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A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik's groundbreaking crossover series. At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year--and the looming specter of matriculation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive after. El is determined that her group will make it out alive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules... --
User reviews
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Scholomance trilogy. I borrowed an eBook of this from my library.
Thoughts: I love the idea of the Scholomance but some of the issues I had with the first book in this series continue here. This book picks up where the last book left off; El and
As mentioned, I had some of the same issues with this book that I had with the first book. The mals are still not well described and I have trouble picturing some of them. Again this varies with the mal being discussed but was still an issue. I did grow more attached to the characters here, but still didn’t love them. They are just all kind of mean to each other and don’t form very cohesive friendships. The friendships seem to thrive more out of one-sided determination than anything else.
Then there is the pacing, some parts were just slow. I especially thought the large section of the book where El and crew were doing runs in the gym over and over and over got very repetitive. I was like, okay I get it...let’s move on. Additionally, there’s a bit too much of El getting lost and sidetracked in her head for pages while in the middle of action scenes. Lastly, this ends on an absolutely horrible cliffhanger which was pretty predictable but still pissed me off.
All the above complaining aside I do really love the idea of the Scholomance and the world built here. I also really love the mals and the fighting and how magic works in this world. The amazing world building and intriguing premise is enough to keep me reading the story. The characters are also slowly growing on me (like a monstrous mold) and I am moderately curious about what will happen to them in the final book.
My Summary (4/5): Overall, hands down, the strongest part of this book is the world-building and the intriguing magic. I love the premise here but the book definitely has its flaws. The pacing is slow at points and El spends too much time in her head during critical moments. The characterization is a bit weak, especially for side characters, and I still struggle to picture a lot of mals. Despite these issues, I do plan on finishing this series because I love the Scholomance itself and am incredibly curious about how things will go with this world, their magic, and their children.
Thoughts: I love the idea of the Scholomance but some of the issues I had with the first book in this series continue here. This book picks up where the last book left off; El and
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crew are starting off their senior year. The school seems out to get El and El is determined to help all of the kids in her class graduate, not just her allies.As mentioned, I had some of the same issues with this book that I had with the first book. The mals are still not well described and I have trouble picturing some of them. Again this varies with the mal being discussed but was still an issue. I did grow more attached to the characters here, but still didn’t love them. They are just all kind of mean to each other and don’t form very cohesive friendships. The friendships seem to thrive more out of one-sided determination than anything else.
Then there is the pacing, some parts were just slow. I especially thought the large section of the book where El and crew were doing runs in the gym over and over and over got very repetitive. I was like, okay I get it...let’s move on. Additionally, there’s a bit too much of El getting lost and sidetracked in her head for pages while in the middle of action scenes. Lastly, this ends on an absolutely horrible cliffhanger which was pretty predictable but still pissed me off.
All the above complaining aside I do really love the idea of the Scholomance and the world built here. I also really love the mals and the fighting and how magic works in this world. The amazing world building and intriguing premise is enough to keep me reading the story. The characters are also slowly growing on me (like a monstrous mold) and I am moderately curious about what will happen to them in the final book.
My Summary (4/5): Overall, hands down, the strongest part of this book is the world-building and the intriguing magic. I love the premise here but the book definitely has its flaws. The pacing is slow at points and El spends too much time in her head during critical moments. The characterization is a bit weak, especially for side characters, and I still struggle to picture a lot of mals. Despite these issues, I do plan on finishing this series because I love the Scholomance itself and am incredibly curious about how things will go with this world, their magic, and their children.
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LibraryThing member murderbydeath
While the story remains a good one, the tendency to natter continues. Randomly flipping to a page, there's a few lines of dialog at the top of page 202, and then nothing but introspection and inner-dialog until page 208. That's a random page, so it's not a rarity, and it happened at least once in
I dinged the story itself 1/2 star from the first one because it's meh. Not quite as good as the first, although El's attitude improved exponentially. She also gets a mouse familiar who is loaded with sass, but neither is enough to pull the story up.
Though I'm damning with faint praise, the last one in the trilogy is out later this month and I'm willing to reserve it at the library to see how the story ends. I'll probably skip anything else by the author though.
