The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

Series: The Scholomance Book 2
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 368 pages
First Published: 2021

Rachael’s Review

El and Orion have reached their senior year at the Scholomance, a deadly school of magic intent on killing its students. El is determined that she had her friends will survive graduation day and its lethal ceremony, but the school has other plans. Will she need to succumb to her destiny of destruction or can she find a way to unite all the different factions and rescue everyone? A solid sequel to A Deadly Education, I must say I can’t wait to read The Golden Enclaves.

Publisher’s Description

In Wisdom, Shelter. That’s the official motto of the Scholomance. I suppose you could even argue that it’s true—only the wisdom is hard to come by, so the shelter’s rather scant.

Our beloved school does its best to devour all its students—but now that I’ve reached my senior year and have actually won myself a handful of allies, it’s suddenly developed a very particular craving for me. And even if I somehow make it through the endless waves of maleficaria that it keeps throwing at me in between grueling homework assignments, I haven’t any idea how my allies and I are going to make it through the graduation hall alive.

Unless, of course, I finally accept my foretold destiny of dark sorcery and destruction. That would certainly let me sail straight out of here. The course of wisdom, surely.

But I’m not giving in—not to the mals, not to fate, and especially not to the Scholomance. I’m going to get myself and my friends out of this hideous place for good—even if it’s the last thing I do.

With keen insight and mordant humor, Novik reminds us that sometimes it is not enough to rewrite the rules—sometimes, you need to toss out the entire rulebook.