I got around to reading this quite late. Compared to the first book this was really hard to get through. There seemed to be no character development and the story didn't progress as fast.

The first book in the series was hard to like. The main character was prickly, and had no friends. Thankfully, she has grown a lot in this novel, the second installment. I found by enjoyed this second book, much better than the first. The series is a bit dark at times, but, of course, with a premise that the school is trying to kill you, how could it not be. The book is a bit slow at times, but overall I enjoyed it.

This is the single best 2nd book in a trilogy that I've ever read -- and I've been reading for a very long time.

It takes the set up from the 1st book and runs with it in ways that I did not expect but that are perfect in hindsight. Simply wonderful story telling.

And that last line! I hated having to wait to read the 3rd book after that last line of this one.

Highly recommended.

(I received this ebook free as part of the Hugo Awards readers package in 2022. I bought book one myself. And book three when it became available. )

I loved this book so much! It was everything that I wanted, more darker and more delicious! So if you loved the deadly education, you'll definitely enjoy this book! I loved the side characters and everyone coming together!

As with most books written by Naomi Novik, I loved this. I'll be buying a copy for my shelf. What a fantastic read

After the first book, I wasn’t sure if I’d like this one or not. But I surprisingly did! It was much more action paced, which was nice, and everyone chilled out from the first book.

DNF @ 35%

I tried. I really did. I couldn’t read this one so long after reading the first book. Everything was just too dang complicated. There is so much going on. I really want to give this series another chance, but I don’t have the capacity for this right now. .

I loved the sequel to A Deadly Education. I love the concept of a magical school that is trying to kill its students. The second book finds Gal and her growing group of friends and allies gearing up for the graduation ceremony, which few of them will survive.
I think this may have been my favorite book in the series, which is rare for a 2nd book. I loved the school politics and the different enclave cultures. I also loved that how all the characters came together to defeat the systemic problems with the school. Gal remains prickly, but starts to realize that her powers are more than her magic.

I was absolutely obsessed with this book. By the second half I couldn’t put it down and had to finish it in one night.

The ending made me super excited to immediately read the 3rd book in the series.

I can’t get enough of the drama and character arcs, truly some of the best I’ve read in a long time.

This was a DNF for me- I'm super disappointed but I just felt like it was so similar to the first book that I couldn't get invested. Everything felt repetitive- the characters, their interactions, the plot. I just couldn't see myself finishing it and then reading a third.

I absolutely loved everything about the first book, except its ending. (Seriously, why write and entire story about learning to trust someone against all the odds and against your own better judgment and overcoming adversity together based on the strength of that trust you’ve built together—and then have mommy say “Don’t do trust him!” And somehow expect that warning to carry weight as a cliffhanger. Baffling) Luckily El has the same common sense and immediately reacts appropriately (“I had friends. Which felt even more unreal than surviving long enough to become a senior, and I owed that, I owed every last bit of it, to Orion Lake, and I didn’t care, actually, what the price tag was going to be. There’d be one, no question. Mum hadn’t warned me for no reason. But I didn’t care. I’d pay it back, whatever it was.”)

So then, can move along back into the story and really get going. The story has its strengths less in the magic and more in its social commentary. A solid second installment.

There just aren't enough words or space for praise of this story on this plane of existence. It's accolades would bleed out into the space beyond the Scholomance eliminating Mal's on their journey. Honestly, I need a graphic novel, a series on Netflix, more fan art, and three more novels set in this world because El and Orion are the perfect blend of polish and blemish you root for.

So this is part of a triology. I was already losing interest in the triology by the second book so I wasnt too sure about this one. I did not like it. It was not thrilling and it was not enjoyable. The characters were a little much and I felt like there was too many things going on at one time.

SO I read this first book and loved it, and was absolutely ecstatic when I received this arc!

The book did not disappoint and lived up to my harry-potter-esque fantasy boarding school dreams.

Loved it!

4.5/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for the arc

Was not able to read the entirety of the book and cannot give an accurate or overall rating/review . As a librarian for a big library system, we most likely have a copy of this item. I will look forward to reading it in future since I am sure I will. We have gotten positive feedback for this title thus far and I am excited to read it when possible.

I absolutely adore El's sarcastic witty personality. I will say however that this author is starting to kill me slowly with the endings of her books. Its like no worries just leave me hanging here off a cliff. But on a serious note there is something about the way that these books are written that transport me back to being a childhood and reading something like Harry Potter for the first time.. just pure magic. I am very impatiently waiting now to hopefully be pulled up from this cliffs edge to see how the story further develops.

Once again I'm impressed by Novik's writing and characters. The main character is as interesting and charming, in a strange way, as ever before. Although some of the enchantment of the characters and Scholomance itself is lost from the first book just because of how good the first one is, this is a very good sequel. It does end with a cliffhanger, fair warning. I look forward to the next book whenever it comes out, I will be more than happy to reread the two previous books once again beforehand. If you are a dark academia fan, then this will be right down your alley.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

5 Stars - Brilliant second part of the trilogy, brimming with great ideas

I was lucky to receive an ARC of this book via NetGalley as I had hoped to check out the Scholomance trilogy anyway. The first part set up the rather unusual magical school scenario and was fun but also really heavy on the exposition and info-dumps.

This really paid off now in the second part. The world is mostly established and we can fully focus on El and her last year in the Scholomance. We pick up right after we left and and since I don't want to spoil anything I'll just say that the way the plot progresses over the course of the school-year was in many regards unexpected, full of new developments and still making perfect sense in the end.

What did come expected was El finally finding, or rather making, friends and finding a place among her fellow students. This made for some very satisfying character development and really made me enjoy her voice even more. She stayed a snark-monster, but at the same time became so much more grounded in herself, accepting who she is and growing into the person she will become.

The other, secret, protagonist was the Scholomance itself and the ways it communicated with El by shaping the world around her - this was brilliantly done and we also finally learned more about how this school came to be the dangerous place it ended up being in spite of its founders having something very different in mind.

The conclusion to the plot was an absolute fireworks of ideas and while there is generally a conclusion, there is also a really good cliffhanger.

So, I guess that means I'm going to read the last part as well?

I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley from the publisher and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!

While not quite as good as the first “The Last Graduate” is still the perfect wizard school book for those of us who loved Harry Potter in our younger years. El is such a wonderful character. She is Funny, relatable, frustrating, and just a joy to go on this journey with. Her relationship with Orion is well done and so believable and beautiful. I loved the expansion of the world and the myth building in this one even though at times it dragged the story a little. Sometimes it felt like the story stopped for a huge information dump and it made me put it down a few times. Still, Novik is one of the best fantasy authors working today and she works her magic on this incredible inventive, compelling and thrilling tale. Love a cliffhanger ending and can’t wait to read the next one!

The Last Graduate was an interesting read. I enjoyed the story, but it felt like it was rushed and all over the place (unlike A Deadly Education). I felt like the characters weren't as close, but the story was enchanting and fun to read. It definitely was a bit of a letdown after the amazing relationships, story, and ending of A Deadly Education.

I didn't like how the relationship with El and Orion progressed, but the ending of this story made up for their relationship. I'm reading this story from the perspective of a 36 year old married woman, so that may have something to do with how they speak and act with one another.

The ending left everyone hanging which was the intention, so I will be reading the third and final book in the trilogy, but not sure that I will enjoy it as much as the first.