I read this because it was sitting on my coffee table; it isn't readily fitting any available squares on my Halloween Bingo card, so I'll leave off shoe-horning it in somewhere unless I need it later (I might, for Country House Mystery and a Wild Card usage).
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the middle of not only a scene, but a conversation; by the time I got to the character's response I had totally forgotten there was a 'scene in play' and I had to flip pages and pages back to figure out what the character was responding to.I dinged the story itself 1/2 star from the first one because it's meh. Not quite as good as the first, although El's attitude improved exponentially. She also gets a mouse familiar who is loaded with sass, but neither is enough to pull the story up.
Though I'm damning with faint praise, the last one in the trilogy is out later this month and I'm willing to reserve it at the library to see how the story ends. I'll probably skip anything else by the author though.
I read this because it was sitting on my coffee table; it isn't readily fitting any available squares on my Halloween Bingo card, so I'll leave off shoe-horning it in somewhere unless I need it later (I might, for Country House Mystery and a Wild Card usage).
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LibraryThing member readinggeek451
Second book of the the Scholomance, sequel to The Last Graduate. The Scholomance is a boarding school for wizard children, but it's no Hogwarts. Instead, everything in the school--including some of the other students--is trying to kill them off. Perhaps one in four lives to graduate, where
El has survived three years at the school and is now a senior. To her surprise, she has a few friends and a graduation alliance. But this year the school seems to be targeting her in particular. She is losing power faster than she can build it, and may not make it to graduation. Until things get strange.
Exciting, suspenseful, original, and compelling. The Last Graduate was justly criticized for some racial issues. They seem in my uninformed opinion to be less prevalent here, but I'm not the one to judge.
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"graduation" means "make it through a hall filled with deadly monsters."El has survived three years at the school and is now a senior. To her surprise, she has a few friends and a graduation alliance. But this year the school seems to be targeting her in particular. She is losing power faster than she can build it, and may not make it to graduation. Until things get strange.
Exciting, suspenseful, original, and compelling. The Last Graduate was justly criticized for some racial issues. They seem in my uninformed opinion to be less prevalent here, but I'm not the one to judge.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
This is the second book of the Scholomance trilogy, which takes up immediately where “A Deadly Education” left off.
Galadriel, known as El, is now 17 and a senior in the Scholomance for sorcerers, a sentient boarding school sort of like a very dark version of Hogwarts. Every day in the school
Students try to make alliances to help protect one another because they basically have to in order to survive, so everything becomes transactional - e.g., I will pry a tray of food away from grasping mals for you in the cafeteria if you get them away from a place to sit at a table.
El never had friends before, but now she is an important part of an alliance, and even has a boyfriend, Orion Lake. Together, El and Orion are considered among the most important students in the school: Orion has an ability to destroy most of the mals that roam through the school, and El has the ability to destroy, well, everything, is she wants to.
The modus operandi at the Scholomance has always been to look out for yourself and your own survival first, only giving as much as you have to in order to ensure that occurs. Alas, having friends and relationships has created in El the inconvenient tendency to start to care about others, and whether they survive. This makes her, in her own (previous) estimation, a “complete numpty.” But the appeal of not being alone anymore is more powerful than any magic she knows. It saves her, and she wants to save everyone else in return. She finds herself copycatting Orion’s “stupid noble-hero routine” and so the school comes after her - sending mals after her alone. But then she discovers what the school really wants from her. The question is, can she get all the other students to go along with it, even if it means taking risks for others besides yourself with no payoff?
Evaluation: As the days flew by to the big graduation test of survival, I found myself flying through the pages as well. And wow, what an ending! I can’t wait for the third book!
Galadriel, known as El, is now 17 and a senior in the Scholomance for sorcerers, a sentient boarding school sort of like a very dark version of Hogwarts. Every day in the school
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the students - more than 4,000 of them - face an obstacle course full of monsters (“maleficaria” or “mals”) trying to kill and eat them. “Graduation” is the final big test, when, in order to get out of the school, they have to run through a gauntlet of all the hungry mals lying in wait; less than a quarter of the class is ever expected to survive. El thinks this isn't so bad; she calculates that if you’re an indie kid like she is (not part of an enclave of other wizards), and you don’t get into the Scholomance, your odds of making it to the far side of puberty are one in twenty. Thus, “one in four is plenty decent odds compared to that.”Students try to make alliances to help protect one another because they basically have to in order to survive, so everything becomes transactional - e.g., I will pry a tray of food away from grasping mals for you in the cafeteria if you get them away from a place to sit at a table.
