3.5 Stars

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

I didn't like this one as much as the first. It was really slow up until the last 50 pages and I found myself distracted easily while reading it. I did enjoy the fighting scene at the end of the book and that cliff hanger 😱 I may have to read the 3rd because of the way it ended.

The magical system is interesting and I do like the monsters in the story. I'm not too keen on the school setting though but I do like some of the characters and how the school is basically a prison for a bunch of magical kids. El's humor is fun but gets a bit too much as the book went on and I'd like to know more about that prophecy and the whole "stay away from Orion Lake" warning. Hoping the 3rd ties everything up well.

Don't mind my internal raging at that cliff hanger. I may or may not have thrown my kindle across the room.

We find ourselves back at the Scholomance, where El and Orion have fixed the cleansing machinery of the school and are in their last year at the deadly school. But El quickly learns that this year will be unlike any other.

She has to put aside everything she has learned about how to interact with people and form alliances she never wanted, to save them all.

I'm not going to lie. I almost want to take a star away for the massive cliffhanger at the end, but the story held it's own so well that I can't bring myself to. Naomi Novik does an amazing job relating the magic and the world she has so painstakingly created. We are introduced to many more characters and conflicts, but they never felt overwhelming, but integral to the story. And what a beautiful story it is. Now can we get an early release of the third book so I'm not screaming for the next year???


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. My views and opinions are entirely my own.

I have a love/ hate relationship with Naomi Novik’s writing. I STRUGGLE with the reading the writing style. I both read and listened to the first book at the same time and that totally helped me get through it. The writing is a long train of consciousness and for some reason, my brain does not connect well.
On that note, I do really like the characters but felt like the story was way less fast paced as the first one. It took me a long time to get through the first 30%.
Definitely love the story, the world building and the dark academia, but really wish I could get into the writing a little more.

"The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling trilogy continues in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education.

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 will continue in 2022."

The trilogy will continue in 2022? I like series with a definitive release date.

I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley.

I knew, after finishing A Deadly Education, I would have to read the sequel. It did not disappoint.

Picking right up where the last book left off and running through another year at the Scholomance, Novik pulls off an /Empire Strikes Back/ in several regards. The biggest is probably the huge reveal about the school itself, but also the burgeoning love affair between El and Orion. That and the stakes are ramped up while also doubling down on the whole 'collective action can change the world' thing. Timely stuff, but good lord I don't want to have to wait for book three!

I was not prepared to love this book as much as I did. I mean, I enjoyed the first book in the series, A Deadly Education. If I had a complaint about that book, it was that we were told a lot of things, but shown a great deal less. But I enjoyed El’s snarky voice and if the action dragged at times, I was still entertained and eager for the next book. Enter The Last Graduate and oh my goshness, this was sooo good.

Picking up precisely where A Deadly Education leaves off, we find El at the beginning of her final year at the Scholomance. She’s officially a senior, and after years of only looking out for herself, she finds herself with real friends, allies and even a boy she’s not dating (even though she really kind of is…). But the Scholomance is still a dangerous place, and it seems to be gunning for El particularly. With the school testing her in a myriad of ways, El has to decide what she’s willing to do to ensure her friends make it out of the school alive. The answers surprise her.

Things I loved about this book:
-Watching El come into her power. With a dark prophecy hanging over her, El has been reluctant to embrace her potential, but she finally taps into her power and it was great.
-The secondary characters. El could not accomplish what was needed without others helping her along the way. Since we see everything from El’s perspective, we don't really get to know many of the other students on a deeper level, but so many of them were given moments to shine.
-The Scholomance. (Truly. My heart...)

If I had a complaint with this book, it would not be the exposition this time. I don’t know if I just got used to the author’s style, but the pacing seemed brisker and the action more exciting. No, my only real problem was Orion Lake. I never felt like I really knew Orion, even though he is the one person with whom El is ostensibly the most in tune. I feel like I know Liesel better than I do him. He remained an enigma through 98% of the book. And even when we see him clearly through El’s eyes on graduation day, it is from a distance. Which robs the ending of a little bit of its power.

Which is maybe a good thing for me, because even with that caveat, the ending was epic and I am already desperate to get my hands on the last book.

That’s a minor quibble, however. On the whole, I highly recommend this book. It builds on the first installment and just gets better as it goes along. This is not the place to start though, so if you haven’t read A Deadly Education, do so immediately so you can join me in waiting impatiently for the final book in the series.

