The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance, #3) (The Golden Enclaves)

by Naomi Novik

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.

FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Paste, Publishers Weekly

The one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll do when you get out. Not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. But it’s all we dream about: the hideously slim chance we’ll survive to make it out the gates and improbably find ourselves with a life ahead of us, a life outside the Scholomance halls.

And now the impossible dream has come true. I’m out, we’re all out—and I didn’t even have to turn into a monstrous dark witch to make it happen. So much for my great-grandmother’s prophecy of doom and destruction. I didn’t kill enclavers, I saved them. Me and Orion and our allies. Our graduation plan worked to perfection: We saved everyone and made the world safe for all wizards and brought peace and harmony to all the enclaves everywhere.

Ha, only joking! Actually, it’s gone all wrong. Someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in my stead, and probably everyone we saved is about to get killed in the brewing enclave war. And the first thing I’ve got to do now, having miraculously gotten out of the Scholomance, is turn straight around and find a way back in.

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4.5 of 5 stars

Share

Wow. I can't believe the end (of the series) is already here. It's time to say goodbye to The Scholomance. The Golden Enclaves is the third and final novel in Naomi Novik's series, and I have been dying to see where things go after that wicked cliffhanger from The Last Graduate.

El and her classmates did the unthinkable. They all survived the Scholomance, tearing the very structure down around them in a desperate attempt to make the world better for everyone. Only...things didn't go as planned, and now El is reeling from it all.

Not that she'll be given much time to relax. Something is happening to the Enclaves of the world, and for some reason, everyone has decided that El is the only one that can fix what has gone wrong.

Wow. Wow! I can't believe that The Golden Enclaves ends the trilogy. And yet I wouldn't have asked for it to go any other way. If you've been a fan of this series from the start, you'll love to see how it all ends.

First, let's discuss the elephant in the room. The Last Graduate left us in a horrible place – that cliffhanger was straight-up mean, if I may say so. Naturally, this made the last year a fairly agonizing wait. So, was it worth it? I would have to say: yes. Though I would still have preferred not to suffer like that in the first place, thank you very much.

There was a lot to enjoy from The Golden Enclaves. I love that Novik didn't beat around the bush – we went right back to that horrible moment and got to see El's reaction. No time wasted. I think it's what the readers need to see.

Several plots or elements really caught my attention in this novel. First, everything that is happening with the Enclaves. It's a mess, yet it's also a (darkly) fascinating mess. I've wanted to learn more about the Enclaves since the beginning, and I finally got my wish here.

This leads us to the second interesting point. The magical trolley problem that El found herself in. That was not something I expected from this series! That being said, I love that there are actual consequences to these actions and decisions. They should carry weight, given how much they change.

Overall, I would have to say that I'm delighted with how The Golden Enclaves played out. It had a lot of surprises, but they were all carefully thought out. More importantly, they kept the world and series fascinating until the very last.

Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 October, 2022: Finished reading
  • 21 October, 2022: Reviewed