Full review live on my blog on September 20th.

Thanks to Del Rey for the review copy of this book. It has not affected my honest review.
Content Warnings: gore, violence, one mild sex scene.

I sang Naomi Novik's praises in A Deadly Education, and so when The Last Graduate showed up on my doorstep, I threw out my entire TBR to jump into it as soon as possible. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest, though I think it's possible that waiting for the third book might kill me. The Last Graduate picks up exactly where A Deadly Education left off, with barely seconds passing, so I highly recommend rereading as the back-to-back experience is excellent.

I think, much like in the first book, the narrative voice will either be a big draw or a big negative for readers. I still loved the stream of consciousness style writing, feeling like El was chattering away to me with each passing chapter. I can’t wait to get my hands on the audiobook for this book so I can experience it the way I feel like it should be experienced. The way that this series is written does focus entirely on El in an introspective way, and I would love to see what some of the other characters are thinking during this book especially. An Orion POV would have been amazing, because he’s definitely going through some kind of thing in this book, and I would just love to see what’s going on with him (and if my suspicions are correct), but I’m hoping that all will be revealed in the third book and this secretiveness will suddenly make sense.

And to be fair, El is the star of this book. Her development in The Last Graduate versus in A Deadly Education is incredible. We still have the things that made her so loveable, the snark and spiky defensiveness as well as her uncertainty around other people in the school, but we get to see her growing into more than that too. As her power grows (and oh my god, does her power grow) her circle grows too. We’ve gone from this individual and insular character to someone who has been dragged out of her comfort zone to find allies and shock maybe even friends. And her relationship with Orion. Oh my god. I hate how much I love their trope-y arses. Orion is conspicuously absent for a while, but when he comes back it’s straight back into their strange and complicated dynamic. I love them so much, honestly.

The first half of this book was a lot slower than I expected after the cliffhanger of the first book. And if you’re expecting THAT little doozy to get answered? Well. I have a lot more questions now than I did when I started. And the cliffhanger at the end of The Last Graduate is even worse! I actually can’t believe that I’m back to waiting for the next Scholomance book already. I had expectations for The Last Graduate, and all of them were wrong. I’m glad they were, though, I like the book we got much more than the book I was expecting. In this one, the Scholomance itself is a character in its own right, and I really liked the way we saw it behaving. I can’t be more specific without spoiling it, but the way this book turns out is amazing. I can’t wait to see what surprises are in store in the third book.

We delve back in to the scholomance and straight in to El’s senior year. Expect the unexpected and enjoy the ride through some incredible world building and a book that defies all expectations.

What I love about this series is that it’s so hard to classify, it’s unlike anything else I have ever read. it’s a little bit fantasy, a bit speculative, with a splash of sci-fi and dystopia, it has levels of horror and humour and mystery, it’s got so many layers. Naomi’s world building reminds me of classic science fiction authors, there’s a focus on information more than character and plot at points, and where I would normally see this info-dumping as a negative, when it comes to these books, I just want to eat up every single detail about the world that she has created. I want to know everything about the Scholomance, it’s students and the Mals that prey on them. It’s all fascinating and I am still in awe of Naomi’s creativity.

At times I did find her writing style a little hard to read, the sentences are very long and complicated which meant I had to put a lot more concentration into reading than I normally do. But as soon as the action scenes kick in, all that goes away, and I am swept along with the dramatic scenes and compelling plots. There are two distinct personalities in each of the Scholomance books, the first half of the book is full of the most incredible descriptions and world-building, and the second half of the book is full of twisting plot lines that are full of surprise. And to add to this, Naomi really knows how to write incredible final chapters.

A Deadly Education’s final showdown was exciting enough, and then this book comes along and blows all of that out of the water. I still haven’t got over how this book ends, and I continue to live in a state of shock that I feel like will last until I finally have the third book in my hands. It’s DRAMATIC.