Speechless. I held my breath. I reread the ending four times. The outcome was still the same. I need the next book immediately. The world of the Scholomance, El, and Orien cannot possibly be thrown into this much turmoil before my eyes. I loved this second book of the series. El began to understand her magic and all she is capable of, and her relation with Orien continued to grow. An excellent magical read with alluring characters. I loved it!

Against all odds, El has made it to her senior year in the Scholomance not only alive, but without turning evil. She even has a few friends. Then of course there’s Orion Lake—the boy she may be falling for. He also happens to be the boy El’s mother went to great lengths to warn her about.

This book picks up at the exact scene where the previous book ended and follows El through her senior year at the Scholomance. Although El has always known she’s very powerful, she’s been limited by her lack of resources. As she gains more friends and allies, El is finally able to reach her potential. I really liked watching her come into her own—both in regard to her powers and to allowing herself to care about other people.

Fair Warning: If you thought the cliffhanger at the end of A Deadly Education was rough, then buckle up because the end of this book is intense!

NOTE: This is the second book in The Scholomance series. These books need to be read in order.

The Last Graduate (Scholomance #2) is the second book in Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series, a trilogy about a girl named El who attends a school of magic. To complicate matters, El has been prophesized to be a bringer of death and doom.

The Last Graduate picks up right where the first book of the series, A Deadly Education, leaves off. El is now a senior, and it’s time to make final preparations for their graduation — which historically has had a death rate of around three quarters of the class.

Narratively, The Last Graduate serves primarily to move the story forward to where it needs to be for the last book of the trilogy. This is not to imply that this book is filler -- I won't give anything away here, but El grows a lot as a character and makes some important decisions about her future and the type of person she wants to be in the duration of this story.

This installment in the trilogy continues to showcase how intentional Novik has been in crafting El's story. Here, Novik continues to deal with the issues around class divisions that the first book (between the better-situated "enclaver" class and everyone else below them in the social hierarchy) dove into, but she also goes into a bunch of other issues as well.

For example, a major plot component in this book involves the growing tensions between the English-speaking New York enclavers and the Chinese-speaking Shanghai enclavers, which introduces some interesting geopolitical dimensions into the story. I liked that neither side was presented as evil nor saintly. Instead, they're all acting as self-interested and rational entities, as people typically are. Novik presents believable and understandable grounds for the division between them.

I'm really enjoying this book series, though The Last Graduate definitely feels more like a bridge between the end of the previous book and the beginning of the next rather than a full narrative in and of itself.

That said, it's definitely an important part of the story, and it ends with a pretty thrilling cliff-hanger. So, if you liked the first book, then of course you should read this one, too!

I wish so much that I found this book at the end of the series instead of the beginning so that I wouldn’t have to wonder at these cliffhangers anymore, but a part of me is glad that I get to experience this tension alongside El and her newfound companions. All throughout the book, I knew it was gonna end on a cliffhanger and full disclosure, it’s kind of a predictable cliffhanger, but it’ll still wreck you.

Overall, I’d give this book 3.5 stars if possible, but chose to round up and not down because Naomi Novik is incredibly talented at developing well rounded characters in a few interactions. I greatly enjoyed seeing the growth of El and really feeling like I knew her. Novik’s ability to change the way the other characters shift their view of Orion’s character was so well done. Novik has a way of normalizing abnormalities in characters and fleshing out their backstories and traits in short anecdotes and conversation fragments.

However, there were still things that could be better developed. While I have to admit I’m enchanted with the way Novik makes me feel like I’m truly a student at the Scholomance and understand life as a magic user, the tense scenes are few and far between and there is no large climax or intense battle that gives me the chills and a rush of adrenaline. It was a very character driven installation to the trilogy, more so than the first novel. Novik did a great job with pacing and informing the reader where in the timeline the book is, but it was just trudging along. You understand what it’s like to be a student at the Scholomance but you don’t experience the true dread and danger like in book 1.

Whew, I am deep into the Scholomance world and I love it! I could keep reading the books in this series forever and be so happy with it. And can't believe I have to wait over a year to see how this story continues!

This book picks up right where the first one ended and hits the ground running. The book takes place over a longer period of time than the first one (the whole school year) and I liked getting to see the characters grow and develop throughout the book. The relationship between El and her friends and between her and Orion was great! I loved seeing El and Orion's relationship develop and learning more about Orion in general. I hope to continue seeing more of him as the series continues.

The school really became a full character in this book and I loved it! The school helping El and pushing her to be better and find what she really wants to do was great. I really like where the storyline with the school went and I totally wasn't expecting that at all.

This book was just as atmospheric as the first one and it really sucks you into the world. It is as detailed and inside El's head as the first one, so if you're not a fan of that you may not want to continue the series. There did seem to be a bit more action in this one and not quite as info dump-y about the world (but that makes sense as it's the second book). But I loved the writing style of the first one and I really just ate this one up. Definitely recommend reading this one if you're a lover of dark fantasy!

Phenomenal. I enjoyed it even more than the first book. A lot of great character development and really good pacing. Could not put it down.

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik is the second volume in the Scholomance series. The Scholomance is a school of magic and wizardry. Students enter and they see nothing of the outside world until they hopefully make it through graduation. There are no teachers as the school provides materials and tests that the students receive. Complicating the education process are maleficaria (mals), which are creatures that feed on magical energy and magic users.
Our focus is still on El and the friends she was able to make last year. She is supposed to be working on preparing for graduation and finding a way to survive that deadly rite of passage, but the school seems to be actively hindering her efforts by placing her in a classroom with defenseless freshmen. Instead of furthering her studies she is fighting a daily influx of mals lest her inexperienced classmates are slaughtered.
Discoveries await in a thoroughly satisfactory read that has engaging characters and rich world building. The characters are distinct and well developed and I can't wait to see where the next book goes, There is a bit of a cliff-hanger ending that leaves you wanting more.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this arc and this is my honest opinion of this title.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

That ending.. I just.. the only two options are stupefied silence or hysterical laughter and right now I'm alternating between the two.

Weirdly enough, with nine minutes left on the kindle countdown, I put the book down. I could almost sense something. But that bit of warning was not enough to prepare me for t h a t.

"<i>[..] you're the only person I've ever met who'd come up with the idea of being wildly rude and hostile to the guy who saved your life twenty times</i>."
"<b>Thirteen times! And I've saved <i>his</i> life at least twice</b>."
"<i>Catch up already, girl.</i>"

Goodness, wow, so. Yeah, lots of my feelings about this book have been eclipsed by all the nonsense above but I will say this. I was delighted to return to this world for one main reason : I had forgotten how delightfully prickly El was. Being back in her space, watching her interact with people, it was often hilarious because she is constantly battling the general feeling of "not putting up with this shit" which, I mean, same. But she's also in a much better place than she was in the beginning of book one so she's also struggling to remember she has friends and how that's changed her life, yes, but also changed her odds of surviving the Scholomance. And those opposing forces are just as funny as she is.

<i>I was unenthusiastic about the prospect of being found attractive <b>because</b> I seem like a terrifying creation of dark sorcery instead of <b>despite</b> it.</i>

Also there was maybe a very short, tiny, little scene that ambushed some tears out of me. Unexpected.

My one.. not complaint, really, but observation, is that there is a lot going on in this world, in the day to day, and Novik strings together some long-ass sentences sometimes -- and as a result I completely lose the original thought or point and have to reread or, occasionally, just give up and keep going. It doesn't always feel like dense fantasy when there's action or bickering or brainstorming but there are huge swaths of this that is actually quite wordy or complicated. Sometimes I gobbled it up, other times, well, like I said, I just cruised on by. That said, maybe I sabotaged myself a bit because I didn't adjust my pace to actually take time to process it all, so, maybe it's my own fault. But unlike most magical schools or learning sequences, this author doesn't gloss over anything. We are with them as they learn, as they do homework, as they team up and help each other, because not doing the work is sometimes just as dangerous as the monsters crawling through the vents.

I had such a good time with this one. The banter, the action, the romance, the snark, the cut-throat ruthlessness, and, yeah, even that e n d i n g.. I can't wait for book three (and this isn't even out yet, arg!).

This is going to be a really hard review to write, because there is so much I want to say, but I am so afraid of spoiling things that it is going to be really hard. This was such a good book, and the ending almost made me throw my ipad down in frustration. But in a good way too. The next book can not get here fast enough.

El goes through so much in this one, and shows so much growth. She was always strong, but I don’t think she always believed in herself. The prophecy about her becoming a powerful and evil sorceress certainly has complicated her life, but also drove her to prove it wrong. Her mother’s influence certainly helped as well. By the end of this book everyone in the school has a better understanding of her, but I don’t really think they know how much of a struggle her whole life has been.

Orion continues to be the ultimate hero, although he has issues in this book with that. He also shows some sides to him that we did not see in the first book. But he is still quirky and weird in all the right ways. In many ways his power and El’s compliment each other. The romance is still rather awkward between them, but I still really enjoy seeing them together.

I always had a feeling that the Scholomance was more than just school. It almost feels like it is sentient and we get more of a sense of how much in this book. The school ends up almost being a character as it helps El and the others come up with their plan for survival.

The writing is wonderful, although there are a few spots that were a bit dragged down by El’s inner monologue and explanations of how the school and the world works. Hopefully some of these spots will be smoothed out in the final book. We also get loads more maleficaria, and some of them are nightmare worthy. There is still the wonderful snarky dialogue between El and Orion and between her and some of the other characters. There are even some moments of humor, which is often needed in such a dark book.

If you enjoyed the first book, then you will not be disappointed by this one. It is just as dark and scary as the first, but such a joy to watch El grow and change throughout. There is one hell of a cliffhanger at the end though, so think about that before you delve in. It might be better to wait till book three is here before diving in.

HIGHLIGHTS
~you can be addicted to monster-hunting, actually
~mice make the best chaperones
~prickly cactus girl continues to have Feelings and Does Not Like It
~“Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind. Or forgotten.” is a VIBE
~when the system tries to break you, break the system

Spoilers ahead for A Deadly Education! Please don’t read on if you haven’t read the first book!

Reader, I finished The Last Graduate in a single day.

I forgot to drink and I ignored the bathroom. I turned off my computer and my phone to prevent any interruptions. I ignored work (fortunately, it was a slow work day). If the hubby hadn’t pushed a bowl of dinner into my lap I wouldn’t have eaten – and as it was I ate one-handed, so I could use my other to hold up the book and keep reading.

Putting it down – taking myself away from the story even for a moment – was simply not an option.

A Deadly Education seemed to be a love-it-or-hate-it book, with the deciding factor being El’s first-person narration. I loved it; I found it incredibly compelling, and I adored El herself. And I adored her even more throughout The Last Graduate, as we followed her along what’s clearly a carefully planned out character-arc, one that I found so painfully believable and heartbreaking and hopeful all at once.

The book opens with El in a much better position than she was in at the beginning of Education; she has an alliance with brilliant artificer Aadhya and ex-maleficer Liu, and a priceless spellbook containing, among other things, the spells for creating the all-important enclaves whose existence and ownership are at the heart of every aspect of wizard society. She and Orion, the golden boy of the New York enclave and legendary monster-slayer, are friends, with the tentative agreement to have a go at being more than friends if they both make it out of the school. And there’s Chloe, another New York enclaver, who is not quite a friend, but is waking up to the fact that the incredible privilege she’s known as an enclaver isn’t fair, and comes at a very, very steep cost for people who are not her.

Considering that El has never had anyone willingly spend time with her except for her mum, this is A Lot.

The Last Graduate covers what should be El’s last year at the Scholomance; she and her friends have survived to be seniors. But the hard work’s really just begun, because once they complete their finals, every last minute has to go into training with their alliances, facing off against the ever-changing obstacle course in the gym in the hope that their preparation will get them through graduation day alive. None of them know for sure whether the previous year’s seniors made it out, whether the graduation hall has been cleansed – for the first time in a century – of monsters, or whether all those rabidly-starving mals are still down there and waiting. And as the icing on the cake, the Scholomance seems to be out to get El specifically, giving her a deadly class schedule, trying to trick her into being stuck learning a new language at the last minute, and throwing every mal it has at her.

But.

I really want to call The Last Graduate a hopepunk book, because although the Scholomance seems designed to pit students against each other – to discourage friendship, love, sharing, genuine emotional connections of all kinds – to instil a survival first and only mentality in everyone who enters its doors – The Last Graduate is very much about flipping that fucking table. As incredible (and addictive) as A Deadly Education was, it was pretty heavy on the despair; The Last Graduate is about refusing to give in to despair, even when despair lays you out over and over. It’s about giving the system a finger, both the system that is trying to kill you, and the system that is trying to seduce you with safety and luxury and never having to be hurt again. And it is about the grit-your-teeth-till-they-break, dig-in-your-heels-till-they-bleed determination to make things better, no matter what it costs you.

