As with book one, if I look into world building, characters and plot individually I will say that I like the book. However, when you put them all together, it feels like something is missing…

The plot is a continuation of the first book and focuses on the graduation. There are no surprises here which I don’t know if it’s good or bad to be honest.

The world building isn’t getting any better as we don’t really get any further information of what happens with magic outside Scholomamce, how is used or for what. We only know that there are enclaves that live separately from the rest of the world.

The characters are getting better in this book and we see a lot of growth in them. I liked seeing the lm own their strengths and mature through time.

Reading the second book felt a bit better than the first. It kept me more engaged with the plot and had a bit more suspense that was a bonus.

The Last Graduate picks up right where A Deadly Education left off, throwing us right back into the NEW trials and tribulations that El and the gang are going to face in their senior year. The Last Graudate was deliciously fast-paced and gripping and DONT get me started on that cliffhanger!

Oh no no no no no that ending! Orion! What did you do??? 😱

Brilliant sequel to the amazing Deadly Education. No sophomore blues here. El is still as amazing and badass as ever. She grows even more powerful but also grows in character (I mean she’s still awkward and socially inept as hell) but her intentions are clearer and she makes more friends and alliances. As graduation looms, they come up with a plan to save everyone until that crazy end.

This is dark academia at its best. It is still YA but we have real life consequences. The end doesn’t make sense. I can’t even begin to think where we go from here. But there has to be another book right? There has to be!!!!

The sequel to A Deadly Education builds on the growth and self-discovery our main character showed in book one. I really liked the further details we got about the school and the world Novik has built. If you've read the first book, you'll find a similar style of ending, and it seems the story certainly isn't done!

Our main character is still abrasive, but we get some amazing friendship moments (I cared a lot more about her learning to be a friend than I did about the romantic subplot, despite the continuing mystery).

Something I want to particularly highlight is that both books in the series are under 400 pages. While I think you could argue it can be info-dumpy, I feel that overall the series really respects your time, and that can't be under stated in the fantasy genre!

HOW DARE YOU END LIKE THAT!!!!!!
Also thank you Delrey and NetGalley for the e-arc, I'm going to need the next one asap.
<b>Real Rating: </b> 4.5

Plot/story: 4.5
Setting/worldbuilding: 4.5
Characters: 5
Writing/ prose: 5
Unputdownable: 5

Short review: More of the same but also so much more! I enjoyed A Deadly Education just fine, I thought it had some pacing and infodumping issues and a few cultural bits were a strange choice. This sequel fixed a lot of those issues and managed to keep a pace and beat so engaging that I finished this in under 3 days

My advice: give this a few chapters to really kick off, the first 2 feel like they were literally taken out of the previous book.

Long review, no spoilers:
Plot:
I ate this up like candy, it just sucked me into the school. How am I supposed to wait until the next one comes out!!!! I LOOOOOVED the refreshing take on tropes and the actual slow burn romance. Folks, this is how teenage romance should be done.

I had such a blast reading this book, I finished it in under 3 days and that is atypical for my schedule. The pacing was excellent, the information much better spread out through the story. The beginning was especially engaging as we jump straight back into the action that the previous book ended on.
I enjoyed that this stayed far away from the usual overused YA tropes (not like other girls, constant swooning over love interest, girl cattiness). This has amazing friendships that were earned, it has mini political intrigue that will surely play a big role in future books. It took its time developing all relationships.

The plot was quite straightforward if you paid enough attention in book 1: our heroine must survive another year until graduation. I think each chapter built beautifully upon itself, all actions and motivations and the climax made absolute perfect sense and I'm quite pleased with how everything wrapped up except the LAST LINE! It ends on a huge cliff-hanger and I am so outraged that I have to wait another year to find out.

Characters:
El was refreshing, she still had the feisty and sarcastic personality, but we see her slowly open up and trust people, let herself want things and grow up in a credible way.

I do wish Orion had a bit more page time as the interactions between him and El were my favourite parts. And I think this was genuine banter, companionship and a true slow burn romance.

The romance element didn't play a big part of this story, but it was fantastically executed and without any nauseatingly obsessive thoughts about bronzed body parts and swoony eyes that I am fed up with. It was sweet and I ship them so hard.

Writing style / prose: unputdownable.

Worldbuilding/ magic system:
The worldbuilding was easier to understand this time, having read the previous book I didn't have to spend as much time untangling the school's mechanics and the magic system. It is built upon and even explained very well towards the end. The magic system continues to be very clever and earned, I love seeing characters putting in the work to be able to progress, even if that work is social. The use of a particular magical item irked me a bit at first as it felt too much like a convenient plot device, however I do believe it was used carefully and needed in order to continue the story more seamlessly ( fewer knitting and push ups wohoo lol).

Overall, one of the most entertaining and addictive books I’ve ever read, and will slowly die inside until book 3 is out. This is the first time in my life that I want to immediately reread a book I’ve just finished.

I absolutely loved diving back into Scholomance and the deadly school. The ending threw me and I need to read it again. There was such great world building and the adventure Ek when on was amazing, even her complicated love story with Orian. It is a must read for me.

Whaaaattttt? Who else had that reaction on finishing?

Well, I thought I knew a bit about the Scholomance from A Deadly Education but The Last Graduate took my expectations and threw them out into the void. This installment took many an unexpected turn but continued to deliver on a great story, snarkastic wit and characters to cheer for.

El showed a new level of maturity in this book, a little more measured and I think that had a lot to do with the fact that she had friends, that she wasn’t alone. These platonic friendships, the potential alliances were rich in trust issues and fun to read. El and Orion were an interesting grumpy and grumpy/sometimes sunshine.

Plotting and planning was a big part of this year’s graduating class and I did not see that final plan coming. The magic complexity went up a notch and I was able to follow but also I was agog at the skills need to set things in motion.

Naomi Novik made these characters elevate from sophomore to senior and I’m still rather enamoured by this world. Bring me book three on a plate, please!

Thank you to Del Rey UK for the gorgeous review copy.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher Del Rey (Random House UK, Cornerstone) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved being back in this world and to its dark school of magic, the Scholomance. What I really appreciated about the first novel was Novik’s ability to depict this world as it was a real one you can encounter just by exiting the door of your house. The care and attention behind every description is just majestic.
I was also glad to get back to El, our anti-heroine, and to fall in love with her once again. In this book, she’s still the same witty and sassy girl, but she gets even better. I think in this novel we witness El’s incredible personal growth, and it is something done in such a realistic and genuine way that really got to me. I also loved seeing the other characters grow into the men and women they’ve become.

Like the first book, The Last Graduate is a beautifully written work full of sarcasm and very dark elements and topics. Last year, I claimed that A Deadly Education had posed a fascinating question: how do you preserve who you are as a person in the midst of every horrible thing that happens to you, or that you have to do, inside the Scholomance in order to survive? Now I can say that we get an answer in this second book, and it is that not only you can preserve your own identity and personality, but you can also become a better version of yourself. And this is a message that spoke directly to my heart.

The Last Graduate - Review by BookLore.co.uk

No spoilers

Imagine a world where as a parent, you have to make a choice between having your child at home or sending them away to a school. The choice that you have to make is because as young magic users, they start to attract the mals (evil beasties, can be camouflaged, hard to kill and like to attack and kill people); and to keep them at home with you means that they are more likely to be killed. Or do you send them away? To a place, a Scholomance, where keeping these young magic users together attracts more mals but improves their overall odds of survival by teaching them to use their gifts, but chances are, they are still unlikely to survive.

And imagine, not seeing your child between school years, once they leave, they stay away until they graduate. Or not, as the case may be. The first book in the series ended at the start of El’s last year in school with a cryptic message from her mother, unfortunately her mother’s intuition did not offer a reason, and it was really too late anyway.

The last year at the Scholomance sees El with her friends and Orlando, planning and hoping for a life after school, wondering how they will either return to or enter a community which will offer them lifelong security. The competition to get a place in an enclave is harsh, you need to have skills which are desirable, and being a hard working good friend is not enough. Even enclave superstar Orlando’s relationship with his New York group is somewhat skewed in their favour, which makes you wonder how high a price you should be prepared to pay to get a space in such a community.