El never had friends before, but now she is an important part of an alliance, and even has a boyfriend, Orion Lake. Together, El and Orion are considered among the most important students in the school: Orion has an ability to destroy most of the mals that roam through the school, and El has the ability to destroy, well, everything, is she wants to.
The modus operandi at the Scholomance has always been to look out for yourself and your own survival first, only giving as much as you have to in order to ensure that occurs. Alas, having friends and relationships has created in El the inconvenient tendency to start to care about others, and whether they survive. This makes her, in her own (previous) estimation, a “complete numpty.” But the appeal of not being alone anymore is more powerful than any magic she knows. It saves her, and she wants to save everyone else in return. She finds herself copycatting Orion’s “stupid noble-hero routine” and so the school comes after her - sending mals after her alone. But then she discovers what the school really wants from her. The question is, can she get all the other students to go along with it, even if it means taking risks for others besides yourself with no payoff?
Evaluation: As the days flew by to the big graduation test of survival, I found myself flying through the pages as well. And wow, what an ending! I can’t wait for the third book!
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LibraryThing member quondame
A swift stream of a book with rough rapids and sharp curves but few backwaters and sharp plunge of an ending. The seldom named anti-social heroine reluctantly acquires allies who formulate a scheme that is quite different in scope and goals than we have any reason to expect at the beginning of this
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ride. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tip44
SQUEEE it was as good as the first one!
LibraryThing member shelleyraec
A cross between Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, The Last Graduate is an imaginative, exciting and darkly funny fantasy, full of magic and monsters.
The Last Graduate picks up where A Deadly Education left off with Galadriel ‘El’ Higgins now a senior. In just a few months she and her fellow
I was delighted to rejoin El, her allies, and enemies, at Scholomance, where navigating every activity, from bathroom visits to classroom assignments, is a matter of life and death. As a member of the graduating class, El’s focus should be on passing finals, building manna, and shoring up her alliances in preparation for graduation, but Scholomance seems determined to make her life difficult, throwing mals (monsters), and hapless freshmen, in her path. It’s some time before El recognises the school’s motive for what it is - not a curse, but a plea.
While there is plenty of action as the students prepare for the graduation day gauntlet, the lulls allow for character development. El, once friendless, now has a strong pact with Liu and Aadhya, and the support of the New York enclave, thanks in part to her somewhat complicated relationship with Orion Lake, but is still reluctant to trust others, or her self. I really like El, but I was glad to see some character growth. She remains a pessimist with a quick temper and a sarcastic wit, but also proves resourceful, determined, loyal, and a little less guarded.
I felt there was more emphasis on the themes of privilege, inequality and competition vs cooperation in this novel. The latter is of particular importance as the events in The Last Graduate suggest a twist to the prophecy that warns El, with her prodigious magical strength, will be responsible for the destruction of the enclaves.
There is no denying that the cliffhanger ending is hugely frustrating, and as it will likely be another year until the third book is released, it’s going to be a long wait, so I hope the pay off will be worth it!
The Last Graduate picks up where A Deadly Education left off with Galadriel ‘El’ Higgins now a senior. In just a few months she and her fellow
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classmates will leave Scholomance, a sentient school built in the void to educate the children of the magical community, forever - assuming they survive the traditional attrition of graduation day.I was delighted to rejoin El, her allies, and enemies, at Scholomance, where navigating every activity, from bathroom visits to classroom assignments, is a matter of life and death. As a member of the graduating class, El’s focus should be on passing finals, building manna, and shoring up her alliances in preparation for graduation, but Scholomance seems determined to make her life difficult, throwing mals (monsters), and hapless freshmen, in her path. It’s some time before El recognises the school’s motive for what it is - not a curse, but a plea.
While there is plenty of action as the students prepare for the graduation day gauntlet, the lulls allow for character development. El, once friendless, now has a strong pact with Liu and Aadhya, and the support of the New York enclave, thanks in part to her somewhat complicated relationship with Orion Lake, but is still reluctant to trust others, or her self. I really like El, but I was glad to see some character growth. She remains a pessimist with a quick temper and a sarcastic wit, but also proves resourceful, determined, loyal, and a little less guarded.
I felt there was more emphasis on the themes of privilege, inequality and competition vs cooperation in this novel. The latter is of particular importance as the events in The Last Graduate suggest a twist to the prophecy that warns El, with her prodigious magical strength, will be responsible for the destruction of the enclaves.
There is no denying that the cliffhanger ending is hugely frustrating, and as it will likely be another year until the third book is released, it’s going to be a long wait, so I hope the pay off will be worth it!
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Senior year in the Scholomance. This book goes straight for “reluctant hero who’s supposed to be the bad guy discovers with annoyance that what they really want is to save people, ungrateful or no,” and it’s propulsive fun as El recruits more and more people to try to fix the Scholomance
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and save as many of the students as she can. Warning for immense cliffhanger (almost literally) at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member SamMusher
As I suspected, I liked book 2 better than book 1. The world was established, so she could dial back the endless explaining and balance it out with characters and plot. The metaphor about fighting systems, not individuals, took a twist when the school became a character in its own right, but I am
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always here for a Moana-style “the enemy is a hero twisted by lack of compassion” ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member phyllis2779
At first I was concerned that this book would be a disappointment after the high of the first book, A Deadly Education, but it kept building and I think it is almost as good. I just love the way Naomi Novik writes. I loved her dragon series and the two independent books after that. I'm glad this
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will be a trilogy because I really want to know how Galandriel's story goes outside of school. The author dropped a lot of hints and the ending to this book is a cliffhanger or a tragedy depending on what we find out in the next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Wow. It's so rich, on so many levels. And this is the girl who was quite certain, at the beginning of the first book, that she'd never change - that her future was entirely laid out for her. It's an amazing story. And everyone is so...reasonable. The objectors make sense (El explains, most of the
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time, why they make so much sense), and the ones who choose to help anyway make sense - it's long-term vs short-term thinking, but both make sense on their own terms. And the school...heh, training up its own hero(es). It's not a cliffhanger end, I don't think...just an end. There isn't time for anything else. But I'd love to see more of these people, all of them - what happens in the new world they've made? Because the school has spent generations training people to be selfish, and now these students have learned the alternative. It's going to be a big switch in thinking, over time, as these kids get to be adults and in charge of things. Or to put it another way...what exactly did that vision of her destroying everything entail? Show Less
LibraryThing member Verkruissen
What a fantastic follow up to A Deadly Education! This book literally picks up a day or two later after graduation in the first book. El has an unbelievably hard schedule for her senior year with a free afternoon once a week. When she realizes she shares this room with a group of freshman that are
I could not put this book down. If you enjoyed Deadly Education you'll enjoy this ride just as much. It ended on a huge cliffhanger so it looks like there will be another one to come! I'm so excited!
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continually getting attacked by mals she begins to suspect the school has it out for her specifically. I could not put this book down. If you enjoyed Deadly Education you'll enjoy this ride just as much. It ended on a huge cliffhanger so it looks like there will be another one to come! I'm so excited!
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
So I read this book with anticipation, and its good, but not as great as the first one. Where the first book introduced a magic setup (and a school) that is very different than anything I've seen before, this book doesn't quite do it justice. I think my main issue is El and Orion's relationship.
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of the book, it was rather abrupt, but it does fit with the book and the horribleness of being a magically inclined juvenile. This really is a series that hits all the buttons of been a teenager, angst, outsider vs insider, etc.
I would also suggest reading the second book immediately after the first book. I suspect this was originally proposed as one big book, but with the amount of content (and two books means two sales, instead of one) it was broken up.
This story manages to do something new with the magically boarding school trope and does it in a way that changes up everything about why kids get sent to a magical boarding school. Highly recommended. Plus El is a great character.
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This was written in a clumsy manner, and it felt rather off.I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of the book, it was rather abrupt, but it does fit with the book and the horribleness of being a magically inclined juvenile. This really is a series that hits all the buttons of been a teenager, angst, outsider vs insider, etc.
I would also suggest reading the second book immediately after the first book. I suspect this was originally proposed as one big book, but with the amount of content (and two books means two sales, instead of one) it was broken up.
This story manages to do something new with the magically boarding school trope and does it in a way that changes up everything about why kids get sent to a magical boarding school. Highly recommended. Plus El is a great character.
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LibraryThing member MickyFine
In the second book of the Scholomance series, El and her small group of allies have become seniors and are now seriously planning their strategies for making it through graduation alive. As the new school year begins, El is convinced the school is seriously trying to kill her but all may not be as
This series is SO good. El is a prickly young woman for all the right reasons and it's a delight to watch her grow a bit and find her people. Surround them with a brutal but fascinating magical world and a looming final confrontation that exceeded all my expectations and it's just a perfect read. I cannot wait to see what Novik will do with the next book in the series.
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it seems.This series is SO good. El is a prickly young woman for all the right reasons and it's a delight to watch her grow a bit and find her people. Surround them with a brutal but fascinating magical world and a looming final confrontation that exceeded all my expectations and it's just a perfect read. I cannot wait to see what Novik will do with the next book in the series.
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LibraryThing member oldandnewbooksmell
El, Aadhya, Liu, Orion, and their classmates have made it to their final year at the Scholomance. But now graduation is drawing closer and the deadly ceremony leaves few students alive every year. El is determined to get her friends out alive. As they strategize to get out, El discovers more and
Something about finding a way to survive with all your friends and beat all the odds is some dark, wholesome content I was in need of right now. Still in love with El and her snarkiness but also enjoyed seeing her walls get a little squishy too…
…It took me a few moments longer than Aadhya - three years of near-total social ostracization leaves you badly equipped for this sort of thing - but they both kept a space open until I lurched in to join the hug, our arms around each other, and it was the miracle all over again, the miracle I still couldn’t quite believe in: I wasn’t alone anymore. They were saving me, and I was going to save them. It felt more like magic than magic. As though it could make everything all right. As if the whole world had become a different place.
The friendship between El, Aadhya, and Liu made me smile so much throughout the book. The girls were there to call El out on her B.S. and sometimes she really needed it. I’m excited to see how their relationship is outside of the school.
Speaking of relationships: El and Orion! El had Aadhya and Liu to help keep her grounded and on track, Orion had El… which was good because the New York enclave kids still did not really watch out for him. Poor Orion though - he really goes through some stuff that you don’t even realize until near the end and then a lot of stuff about him makes sense.
There was still a lot of info dumping, but again, I found myself not caring that it was an info dump, and instead was soaking up everything about this crazy and intense world that Novik had built.
I really need the third book, like now. I sometimes curse myself when I find a series that isn’t fully out yet. But then it gives me something to look forward to (hopefully soon). I was able to pretty much read the first two books back to back and for that I am thankful! Upon reading about this book, it sounds like Naomi Novik wrote this one to bridge the first and third book so it makes me even more excited for it. And, we’re bound to find out more about the world outside the Scholomance… I have a feeling it’s not going to be like El left it!
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more about the school and the amount of souls who need help escaping grows.Something about finding a way to survive with all your friends and beat all the odds is some dark, wholesome content I was in need of right now. Still in love with El and her snarkiness but also enjoyed seeing her walls get a little squishy too…
…It took me a few moments longer than Aadhya - three years of near-total social ostracization leaves you badly equipped for this sort of thing - but they both kept a space open until I lurched in to join the hug, our arms around each other, and it was the miracle all over again, the miracle I still couldn’t quite believe in: I wasn’t alone anymore. They were saving me, and I was going to save them. It felt more like magic than magic. As though it could make everything all right. As if the whole world had become a different place.
The friendship between El, Aadhya, and Liu made me smile so much throughout the book. The girls were there to call El out on her B.S. and sometimes she really needed it. I’m excited to see how their relationship is outside of the school.