It’s also about a prickly cactus learning that she really isn’t a cactus at all, that she wants to be good and has a heart made of caramel, actually. That she’s allowed to ask for help. That she has value.

That maybe everyone has value, actually.

(And what the fuck are you supposed to do with that, when you’ve been training yourself from day one not to care for the people around you, because if you care it just means you’ll be destroyed when the monster-school you’re all in kills them?)

It’s really hard to talk about this book without giving away massive spoilers; all the twists and turns, all the reveals, are absolutely incredible, but you should go in not knowing what they are. I can’t talk about the incredible subversions Novik pulls, all the things that made me want to punch the air and cheer. There is so much that is darkly, or not-so-darkly, hilarious; there is Precious, who I defy you not to adore; there are so many moments that are humbling, that will bring you to tears. Your heart will pound so fast, and you will scream, and you will want to shake some characters and jump up and down screaming with delight with others. You will be so proud of them; you will be so scared for them; you will be at the edge of your seat and I will be stunned if you can put this book down – as I said, I couldn’t. Not even for a minute.

If you loved A Deadly Education? Then you will love The Last Graduate. It really is that simple. I will be stunned if you don’t love it more than A Deadly Education – I did, do, and I didn’t think that was possible. If you liked El in the previous book, you will adore her in this one. If you hated the Scholomance, you need to read this book. If you want to see what happens with the familiars, with Orion, with the mals, with El’s alliance – you need to read this book. If you want to understand the threat and the promise that is that title – The Last Graduate, indeed – you need to read this book.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to sit here and SCREAM until we get book three!

It's taken me a bit to form a coherent opinion about this book - the cliffhanger at the end, just wow. It's going to be an agonizing wait for the next book!

The Last Graduate picks up exactly where A Deadly Education left off, and in my opinion, thankfully does NOT suffer the oftentimes weird pacing issues from "middle book syndrome" - this book had me glued to the page every second from beginning to end. El feels true to her character still from the first book, and I enjoyed watching her relationships with friends and Orion (and others) change and grow.

Thanks so much for the advance copy, and TRUST me.... I'm eagerly (or obsessively) waiting for the next already!

The Last Graduate picks up right where A Deadly Education left off. Galadriel and the new class of graduating seniors don’t know whether the previous class made it through the school’s ravenous hoard of maleficaria alive—but they’re going to spend the next year sharpening their alliances and training for the worst.

I fell in love with El and her dark humor in the first book, and the sequel was no exception. We see her new relationships really transform from alliances of convenience into something deeply meaningful. Novik also delves into the rich history of scholomance, the politics of the enclaves outside of the school’s walls, and the more complex mechanics of magic. And like the first book, most of the real action doesn’t happen until the very end. While I love how Novik spent time building this super detailed world and giving us more character backstories, it also made the book feel a bit slow. Overall, I wished there was more action and movement throughout. I was also a bit perplexed by El’s relationship with Orion. He was pretty exasperating during the entire book and El basically treats him like a moody, irresponsible child. Orion’s overall lack of maturity and insight—compared to El’s self-control and sharp observations—just did not have me buying their relationship. This bothers me because it's obviously crucial to the story, and probably even more so in the next book. I wish Novik spent as much time building out their relationship as she did on the others.

Despite some of its shortcomings, that glorious ending had my heart racing and mind spinning—and it made it all worth it. I will happily dangle on this cliff until the third book comes out. So excited to see where Novik takes this brilliant series next!

The Last Graduate is everything I wanted in a sequel to A Deadly Education. I adore El and her entire voice and attitude and character so much. The Scholomance is a scary and intense place to be, and El was put to the test hardcore. I loved every second of it. I love how each character has their own challenges and struggles and has to use so much ingenuity to solve problems and stay the hell alive in this place. The creativity, energy, and mental fortitude required of every single student in that place is unimaginable. I love how El doesn't give Orion (or anyone else) any slack whatsoever and doesn't let them get away with bullshit. But at the same time she can bring people together in such powerful and meaningful ways that showcase her strength and the intensity they're all facing in that death trap. I don't know how much more I can say without just spewing out spoilers, so let's such say I FREAKING LOVED IT and OH MY GOD THAT ENDING. I need the next book like YESTERDAY.