Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Last Graduate

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

59 reviews

lennie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for this arc.

Full disclosure I did listen to the audiobook via the library though.

So I liked book one of the Scholomance series but I Loved book two.

In this one we see El is just as grumpy and hilarious as ever but that having friends has clearly rubbed off on her because now she's actively trying to save people and look out for them.

I think part of why I liked this book more than the first one was because the first one just explains in great detail how awful, oppressive, deadly, gruesome etc the Scholomance is and I felt constantly one edge, whereas this one had a very different vibe. I won't go into details because of spoilers but it's a much more optimistic book than the first!

I loved seeing El grow as a character and watch how her friendships blossomed. She was still the same spiky, sarcastic cow who I fell in love with in book one but in being allowed that breathing space, she's really expanded into herself and her powers.

Very much here for ElOrion romance, although they're maybe not the healthiest of examples... 😅

And that ending!?

I'm even more annoyed because the library copy of book three currently has a 6 week wait 😭 But I will be reading The Golden Enclaves as soon as I can get my hands on it!

Also, the audio narrator was absolutely fantastic and embodied El *perfectly*. I need to find more books narrated by Anisha Dadia.

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athryn's review

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adventurous dark lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

Picks up right where the previous one left off, but managed to surprise me with subverting my expectations of where I thought it was going. Still darkly humorous, and hard to put down.

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lanid's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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suncourts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

What a book! Just as good as the first but omg the ending. Unbelieveable, glad I don't have to wait for the next one!

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abookwormspov's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.75

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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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