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A review by allaboutfrodo
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
5.0
I just finished reading an advance reader copy of The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik, and my initial reaction is
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?
Novik did an exceptional a job ratcheting up the tension at the end and making me want that next book NOW! Did what just seemed to happen really happen? I want to know! Now!
Overall I did not think The Last Graduate was quite as good as the first book, A Deadly Education, although it was still quite good. Main character El’s personality changed a little too much, other than her snark and her meanness toward Orion (which is hardly deserved when he is just a nice guy who wants to date her). I found it a little hard to believe that she changed that much. But I was looking for character growth, and I got it. I wasn’t quite sure why the mouse familiars exist. They didn’t really seem to add a lot to the story. (And why doesn’t El’s mouse Precious like Orion? Is it just jealousy?) Also, that title? It’s a spoiler.
There is some very nice stuff about being different and finding friends anyway. (“[I]t 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.” (Chapter 2 of the advance reader copy) There is a romance, but the friendships are every bit as important, as are the relationships between people who aren’t friends but still agree to work together to achieve a goal. At no point did my interest in reading this book wane.
If you enjoy books about magical schools, I highly recommend The Scholomance series; however you might want to wait until book 3 is on the horizon so you don’t have to wait, like me. The ending of book one left me in a similar state. When is that third book coming out, anyway?
#TheLastGraduate #NetGalley
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?
Novik did an exceptional a job ratcheting up the tension at the end and making me want that next book NOW! Did what just seemed to happen really happen? I want to know! Now!
Overall I did not think The Last Graduate was quite as good as the first book, A Deadly Education, although it was still quite good. Main character El’s personality changed a little too much, other than her snark and her meanness toward Orion (which is hardly deserved when he is just a nice guy who wants to date her). I found it a little hard to believe that she changed that much. But I was looking for character growth, and I got it. I wasn’t quite sure why the mouse familiars exist. They didn’t really seem to add a lot to the story. (And why doesn’t El’s mouse Precious like Orion? Is it just jealousy?) Also, that title? It’s a spoiler.
There is some very nice stuff about being different and finding friends anyway. (“[I]t 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.” (Chapter 2 of the advance reader copy) There is a romance, but the friendships are every bit as important, as are the relationships between people who aren’t friends but still agree to work together to achieve a goal. At no point did my interest in reading this book wane.
If you enjoy books about magical schools, I highly recommend The Scholomance series; however you might want to wait until book 3 is on the horizon so you don’t have to wait, like me. The ending of book one left me in a similar state. When is that third book coming out, anyway?
#TheLastGraduate #NetGalley