I loved H. G. Parry's writing but found it difficult to get hooked to the story due to the slow pacing and simple characterization.

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door
By H.G. Parry
4.75⭐️

This was an insane journey and I have no idea how to sort my thoughts because I am just trying to absorb it all. This does start a little slow but after the 50% mark I could not let this go. I stayed up late and angled my kindle just right this morning to finish reading during a 2 hour zoom work call. The plot twists just came coming and I don’t think I can comment on much without spoilers.

At the beginning it felt a little like a darker Emily Wilde meets The Atlas Six but in a magical college way. Clover is flawed and real and so committed to succeeding in a world where women and non “magical” folk had zero ways to succeed. The subtext on society, education and women tied in perfectly. H.G. Parry pulled zero punches at the end, I was not ready for the emotional effect it would have on me. I’m pretty sure I’ll be thinking about this book and magical world for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and RedHook Books for this gifted arc!

Dark academia with a great main character. I want to be friends with Eddie and Hero, and even with Arden.

Babel meets Emily Wilde with a skillful blend of historical fantasy and dark academia, and I must say this book is what all dark academia lovers have been waiting for! I absolutely loved every second of it! Once I started reading The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, I could not put it down. It has well-developed characters, a captivating plot, and engaging prose; it's suspenseful but also heartwarming, maybe a little slow at times, but definitely worth reading. I always have a hard time when I must review a book that I truly enjoyed and this one really hit the mark on a chilly, rainy day. I would recommend this to fans of Babel, Emily Wilde and even Cruel Prince.

Set in post-WWI England and following first-generation magic scholar, Clover, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is a beautiful, poignant, and heartbreaking exploration of the imperialism and elitism at the heart of higher education. For me, this is magic academia at top form. Clover’s conflicted love/hate relationship with academia, her complicated and shifting family relationships and friendships, and her attempts to build a life in a system bent on maintaining her precarity all rang so true. If you loved Downton Abbey but wish it had magic, this is the book for you.

This was a very solid, dark academia book. I really enjoyed the sort of mashup of Babel’s higher learning criticism and Emily Wilde’s encyclopedia faeries vibe. Clover was a great protagonist, and I really felt connected to each one of the friend group. I think it suffered from some uneven pacing, particularly given the significant time jumps between each part of the book, but overall, I thought it was a really unique concept and I enjoyed spending time in the world of Camford

I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley. I really enjoyed it! It would’ve easily been 5* but it rambled a little. There were times where there was too much detail and it detracted from the story. There was a lot of extra details that added to the story building but slowed the pacing of the story. I feel like I’m only listing negatives aside from the fact that I really liked it.

This uses the historical fantasy element in a way that was everything that I was hoping for. I was engaged with the first page and thoroughly enjoyed getting to read about this world. The characters had that element that I enjoyed from the time-period and glad everything worked with the characters. H. G. Parry has a strong way of telling a story and left me wanting more.

4.5/5
Wonderful twist on fairies and magical schools. If you want "dark academia" vibes but less intense. It has character growth, interesting magic, wonderful world building and a plot to keep you interested. It is a very character driven story and Clover is clever, a little self centered but loveable. The group together is very balanced and has strong personalities with found family vibes. Parry's writing sucks you into the world she has created with characters that have depth and start to care for. Very happy with the story
Thank you NetGalley and Redhook for the opportunity to read this e-arc. This is my honest opinion

In “The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door,” Clover must gain entrance into a magical school in order to save her brother from a faerie curse. After the war, faerie magic is forbidden and there is no easy way to find archived information. Clover meets three other like-minded students who also have their reasons to uncover the secrets of faerie magic. The world-building came together really well in this story. I loved the juxtaposition of the different characters in their friend group.

For those who enjoy:
🎓Dark Academia
🎓Forbidden Magic
🎓Faeries
🎓Found family friendships
🎓Historical Fantasy

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

For some reason I'm terrible at writing reviews for books I enjoy, but this book had me hooked from the first chapter. I adore fantasy academia novels, and this one had engaging prose that instantly drew me in and kept me glued to the pages.

Perfect for dark academia season!

Clover is a young girl when her brother goes off to fight in The Great War and returns having barely survived a fae curse that leaves him possessed during fae holidays and slowly turning into a tree. Determined to save her brother Clover fights to learn magic, something not common for those not born into a Family (historically magic families) and a girl at that.

However with support of a local witch and the wizard who saved her brother she learns, and learns well enough to gain entrance to Camford, and a full scholarship. There she's faced with derision for being from a non-magical family, a woman, and a scholarship student. Regardless she continues her research into fae magic and learns that fae doors were locked following the incident that cursed her brother and killed hundreds of others on a battlefield. But she also learns she's not the only one interested in fae magic and finds a family of sorts in her new friends.

Everything takes a twist when the quartet open a fairy door after which the four go their separate ways for the next several years. Their reunion is not all positive and make shake the foundation of the magical world as they know it.

I love the trope of found family, strong women, magic, etc so this was right up my alley. It's a pleasure to sink into a story that spans the years as it allows you to get to know the characters, flaws and all, in a way that pulls me into the story.

