Week 36 Reviews: A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, The Golden Enclaves

From Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.

I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.

Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I'm concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I'm not joining his pack of adoring fans.

I don't need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts. I'm probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I'll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.

At least, that's what the world expects me to do. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that's crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school itself certainly does.

But the Scholomance isn't getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone's idea of the shining hero, but I'm going to make it out of this place alive, and I'm not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either.

Although I'm giving serious consideration to just one.

With flawless mastery, Naomi Novik creates a heroine for the ages—a character so sharply realized and so richly nuanced that she will live on in hearts and minds for generations to come.

From Goodreads:

A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik's groundbreaking crossover series.

At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year—and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules . . . 

From Goodreads:

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.

Almost singlehandedly--although backed by an increasingly large cadre of genuine friends--El has changed the nature of the Scholomance forever. But now that she is back in the real world, how will the lessons she learned inside the school apply? Will her grandmother's prophecy come true? Will she really spell the doom of all the enclaves forever?

As the quest to save her one true love ramps up, however, El is about to learn the most significant lesson of all--the dire truth on which the enclaves and the whole stability of the magical world are founded. And being El, she is not likely to let it lie....

My first review of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, The Golden Enclaves

My second review of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate 

My third review of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate 

My Review:

I really wasn't planning on rereading this series this soon after the last book came out. But I got prompted to, and I'm glad that I did, I just love El and her narration, and her story and her world! It's just so entertaining to read! 

Throughout this series, there's been this attitude of Urgh, I'll do the right thing, this begrudging nature of El's that really brought her personality to life that I just loved reading! Between her mom being who she is, and El realizing that however biased things are for the enclave kids, she has to do right by everyone. 

This is the first time that I've reread the whole series since the last book came out, with all the stuff about Maw-mouths, and seeing everything laid out, seeing all the pieces coming together, from that first one that she destroyed, it was really a well constructed, plotted out series! Plus it was funny when she was thinking about whoever was attacking the enclaves, thinking to myself that it was her and she didn't even know it! 

There are so many highs and lows in this series for these characters, being in the Scholomance, a numbers game of survival, it's a pretty grim reality. But El is a power, and watching her form this group of friends, fight against the status quo, yeah, it was just such a great read! 

I just love this series, it's just freaking fantastic! 

Author: Naomi Novik
Series: Scholomance #1, 2, 3
First Read: October 5th, 2020, September 28th 2021, September 27th, 2022

Second Read: October 6th, 6th, 2021

First Read: September 5th, 6th, 2022

Read: September 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 2023
Source: Own
Reason Why: Rereading, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2023 Books! And The Golden Enclaves is a End of Series 2023 Book! 
Publisher: Del Ray
Published: September 29th 2020, September 28th 2021, September 27th 2022

A Deadly Education:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Last Graduate:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars