4.5 stars

The Last Graduate is the sequel to A Deadly Education, a book which I really enjoyed reading last year so safe to say I was highly anticipating the sequel! In this installment El and her friends are finally seniors and must prepare to escape the deadly scholomance in the terrifying graduation hall - where they must battle their way out of a sea of monsters to get back to the real world.

With just as much charm and character as the first book, The Last Graduate did not disappoint! El is a really fantastic protagonist (although I feel like she is a bit love or hate - but if you read book one and enjoyed it then you will like this one!) - I love her general cynicism and feistiness but you know she has secret heart of gold. She very much becomes a reluctant hero throughout the story and I loved seeing her development from only out for herself to trying to save everyone.

I enjoyed the direction the story went in, it was a little predictable at times but honestly I think that adds to the charm of the series - it knows it very much falls into the magical school trope and very much embraces it and takes you inot the familiar comfort and nostalgia that brings. I love the setting of the scholomance and Novik's atmospheric writing really draws you in and keeps you invested.

I liked the themes of friendship and sacrifice - there is a big focus on making alliances for graduation and then how the characters can work together to help each other. I also loved seeing how far El has come since the start of book one in terms of friendship and opening herself up to others.

El and Orion are without a doubt my favourite part of the series - I love their dynamic so so much and loved the development of their relationship in this book and getting to learn more about Orion and why he is the way he is. He is the cutest little lost puppy himbo and was definitely one of my favourite characters from last year. I think him and El balance each other out beautifully, their banter is hilarious and I love the tenderness that developed throughout the book.

The magic system is a lot of fun, I don't think we got a huge amount of extra details on the magic in this book - it is very similar to book 1, but we do learn a little bit more about why El is so destructively powerful and also a lot more world-building outside the scholomance which I really enjoyed and helped add context to why the school is the way it is. I also thought it nicely seeded some breadcrumbs for the next book! Additionally I never thought one of my favourite characters would be the scholomance itself but its part in this book was the cutest thing ever.

In conclusion, a really fun sequel with all the things I loved from the first one, a very dramatic cliffhanger which has me very exicted/nervous for the next book, great characters filled with heart (and sass) and an uplifting message of unity and hope!

(Note: I'm aware that A Deadly Education had quite a bit of controversy, I would encourage you to read up and make a decision for yourself if you want to read/continue the series. Personally I feel like you can enjoy things while still acknowledging they are problematic. I can't really comment on the rep in this book but I would encourage you to read own voices reviews!)

this was a really great read! i didn't realise it was part of a series when I requested it, however I now am determined to read every single one, i loved it

This was an excellent edition to the series and definitely had me on edge with several emotions spiralling through me, both adrenaline and anxiety. I think the magic system Novik has created in the series is really what stands out. Magical school settings with an impeccable magic system are always what I look for, but sometimes it can be very hit or Miss for me because the magic system or school setting lack- in some instances both. Novik had the perfect amount Of balance between making us understand the magic system and the school setting itself.

While el is in her last year or deadly magic school she’s fighting maleficaria which seem to be fixated on her and destroying her. El’s development in this book was amazing and I cannot wait to see how Naomi Novik concludes the series in the future.

‘A Deadly Education’, book 1 in the Scholomance series, ended with a message for El from her mother: “Stay away from Orion Lake,” and ‘The Last Graduate’ picks up from this point and continues at the same breathless, relentless pace in a school that seems intent on murdering all of its own pupils.

Naturally, El ignores her mother, and doesn’t stay away from Orion Lake. Instead, El, Orion and the other seniors of the Scholomance begin to prepare for the bloodbath that is graduation. But first El has to survive her punishing timetable which involves having to save a room full of hapless freshman from mals on a weekly basis. El and Orion continue to regularly save each other’s lives, the political machinations of alliances and jockeying for spaces in the protected enclaves continues, but as El and her friends go through the motions, it begins to become clear that things will be different this year...

‘The Last Graduate’ is just as thrilling, imaginative and darkly humorous as ‘A Deadly Education’ and twice as deadly.

Thank you Random House UK, Cornerstone for the advanced copy of The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik.

I liked A Deadly Education, even if at time I thought it was developing a bit slow. The Last Graduate picks up the pace considerably and the twists in the story and the cliffhanger made it a much better book than the first one. I can't wait to read the next in the series.

Can’t believe I got my hands on this book, thanks Netgalley and Random House. Naomi Novik destroyed me with this book, I don’t know how I’m going to wait for the next one. It builds on the foundations of A Deadly Education and throws our girl El into a new role in the Scholomance beginning right after the end of A Deadly Education. I was so curious to see where this plot would go, and wasn’t disappointed.

In A Deadly Education, El went from school loner to forming a tight alliance with her new friends Aad and Liu, feeling wanted for the first time in her life. She also attracted the attention of school hero Orion and the two formed a weird friendship / relationship. The Last Graduate builds on these relationships as El and the crew enter their senior year and work their way up to their own graduation, facing a hoard of mals down in the graduation hall to escape the school and head back into the real world.

El goes from outcast to a key player in the senior’s escape plan, much to their frustration. Alliances grow and enclave politics come even more into play, all while El navigates a nasty academic schedule and protecting the new freshmen she shares a period with. The plot hints at enclave drama in the outside world which makes me so excited for the next book, that hopefully will widen the world-building more outside of the Scholomance itself. At the end of A Deadly Education El’s parentage is revealed to the rest of the class – I was expecting this to come into the story a little more than it did so that was a bit of a surprise to me.

Both El and Orion’s character journeys were exceptional in The Last Graduate. Both are wonderfully complex individuals and their dynamic is definitely one of this book’s strengths. In some ways, El has become the centre of attention while Orion is feeling a bit empty when there are few mals to protect others from. They grow closer romantically, and I appreciated the way their first experiences of intimacy was realistic.

Anyway, this book has twist after twist and reveal after reveal, and warning it ends in a massive cliffhanger that I’m very angry about (haha). It’s hard to write a review without ruining everything so I think I’m going to leave it here, and wait impatiently for book 3. If this is how I feel after book 2….the next one is going to end me and reading forever. I still want to know so many things!!! I want answers!!!

Millions of thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with an early copy in exchange for my honest review! The full review can be found on Goodreads.

🗝️ The story 🗝️
The last school year has arrived, and El will have to figure out her alliances and figure out how to get through the Graduation Hall, without knowing if their maintenance in the last book has worked. Besides the whole impending doom, she has to figure out what her mother meant with her note and what to do with it - keep far away from Orion Lake.

No surprise, I read the entire book in a day. I love this series so damn much. Just like last time, I don't have a clue why I love it so much, but I just do. I forgot a little bit about how the school works, but there were some little reminders in this book, which made it really easy to roll right back in. We find out if their actions in the last book actually helped, and if the Graduation Hall was cleansed before graduation. Just like last book, the world building is just so good in my opinion, and so damn original. I can't believe these books aren't wildly popular yet, at least not Harry Potter kind of popular, because they really should be in my opinion. But that ending. Shit, the only reason that I hate getting this ARC, is because I'll have to wait even longer for the next book!


🗝️ The characters 🗝️
🏃‍♀️Galadriel/El🏃‍♀️
Just like last book, I loved El. Naomi Novik is just so good at writing, the narrator has such a distinguishable kind of speaking/thinking and I love that so much. Especially the way El kept acting towards Orion cracked me up, I love reading about them and their interactions. The way she was so outwardly cool and rude to everyone - especially Orion - while just freaking out or secretly loving people on the inside, made me laugh out loud. El went through quite a character development. Last book, she was fighting to not become the evil sorceress she is destined to be, and even made some friends. In this book, those friends were still there, and she had to get used to help from others - no longer just depending on herself. I secretly want her to become the bad guy, not going to lie. I loved her interactions with the new kids, it was so funny that she was trying not to learn their names, but ended up learning (and caring about) them all anyway. I'm so glad she finally got some recognition in this book, and people finally started to see how crazy powerful she really is. I can honestly write about her all day, I just love her so damn much.

⚔️Orion Lake⚔️
This guy man. He cracked me up. It was so funny to me that he was actually sulking for most of the book; being mad about the fact that he wasn't under attack by mals and couldn't go and kill them. He was such a little child and I loved El calling him out 24/7. That stuff was funny man :') I just love his interactions with El, they are so damn cute. It's just so funny to me how El is such a bitch to him, while on the inside she's like "I really like him but that's not possible so I must be losing my mind instead". Man, I can honestly sum up all of their scenes, I just love them so much and they made me laugh so many times. I still think he'll be the reason she ends up as an evil sorceress. I think her grandmother predicted that, and I think her mother knew about him being the reason, which is why she told her to stay away from him. I think she'll have to save him and some point, and she'll have to turn to malia to save him? That has been my theory since book 1, and I still think that's what'll happen. I really do want to know more about that prophecy though, I hope we'll get the whole thing in the next book.

