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A review by kingcrookback
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
After reading the first book, I was prepared for the lengthy bits of exposition. However, I still found myself in a bit of a slog for the first handful of chapters and occasionally in the middle. Most of that is due to the way Novik portrays the passage of time. It's...weird. Weeks and months pass by without much mention, and suddenly, it's the day before graduation. I mean, it's understandable, to an extent. While reading the last book, I did wonder how an international, multi-cultural student body would mean for summer and holiday break and how semesters in the Scholomance were broken up. And I suppose it would be tedious to read about the minutiae of daily events when everyone's really only working on their big project of getting everyone out unscathed. Still, time passes so quickly that it's a bit bewildering and creates sort of a sense of dead space. And it's not like Novik has a problem with maintaining tension; the last chapter in particular had me on the edge of my seat.
I still really like El, though. She has so much heart, however begrudging and reluctant. All the love she has for her mom and all that love that leads her to doing everything in her power to get everyone out of the Scholomance alive. Chapter 8 especially is very good at illustrating this, with the way she logics through how saving yourself is a reasonable, understandable, safe choice, how she can't quite fault anyone for not wanting to sacrifice the entire rest of their life right at their fingertips to save people who wouldn't do the same for them. And then she takes that a step further and comes to the conclusion that just because you can't ask someone else to make that choice, doesn't mean you can't make that choice yourself.
If there isn't a scene of El hugging her mom in the next book, I will riot.
I still really like El, though. She has so much heart, however begrudging and reluctant. All the love she has for her mom and all that love that leads her to doing everything in her power to get everyone out of the Scholomance alive. Chapter 8 especially is very good at illustrating this, with the way she logics through how saving yourself is a reasonable, understandable, safe choice, how she can't quite fault anyone for not wanting to sacrifice the entire rest of their life right at their fingertips to save people who wouldn't do the same for them. And then she takes that a step further and comes to the conclusion that just because you can't ask someone else to make that choice, doesn't mean you can't make that choice yourself.
If there isn't a scene of El hugging her mom in the next book, I will riot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit