Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

16 reviews

blacksphinx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just when I was complaining that a certain main character hadn't done anything all book or exhibited any sort of personality, we got some nice time for them to open up and bloom a bit before the brutal cliffhanger of an ending. 

It's lovely watching our protagonist grow as a person, opening up, learning to ask for help, and forming close friendships with other girls. (The unexpected LGBT+ representation was a nice bonus!) There was at least one plot point in here that didn't really make any sense to me, but the emotional through line and building themes stop me from giving it less than five stars. 
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litliz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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alicevicini's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
I’ve always had a problem with Naomi Novak’s writing style… I have to be super focused to be able to read her books so it takes me a while to finish them. However, I really like the plot and the setting. 

The first part of the book felt a little actionless but then it sped up and I really enjoyed the second part. The whole plan was intriguing and I loved seeing the training behind it and how the students put that into practice! 

The final cliffhanger annoyed me, though…  

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thequiltyreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed it in the main but I felt some sections were a bit too protracted, whereas other areas were rushed through. Also I felt some of the characters lacked some depth. Though it ended with a lot of loose ends, and I enjoyed it enough to reach out and read the final book in thr trilogy.
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squinnittowinit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A great sequel. This book had me on the edge of my seat so many times, and by the final chapters, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

4.75 for a couple very very minor annoyances:
Yes, I understand that El is traumatized by years of social rejection, but I got a little tired of her assuming that her new friends were going to ditch her all the time. I wish that growth had happened a little faster.

When El and Orion get together, they keep saying they can't have sex because of the risk/lack of contraception. I don't like how this assumes that the only way for them to have sex is the one way that would pose that risk. There are plenty of ways to have sex and have a good time without any risk of pregnancy.
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directorpurry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

a great sequel with the most brutal cliffhanger one could imagine. thrilling.
quite a curious read, especially regarding the characters and their development. the whole book centers around graduation, and a very important and substantial twist in el's thinking. the ideas behind the book were brilliant, if perhaps a little "out of character" with a lot of new concepts that make the reader basically scrap everything they know about the dark school of magic (and partly the characters as well) from the first book. it wasn't at all unpleasant or anything, quite the opposite - it filled the sequel with fresh and interest-evoking ideas, but just know that this one is swerving in the 'everything is going to be alright' and positive-thinking direction. i seriously missed the 'fuck we're all gonna die' mood from the first book and also just some death in general, but alright.
the romance sort of peaks in this one as well, and i'm really in love with the dynamic. the cliffhanger made me want to haul the book against the wall because it was just so so ... screaming crying throwing up yk, in a good way.
the one awkward sex scene made me a little uncomfortable because it was simply so uncalled for and just an unnecessary like, three-page-filler, so nope, didn't like that at all.
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robynlynae's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This second installment in the Scholomance series is just as good, if not better than the first. Now El and her friends are in their last year at the Scholomance and they are fighting to survive graduation. The school has a message for her and it doesn't appear to be a very friendly one. 

What I enjoyed the most about this book was how unexpected it was. Just when I thought I knew where the plot was going, the school (Novik) switched it up and surprised me. I loved it. It had everything I loved about El and her friends from the first book plus so much more character development. I thought it was wonderful and felt genuine to the characters. AND THAT CLIFFHANGER ENDING!!! HOLY SHIT!!!! It had me IMMEDIATELY downloading the third book. I was mad and impressed at the same time. I'm just so glad I didn't come upon this when it was freshly published and therefore have to suffer with that cliffhanger until the next book came out. 

I went to bed late into the night listening to this book so it completely passed my escape test. I recommend this for people who like teens under stress trying to be heroes while also figuring out feelings, American Ninja Warrior, and found family trope.
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the_quickening_tree's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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katjonzz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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