Speaking of relationships: El and Orion! El had Aadhya and Liu to help keep her grounded and on track, Orion had El… which was good because the New York enclave kids still did not really watch out for him. Poor Orion though - he really goes through some stuff that you don’t even realize until near the end and then a lot of stuff about him makes sense.
There was still a lot of info dumping, but again, I found myself not caring that it was an info dump, and instead was soaking up everything about this crazy and intense world that Novik had built.
I really need the third book, like now. I sometimes curse myself when I find a series that isn’t fully out yet. But then it gives me something to look forward to (hopefully soon). I was able to pretty much read the first two books back to back and for that I am thankful! Upon reading about this book, it sounds like Naomi Novik wrote this one to bridge the first and third book so it makes me even more excited for it. And, we’re bound to find out more about the world outside the Scholomance… I have a feeling it’s not going to be like El left it!
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LibraryThing member kevn57
4 star, this is one of the best YA books I've read in a long time, I considered waiting till next year after the 3rd book comes out to start the first but I'm glad I didn't wait, I'll probably reread these right before book 3 comes out.
I really like how much El has changed through the first two
At the beginning of book she she disliked almost everyone in the school, end of book 1 and she had a few friends people she cared about. Even through book 1 while her inner dialogue said that she wouldn't do anything for any one else she clearly does.
In her first homeroom in book 2 the freshman get attacked and her inner dialogue tells her just get away, yet she save them all even though she's dangerously low on mana.
By the last half of book 2 she decides to save everyone in the school, and of course she does, along the way she falls for Orion.
This was supposed to be a duology, but she said in an interview that after starting the second book she knew it'd have to be a trilogy.
I wonder if there was an enclave war during the senior year and now El and Orion will have to face that in the final book.
I really like how much El has changed through the first two
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books of the seriesAt the beginning of book she she disliked almost everyone in the school, end of book 1 and she had a few friends people she cared about. Even through book 1 while her inner dialogue said that she wouldn't do anything for any one else she clearly does.
In her first homeroom in book 2 the freshman get attacked and her inner dialogue tells her just get away, yet she save them all even though she's dangerously low on mana.
By the last half of book 2 she decides to save everyone in the school, and of course she does, along the way she falls for Orion.
This was supposed to be a duology, but she said in an interview that after starting the second book she knew it'd have to be a trilogy.
I wonder if there was an enclave war during the senior year and now El and Orion will have to face that in the final book.
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LibraryThing member g33kgrrl
That end! How dare.
LibraryThing member NeedMoreShelves
Love the MC's voice - snarky, smart, doesn't give a shit. This novel seemed like it needed an editor to make it a little tighter, but the cliffhanger was A+++.
LibraryThing member foggidawn
Second book in a series, so I won't approach the tricky task of summarizing. If you enjoyed the first book, you've probably already read the second one, and you know it ends in a miserable cliffhanger just like its predecessor. (I was expecting it this time, but that doesn't make it okay.) At
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least, since I had to delay reading this one, I now only have to wait until September for the next (final?) book in the series. Seriously, though, a super fun read, and different from anything else Novik has written so far. If you like the premise of wizard kids trapped in a school that's constantly trying to kill them, take a look at the first book, A Deadly Education. Show Less
LibraryThing member jscape2000
A sequel almost as good as the first, though I got a little bored during the heroine's slow slog to understanding that (spoiler) she needs to get everyone to work together. Teamwork makes the dream work, duh.
Can't wait for book 3.
Can't wait for book 3.
LibraryThing member Shrike58
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of the first book in this trilogy, as though I liked the voice of the main character, a lot of the novel really wasn't grabbing me; it didn't help that I had just read "Vita Nostra," which is playing with the same legend of a sinister school for magicians in
So, there's not that much in detail that I want to say about this book, as that would give the story away, but Novik does a fine job of blowing up any standard notions of how one might have thought this book would play out; there is something of a deconstruction of some traditional tropes going on. Also changing things up is that events outside the school have become more important to those within than running the gauntlet. Further, one is also given a better sense of the character of Orion Lake, and these revelations are kind of painful. And, yes, this book ends on a a real hard cliffhanger, so you're just going to have to rush out and read the next book when it becomes available!
