I really enjoyed the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, and I was glad to receive a copy of The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. There's a depth of worldbuilding here that many readers will enjoy. I sometimes just want to get to the action though. This book comes with a major cliffhanger, so now we just wait for Book Three.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

“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.”

I read this as an arc on my kindle, but then the book came out with the audiobook, so I switched a little over halfway to the audiobook. I really enjoyed this book more than Deadly Education. I liked seeing how the classes where she has to save the freshman. I liked her teaming up with others for manna. I just liked seeing more of the magic and the mals in the school. I hated this kind of ended on a cliffhanger.

Love this series, but that ending?! I will definitely need to re-read before the third book comes out!

I loved this sequel to A Deadly Education! It was just as compelling as the first book and I loved the character and plot developments. As with the first book I didn't completely understand everything that was happening all the time but rather than turning me off the book it actually wasn't a problem for me. I was still very much enveloped in the story and its progressions. I especially liked learning more about the history of the school and how the school operates. It was so fascinating and I feel like there was so much groundwork laid for some crazy new developments in the next book. I can't say anything about the ending other than I am shocked and not OK. Needless to say I am eagerly awaiting the next book!

In a book where you love anti-heroes and sometimes nothing happens but the school still makes your skin crawl, The Last Graduate is an excellent sequel to the series. Just as El warms up to Orion, a cryptic note from her mother sets off her paranoia. What is teenage angst and romance on top of battling demons that are out to rip you to shreds? And the more El tries to not act like a hero the more compassion you see from her.

Novik is a master story teller and this series is unlike any she has written because it focuses on the gritty and the character development over theatrical events. It is also refreshing to see student from various cultures put their differences aside and work together to simply stay alive. Granted there are still small divides in class and how much mana and artifacts you come into the school with but finding a group means you stay alive. And you keep each other alive.

And I was so certain that this book would end on a soft note like the first one but no, that ending had me grasping my pearls.

4 stars for The Last Graduate.

Naomi Novik is continually knocking it out of the park. I love El and Orion. The world building is incredible. She truly can do no wrong in my book. Though I wouldn't be mad if she went back to fairytales 👀

This sequel takes off right where the first book left off and keeps going with the same intensity. El is still a fantastic strong lead and the school also plays its part well. This is a great book for anyone looking for murderous schools of magic!

I liked this book a lot more than I liked the first one, but I'm still not 100% in love with this series. There are still so many things I'm confused about and I hate the dynamic between El and Orion.
I did love learning more about the school though and how it is kind of alive? I'm not sure if the school is actually alive? I don't know, I still have so many questions and that cliffhanger ending left me in SHOCK and I desperately need book 3 yesterday.

Holy Cliffhanger, readers! Naomi Novik is, once again, the queen of world building. Novik could publish her grocery list and I would pay money to read it. The Last Graduate picks up where we left off in A Deadly Education. We follow El on her journey to graduation and her relationship with The Orion Lake. El is, once again, fantastic and badass and and a natural born grump but she's sincere. Novik knows how to create characters who are compelling, even if they are not "likable" and the world she has created is unbelievable. She makes you believe that maybe this place does, in fact, exist and that we are all missing out on the magic... and danger, around us.

I really cannot get on with NN’s writing style. It takes the fun out of the fantasy world and just makes it work to get through. I think the story is great and I loved the cliffhanger, but there are way more exciting ways to write this story

A suitable follow up to the first Scholarmance novel. The narrator continues to grow and develop as she figures out how to have friends and a life beyond her efforts to not become evil. Novik's use of a rambling internal monologue feels very authentic to El as a character. This book won't be for everyone, but anyone looking for a fully developed world that they can sink in should be given this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The living school seems to be out to get El. She is put in a class with new students on a floor far from the rest of the senior classes, and what creatures are left after having fixed the school's machinery seem to be targeting the students she studies with and no one else. Orion is ticked that he doesn't get to fight the demons. The school year is off to a very unusual start, but then El and her the rest of the seniors have to start practicing for their final exam: the obstacle course. The school appears to be giving El a message, but it takes a while for her to figure it out. This sequel has less class time and more spellcasting, some of which seemed to go on and on. However, the story picked up after El makes the decision to undermine the school. And, oh, the cliffhanger...

This book was such a ride. It picks up directly where A Deadly Education ends. El is now a senior and it seems like everything is out to get her. But what is actually going on in not what El expected, at all.

