I wasn't sure what to expect from this book (given how the last one ended), but wow! This is even better than the first. El's still frustrating, but has softened a bit and actually learns about emotions from her various experiences. It made her perspective much more pleasant to read from. Novik took the plot in directions I never would have predicted, much to my delight. This is an absolute ride of a novel and I loved it. I can't wait for the next book... in fact, I need it ASAP!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy.

First off, be aware this is the second book in a trilogy so you will want to read the first one before reading this one. And this ends in a cliffhanger much like the beloved shows i watched as a kid and then had to wait all summer to find out what happened, everyone has to wait another year or so to fund out what happens after the end.

In this book, the writing style is the same as the previous which I am not a huge fan of. We do get to see more of the side characters and see more personality from El which is nice. I personally, just find the writing hard to stay interested in, even in exciting scenes. I think this concept would work better as a TV show than a book but it is definitely worth giving a try.

Like in the first book, we return to the Scholomance, a place like Hogwarts but with a feel like Hunger Games, because this magical school tries to kill you the entire four years you attend while learning magic.

I enjoyed this sequel more so than the first. Partly I believe, because I was attached to the characters already and loved the continuation of their next semester. I was flying through this book and really enjoying the storyline. However, about midway through the book, I hit a snag and began to drift and lose interest making it harder to finish. I feel the author spent too much time in the trial obstacle course the students were practicing before the big finale of graduation and I became bored with it.

I still enjoy the characters. I like sarcastic El and good natured Orion. I also liked how Chloe had more of a likeable role in this book and played a bigger part. I also enjoyed the political aspect with the enclaves and how it played a significant role with the students as they neared graduation.

It definitely picked back up for me at the end. It was action packed! And whew! That ending! This one ends on another cliffhanger and, of course, left me ready to read book 3!

***Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

The second book in the Scholomance trilogy, The Last Graduate, follows El and her friends as they begin their senior year and preparations for the lethal graduation run. El also has to reckon with a warning she received from her mother, to stay away from Orion Lake, her kind-of-boyfriend.

Our reluctant protagonist has to deal with a terrible class schedule, the discomfort of being popular after years of social ostracism, and a host of other problems. El’s voice remains unique and prickly, the narrative style is one of my favorite things about this series. She’s snarky, and she would love to believe that she doesn’t care about people, but she can’t help it. El is a better person than she wants to be be, despite dire prophesies of her future.

I liked that Aadhya and Liu got a lot of time on the page, because their friendship is at least as important at the El-Orion relationship, and I love their dynamic. In particular, I liked the extra time we got to spend with Aadhya, because I think Liu got more characterization in the first book and this one really fleshed Aadhya out for me more.The new freshmen were pretty decent additions too. I think Orion took a pretty visible backseat in this one, but he still has an arc and it works for the book. He had a lot going on in A Deadly Education and it makes sense to divert focus a little more and really zoom in on some other stuff, like El’s journey.

The thing that most bothered me about the previous book was the first third kind of feeling like an info-dump, but this one didn’t have that problem. El’s voice is pretty chatty, but it comes across naturally and I liked it. The controversy about the first book and potential racial insensitivity made me inclined to read this one a little more closely, but I don’t think there’s anything racist in this book. Overall, I really loved the book, but beware the cliffhanger ending! If the ending of the last book was difficult, just wait until you read this one.

This book is so good. It blows almost every other modern set fantasy I've read out of the water. From the expertly paced plot and brilliant character development to the unexpected turns the plot takes, every word in this book is there to pull you into the story and care deeply about its characters. It's not just about El and Orion anymore, it's about the friends El never thought she'd have, the other graduating seniors, and all the kids fighting for survival within the Scholomance. The stakes are even higher and it's going to take everything El and the rest of the students have to make sure they survive Graduation.
I try not to mention things like this in reviews but I am mightily peeved at Novik for the cliffhanger she leaves us with and would have appreciated some advanced warning. I am reading the next book in this series as soon as I can get my hands on it because my heart cannot accept that ending.
I don't have the words to recommend this book as much as I want to other than just promising that the read is truly worth it.

