The Last Graduate

by Naomi Novak

2 out of 5

Synopsis

A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik's groundbreaking crossover series.

At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year--and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules . . .

Review

El is in her final year of the Scholomance, and despite her best efforts to push them away, she now has friends. They will have to work together to survive graduation.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read the first book in the series, A Deadly Education. I think The Last Graduate did some decent world-building on it's own, but I feel I did miss out on some of the character dynamics of the first book.

This book follows El in the aftermath of the last book.

El is quite a prickly character. She is a rare type of sorceress that can drain mana from those around her, and everyone expects to go dark. Having had to grow up with the blatant distrust all magic-users have when she's around, El has developed into an independent young woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind, and doesn't care who she hurts.

The Scholomance is a magical 'school' that likes to kill its students.

There are no teachers, no breaks or holidays. Kids enter, and if they are lucky, they leave four years later. The 'lessons' and 'exams' are all part of the magic. There is no one for the kids to turn to, except each other. But every favour has a price.

This sounds awesome, with lots of dark magic and danger... but I didn't like it. And I know that I'm in the minority here.

The main problem was - I was bored.

I should not be bored reading about a dubious school that spawns monsters to kill children.

I will note that I DNFed at 50%. But that is still 200 pages of nothing happening.

El was a boring narrator. The 200 pages I read felt like one long monologue where she tells us everything that is happening or not happening. This fashion of telling sapped the possible excitement out of any bits of action.

The plot was monotone and repetitive. The school never felt dangerous. There were little monsters - El and her co-students followed the rules, and managed to avoid or kill them.

The friendships were uninspiring. To start, I liked the idea of El's reluctance to accept that she has friends, and how that would work for someone so socially-inexperienced.

But the friends are all interchangeable, and completely void of personality.

Even the 'boyfriend' Orion... the non-existent connection between them reminded me of when 5 year olds are boyfriends and girlfriends - a title given, nothing more.

It might get more exciting in the second half, but I have no desire to continue with this book or series.

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