The Last Graduate

A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 2)

By: Naomi Novik

Narrated by: Anisha Dadia

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling trilogy continues in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education.

“The climactic graduation-day battle will bring cheers, tears, and gasps as the second of the Scholomance trilogy closes with a breathtaking cliff-hanger.”—Booklist (starred review)

WINNER OF THE LODESTAR AWARD • HUGO AND LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Polygon, Thrillist, She Reads

In Wisdom, Shelter. That’s the official motto of the Scholomance. I suppose you could even argue that it’s true—only the wisdom is hard to come by, so the shelter’s rather scant.

Our beloved school does its best to devour all its students—but now that I’ve reached my senior year and have actually won myself a handful of allies, it’s suddenly developed a very particular craving for me. And even if I somehow make it through the endless waves of maleficaria that it keeps throwing at me in between grueling homework assignments, I haven’t any idea how my allies and I are going to make it through the graduation hall alive.

Unless, of course, I finally accept my foretold destiny of dark sorcery and destruction. That would certainly let me sail straight out of here. The course of wisdom, surely.

But I’m not giving in—not to the mals, not to fate, and especially not to the Scholomance. I’m going to get myself and my friends out of this hideous place for good—even if it’s the last thing I do.

With keen insight and mordant humor, Novik reminds us that sometimes it is not enough to rewrite the rules—sometimes, you need to toss out the entire rulebook.

The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Golden Enclaves

Critic reviews

Praise for The Last Graduate

“[The Last Graduate] rips along like a force of nature. In the abstract, this is a story about relying on others—but in the concrete, it is about how to survive when the odds are against you. As she did with [A Deadly Education], Novik changes the game again with the very last line.”—Locus

“Truly one of the best fantasy series out there right now, and it’s not close.”—Culturess

“[The Last Graduate] is as compulsive a read as [A Deadly Education]. As a warning, it ends on another killer cliffhanger.”—BuzzFeed

“Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series, about kids at a preposterously deadly magical school, stands out in a ridiculously crowded field. Its sheer viciousness, its grim humor, and its complicated interpersonal politics are an immediate draw.”—Polygon

“Sardonic students, gruesome monsters, growing friendships, and a touch of romance create a highly readable story. Some questions remain to be answered in the trilogy’s last volume. The end of this installment ensures that book three can’t come fast enough.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Praise for A Deadly Education

“Eyeball-meltingly brilliant—Novik is, quite simply, a genius.”—Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

“Naomi Novik has written the wizard-school book that we all deserve! Constant peril, a fresh magic system, and a deeper discussion of how educational inequality currently functions than I ever expected to see in fantasy.”—Hank Green, author of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

“Novik skillfully combines sharp humor with layers of imagination to build a fantasy that delights on every level.”—Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series

“The Scholomance is the dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.”—Katherine Arden, New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

“A gorgeous book about monsters and monstrousness, chockablock with action, cleverness, and wit.”—Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Pure fun.

This is one of those incredibly rare examples of a good YA novel. It continues the criticism of capitalism from the first book, with a healthy dose of a coming of age narrative and people coming together in a crisis, all mixed with plenty of powerful mages blowing things up in spectacular ways. So yeah, it’s pure fun.

Continues Nicely From The First Book

Novik has taken the premise set up in the first book and continued the storyline smoothly, creating interesting character and world building development in this second volume. The tangential asides and monologues are stronger here and do become frustrating at times when they break up the action and tension. But El's biting humor, her friends' quirky characters, and Orion's obstinacy are not only better explored but also defined. I listened to the audio version and the narrator was excellent, giving us a variety of American and British accents while also creating narrative personalities.

Story: El is now a senior and has managed to survive the scholomance to this point. But as she becomes more powerful, she also forges new alliances that increase her potential abilities. Suddenly, she no longer just wants to survive with her friends; now, she wants to save the whole school. But the scholomance has a mind of its own: is it hindering her or is it helping her achieve that goal?

I have a lot of respect that Novik didn't just rewrite the first book, with El facing monsters of the week while sporting witty bon mots directed at everyone and especially Orion Lake. Along with El, the other students are also given interesting growth arcs, whether enemy or friend. Relationships develop, further alliances created, and even sex is discussed (and performed). These are not the same characters from the first book and instead have grown into their own unique people. As El's and the students' situations change, so do the characters.

The story ends on quite an abrupt cliffhanger that I think will leave many frustrated since the first book closed on a neat arc. The story is set for three books and it will be interesting to see where the author takes the story from here.

In all, I greatly enjoyed the audio narration and felt it gave it a great spark and personality. I can see where many will find the endless breakaway expositions frustrating, though, and it is an interesting plot device by the author to do so.

Excellently read, fantastically written

Just as good as the first book, I desperately hope there's a third. I love this series!

Great series so far

The world building was amazing. The narrator might have made the book for me. She was utterly fantastic. I adored the characters and the details. It is a YA book, but more along the lines of The Hunger Games, with more satisfying themes and less young romance type stuff than typical YA novels. I’ll be listening to this series again for sure and the third book better come out…like…tomorrow!

really good but...

I love the series and really enjoyed this book. My one complaint is the profanity