I was a little disappointed in the beginning because there wasn't much El and Orion interaction, which I really enjoyed in the first book. But Orion came back. I really enjoyed the friendships that El is developing and trying so hard not to care about, especially Chloe.

Awesome book! Also I cannot wait for the next book because holy cliff hanger!!

I love Naomi Novik’s work, and this book was no exception. She does an amazing job with building magical worlds. The Last Graduate is the second in the Scholomance series and picks up right where the first left off. El and her friends are now trying to figure out how to survive senior year and make it through graduation, but the school has other plans. To share more than that would potentially ruin the ride and also make no sense for someone who hasn’t read it because of all the unexpected twists. I enjoyed it a lot, though it felt a little long-winded at times with the exposition. I’m curious to see how the series will end, especially with the cliffhanger at the end!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Last Graduate in exchange for an honest review!

Naomi Novik's second book in the Scholomance series does not disapoint.
The Last Graduate follows El as she deals with the fallout from the graduation ceremony her previous year. El is forced to make new alliances and break all of the rules she set for herself to insure that she and her friends survive the year.
I loved this book just like the first one and can't wait for the next one.

This is a hard story to review. I adore the characters and the world, and Novik is one of my favorite novelists. But, THE LAST GRADUATE is not as present and vivid as her other books. Most of the time our main character is telling about their world or telling something that happened. There is a lot of summary and talking ABOUT the world.

The characters are complex; the main character has a strong, spunky voice. I enjoyed this book and recommend this book if you are a Novik fan. I highly recommend UPROOTED or SPINNING SILVER over this novel, though.

If you read another BIG series about a group of young witches and wizards at a magical school and thought to yourself "You know what would make this book series better? If the school was actively TRYING to kill all of the students inside." Then Novik's series is probably a great fit for you.

After El, Orion, and company repair the cleansing machines in the Graduation Hall they immediately have to begin preparing for their own upcoming graduation. As the year progresses and students begin to form graduation alliances, El is busy trying to figure out a way to keep her growing circle alive.

As the school's dangers begin to ramp up as the day approaches, El begins to realize that maybe everything she thought she knew about the Scholomance works might not be what it appears.

I enjoyed Novik's return to the Scholomance universe and am looking forward to the next book in the series because I need to know what happens to El, Orion, and the rest of their friends as they graduate. Novik is really great at the cliffhanger ending, and this book leaves you with a pretty good sized one at the end.

This is a great middle series book. I find this magical world perplexing and dynamic, and two books in, I'm very attached to the characters. The ending was unexpected, so I await eagerly for the next book. EEEEEK!

This is the second in series by Novik, and it really lives up to the premise set by the first book. The teenage characters are continuing to change and learn more about how their world works - as real teens do. At this point in the story, I think most readers will have realized how unreliable the narrator is - this was used to great effect in the first installment in the series. In The Last Graduate, we have learned to listen more closely to the other characters and really try to perceive the events at the school from multiple perspectives, so the main character's blind spots become opportunities for humor and insight more so than in the first book. I get the sense that the author really trusts her readers. The ending is a massive cliffhanger, and effectively raised my heart rate. But, I am looking forward to the next book in the series with relish. Entertaining and read quickly for me because I could not put it down.

Real Rating: 2.75/5

The second book in a series can either be the best one yet or something that is rushed and lacks the depth the first one had. I decided to give this sequel a chance, not particularly because I liked A Deadly Education, but because I was hoping this was one of the cases where the second book was better. But in all honesty, it was a letdown. One of my main issues in both books is El’s notorious ramblings about nothing and everything all at once. In the first book it was understandable because of the need for world-building and explaining the magical system, but that spilled over into The Last Graduate, which made the book about ten times longer than it needed to be. Even the simplest things elicited info dumps and info that added little to the plot, leading me to skim some scenes as the last resort. Even the chapters were unnecessarily long, and paragraphs seemed to go on forever, further contributing to the rambling nature. I was expecting more from this sequel, but the repetitive nature in The Last Graduate took away from all the charm the Scholomance had to offer. El felt very different from the first book as well, and the new relationships she formed in this one felt very underdeveloped. That being said, I continued to love Orion Lake. He’s an extremely refreshing character, and at times I wished we were reading from his POV and not El’s. The last 10% of the book was entertaining, and the action picked up, whereas the rest of the book left more to be desired. Overall, this sequel to A Deadly Education lacked substance, but the cliffhanger may intrigue me enough to continue the series.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for a copy of The Last Graduate in exchange for an honest review!