I finished the entire trilogy in 5 days and found this video because I most definitely want to talk about the spoilers. You asked for viewer thoughts, Kristenelle, so I'm not holding back! 1) Was El abusive toward Orion? Yeah, the stick was too much. The narration tries to make it clear that Orion was acting possessed, not just traumatized, but the symptoms are uncomfortably similar. And then after the healing under the yew tree, she makes a comment about wishing she could whack him again! Not great. It would have meant so much to me if he had occasionally returned her rudeness like he did before graduation. His attitude that he deserved whatever she dished out made sense in context, but uncomfortably mirrors the dynamic of many victims of abuse. Even if her motivation was to provoke him into standing up for himself, when it's not working, El, you gotta stop. 2) Does it makes sense that Orion is a maw-mouth? Shanfeng's explanation mostly made sense to me. One way to put it is that a regular maw-mouth has a hunger in the physical world sustaining a structure in the void, while Orion has a body in the physical world sustaining a hunger in the void. 3) Why would El carry on with Liesel once she finds out Orion is alive? This criticism resonated with me. It seemed like Novik wanted to make a point that it's cool to sleep around, El has choices and is not shackled to a OTP, but I don't like the final chapter's ambiguity on whether they are in a committed relationship. Galadriel is so special to Orion, there is every chance he'd be deeply hurt if she isn't careful with his heart. Furthermore, I don't think El talked with Liesel anywhere near enough to clarify their feelings and expectations. And for crying out loud, this is LIESEL of all people, the #1 character who is depicted as having a pattern of using her body as a means to an end rather than out of genuine desire. You could say, "Oh, well, that's just how Liesel works, she has a right to choose for herself," except the whole point of the book is to value people as people, not machines, regardless of whether or they themselves or others perceive them as valuable. I don't understand why El wouldn't have higher standards in this area. It's interesting to contrast this tangle with Uprooted and Spinning Silver, both excellent standalone novels with romantic interests that took me by surprise. 4) Was the portrayal of Beijing and Shanghai offensive? After the dreadlocks controversy, I feel 99.9% confident that Novak's publisher hired sensitivity readers for books 2 and 3. Honestly, the detail about the Beijing and Shanghai enclaves that bothered me the most was that Beijing's council tried to kill El after she laid their foundation (triggering Orion to swallow 3 of them). I do not understand their motivation at all and it makes them seem ridiculously ungracious as well as idiotic. By and large, and I loved the Asian characters. Shanfeng in particular was the bomb, with his pragmatism, humility, and compassion. Back when she reads his journal article in book 1 I thought, "It would be so cool for them to meet and compare notes about the most horrific experience of their lives!" So, uh, that Chekhov's gun definitely went off. 5) How about that thematic similarity to "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"! Great allusion. Everyone should read this classic short story by Ursula K. LeGuin, it is literally 4 pages long: files.libcom.org/files/ursula-k-le-guin-the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas.pdf 6) Is El a good person? Is The Golden Enclaves a good book? El definitely could have behaved more lovingly, but I don't actually need her to resolve all her issues. I thought Novik did a great job of handling how although El was strict mana the whole time, her personal moral compass wasn't static: her understanding of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness kept deepening, and it was a difficult climb every step of the way. It would have been interesting for the trilogy to feature a character arc about atonement--in more depth than Gwen's unnamed penitents and more gradually than Liu's sudden healing--but it's all right, this trilogy has a LOT to say as is it. My favorite themes were navigating morality in areas of collective responsibility (capitalism! climate change!), and that sometimes evil can be destroyed through redemption. Personally, I give this book 5 stars!

I think the Asian thing is fine. Not everything needs to be viewed through a lens of sensitivity.

Ok so you already saw that this was one of my worst books of 2022. I had a similar experience with first two books then suddenly this book which was so incongruous with the other two. Every character was not the same person as they were in the original two. They all regressed or had sudden personality changes-- which maybe was understandable for orion but then again was it?? Was he just suddenly pulled into the moormouth fight then his true nature is revealed?? Even tho he had been thru so many fights?? And then she just breaths and has rainbow thoughts and can suddenly defeat them no sweat? Then she tries to FORCE her beliefs on everyone else by saying “if u dont ill let u die.” U gotta b kidding!!!!!! Throughout this whole book she was trying to prove inclusivity and sensitivity with suddenly revealling ethinic origins of characters, sexuality , role reversals….it wasnt about the plot which suddenly didnt make as much sense was too easily won and the characters suddenly unlikable. I thought it was atrocious.

It’s only cheating if you assume monogamy as the default relationship model. They never talked about being exclusive. I think it’s fair to say an author with such a progressive message would also have a progressive stance on relationships.