However, with the plot and the world-building having so much impact on this book, I did feel a little like the characters were lost. El’s voice wasn’t quite as prominent as it was in A Deadly Education. She’s such a big personality, that I was sad to see her lost in the thrum of everything else going on in this book. I also lost sight of some of the supporting characters in The Last Graduate too. There’s a lot of new characters mentioned, which took away some of the spotlight from the old ones, and I wasn’t always sold on their relationships. One big exception to this was El’s friendships though, the friendships were such a highlight to this book, and emotional at times. They gave the plot a lot more meaning, and completely overshadowed every other kind of relationship in this book.

SUMMARY

The Last Graduate is a fantastic continuation to the Scholomance series, full of dramatic scenes, incredible world building, and gasp-inducing plots.

CAWPILE: 8.43

I'm not entirely sure how to rate this book. It isn't bad but it isn't great either.
I read A Deadly Education last year when it came out and already had problems with the pacing. I almost gave up a few times but the cliffhanger at the end made me want to read book 2.
Now I'm facing the exact same situation: I had to power through the book, hoping the pacing would pick up and waiting for "the" cliffhanger at the end (despite my hopes last year that it would be a duology, it's become a trilogy). Unfortunately, the pacing is still very slow and this time the characters weren't that interesting either. I liked El in the first book but I didn't root for her in this one and Orion is now a secondary and under-developed character,
The chapters were too long for my taste and when nothing happens, it's quite difficult to keep on reading. I did finish and even though there was a cliffhanger at the end of The Last Graduate, I don't think I care enough to read book 3.

2.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher who provided me with an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A triumphant return to the school known as Scholomance where true death is literally around every corner and maybe even in the plumbing ! El has always known she has a penchant for dark magic and indeed has been shunned because of it. Yet this loner has finally let people close to her and indeed actually has friends not just allies. This is her final year and she is determined to survive and actually leave but can she watch those around her die or will El help save them ?
For me this was a fabulous sequel and I adored that even as the story progressed we still get more world building added. El has come such a long way and her character has truly transformed. This is such a bloodthirsty world but with the way this story was told I could perhaps understand much better why it's always seemed that everyone is looking out for themselves. The ending was such a shock though although perhaps its a tiny bit of history repeating slightly but my lips are sealed !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

A fantastic sequel for a series that has become one of my favourites. Like in A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate is a whirlwind of a read. A book that grabs you on a roller-coaster and refuses to let you off. It makes for a quick, but intense read and impossible to put down. I will say that the fast pace and many side characters often meant I kept forgetting who was who and mixing up characters. I kept having to go back serval pages to figure out who El was talking too.

Once again, we are taken to the Scholomance where a horrific death is around every corner and in every shadow. But this time there is a more hopeful tone as El is no longer fighting to survive on her own but now has friends at her back and a plethora of allies. The same themes of class inequality carry over as we see many enclave kids take their vast privileges as their due and expect independent kids to sacrifice everything while they dangle the very small chance of an enclave spot over their lives. But this time, El carries more guilt as she is given enclave privileges now her power has been revealed.

This sequel certainly lives up to the explosive first book and I am now desperate to read the third book.
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having survived the Scholomance this far is no guarantee that a student is going to be able to graduate. This is a school where the final exams really can be final.
The story picks up immediately after the last book finishes and the characters we followed before are now in that final year. There is no break in the school year, or in the many various ways that people can die. But the protagonist El actually finds herself in a better position than in previous years; she has managed to make friends, and find a source of power for her magic, and she might possibly be dating Orion Lake, monster killer extraordinaire. But the mals that lurk in the school seem to be seeking her out particularly, and somehow in spite of all her sensible survival instincts she keeps saving anyone else in the vicinity, including a gaggle of new years that she has been saddled with, as well as Orion who is not having such a good year. As the final year students form alliances to get them through the final graduation test – a gauntlet of mals between them and the outside world - El starts to realise that she′s going to need a bigger alliance.

For a series that is full of people getting killed in horrifically ingenious ways, it is a joy to read. El has a caustic approach to life and people which makes for a fun commentary, especially when she finds herself acting against her own best interests, and beginning to like people she has managed to despise for three years. Characters from the first book get more development, and some new ones are introduced. I was always pleased to see Liesel′s name appear (although a little guilty since she was a blatant racial stereotype) since she was at the centre of some of the funniest interchanges. The book is full of imaginative creations in monsters and magic, with the accompanying black humour of how farcically some of the monsters are described.