🎷⚙️Side characters🐭🏫
Even though we don't necessarily get to know the side characters in that much depth, I did like a lot of them. I love Liu and Aadhya, their friendship is so great. When Aad talked about the whole sister thing, I actually freaking teared up right along with her and El. I'm way too invested in these characters, mostly Liu, Aad, El and Orion of course ;) I kinda disliked Chloé in the last book, and although I still didn't necessarily love her, I did start to like her more. I also adored Precious - like actually freaking adored her. I also loved the Scholomance. I know that's not really a side character - but isn't it though? I kinda hope we'll see it again, but I'm not too sure. It's just such a cool thing that the school actually has a mind of its own, and tries to help people out. Its reactions were just so funny, and I love it.


🗝️ The writing 🗝️
Just like in the last book, there were some long sentences. It didn't really bother me though, because in my opinion they weren't as long as in the last book. There were some randomly difficult words in there, but again, that didn't bother me that much.


🗝️ Overall conclusion 🗝️
Just like the first book, I loved this one so damn much. I can't freaking wait for book 3! I recommend this book - and this series - to anyone who can read, and you should definitely pick the books up right now!

Damn, I love redemption arcs, I love angry, messed-up characters finding some shred of good to fight for, I love it when the gang works together, I love it when good & evil are far more complicated than you expect, and I love it when a book makes me hatch all sorts of theories in my brain about how exactly certain people came into being and what their purpose is. This book had it all in SPADES.

Thanks.for the ARC.

This is one of my favourite books of the year and it pains me to have to wait for the next in the series. The pacing has picked up, for the better, in this sequel and there has been more time to understand and learn the backstory to some of the other characters like Liu and Aadhya.

El, prophesied doom-bringer to the world, has mellowed (slightly) as she develops new friendships and alliances. This did not prepare me for the inevitable cliffhanger and I might have to settle for re-reading A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate until 2022.

I was absolutely screaming at the end of the first book and I’m screaming all over again at the end of the second.

El is back but this time she has allies/friends and is begrudgingly starting to admit how much she cares about people (and also how much she values community, not that I think she’d ever say that). And she’s just as snarky and funny as ever. Truly, I love her.

There was a lot of personal growth in this book, not just for El but also for some great side characters, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this might impact the magical communities outside of the Scholomance, especially in regards to priviledge.

The writing style is what made me love the first book so much (and constantly nag people to read it) and El is just as wonderful the second time around. Typically I would be irritated that a character asks a question and then we have three pages of internal thoughts and exposition before it’s answered (and usually internal thoughts that are slightly tangential) but it’s so engaging that I don’t really notice the little detours we take mid-scene.

(Interestingly, for a book that is supposed to draw magical students from around the world, it felt like there was a very large continent with almost no representation, which was disappointing and kind of weird. I’d have to reread to see if there is at least some representation in the background characters, though?)

Otherwise, I can definitely say this is one of my favourite series to come out in years (well-known issues with A Deadly Education notwithstanding). But seriously, I love this series and loved this book and I cannot wait to read the conclusion!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For those of you, like me, who thought this was a duology, read happily along as it approached the ending, and then reached that final swerve...it's a trilogy. There's one more to go, probably about this time last year.

Now, the review.

If you've read - well, basically any reviews I've written, you know there's two things I often focus on; recaps, or the lack thereof, and instalove. One of those is not an issue in this book; one character has been in love with another for ages, but the second refuses to acknowledge it for most of the book. The other, sadly, is. This picks up from the last one with no recap or reminders, although that may be an issue only with the proofs; it's possible the finished book will have some kind of recap, and I hope it does. The Scholomance has a really well developed world with all kinds of details and ideas, and it's tough to keep them all straight.

That aside...

I really enjoyed this. There are twists and turns all the way through, the charactesr are fantastic, and like I said the details are really clever and well thought out. Naomi has sunk a lot of planning and thinking into this, and it shows. Everything flows beautifully and it all makes sense. I really enjoyed the story and watching El pretend she wasn't making friends and growing happy.

I don't want to spoil the story, because it is worth discovering as you read it, but there's half a dozen other things that I really enjoyed and I can't wait to be able to discuss them with other readers. Things are definitely going to change in the third book and I am already waiting for it eagerly.