book was everything. Naomi Novik is one of my instant buy authors. She’s generally worth the hype and I’d pick up almost anything she writes. Do yourself a favor and read this!!

This was a beautiful end to a fantastic series. Without giving too much away, this ending was poetically perfect.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this book

This was a fun continuation of deadly education. This one flowed so much better. Can’t wait for it to continue

I want to start by saying I love Naomi Novik but this trilogy was not it. It seemed to drag on and on. The concept was amazing, I just think it was executed as well as it could have.

Thank You to Naomi Novik and Random House Publishing Group, for the digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I admit that when I first heard the plot description for this series, I sighed. "What if Hogwarts, but evil" is a pretty tired concept, much less in 2020, when the first volume in the trilogy, A Deadly Education, was published. And with a heroine whose description seemed to suggest a genderbent Kylo Ren, the whole thing seemed very aggressively Not For Me. It was a lucky break, then, that Novik included the entire trilogy in this year's Hugo voter packet, because this series turns out be both delightful and clever. The setting—a self-sustaining, self-contained school for wizards designed to protect them from the perils of the outside world, but which becomes its own death trap which only a small percentage of students manage to survive—is elaborately worked through, and the psychological cost of attending this school, in which students scramble for survival, make desperate alliances, and weigh the consequences of surrendering to the dark side for some extra power, are explored with a refreshing lack of sentimentality. Also refreshing is the series's heroine, who resists the pull of the dark less out of an innate desire to to do good as out of a furiously annoyed sense of ethics. By the time we get to the third volume, the elaborate worldbuilding has revealed a society that has locked itself, through technological choices made centuries ago, into a series of increasingly bad options, which makes for both a powerful environmental metaphor, and a satisfying villain for the heroine and her friends to tilt against.

Was not my cup of tea sadly. Had a hard time keeping up with who's who and getting into the story. Not the series for me but I can see others loving it

Well I was wondering how she was going to get out of the ending of the last one. I have to say this is one of the most delightfully twisty series I have ever read. And Chaos at every turn. There's no point in rehashing the plot; you definitely have to read the first two before this one, but at least you don't have to wait between books like the rest of us did. You can read all three now in one giant gulp. And you will want to.
For those who read the first two, but haven't made it to this one yet: All is explained and it WILL be satisfactory. That's as much as I'm giving away. The plot is not as focused as the first two (surviving the Scholomance), but meanders a bit until things finally take off. So 4 stars instead of the previous 5. You will still be glued to the page. Well worth it. Highly recommended.