The final stop in the Scholomance trilogy is one that surprised me. I was not, initially, excited about the change in setting as the Scholomance itself is the foundation for the entire series. However, the school still has some relevance, despite not being the focus this time. This is the wrap-up of El’s story and it does a great job at doing that in a specific way. Let’s get into it.

After leaving Orion behind with Patience/Fortitude, El is distraught. Her mother gives her space to heal and care, but El’s basically catatonic. When Liesel comes to urge her to help save London enclave from a maw-mouth, she’s obligated to help and finally gets out of bed. Everything they feared was happening outside the school is coming to pass. The enclave war is on the brink as more and more are being attacked. The culprit does come to light at a certain point and the reasoning behind it honestly blew my mind. The cliffhanger with Orion from the previous entry is resolved, and it also doesn’t go the way I expected. Novik kept the surprises coming and I’m usually good at guessing these things, so it’s a feat that this story was able to keep me on my toes. El is still in her head a lot, overthinking, but her constant worrying made me make more connections than I would have otherwise. There is a lot of responsibility on her shoulders as her power level is basically unmatched at this point. (She does get even stronger too.) There is a bit of a lore dump near the end, but it feels warranted because the information was only known by a handful of people. The revelation makes everything come full circle and ties all three books up in a well-thought-out bundle.

It was unpredictable all the way through and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to read this story to its conclusion. The twists and turns pulled me along in a way that other stories have failed to do. I attribute this to Novik’s style of writing the main character as Galadriel’s perspective on the world was unique in comparison to the other characters in the narrative. Her viewpoint kept me invested. Her overthinking was a great way to introduce background elements without them feeling forced. Despite being in her head, we still don’t know all her thoughts. She does repress some truths as they’re too dark to face, but having someone else bring them to light, makes her confront them. Though El is a lot to handle sometimes, she’s still relatable. I admire how Novik has crafted a character that is so unlikeable in the story but is still someone we can feel compassion for as a reader. It’s so hard to do the right thing sometimes, especially if the world is against you, but El perseveres.

This final book really does feel final. It closes the story out properly and ties it all together nicely. The pacing was great as we jumped from scene to scene and had just enough down time to process previous events in between. Some other characters get more fleshed out, but the star is El. With her great power, she chooses to do good for the world. The dark prophecy that she fights every day of her life is her guide on what not to do. She lives in spite of what it says and proves that we a person can do what they want, no matter what anyone else says. I enjoyed living in this grim-dark world and that’s a testament to the great writing as a world filled with creatures that are trying to kill you at every turn and magic that can be unpredictable if you’re careless, doesn’t sound like the best place to live. If you like complex characters and magic with a dark angle, this series is for you.