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a more gothic fashion. Once I learned that this series was basically meant to be YA for adults who liked YA, it was clear that I was going to have to rearrange my preconceptions.So, there's not that much in detail that I want to say about this book, as that would give the story away, but Novik does a fine job of blowing up any standard notions of how one might have thought this book would play out; there is something of a deconstruction of some traditional tropes going on. Also changing things up is that events outside the school have become more important to those within than running the gauntlet. Further, one is also given a better sense of the character of Orion Lake, and these revelations are kind of painful. And, yes, this book ends on a a real hard cliffhanger, so you're just going to have to rush out and read the next book when it becomes available!
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
I held off reading the ARC for as long as I could, because I wanted to savor the experience. But then I started reading and couldn't stop. All of the things I loved about the first book again, but with new and surprising directions. I am inarticulately in love with this series, with angry El, with
Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.
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the whole horrifying world and the unfurling story. Does not disappoint, except in a gutted "Whaaaaaaaaat" at the end as we wait for the next book. Please let there be a next book. Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.
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LibraryThing member N.W.Moors
I happen to love Ms. Novik's books, so I was waiting anxiously for this sequel to The Scholomance, one of the best dark fantasies I've read in a while. This did not disappoint. If anything, it ramped up the story to an unbelievable cliffhanger ending (and that's when I thought the first book ended
El spends her last year at the Scholomance finally making friends and preparing for the massacre that is graduation day. She's determined that no one at the school should be sacrificed to the Mals anymore, so they come up with a plan.
The story flew by for me and I was cheering until - I did not see that ending coming! I won't say any more about it, but I can't wait for the next book. Ms. Novik is a great writer and always presents a fresh view in her books. I like my fantasy a little dark and she is one of the best at presenting a grim outlook in her stories. The Scholomance is not Hogwarts. I don't want to spoil here, but I definitely recommend this series to any who enjoy good fantasy.
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on a great cliffhanger).El spends her last year at the Scholomance finally making friends and preparing for the massacre that is graduation day. She's determined that no one at the school should be sacrificed to the Mals anymore, so they come up with a plan.
The story flew by for me and I was cheering until - I did not see that ending coming! I won't say any more about it, but I can't wait for the next book. Ms. Novik is a great writer and always presents a fresh view in her books. I like my fantasy a little dark and she is one of the best at presenting a grim outlook in her stories. The Scholomance is not Hogwarts. I don't want to spoil here, but I definitely recommend this series to any who enjoy good fantasy.
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LibraryThing member deslivres5
In the second book in The Scholomance series, The Last Graduate, El and classmates are back, seniors now and still trying to survive their magical school until graduation. Fantastical plans are hatched. The magic abounds. The ending is a serious cliffhanger. Can't wait for #3, The Golden Enclaves,
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coming later this year! Show Less
LibraryThing member bell7
*E-book ARC received from the publisher through Edelweiss Plus - thank you!*
El and her friends start senior year, and beginning making plans for graduation. If their fix worked, they should have given themselves a fighting change against all the mean magic beasties - maleficaria - that feast on
A Deadly Education was one of my top books of 2020, and The Last Graduate may very well make my list of favorites this year as well. My only complaint is that I have to wait to read book 3. Recommended for grown up fans of fantasy school stories that would appreciate the darker side of this one.
El and her friends start senior year, and beginning making plans for graduation. If their fix worked, they should have given themselves a fighting change against all the mean magic beasties - maleficaria - that feast on
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students on their way out the doors for good. But the school seems to be out to get El, as she's suddenly the only one being targeted by mals.A Deadly Education was one of my top books of 2020, and The Last Graduate may very well make my list of favorites this year as well. My only complaint is that I have to wait to read book 3. Recommended for grown up fans of fantasy school stories that would appreciate the darker side of this one.
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Awards
Lodestar Award (Winner — 2022)
Publication
Del Rey (2021), 400 pages
Original publication date
2021-09-28
Language
ISBN
0593128869 / 9780593128862