Many extremely happy thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for the early read!

I loved the book, couldn't put it down. And it ended on a cliffhanger. Now I will have to suffer enormously until the last part gets done. The writing is good, the characters are good, and you do care about them.
It is really not like Hogwarts at all, it is very different and all its own. I want to know more about the world and about the people in it.

I received a free digital copy of the book from NetGalley

Ok. I'll start with the standard: thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to NetGalley, to Del Rey, and to Ms. Novik for the opportunity to read an ARC of this amazing book. An honest review was requested but not required.

I've been sitting on reviewing this because, well, THAT ENDING. OMG. THAT ENDING. That ending in which I frantically tried to turn pages on my kindle app, absolutely convinced that there was more, please God let there be more, maybe my copy is defective?
So, basically, this happened:

denial: THIS CAN'T BE IT. Obviously my ARC is defective. There are more pages; I just can't get to them. Power down, restart, re-open app, WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!?!?

anger: This is such crap. Naomi Novik, you absolute jerk. How DARE YOU end the book this way?

bargaining: Ugh. Ok. Let's check Amazon and Goodreads RIGHT NOW and see if there are any comments from people who maybe, possibly, got a non-defective ARC? And I can just message them and find out the REAL ending?

depression: How am I going to make it through the next year/year and a half/two years? How could it end this way? This is the WORST.

acceptance: OK. There is a book #3. There *IS* a book #3. All is not lost. I can wait patiently. I can plow through my TBR while I wait to distract myself. CURSE YOU NAOMI NOVIK.

Yes well ok so basically this book was amazing. El is so much more relatable now that her crusty, cranky exterior has been exposed and we all know there is a tiny, vulnerable, caring heart on the inside. Her friendships with Aadhya and Liu are so rewarding, not to mention her gradual thaw towards Orion (finally!). There is just *so* much to love here. Every little tiny detail just adds to the atmosphere of the school, the magic, the relationships between the kids, the world in general. Naomi Novik is such a master of building these complete worlds that the reader can totally believe and immerse themselves in.

Don't be fooled: this is definitely a sequel; you should ABSOLUTELY NOT read this without having read A Deadly Education. But good news abounds also! It's also NOT a bridge book. This book has a definite plot of its own, with a forward momentum and an end goal (graduation). Best of all, That Ending leaves El in a perfect position for a third story, which OMG, please be advised, to get my hands on it, I will trample you like a senior in the middle of an enclaver team heading out the front doors of the Scholomance.

Sigh. It was amazing.... and now I will have to waaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiit patiently for book #3.

I jumped right into this one immediately after finishing the first so they've blurred together a little bit, but I can say for sure that I absolutely loved it.

The writing style is gorgeous and I love El. She has the best sarcasm and knee-jerk angry reactions to things. Her default state is basically seething with fury. And having her as a narrator and seeing the Scholomance through her eyes made me love it so much more. She has such a vivid personality and is basically a force of nature that makes it impossible to look away from her.

I loved seeing El grow through the story as she learned how to be herself when not alone all the time, how to depend on (and like, and even care about) other people. I also love the incredibly wide variety of terrible monsters that Naomi Novik has dreamed up. It's impressive, really, in a horrifying sort of way.

I saw the twist at the end coming from a ways off (really it was inevitable) but it still got me and that cliffhanger was terrible! I can't believe I have to wait a year for the conclusion lol.

As with the first book, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I started, and I've spent rather a lot of time since finishing it dreaming up potential ways it could continue. Honestly I've got no clue where the story is going next but I will be happy to be along for the ride.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for providing an e-arc for review.

The end and cliffhanger is really good but also makes me anxious for the next book. I hope that the reason for cliffhanger is for a long story line in the next book, and not a quick resolution. I have been really enjoying this series and how the author, even though not POC, puts in the effort to gather information and knowledge about different cultures and incorporate it into their writing and world building. Some mistakes happen along the way but the author should be willing to go through sensitivity readings, be open to comments and criticisms.