The book ends on an abrupt note, and for those who don′t like cliffhangers you might want to wait until the final part of the trilogy is available.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley

I think it’s fair to say that, as a huge fan of Naomi Novik and the first book in the Scholomance series, I was very excited to get my (virtual) hands on an advance copy of The Last Graduate. I’ve read a lot of magic school books, but A Deadly Education managed to stand out from the rest, immersing the reader in a tense environment where monsters lurk waiting to pick students off, and surviving until graduation is something that very few accomplish.

I was fascinated by the worldbuilding in the first novel: magic-users act like beacons to hungry monsters (kind of like in Percy Jackson), and the solution that magical society has agreed upon is sending their children to a sentient school/death trap, thus creating an irresistible source of power to keep the monsters occupied and hopefully produce some skilled adult magicians at the end of it. The school itself, the Scholomance, is different to other magic schools I’ve encountered; for one thing, there are no teachers and no classes in the traditional sense. Instead, each student navigates through their own curriculum within established paths of study, with each new piece of knowledge they acquire shaping the school’s perception of what they will need to know next; which is a point of frustration for our protagonist El who has an unusually dark affinity (despite her best efforts).

This book picks up right where the first one left off, at the beginning of El’s final year at the Scholomance. I loved how El slowly started to open up to other people throughout the first book, and this continues in the second, with her friendship with Aadhya and Liu growing even stronger. It’s slightly heartbreaking to see El’s hesitation and confusion when it comes to navigating her friendships, though of course, everyone at the Scholomance is pretty messed up after years of seeing their classmates whittled down. I was glad to get more insight into Aadhya’s character in this book, and see some emotionally vulnerable moments between her and El. Of course, there’s also Orion Lake, beloved hero of the Scholomance and irritating pain in the arse for El (and now, potential boyfriend?). Orion may be the funniest character in the series, just for his complete obliviousness to everyone else and completely opposite attitude towards the monsters, even sulking when he can’t find enough to kill. I love El and Orion’s relationship, which is hilarious on the surface and then, unexpectedly tender and filled with pathos. They have a shared experience of being outsiders, removed from everyone else by their unimaginable power levels, and it’s sweet to see the further growth of their bond in this book.

The actual magic system in this world is pretty complicated, with students at the Scholomance learning several ancient and modern languages and having to do complex and delicate calculations when crafting a new artefact or performing a spell, with the ever-present risk of something going horribly wrong and blowing up everyone in the immediate vicinity. In this book there is further explanation of the inner workings of the Scholomance, with some surprising revelations that feed closely into the dramatic climax of the novel. I could feel it coming, but the cliffhanger ending had me in disbelief. It doesn’t seem quite fair the next book isn’t out yet and I have to wait at least a year to find out what happens.

I would recommend this book (and the first one, obviously) to fans of magic school narratives and fantasy looking for something dark and new, but still full of humour and character. Welcome to the Scholomance.

A smidge too much discussion about enclaves, collaborations, and strategies, and far too little of the fabulous Orion but a good solid second book in the series. El continues to be a faceted and interesting character, who is slowing finding a way to be in the world. Loved the gradual coming together of the school, leading to a heart stopping, action packed and cliffhanging ending. I will definitely be picking up book three in the series, and will be checking repeatably for a release date,

The Last Graduate is the second instalment in Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series, following on where A Deadly Education left off.

El and her cohort are this year’s graduation class, preparing for their deadly run through the mal-infested Graduation Hall. After the events at the end of the A Deadly Education, and after previously having kept a low profile, El has become very visible. We see her navigate social situations with her usual snarky and abrasive nature, and her alliances and friendships with fierce loyalty and determination. This sequel is very much about El finding her place and coming into her power, while trying to devise a strategy to survive graduation.

There were parts half-way through the novel that dragged a bit in my opinion, but it finished on a spectacular high and with an absolute cliff-hanger. I can’t wait for the third book…

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have a love hate relationship with Naomi Novik. I love, love, love her writing, but I hate that she is the queen of the cliff hanger ending!