The politics of the magical outside world are explored in this book and the historical development of the enclaves which fulfil the requirements of protection and livelihoods for their inhabitants. The rivalries and specialities of the enclaves are fleshed out a bit more and as you read further, you come to appreciate the structure of the magical world that the author is creating.

The relationships between the young people in the school are nicely developed, their fears explored through the lens of the closed community. As friendships become alliances, these alliances become increasingly important as they offer an opportunity to survive graduation, leaving the Scholomance. But the Scholomance has different ideas; almost sentient with the latent magic, it keeps tempting El to get her to go where it wants, but what she finds may not be what she (or we) expected.

I love this series, El is a lovely heroine, her story really draws you in, having started pretty much alone, lots of people will empathise with her feelings of delight in her new relationships, and yet she is suspicious of fitting into a group. It really is compelling and wonderful and the half-rumours of the outside world give enough hints about life beyond the Scholomance that I really don’t want to wait for the next / last in the series. but I will so enjoy going back and re-reading the first two books, so that will be something to look forward to.

Real talk. I enjoyed this more than the first instalment, A Deadly Education. The first book, I felt, took a while to get going and I wasn't as attached to the characters. The Last Graduate really turned these feelings around!

El and co are now in their final year at the Scholomance and despite their best efforts at the end of last term, the school still has more surprised to reveal and throw at them. I really can't say much more than that in summary because honestly, anything more is too much.

Things I liked:
- Galadriel. Her name, her heritage, her references to Wales. Her absolute inability to recognise when someone likes her for her. The development and fluctuation of her moral compass throughout is brilliantly depicted.
- Orion Lake. He reminds me a little of Percy Jackson in personality? I might be alone in that. I was really happy to see his character develop; he felt a lot more three dimensional in this instalment. He's also what I like to call an absolute Muffin -insert heart eyes here!-
-The general fleshing out of all side characters was very welcome!
-Some of the creatures in the Scholomance are described in such terrifying detail that I'm unsure if that's a good or bad thing for me personally but I'm going with good!
-The ending. This falls in to both likes and dislikes. But when I tell you that ending had me gasping, furious and needing the third book pronto! All in all I feel like that was the intended response even though I'm mad.

Things I disliked:
- Novik loves her background information whether it's historical, social or political and we get a lot of this in TLG. I think some of this info could stand to be toned down as sometimes feels like an info-dump.
- That ENDING. I'm still mad!

Will I reread? Yes! Solid 4/5 from me

The trilogy continues with a terrific second installment. 4/5 stars.

[Short summary for anyone short on time: if you read and enjoyed Book 1- particularly El’s first person narration – you’ll enjoy this. Get it now!]

I’ve been a fan of Naomi Novik’s books for a while. But with the first book in the Scholmance series, A Deadly Education, I was delighted to finally be able to give one of her books a 5-star rating when others have come very close.

And with the fantastic cliffhanger at the end of Book 1, I was really looking forward to Book 2, and I’m happy to say that The Last Graduate didn’t disappoint.

This is another brilliant installment in the series in which El – our snarky first person narrator – and the Scholomance itself are the dual stars of the show. And thankfully we get more background and character development for both.

My mind boggles at how complete a world Novik has created with the Scholomance. She’s really thought of everything. There’s not a plot hole in sight. Also, when it comes to creating disgusting and horrifyingly nasty creatures, her imagination is apparently boundless and I don’t know whether to find that worrying or amazing, so I think I’ll have to settle on a bit of both.

If I have a criticism: like all middle books in a trilogy, at times it felt we were being asked to tread water. And the complicated socio-political shennanigans of the outside world of wizarding sometimes seemed a bit heavy. However, I have an inkling all these details will turn out to be important in book 3.

Without spoiling anything, I was delighted the book ended where it did. I wasn’t quite so pleased with the GINORMOUS cliffhanger, but I was happy overall as I thought it was going to end just before the kids graduated, which would have annoyed me as the entire book had been building up to that. So while it’s painful to have to wait a year to find out what happens next, I think the author left the story in just the right place.

As I mentioned in my review of Book 1, this is a YA series. And in that context, I have to say what a tremendous achievement it is that Novik has managed to write a sex scene in this book which is emotional and clearly a sex scene without actually describing the characters having sex. Honestly, all writers need to study it as a brilliant piece of creative writing.

Overall: another great installment in a brilliant YA fantasy series. However, if you haven’t started the Scholomance yet and can’t stand cliffhangers, you might want to wait a year until Book 3 is out and then binge the whole series in one go!

I am a huge fan of Naomi Novik's YA fantasy novels, especially Spinning Silver and Uprooted. Her Scholomance series is a little bit different, set at a dark school for magic. Unlike Hogwarts, this school seems to actively want to kill off its students!

The Last Graduate is the second book in the Scholomance series. It's like a cross between those witch/wizard school stories, like Harry Potter and The Worst Witch, with a hefty dose of The Hunger Games thrown in, and is both brutal and a little bit gruesome at times. Sure, the students at this school are here to learn magic, but they are also here to survive at any cost, which encourages an every-student-for-themselves mentality.

El and her friends are now seniors with the prospect of graduation looming ahead of them. You'd think they'd be delighted to leave the school far behind, except the graduation ceremony is the most deadly of all, with every mal (monster) waiting to devour them as soon as they enter the graduation hall. The practise runs are getting deadlier and deadlier, El can see no way for the students to survive unless they do something really radical... Like, work together?

This series is completely thrilling, edge-of-your-seat stuff, with El battling monsters and spells hurtling at her from every direction. The finale is amazing but (be warned) ends on a humongous cliff-hanger. The amount of work Naomi has put into creating this world, with no detail overlooked, is awe-inspiring. It reminded me a little of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. With that book the backstories were dropped into footnotes, and I did sometimes feel that all the detail (fabulous as it was) slowed down The Last Graduate just when I wanted to race ahead.

I loved the attitude of El (Student most like to say: 'Get lost, I can rescue myself'), who has spent most of her life being viewed with suspicion (thanks to her great-great grandmother's prophecy predicting she's going to cause death and destruction wherever she goes), and is unused to taking a hero's role. Orion, who has spent most of his life training to be a hero, is adorably confused. And El's familiar, Precious the mouse, is sooo cute!

One of my favourite reads this year! I can't wait for the next one!


Thank you to Naomi Novik and Del Ray/Cornerstone/Random House for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

El, Orion and their friends have made it to their final year in the Scholomance. All they need to do now is make it through graduation alive, however the school is ramping up its attacks and making it look less and less likely that El can get her friends out. That is until she tosses the use book out and plays her own game.

I loved the first book in the Scholomance series so had to request this one when I saw it on NetGalley.

It took my a little while to find my feet again, I think I would have benefited from refreshing myself of the events of book 1. I had it in my head El and friends were heading into their second year but they definitely aren't. There's plenty of reminders to help make sure you're up to speed though if, like me, you're out of touch.

It didn't take long for me to be hooked again. El is definitely a unique protagonist. Even though she has settled in and has friends now she's still incredibly abrasive. She has a very strong sense of loyalty and refuses to tolerate anyone taking advantage of her friends. She's also really hard on herself at times.

We get to learn more about El's magic and see how powerful she really is in this book. I thought Novik had created a clever storyline with this and how El being who she is impacts on events and how the Scholomance is operating.

If I had one criticism it would be that this is a series I think could have been stretched over more books and given much richer details of the world building and magic. There was a few times when I felt we were skipping forward. It's not often I complain a book is too fast paced, and I guess the only reason it bothers me here is that I love the story and the setting so more books (or longer books) would be amazing.

That aside though this is definitely another solid instalment in the series, and boy that ending sets up for an epic next book!

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Del Ray for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t get into this book at all but the main reason is because I haven’t read the first book in this series. So a lot of things were confusing and hard to understand. Might try this again if I ever get round to reading the previous book, so possible re-edit of review in future.

Following on from the events of A Deadly Education, El and her allies are now in their final year at the Scholomance. However, things have taken an unexpected turn. Instead of attacking the students across the school as usual, the mals appear to be targeting just El, almost as though the school is trying to push her into becoming a malificer, or get rid of her altogether. But El won’t give in. In fact, she may just be pushed into saving everyone…

The Scholomance series is like a dreamy cross between Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, with students in a magical school fighting to survive through their graduation. Book #1 very quickly became one of my favourite books of all time, and Book #2 managed to live up to the standard.

