Wednesday 28 July 2021

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik


At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year--and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, 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 . . 

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.


The Last Graduate publishes on the 28th of September, 2021. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.

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