my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Deadly Education was one of my favourite reads from the last year and I was thrilled to get a copy of the Last Graduate. We're back at the Scholomance, following El and Orion and their unlikely group of friends as they try to survive their last year at the school and somehow survive their last day as well.

The school most definitely seems to have a sinister intent as far as El is concerned and that hasn't changed in this book. It's fascinating seeing the difference friendships and alliances make, as this book brings them all closer to their last days at the school.

The pace of the book is intense., with the tension ratcheting higher and higher. I felt like I was holding my breath for the last part. I literally could not put the book down.

Sequels, particularly second books in a series, can be fraught. They often don't live up to the promise of the initial book or get mired into details or cliffhangers or too many new characters. This book did not stumble in any way. It was as riveting and engaging and intriguing as the first book.

I simply cannot wait for the third book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Pub for granting this wish!

I’ve read a lot of books in my life and let just say. The ending of this one is one of the CRAZIEST cliffhanger I’ve ever seen.

Book 2 was even better than book 1 and that already says so much. The friendships, the crazy plans and that ending, makes me incredibly excited for book 3

I am just not sure if we’ll make it out Alive

Ahoy there me mateys! I adored book one which tickled me fancy in all the right ways. This was more goodness. El continues to be a favorite character in her snarkiness. At this point in the story it appears that the school is out to get El specifically in some kinda weird vendetta. I was completely absorbed in trying to figure out what was going on. I loved watching the characters I thought I knew doing unexpected things. Everything surprised me. Especially the ending. Book three is going to be hard to wait for. And aye, yet again ye get no real plot or insight from me. Did ye love the first one? Then read it. Arrrr!

I adore this book. I adore it so much that having just finished it for a second time, I had to up my rating to a full five stars. El is my spirit animal and I just want her and Orion to live happily ever after fighting mals and building enclaves. Is that too much to ask for Novik?

But anyway, I understand the criticism of this book, it does start off slow and takes a while to build into the story. I can completely forgive this though because one of Novik's strengths is her ability to world build and I loved almost every minute we get to spend with El and her new found friends inside of the Scholomance. Not that I'd want to go there myself. Absolutely not! I'd be dead within hours. But I still marvel at Novik's ability to build her world and story in such an engaging and layered way.

And can we talk about the ending for just a minute? My heart is crushed again. Even though I knew how it was going to end, I still kept turning pages hoping that the next part of the story would be there. The release of The Golden Enclaves cannot come soon enough.

Best sophomore novel ever. I love this series and I CANNOT wait for the next book!! The characters have awesome depth and the storyline carries on perfectly even through this second book. I seriously don't want this series to end!

Thank You Random House|Del Rey for this ebook copy!
I opened it as soon as I seen it on my shelf, and it was one of the best books I've read in some time!

A brilliant, thrilling, gripping story from start to finish.
The worldbuilding is beyond powerful and totally captivating.
We have very interesting characters here who I couldn't get enough of.
This story is effortlessly amazing, I can't say enough amazing things about it.
Novik brought the reader right into the story and the riveting plot, full of wild twists, will have your heart racing.
I'm now off to buy the other books in this series!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Del Rey,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

I feel like I need to start out by saying that the first book in the series, A DEADLY EDUCATION, left me disappointed. I will admit a lot of that is my own fault for having certain expectations about what a book about the Scholomance should be about, i.e. the famous school of black magic run by the Devil where Dracula himself studied.

That said, this book had the benefit of not having those expectations and being able to stand on its own. While I still didn't love it as much as I'd hoped, the school and world within it exist is very interesting and the ending was strong enough to make sure I come back for book three upon its release.

Thanks to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Graduate is the follow up to A Deadly Education and picks up where the first book left off. A Deadly Education helped get me through the first year of the pandemic — it was weirdly comforting to read about a magic school that was out to kill all its students — and The Last Graduate did not disappoint. In fact, it was so good, I ended up in a reading slump. Basically, nothing has measured up since.

In The Last Graduate, the stakes are even higher: El and her cohort have entered their final year at the Scholomance, which means using their alliances to get them out of the school alive. Meanwhile, the Scholomance appears to have taken an even deadlier interest in El. Is it trying to finish her off and therefore thwart her alliance’s chances for success — or is it preparing her for something more? There are also new students, new monsters, and new ways for the school to torment its students.

While I enjoyed Novik’s skillful use of escalation to deepen the tension and worldbuilding to enhance the plot and character arcs, I relished the relationships, especially the friendships, because they established the true stakes for the story and illustrated exactly what these characters are fighting for.

The stunning ending left me salivating for the next book, which cannot come soon enough.

What a wonderful sequel to deadly education. I read it in one go and was sad at how many months I'd have to wait for the final book in the series. El continues to do her best to defy expectations and join the Orion fan club with dignity. A definite YES for me. Thank you for the free copy.

I really enjoyed Deadly Education and this was a great follow up to the story! This is the perfect YA fantasy read! Looking forward to reading more by this author.

I'm not entirely sure why this wish is just now being granted, as this book released a while back, and I read it shortly after. I'll type up a quick review, as I adored this book and it deserves all the stars!

When I read The Deadly Education, I knew I had stumbled across my next favorite series. El quickly grew on me, and I adored her dry, sarcastic narration, and seeing her struggle against her destiny to be evil made me absolutely love her. This is no different in The Last Graduate, and I think I even enjoyed this more than the first book. There's simply so much here, so many haunting twists and turns that still give me goosebumps, so many strong characters to cheer on, and plenty of suspense and tension with monsters lurking around every corner. This series is so well-plotted and planned overall, and while all the explanation makes it dense at times, the explanation is so well written that you find even the most boring aspects of El's daily life fascinating. It's just fantastic, and executed in such a perfect way, that I'm sure I will find myself rereading this series and these books for years and years.