Farm girl Clover Hill discovers that magic is real after her brother, Matthew, returns from World War I cursed by a faerie. Determined to break the enchantment, she enrolls in Camford, a prestigious university of magic, and falls in with a group of posh classmates who are also interested in the fae. But studying faerie magic was forbidden after the war for good reason, and in attempting to summon one, Clover and her friends unleash terrible consequences that upend the entire magical world.

Parry turns her particular brand of charming alternative history on the magical academia trope. All of the usual elements are present - days of study and discovery, the plain but clever outsider girl, overt discussions of classism and equality - but Parry builds her characters and setting with care and balance so they feel familiar without falling into cliche. Additionally, she explores themes of trauma and PTSD, acknowledging the massive impact World War I had on soldiers and their families. Refreshingly, there is no romance; instead, the bonds of family and friendship form the heart of the narrative, and Parry is an expert at digging into the many complicated nuances that hold people together. Warm and adventurous, this book is a treat.

Fans of Parry's The Magician's Daughter will be utterly delighted with The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door. Don't hesitate to give it to adult and older teens who wished Babel wasn't so bleak or need something more grown-up to fill the Harry Potter void.

I simultaneously have too many and not enough words about this book. The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is my first H.G. Parry read, but… how?? What a complex, fascinating story with absolutely beautiful characters. I love them all. And the writing is gorgeous. Some may find the story slow, but the details to paint the world drew me into the story so deeply. I don’t think anything I say can capture the depth and beauty of her writing.

Following Clover Hill post Great War (with faeries!) to the magical school in Britain has elements of Harry Potter and Emily Wilde. I loved this book and highly recommend it!

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H. G. Parry is the kind of enchanting read that feels like stepping into a secret world of magic and betrayal. The novel effortlessly blends the allure of a 1920s magical academy with the timeless intrigue of faerie curses and hidden agendas. Clover’s journey from an outsider to a pivotal player in a world brimming with aristocratic magic is both captivating and heartbreaking. Parry’s portrayal of the intoxicating mix of friendship and treachery among the magical elite adds layers of complexity that keep you hooked. With its lush world-building and the dramatic stakes of unearthing old secrets, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves their fantasy with a dose of mythic intensity and intricate relationships.

I was very fortuanate to get an arc of this book. I wanted to read an dark academia book amd obessed with the cover. I couldn't get into it and felt it was lacking in some ways.

This book had my heart in a vice grip. It's about so many things, but at it's heart it's about the different forms of love and what we'll do for those we love.
If there's one thing H.G. Parry has mastered in this novel it's tone. It moved from a tender story about a girl watching her brother return from war into a bright-eyed adventure. Then it was full of golden nostalgia that makes you ache for those years when you can see the entire future spread out before you with hope. (The tones shifted further from there, but I feel that would be spoiler territory.) And that nostalgic wonder is when the novel really found it's way into my heart.
I loved all of the characters so much for their strengths and flaws, both of which are put on full display. I was pulled into their world and wanted desperately to live those golden days with them. How Parry managed to fit so much heart and plot into this one book is truly a feat. It could have easily been more than one book, but having it all distilled into one volume felt so right.
I'm so glad this was my first H.G. Parry book because it means I now get to go and read everything else she's written.

Thank you to Redhook and Orbit books and Netgalley for the ARC.

I want a sequel!! Lol.
I have always liked books about fae, and this one did not disappoint. It is dark, twisted, funny, deep…..it kept me on my toes and I did not want to put it down!
The entire concept of magic in the book’s world was really interesting, and I liked reading about a setting that involved a magical school.
The twist at the end (or should I saw twists?) was very unexpected and tied into everything perfectly.
This is perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince.
10/10 would recommend and read again.

H.G. Parry, I will never forgive you for the emotional turmoil this book has put me through! The way this book enveloped me and wouldn’t let me go. The absolute heartbreak I felt and shock at the end.

I loved this story! It was beautiful written, wonderful world building, found family, and magical.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for the arc!This was an intriguing, decadent, and intellectual novel that I devoured within 3 days. Here are some things that I adored about it:

The atmosphere was decadent, mysterious, and intriguing; I soaked all of it up. This book is truly for the dark academia whores, and what I should have done was wait to binge this on a rainy, fall day.

The characters grow on you like one of Eddie’s plants. They were complex, flawed, and yet I couldn’t help but root for them. Gotta say though, I love Hero indubitably.

The plot was whiplash inducing, even when it wasn’t. You may think you know where this book is going, and you may be right, but you will also be VERY wrong. It took so many twists and turns that had me reeling and giggling mischievously. The plot truly gripped me, even in the slower sections. There is a stark contrast in the pacing and vibe of the two different halves of this book, but I found both equally interesting.

This book will be more emotional than you are expecting. At least, it was to me. No punches were pulled here, and that shit hurted!

The ending. It was phenomenal. Good shit!


All in all, this book was a scholarly slay. I would love to get more content in this world, even if this book is a standalone, and I hope that it is. Spin offs would be greatly appreciated. Anyways, I would love to reread this in the fall, while sipping some hot tea and lightly a candle. -4.5 doors