3.5
Her talking got a tiring and too much for me, which made this book a drag. But the last line kind of made up for it.

Ahhhh this book had me on my toes. It was so intense and I couldn’t put the book down. Naomi Novik’s writing captivates me each time I pick up something from her. I wasn’t sure because dark academia is always a struggle for me but Novik has made me a believer.

In the second volume of the delightfully crazed Scholomance series El continues to snark on in her first-person narration of events taking place in the school from hell. This time out she’s bent on getting the entire student body outa there (as the book title implies). By hook or by spell she will do her best.

There are fewer mals to fight this time around (El and her pals did a good job of ridding the school of them in the prior book in the series), and Orion is frustrated. El is frustrated with Orion. Some great sexual tension going on there.

The book builds up step by step to the escape scene, which is priceless. And there’s another volume to come. It’s already published.

El and the gang are back at it, constructing elaborate plans and alliances to thwart the mals lurking in the graduation hall—for everyone, not just a chosen few.

Although I wanted to see how the story unspooled, the narrative drags in places due to infodumping, especially about spell details largely irrelevant to the plot, and some long stretches of exposition that exemplify the bad sort of "telling" rather than "showing."

Character development is also unbalanced, here. I can appreciate that Novik seems to be trying her best when it comes to including characters from a wide array of racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, in balancing the ever-expanding cast of characters and the rest of the narrative's goals, it often seems like Novik has taken on too much, inadvertently falling back on harmful stereotypes in the process. In addition, although El's closest friends finally have a bigger chance to shine, other characters that we're supposed to care about, such as Orion, remain solidly one dimensional.

Take the cliffhanger, which seems to be doing a lot of work. Instead of helping the reader connect with Orion on a deeper level beyond being a dude who lives to blast mals, Novik effectively tosses him into an abyss, at the very end, to generate emotional damage. But even here, if the reader feels anything, it's because they're connected to El rather than Orion.

Despite all this, it's still a solidly enjoyable installment in the Scholomance universe.

So addictive. The Last Graduate was definitely more than just another magical school story. It can be a hit or miss because of the writing style, which is different from the usual YA. Definitely recommend this series

I wanted to love this book but honestly, it was a drag. The concept is amazing, but it took forever to get to the plot.

Thank You to Naomi Novik and Random House Publishing Group, for the digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I admit that when I first heard the plot description for this series, I sighed. "What if Hogwarts, but evil" is a pretty tired concept, much less in 2020, when the first volume in the trilogy, A Deadly Education, was published. And with a heroine whose description seemed to suggest a genderbent Kylo Ren, the whole thing seemed very aggressively Not For Me. It was a lucky break, then, that Novik included the entire trilogy in this year's Hugo voter packet, because this series turns out be both delightful and clever. The setting—a self-sustaining, self-contained school for wizards designed to protect them from the perils of the outside world, but which becomes its own death trap which only a small percentage of students manage to survive—is elaborately worked through, and the psychological cost of attending this school, in which students scramble for survival, make desperate alliances, and weigh the consequences of surrendering to the dark side for some extra power, are explored with a refreshing lack of sentimentality. Also refreshing is the series's heroine, who resists the pull of the dark less out of an innate desire to to do good as out of a furiously annoyed sense of ethics. By the time we get to the third volume, the elaborate worldbuilding has revealed a society that has locked itself, through technological choices made centuries ago, into a series of increasingly bad options, which makes for both a powerful environmental metaphor, and a satisfying villain for the heroine and her friends to tilt against.

I like how this novel wrapped up the trilogy. It had all the formulas for a great fantasy school ending and I could see teens enjoying this title because the romance was not graphic and mostly off-screen.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I was given a free copy of The Last Graduate in exchange for my honest review

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Oh my god?? The ending??

In TLG we continue on straight away from where we left off, its senior year, mals are after the students and El has caught feelings.

This was definitely a step up from the first book and feels like it had a lot more going on. El is more established now and her budding relationships continue to flourish and its sweet to see, especially with Orion ofc.
She grows a lot as a character and becomes more of a full fledged person with her own hopes and dreams (beyond simply surviving)

There's a lot of drama of course, things can't be too easy for ole Galadriel but somehow her snarky ways do come out on top
Part of me doesn't really get why she couldn't do a lot of the stuff during her first 3 years but I guess she just didn't have the mana for it without going to the dark side

I'm repeating myself here but this book was definitely an improvement on the first, now the world building (school building) is done it really gets into the nitty gritty of senior life at Scholomance and El does not have it easy.
You couldn't catch me doing all that work while I'm the only kid there getting jumped by monsters

The cliffhanger ending from book 1 doesn't make the most sense to me after reading this one as it doesn't really come into it
I feel like I have no idea where book 3 is going now but I do wanna see how this story ends

If you're reading this it's safe to say you read ADE so you already know the writing style and while it's not my preference I feel it does suit the character and their age, I think for a YA it works and I like El as a character and what's going on in her head


.. I feel sorry for the school

I read A Deadly Education and enjoyed it, so I was happy to get the chance to read the next book in the series. I do actually think I liked this one more than the first, which feels like a rare happening when it comes to a trilogy. Very fun and dark, I can't wait to see how this series ends!

This was the 2nd part of El's journey and what a journey it's turning out to be.

I'll be honest. The middle of the book dragged for me a bit. However, the ending saved it. The ending of this book was amazing. I cannot wait to read the final book in this trilogy.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

What a sequel! This one actually broke my heart a little as I read, but it was such a great middle! I need to know what happens next, as these characters are my children.

I've heard so much about this book and have had this on my tbr for ever and I'm so glad to have received a review copy it was amazing. I loved it so much.

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.


Rate : 3 out of 5
Thoughts : I just want them to be happy.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the story, plot, and setting of this series so far. The only thing that is still tough for me to look past is the writing style. Unfortunately the style in which this was written is really not my cup of tea, even though the book itself is everything I want. The majority of these books is written as the rambling inner monologue of the main character El, although it helps to put you in her headspace and better understand her as a character and her personality, it sometimes feels like her thoughts are off on a tangent and gets a little distracting to the story itself.

Writing style aside, the second book of the series had me on the edge of my seat in the last third of the book and I had to start the third book immediately when I finished (what a cliffhanger!).

I am glad this second book wasn’t a dud like most second books in series. This was so much fun like the first one but more dark. I can’t wait to jump into the 3rd one because the end left me hanging.

The 2nd book in the series did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the first book, as it did remind me of a teacherless Hogwarts with loads more chaos, but the last graduate excited me all over again! Great read for young adults and everyone who enjoyed harry potter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for approving my request of this eARC, even after the release of this series.

The Last Graduate picks up directly after A Deadly Education. The story flows seamlessly between the two, with El beginning her senior year in what is going to be the pinnacle of her scholomance education. The stakes are high, and it seems these only get higher as the school begins to take out a personal vendetta against her.

While the year is new, the story is much the same and I did find myself flipping pages in hopes of something new. It began to drag around the 20-40% mark where it’s really just a story of El’s misfortunes and miraculous escapes.

It isn’t my favorite series, nor is it something I’ll reach for, but it still delivers a unique take on common themes that appeal to a wide audience of readers.

The Scholomance Trilogy is definitely one I will finish and recommend to anyone in search of a YA magical fantasy, similar to Harry Potter and with a strong antagonist of a protagonist, akin to Katniss.

In the second installment of the Scholomance, El is faced with more turmoil, emotional growth, and the will to overcome her innate nature to be destructive.