I do really want to fight Novik for that ending though (...again!)

I absolutely loved the first book, A Deadly Education and wondered if this second book, The Last Graduate could possibly match it… I was not disappointed.

El’s character development had me hooked as she started to step into her powers and really sit in who she was and what she would be. She showed such strength and deep integrity in every choice she made, which kept me so invested even when her mistakes were big! I loved watching El develop real friendships in a place that valued strategic alliances above relationships.

Sadly, Orion’s character became quite one dimensional throughout this book focused almost solely on killing monsters which is was disappointing. Yet, I was so invested in the story and the other characters that I still found myself wanting to follow along with him. Just a little less likeable than he was in the first book.

Perhaps my favourite part was watching the students slowly came together for a bigger plan, a real beat the system kind of feel with full responsibility for each other and for the future of the wizarding world. I especially loved the dose of reality where we saw kids maintain their dislike of one another while working together.

I loved the unpredictability of the storyline which kept me intrigued all the way through… and that cliffhanger ending! I did NOT expect that!

I absolutely loved this book and I am desperate to stay in El’s world and find out what happens next!

As the Scholomance begins to fall apart after the climax of the first book, El and the rest of the student body realize that the only way out (surviving) is through (yeeting the scholomance into the void).

For fans of:
- Dark Academia
- Grump-Sunshine
- Magical Boarding Schools
- Cliffhangers That Will End You

Since The Last Graduate has been out for a year, I don't feel bad for spoiling it. I liked this one a lot. I also liked the first one. I liked them both a lot for different reasons. In the first one, I loved the world-building and the development of El and Orion's relationship. In this one, I loved that there was a more defined plot and all of the character development where the students learned to trust each other. I'm a sucker for characters who don't trust others because of how they were raised, learning how to trust people. The El-Orion content in this one was eh until closer to the end, but much of the focus of the book was on El forming alliances and friendships with non-Orion people.

This seems like a polarizing book; I either see people hating it or loving it. I can see why people would feel that way. There's still a lot of exposition in this one and that cliffhanger is killer. I, personally, loved it. I love the world that Naomi Novik created and I can't wait for The Golden Enclaves. My only demands are that I get to see my boy (Orion) again and I get to meet El's cool cool mom.

Thank you Del Rey Books and Netgalley for the ARC! I'll post this review to my bookstagram in a few days.

This is a fantastic sequel to a great world. I love how dark the school is and how everyone is literally trying to survive. The ending is gut wrenching and I cannot wait for the the next book to see what happens.

I enjoyed the first book, but so much of it is exposition and explanation in such excruciating detail. I was able to forgive that, it being the first book, but that somehow continues to an even more brutal extent. So I found myself skimming the first 50% or more of this book.

That being said, things of course did start to get interesting. Although the endless overexplanation of things was grating, I still enjoy El and Orion's interactions. The ending was brutal, too. Is it enough to make me continue? I guess we will see once we get hints of the plot of the next book.

I actually read this book when it first came out and have it on my bookshelf already. Love love love! And that cliffhanger!!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this second book in the series and can't wait to find out what happens next. If you like magic and fantasy with an academic type setting and a female protagonist, this book series is for you. This book picks up right where the first book left off where El received a note from her mother telling her to avoid her "boyfriend" Orion. I liked finding out how El Navigated her final year in the scholomance and the growth she experienced from book one. I didn't really care for Orion much in this book but it didn't take away from the story. I'm still a bit confused why her mom gave the warning but I can make a few guesses. I don't want to put any spoilers so I'll stop here but get your hands on this book! I gave both the first book and this one 5 stars!

These are fun books, with the characters constantly in danger of being attacked by everything, even snow banks or their lunch. Now that it's senior year, El is worrying about how she's going to get through graduation. She also has new friends and a maybe boyfriend to think of and she's starting to think maybe she should help all the kids in school too, why else would she have been tested so much?

I was hoping El and Orion would be more of a couple in this, instead of kissing and then running away. At least we got some sweet moments of them and Orion continued to be such a cinnamon roll. I also enjoyed El getting close to others and actually forming a circle of allies. She's been alone too long and it's time she gets friends.

The pacing of this was a bit slow in places, but the ending is great and action packed. I didn't know there was another book and had a mini freak out for a second. Hopefully book three will be out soon!

**I received an electronic copy of this book post-publication from the publisher through NetGalley. I originally read this book audibly in November of 2021 and was provided the book in May of 2022. As such, my recollection may be somewhat foggy.**

The Last Graduate is the sequel to A Deadly Education and continues the story of the Scholomance. After hearing multiple readers of A Deadly Education express distaste for reading in El's voice (a complaint I also had about book one), I opted for the audiobook for book two. The audiobook made all the difference and I far preferred my experience reading via audiobook instead of with my eyes for this series.

The strength of this series is undoubtedly the concepts. The Scholomance itself is incredibly interesting to read about as are the monsters that reside there. Novik keeps a steady, fast-moving pace throughout the novel and allows the threat of the Graduation ceremony to loom large. Combined with the fact that El is absolutely not dating Orion and the sub-plot of their not-romance whenever they aren't heavily focused on survival, Novik manages a rather compulsively readable book.

After the cliffhanger ending, I will absolutely be reading book three on its release, and have intentions of picking up the audiobook there as well.

That ending though........... Well now we get to wait for the next one to find out what happens. :/ Looking forward to finding out.

The Last Graduate is a smashing sequel that leaves you in the edge of your seat and desperate for more. This was one of my favorite reads of the year, and I am foaming at the mouth for book 3. I have yet to read a Naomi Novik book that I didn’t love.