El is still a totally brilliant character. She’s smart, funny, bad-tempered and a complete hero. She is by far my favourite YA-fantasy heroine and has yet to fall under any of the usual failings of YA protagonists. I also enjoyed reading more about her friends, Aad, Lui, Chloe and Orion, and I loved the introduction of new character, Leisel.

The one and only vaguely negative thing I can say about The Last Graduate is that not all that much really happened during the first two-thirds of the book. There was enough plot progression to keep things ticking along, but it was largely just El fuming about what she was having to deal with. Fortunately, the characters, the magic, the writing quality, and the general premise was enough to keep me completely gripped.

Without giving anything away, one of the most note-worthy aspects of this series are the incredible cliffhangers. If you thought the ending to Book #1 was shocking, just wait until you’ve finished this one!

The second book in the Scholomance series feels more plot driven than the first, with Galadriel - ‘El’ - and her allies focused on getting through graduation alive. This means that they need to hone their skills in a series of tests the Scholomance throws at them. El begins to feel like the school is against her, but soon realises that there’s more going on than she thought.

The story picks up directly after the first book, where El receives an ominous warning from her mother. She soon puts this to the back of her mind, however, as she must focus on finishing her lessons and helping her friends through the Scholomance’s graduation simulations. These are a series of daunting tests of strength, skill, and endurance. El’s role in graduation preparations develops significantly as the plot ramps up in the final two thirds of the book. The story grows into more than the senior class graduating as El’s unique skills come into play.

While it is more plot focused, there are still lots of asides from El about the way enclaves - or magical communities - and other aspects of the world Novik has created work. This feature was present in the first book too, often slowing down the plot. I’m unsure how much of this information will be relevant for the final book, but I suspect Novik wouldn’t include it if it wasn’t going to become relevant. I also wonder if El’s grandmother’s prophecy of destruction is going to come into play in the final book.

Without a doubt, the strongest element of this series is El. Novik gives her heroine the same name as Tolkien’s elven queen. I can only imagine that she was inspired by the dark vision Galadriel sees of herself if she were to accept the ring when Frodo offers it to her. Novik’s El has an affinity for terrible dark magic. She could destroy the Scholomance and everyone in it if she wanted to. What’s so interesting about her is that she very much wants the opposite of that, and this book explores El’s character in a more concrete way than book one does. In book one, she was sarcastic and closed off, and wouldn’t allow anyone to get close, while still very much desiring closeness. Now she has allies, friends, even, and though she’s still rather prickly and sharp tongued, there’s a deep level of pleasure and gratitude in her that she’s no longer alone. In El, we see the effect of her dark magical burden combine with the terror of life in the Scholomance, and it’s entirely not surprising that she is the way she is.

El narrates the entire story from her own perspective, and her conversational style and sarcastic tone are enjoyable to read. It’s also enjoyable to see her become more open to trusting other people. There are moments where she shows her vulnerability and hopes for the future that are nice to read. It’s also really interesting to note the progression from where El started the first book and where she ends this book.

We learn more about some of the other characters too. El’s friends Liu and Aadhya are fleshed out further, and the bond between them grows. Her relationship with the monster killer Orion develops also, and we learn that he wants more than to hunt monsters. It’s unfortunate that Orion disappears for a good portion of the book, though, as I feel the emotional payoff of the story isn’t quite strong enough because of his absence. We needed to know him better, I think, for the story to work.

Once again, Novik has left us with a cliffhanger. It will be interesting to see how this is resolved in the final book. Hopefully we won’t have too long to wait for it to come out.

I. Am. Obsessed.

I really enjoyed last year’s A Deadly Education. I loved the sarcasm, humor and El in general as a protagonist. After that cliffhanger, I was a little nervous about picking up this sequel considering how much I liked the first instalment. I really shouldn’t have been.

The Last Graduate picks up almost immediately where A Deadly Education left off. El and her classmates are now seniors, and have to prepare themselves for the historically bloody graduation ceremony. I’m not going to reveal more, but I promise you you’re in for a ride!

I loved The Last Graduate even more than the first one. Even though it’s a little slower paced at the beginning, it completely sucked me into the dark academia-setting of the Scholomance. El is still an amazing, witty protagonist, and grows so much throughout this book. She’s still sarcastic and rude, but she tries her best to make alliances with others even though she isn’t sure she likes that.

One of the things I was hoping to see more of after finishing A Deadly Education was more Aadya and Liu, and boy did Naomi Novik deliver! El’s friends received a lot more screentime and their friendship was my favourite part of the book. I felt that in general there was a lot more focus on character relationships and this is where the book really shines.

The story (especially the last half!) is action-packed, full of clever twist and turns. There’s a lot going on in this world, but the banter and the snark really balance this out and made this a page-turner which I finished in a day.

However, if the infodumps in the first book didn’t work for you, this one might not either. El might pause in the middle of a sequence to explain paragraphs of info to the reader and I personally love it but I can see why this wouldn’t work for everyone.

Overall, I loved this book, and I honestly regret getting an arc because now I’ll have to wait longer for part 3. I think this is a great follow-up to A Deadly Education and I think fans will be delighted to read this sequel.

Also, if you thought the cliffhanger of the first book was cruel, you are not prepared.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Second in the now-a-trilogy that began with A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate starts where that book ended: in the cafeteria of the Scholomance, with a horde of freshmen still reeling from their magical arrival at this wizardly school that hangs in the void, and El and her friends now the senior class. Which means that, in just under a year, they'll be braving the Graduation Hall (did their attempt to fix the cleansing system work?) and the maleficaria that lurk there.

Though this year might be different. El slowly realises that the Scholomance is focussing on her, giving her a challenging schedule and a group of freshmen to protect, and channelling mals in her direction. Is it trying to nudge her towards the dark destiny she's struggled not to fulfil, or does it have another agenda?

El's classmates are realising just how powerful she is, and she's tentatively forming more alliances and friendships. Her relationship with Orion Lake, the insanely powerful mal-hunter who actually gains mana from killing maleficaria, is also developing. (El's familiar, a small white mouse, does not approve of Orion, and nor does her mother. El keeps telling herself that she doesn't approve of him either.) Orion has grown up both lauded and exploited: valued for his power, taken for granted by those who expect his protection and barely lift a finger to help themselves. El, no stranger to being isolated by her powers, begins to recognise how much damage his upbringing has caused. And she is increasingly uncomfortable with an educational setup that rewards selfishness and murderous intent.

Meanwhile, there are rumours of catastrophe from the outside world, which serve to make the students even nervier, uttterly ignorant as they are of current affairs. Even while she's tentatively planning life after graduation, El is unsure what she'll find when -- if -- she makes it out of the doors of the Graduation Hall.

I enjoyed this very much, though I noted a couple of plot points that could (maybe should) have been foreshadowed in the first book (for instance, the school's motto). It felt more hopeful than the first volume, with a strong theme of change, solidarity, revolution. El is maturing, less prickly and more receptive to overtures of friendship, and her relationship with Orion is changing them both. I enjoyed the friendship between El, Aadhya and Liu, and the shifting feuds and alliances of the senior class. The worldbuilding is lavishly detailed (El does like to digress) and the moments of beauty in a grim and dangerous setting add poignancy to the sheer grind of survival.

This book ends on an appalling cliffhanger, and now I have to wait until next year to find out whether that last spell worked ... and whether we've seen the last of some characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free review copy, in exchange for this honest review.

If you enjoyed A Deadly Education, I have no doubt you will enjoy The Last Graduate. It continues the fascinating premise of a school like no other. One which has the sole purpose of trying to protect magical teenagers, whilst simultaneously managing to put them in frequent mortal peril! El's final year takes it to a whole new level of madness and danger. The world building within the scholomance is brilliant and I particularly enjoyed learning about its original design and intentions.

Just like the first book, this one does end with a pretty big cliffhanger. It still has satisfying resolutions for a lot of what builds up over the book so I wasn't too frustrated, but if you really can't stand a dramatic cliffhanger ending, perhaps wait until we have a date for book 3 before you start reading this one!

A highly recommended sequel for fans of A Deadly Education. Action-packed, intriguing and kept me guessing right up until the last second (and beyond!)

The ending made me screech in horror but I am delighted there will be a rd book! I did find the world building on the heavier this side but the voice made it worthwhile