I also found the book/writing style to feel a little focused on what's in front of you. El is narrating the story and everything we know is due to what she chooses, when she thinks is appropriate to tell. It causes the book to feel a little one dimensional. This series is my only encounter with first-person narration in fantasy genre. I personally don't prefer it due to the above reasons which hinders world-building. But, for The Deadly Education, I found listening to the audiobook to be far better experience than reading the text. The voice actor also did a pretty good job with it.

Ugh, I want to like this series more than I actually do. The concept is so unique and interesting and there is such a darkness to the novel and the plot. For me, I think I just don’t like the author’s writing style. It is a lot of internal monologue and descriptions that I find the plot dragging. There is a lot of telling and not a lot of showing.

I did feel like I learned a bit more about some of the side characters in this book. But how these backstories were told was a bit under developed. After this book, I still only really felt connected to El as a character.

The ending was another cliffhanger so that will probably make me keep reading. Overall I think the writing style just misses the mark for me when it comes to fantasy writing.

What I Loved

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik is an exciting, original, and fascinating story of a magical school and its students. El, the main character, is the story for me, and I adore the character. She sets the tone and pace of the book, which is sardonic and fast, respectively. El (Galadriel) is a strong young woman who doesn’t see herself as others see her. She thinks everyone sees a black cloud destined to doom life as they know it, as was predicted by her father’s family when she was born. What I see is a young woman coming into her own. She’s a natural-born leader who solves problems creatively and with ease. Her magical powers are beyond compare, and her relationships are held solid and firm in mutual respect and love. She is one of the best, most admirable characters I have experienced in a long time, and the growth she has been experiencing during this story leaves me in awe.

I also adored her pet mouse, Precious, who is intelligent and sassy, just like El. A pet has never reflected its person more than Precious does El, and it adds bits of humor throughout the story. And how fun is it that the small group of friends she surrounds herself with each has their per mice, and they all carry them in a container around their necks.

The themes in the story are universal. The prophecy versus free will theme reflects the importance of not letting other people define us and the importance of our choices. At the same time, the theme of community is probably the most important one. The kids in this school tend to think on individual terms—every man for himself and survival of the fittest. There is no room for “we.” Only thinking of the “I” is how you might survive. Yet each student longs to be part of an enclave. The students who were born into one are the most likely to survive this school. They have the means and the resources to aid them. They traverse this dangerous world in a pack rather than as individuals.

Lastly, the romance between El and Orion Lake is funny and sweet and adds truly heartwarming components to the story. Orion has made it his mission to save everybody from killer mals that infiltrate the school anytime a portal is opened. El quickly became the one he enjoyed saving the most. In book 1, A Deadly Education, El realizes that Orion is around her a lot, and her reaction is priceless. There is much about them that fits, and it is to the point where it feels like they are two parts of a whole.


Characters
I’ve already said a lot about El, but she is also surrounded by the most well-developed support characters that I just loved reading about. Aadhya, Chloe, and the rest are a collection of misfit toys that don’t have an enclave and enclave friends. Their friendship is solid and true, and the genuineness feels right.

What I Wish

My only wish is that there was more dialogue in the story. With a large amount of exposition, I sometimes felt like I was reading and reading and not advancing very many pages. The story is very dense, and more dialogue would free it up and make the pages turn more quickly.

To Read or Not to Read
If you love original fantasy stories with incredible world-building and characters that shine with relatable quirks and issues, you need to read the Scholomance series today.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the chance to read The Last Graduate in return for my honest opinion.
The Last Graduate picks up right where A Deadly Education left off. We join El and the rest of the seniors as their last year picks up and we soon find that the school has more in store for some than others. It’s hard to say much more without giving away too much, but let me just say, that this book is just as exciting as the first. And if you were mad at the cliffhanger in book one, well…..
I only with that we had more Orion in this book, it felt lacking for most of it.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Del Rey publishers for an ARC of this book. This is in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the first book of this series horribly. It was so incredibly good, and I was hooked on it from start to finish. With this book, I wasn't drawn in as completely. This is partially because the pacing of the book was very slow for the first 60%, and I found myself often setting it aside for something else more to my interests. The latter portion of the book though did pick up in pace, reminding me why I enjoyed the first book so much. Throughout the book, there was a lot of info-dumping that may have also contributed to the slow-pacing.

I did feel we lost some of El in this book. Granted, I understand that she needs to grow and change, but I felt that the shift was fairly dramatic (spoiler: In fact, I feel it happened as soon as she got that mana-sharer. She seemed to just step into all of that power so easily, which felt unnatural, and it left some of the old grumpy El behind, who I truly loved. Part of why I enjoyed the first book so much was that El wasn't the regular "Chosen One" trope, and this book turned her into that a bit more. Not as much as Orion, who I still found comical and sweet, but enough for me to become a bit more disenchanted with her overall arch.)

I know I'm largely in the minority for these views, and they haven't dissuaded me from looking forward to the final novel in the series.

The Last Graduate is the second book in Naomi Novik's new YA fantasy trilogy, The Scholomance, which began with last year's "A Deadly Education". I liked A Deadly Education thanks to its really fun sardonic narration courtesy of its heroine El, who made even the novels' frequent infodumps enjoyable to read. Add in a story that featured themes of class, race, and privilege, a school for teenage magic users that was constantly trying to kill them, and a fun little romance between the mass-destroying El and heroic evil-slaying Orion, and you had a story that was very enjoyable....even if it had some issues trading in national stereotypes at times.* The book ended on not quite a cliffhanger, but a hell of a sequel hook, which threatened to cause some big trouble for the trilogy's central romance.

*This is an issue in other Novik works as well, such as the Temeraire series.

Unfortunately, The Last Graduate features the worst traits of its predecessor - the national stereotypes, the persistent info-dumping - getting notably worse, and the book's character work being overwhelmed by the info-dumping. The book does nothing with the tantalizing sequel hook and its central romance is basically forgotten for long stretches, and the final quarter of the book depends upon so much infodumping and plot elements pulled out of almost nowhere, that it just drags and disappoints. There are still some solid work with the themes of class and privilege here, and the dialogue is often very quotable and fun, but this is a very disappointing second novel in what looked like a promising new trilogy.

Spoilers for book 1 below are inevitable:

-----------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------------
El has seemingly achieved the impossible - survived the seniors' graduation and maybe fixed the machinery to clean out Mals for her own graduation. She's entering senior year in the Scholomance even more impossibly with....allies? friends? And then there's hero Orion Lake, the privileged enclave boy who kept foiling her plans.....who turned to be more than he seemed....and who she started falling for. With all this, El was surely prepared for whatever the Scholomance could throw at her for senior year, right?

Wrong.

First, there's El's mother's message, telling her to stay away from Orion. Then there's the fact that the school has reacted to El's antics by pulling out all the stops in trying to either kill El...or to make El give-in and turn Maleficer after all. Which El could avoid if she didn't suddenly find it impossible not to follow Orion's example herself in becoming a hero and saving others....a decision that threatens her own chances of surviving graduation.

To make it out of it all with this new mindset, El will need the last thing she's comfortable seeking - more help from other students. But with her powers of destruction, her attitude, and her not being one of the privileged Enclavers, will they really be willing to help her more than they already have?
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The Last Graduate starts strong, continuing the story as a new year begins for El - her senior year - in the Scholomance. El's voice remains incredibly fun for much of the book, with her sardonic and antisocial personality being highly relatable (to me at least), and her internal character struggles both make sense and are handled well. She's gone from being an utter loner, figuring to never have friends and fooling herself into thinking she's going to use her powers to impress an Enclave to have a peaceful happy life to suddenly realizing: a) she has friends who like her for her; b) she has no real interest in joining the cushy privileged life of an enclave (and still resents those Enclavers, even if some of them aren't so bad) and c) she suddenly really likes a boy romantically in Orion and is having some real heroic instincts as a result....instincts she once regarded as utterly foolish. And her default reaction to these things being pointed out is to talk back and be abrasive, which only gets worse when the very school starts trying very hard to specifically kill her, making it impossible for her to deny these things that much longer.

