Synopsis:
In Wisdom, Shelter. That’s the official motto of the Scholomance. I suppose you could even argue that it’s true—only the wisdom is hard to come by, so the shelter’s rather scant. 
 
Our beloved school does its best to devour all its students—but now that I’ve reached my senior year and have actually won myself a handful of allies, it’s suddenly developed a very particular craving for me. And even if I somehow make it through the endless waves of maleficaria that it keeps throwing at me in between grueling homework assignments, I haven’t any idea how my allies and I are going to make it through the graduation hall alive. 
 
Unless, of course, I finally accept my foretold destiny of dark sorcery and destruction. That would certainly let me sail straight out of here. The course of wisdom, surely.
 
But I’m not giving in—not to the mals, not to fate, and especially not to the Scholomance. I’m going to get myself and my friends out of this hideous place for good—even if it’s the last thing I do.

With keen insight and mordant humor, Novik reminds us that sometimes it is not enough to rewrite the rules—sometimes, you need to toss out the entire rulebook.

The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Golden Enclaves

Review:
HOLY ENDING ON THE WORST POSSIBLE CLIFFHANGER EVER! If I were reading this before the series was finished, I would have immediately started bawling. These authors know how to draw you in and leave you NEEDING the next installment, which I will be starting as soon as I post this review.

This book featured so much more development of El as a person, and of the sorcerers and school. It’s interesting how the golden child and the prophesized bringer of doom have such different desires and needs, and again the question of nature versus nurture is brought up. Everything that happens is designed to draw in El and make her realize that there is more to life and people and magic and protecting the young than what the scholomance can provide. All in all, this book is a great continuation of the Scholomance legacy, and now I must immediately go and read beyond that haunting last line!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