In The Last Graduate, the wonderful world building that set up the trilogy is explored in further detail. Secrets are revealed about who and why the school was established and what this means for the students that pass through its doors. El really comes into her own as she starts to realise that she has her own agency, and that she does not have to have her life determined by what other people think of her. As she grows into herself, her relationships with those around her change too (including something big with Orion), and her actions put into place something much bigger than anyone of the students and enclaves could have dreamed of. There's clearly something going on behind the scenes though and enough intrigue to have my appetite well and truly whetted for the final episode. Even without that jaw dropping ending.

My thanks go to the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Oof! I'm a bit dazed after finishing this book actually...

I was so desperate to get to the end of the book that for a while I got irritated with Naomi for writing such a long book and "not getting on with it" and then I contemplated jumping to the end to read what happened to then return to where I was halfway through to continue reading "normally". First time this happened to me - ever. So I'm happy to say I got over my dizzying curiosity and continued to read as was intended.

Even more lovely secondary characters in this book, even more inclusion (yay! More Latinos too - alongside tons of Asians as well), absolutely no 2D character (not even antagonistic ones).

Glad we were privy to El's thinking because through her everything made sense. Even the most "crazy/ridiculous" things.

I won't be spoiling the book for anyone because it's worth it. I *soooo* didn't expect where Naomi took us.

And if I'm honest I did get slightly upset that we'll need to wait for so long for the next book. (These bloody amazing authors getting us hooked on their series, huh? The audacity!) Yes, this book also has a cliffhanger** but manages to solve/answer about 98% of the issues raised.

Not sure if this is a spoiler or not, because I'm drunk on the high of finishing this book, but this is a beautiful story of youth being brave and more intelligent and kind than grown-ups. And although I haven't been part of this youthful team for decades, that's how I see them today. Cleverer, kinder and more inclusive and accepting than the older generations. Sure, the characters start as selfish little shits. But that's what writing is all about, isn't it...? The beautiful journey, the growth of each and every character, the surprises.

I hope you lose as much sleep as I did staying up to finish this book!

May the creative muse continue to visit Naomi too 🤞🏼

Highly recommended to fans of YA, strong primary and secondary characters, fantasy, wizards, hero journeys, good writing, inclusion and series*.

A big thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

** if you felt the end of book 1 was a bit of a cliffhanger you'll have to prepare your poor heart for the end of book 2.

At moments the writing was just lazy. Pawning off the lack of plot explanation as the narrator being too exhausted to explain doesn't add to the unlikeability of the character, it just makes the author look lazy. There was less jarring grammar in this book than the last. The ending was very good and not spoiled by the title as one would suspect. The underlying message of putting selflessness aside for greater purposes is a noble one. The delivery needed work. However, there would good scenes and quirky character interactions.

Naomi Novik is a sadist. Be it the suffering she piles onto both main and background characters in seemingly endless quantities, or the readers who end up with chewed fingernails, sweat stains and knots in their stomachs. But worst of all? The straw that breaks the camel’s back (while Naomi probably cackles with cruel delight)? Cliff-hangers. Bloody cliff-hangers.
 
Normally I would spitefully knock a star off a book purely for ending in such a horrid fashion but The Last Graduate had me so gripped and fully immersed that by the end of the book I stared at the last page for a good 10 minutes before I could put it down begrudgingly. I didn’t feel the frustration of a book without an ending. Instead I felt excited. I also felt my tongue dry out making me realise my jaw had literally dropped.
 
This book is a perfect addition to A Deadly Education. El is such a lovable character to me because I always love someone with a big heart at war with psychological scars. She continuously fights people away from her walls but once someone has somehow squeezed through the gaps (and all the traps and trenches and pointy sharp objects) she will protect them with everything she has. The kind of girl who will give you the last of her water whilst rolling her eyes and sneering at herself for doing so. If you haven’t read A Deadly Education you need to. If you have then I don’t need to explain why you should read The Last Graduate. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the third instalment of this masterpiece.

So so so good! I love this book (and series) I genuinely can't wait to see what happens next. Note, I still haven't forgiven Novik for THAT cliffhanger, I am still thinking about it a week later!

Can I have a high-level summary of what happen like now? Please?

I totally recommend this book, if you haven't before you should enter the Schoolmance!

*Spoiler alert*

I was super disappointed with this book after the first ones being so well written and so engrossing.

The writing style is awful, its clumpy and confusing and I often found myself having to read the same page more than once to try and work out what is actually going on. It comes across as very "oh I forgot to say this so here is lots of information!"

As I got to the end I expected carnage to follow the messy middle but it was really well written, almost calming and the main event is great - it flows well. But, you have no real thoughts or feelings on the characters at the end because the main story doesn't really help you like or dislike them. When the random enclave at the end stop to help - its as confusing to the readers as it is to the character - is that the point? Where did they come from? why did they do it? It just doesn't make sense. what happened to all the people who tried to kill Lake and Naomi? Nothing? its all very odd!

The concept is great, and I kept reading because I am loyal to the characters from the first book, but nothing in this makes you want to go back to the series again apart from the last paragraph.

I have much to say about this book.

I'm mostly disappointed. The writing style has not improved, mid-action scene and Naomi will info dump as if she realises that we need to know about X enclave or Y story.

Orion and El have regressed as characters? The main focus of book 1 has now become a side story in this book. Both Orion and El are now not lovable as individuals or a couple. The reason book 1 was enjoyable was not because of the school or magic, but because of their love-hate relationship.

There are no side characters to root for and the writing style was so disjointed that I kept forgetting who was who.

I'm sad to give this 1 star because the last 20 pages were really enjoyable but you could smell the plot from a mile away and the writing was so bad that this is the first book ever that has taken me 14 days to read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read!

The story - ⭐⭐⭐
The writing - ⭐⭐⭐
Overall - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bloody hell. I had to give this an extra star for that ending and ALL THE FEELS.
Similarly to A Deadly Education a lot of The Last Graduate goes off in long expositional tangents, which is both good for the readers understanding of the universe, and bloody frustrating for the pacing of the book. But it pays off, so I'll let Naomi Novik off, because come the end of the book I found myself welling up.

Not sure if there's gonna be a third, or if there even should be. I think it's been left in a way that there could be one, but I kind of feel like this has hit a good place to stop as well.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an early copy of this book.

I have to admit with Deadly Education being a low 3 star read i wasn't expecting much from this second installment but i am so glad that i have read it. The writing was so much better, it wasn't as info dumpy as the first book and the character development was vastly improved.

That ending...that ending has made me need the third book now and this installment has not even come out yet.

I will definately be purchasing a physical copy when it is released.

I asked to read this as I had read the author's Temeraire series which I hugely enjoyed. I had not read the first book and she very skilfully handles a situation where someone has jumped in at the second book rather than having to read them in consecutive order to enjoy them

Here she creates another strangely credible world (well, in terms of the way she has thought through how it might work).

Because of the school setting and the magical powers it is a little like Harry Potter on speed and with drugs and sex. Oh, and without a single responsible adult in charge.

Hugely imaginative and speeds along at a cracking pace.

Her characterisation brings the key protagonists to life and she is particularly good at teenage nihilism and and self drama.

So good I couldn’t read anything else for a week afterwards.
How long until the third book is released? 😂

The Scholomance is a magic school like you’ve never seen before.

I love Naomi Novik, and thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, A Deadly Education, so I was delighted to receive an e-ARC of the sequel, and it certainly did not disappoint.
All your favourite characters from the first book are there, but now facing the added pressure of it being their senior year. With only one year to go until they must face the dreaded Graduation Hall - and no idea what they will find when they get down there - El and her newfound friends and allies need to come up with a plan to get themselves safely out of the Scholomance.
Will the machinery they risked so much to fix keep them safe for a second year?
Can El raise enough mana to replace what she used to kill the mawmouth?
The Last Graduate is the perfect sequel to A Deadly Education. I devoured it in one night, and I absolutely cannot wait for the final book in the trilogy.

Delightful, fraught, and at times heartbreaking, El’s story is one I will return to time and time again.
I wish I had more than 5 stars to give it.