And so El's transformation from loner looking to survive, in denial about her own beliefs, into a girl who has decided to be a hero despite her best efforts, and who reacts even further towards heroism when pushed....and has to deal with the consequence of that, is the best part of the book, especially for the first half - because to make that transformation and survive, El is forced to realize that she needs to ask for help and reveal her true abilities, even as she has to do more and more by herself. And the people El has to ask for help includes the people who once shunned her, the privileged enclavers, and those she otherwise resents....and who might now resent her. El has to deal with people who respond to her revealing her abilities either by going into full on lobbying campaigns for her to support their group or by assuming she's already made an alliance with another group that makes her untrustworthy and necessary to kill.

The result of this is a book that very much is anti-Lord of the Flies, to use a classic example, in which El has to bring everyone together despite distrust and massive paranoia in order for everyone to survive, and in some ways this works.

It's too bad about everything else though, because the farther the book gets, the more it loses its way and has more and more problems that made it difficult to get through and enjoy. I mentioned in my review of A Deadly Education that I didn't think the info-dumping by El hurt the pacing, because El's sardonic voice made it fun and all the info dumping was necessary. Well, that's absolutely not the case here, where El's info-dumping gets WORSE, and keeps happening for topics and ideas that are absolutely not necessary - for example, it isn't just El info-dumping about how her spells will do horrible horrible things to people (which still happens and is still a treat), but we have El 2/3 of the way through the book info dumping about magical preparation of food for no reason for three whole pages and we have a side character infodumping about minor Mals that essentially cause magical rust for a page and many many more examples. I started skimming/skipping through these segments, because it would go on and on and I just....did....not......care. And as the book gets into its final act, there is basically nothing but info-dumping, because the book stops caring about character dynamics at that point, with everything resolved at the 3/4 mark, and instead about problem solving the situation....except the book has basically not setup things in a way that allow the problem solving to be an interesting combination of already existing pieces.

Speaking of character dynamics, the book drops the ball quite a lot with those, most notably with the central romance of El with Orion - who basically has no part/dialogue in like the first 50 pages and disappears entirely for large stretches of the time. And so when the time comes to culminate their romance, and the romance results in another major part of the ending, these things just basically come from nowhere - and as a result, the last book's cliffhanger goes absolutely NOWHERE. And other character dynamics, especially for characters not part of the main grouping are informed entirely by those characters' nationalities, which is just unfortunate: so of course the Shanghai Enclave is against the New York Enclave (because magical politics must be the same as normal ones!) and everyone in there is basically aligned together and a massive group, the Japanese Enclave has its own ethos that is basically stereotypical (and subject of another infodump), etc. Even more annoyingly, the two minor characters that wind up in same-sex relationships - the only queer relationships in the books as far as I can tell - both feel like they either have to hide those interests or that those interests are going to cause them problems in the real world. It's due to the nationalities involved, not due to homophobia, but when those are the only such relationships, it's really noticeable and a problem.

So yeah, The Last Graduate is a bit of a miss, there's a lot of promise with the setup, and the ending takes a theme that I've seen a lot these days and kind of makes it work, but is just held back by Novik getting obsessed with info-dumping about the setting at the expense of the characters and her continued usage of stereotypes. I might check out the conclusion because I do care about El....but it won't be high on my list if I do.

The first book in this series was a rough start because the author really just threw us into this world head first and it was hard to really wrap my brain around everything. However, Novik really took all of that to heart when writing the second book in the series. She has remedied every issue and created this incredible dark academia meets harry potter story that is so well done! HIGHLY RECCOMMEND! However, that cliff hanger was mean and unnecessary Naomi... LETS TALK haha

This was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and it did not disappoint. The sequel to a deadly education is just as detail rich and suspenseful as the first.

We’re back in the scholomance, the school made to protect the magical children of the world from deadly monsters…the only catch is..the monsters sneak in. The magical kids know from day one of their 4 year term that the could get eaten at any time so they strategize and fight to stay alive all while maintaining their grade point average. Sounds stressful, right? Well it is. The whole book keeps you on your toes!

Our two heroes from the last book, El and Orion are back and they are trying to find their place in the school and with each other, as well as trying NOT to turn evil, die, fall in love or messily make out while fighting back to back. They are the most awkward enemies to lovebirds couple ever. I love them!

Overall, I think his book is really vibrant and detail rich. I did get a little lost with El’s narration at times but the overall effect was still really entertaining. That ending tho! 🤭 I can’t wait for the final book of this series. I would have been happy with a little epilogue on this one to tell us how it turned out. Damn you, cliffhangers! I look forward to reading more! 4.5

Just like Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, The Last Graduate keeps you wanting more.

The Last Graduate picks ups where Deadly Education left off where Galadriel continues her studies for her final year in the Scholamance and is still getting used to her friends sticking around. While finding herself in trouble left and right, El comes up with a plan for the Graduation and it’ll take everybody's cooperation for it to work.

With excellent world building and a gripping story, you’ll feel like you’re in the Scholomance yourself.

I think I liked this even more than the first book in the series. I liked seeing El maintain her friendships and build new relationships and just generally realize that she doesn't have to be so alone. She also really comes into her power in a way that was really satisfying - she's an incredibly powerful magician who has always held back because her very nature is constantly trying to force her to be a maleficer (the bad kind of magician who basically uses the life force of others as power and is very involved in lots of destruction). As the novel goes on, El learns more about herself, her power, and her ability to form relationships in a way that I found very satisfying. She ultimately decides that she can use her power to save everyone in the school, and spends most of the book formulating and refining a plan for that, along with a growing cast of characters who are willing to collaborate with her. This ended on a big cliffhanger, and I can't wait for the final book in the trilogy!

I loved the first book and this sequel did not disappoint. I love El, Orion, and all of the rest. We see much more interaction with the various groups that exist in the school. It's action packed, sarcastic, and entertaining. I couldn't put it down!

The Last Graduate gave me everything I was hoping for in A Deadly Education and more. Dripping with sweat from the long, slow haul of the previous book in the series, I entered into this book in a belabored state of mind. I wasn't sure how much more of Galadriel's driveling lack of self-esteem and social skills I could take, but fortunately for me, her luck had finally turned. No longer was she suffering in pain alone, now she was suffering with much more well-adjusted friends for company. No longer are readers desperately grasping at straws as we struggle to wrap our heads around a world where the Scholomance is a school designed to take young magic students and turn them into fully capable adults, but where hundreds of those students die each and every year at the hands of these grotesque and widely varied Maleficaria, but instead we can see what Novik and Galadriel herself can do with such a world.
The tides turn in El's romance with Orion as well, finally building up some steam as they develop the means of communicating their feelings for one another. Albeit not the healthiest relationship under the sun, they are learning how to be in love and how to turn that love into something more unconditional and positive for themselves and each other.
Precious, El's sassy little mouse, develops quite the personality in this book. It would seem as though her character is destined for greater plot points in the future, as she develops quite the sense of autonomy from El, which Liu points out is unusual for a familiar and may have as much to say about El's affinities as it does for Precious herself.
Finally, the epic battle scenes we have all been waiting for are indeed quite epic. There is lots of planning to pull it all off, lots of blood sweat and tears, backstabbing and gossip. All said and done, it is quite something to look forward to, which is great because it unfolds over the entire last fifth of the book, after spending the entire book leading up to the precipice of graduation, the fight for their lives.

The review will be published September 28, 2021 on ShowThisBookSomeLove