The Last Graduate (The Scholomance, #2)

by Naomi Novik

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog!

It’s been a hot minute since I read the first book in this series. In fact, I read that pretty close to when it was released without realizing it would be the start of a trilogy and not just a standalone. The first book would have worked rather well as a standalone had it not been for the cliffhanger on the final page. Literally, the last paragraph is even called for there being another book! Obviously, I was intrigued but I decided to wait until the third book is out as well, so I could finish reading the series in one go.

Honestly, it was worth the wait. I had enjoyed the first novel in the series but this one was incredible as well. I love the entire idea behind the story. It’s so smart and so different from other magical school concepts I’ve come across before. I appreciate that the main character isn’t some happy-go-lucky type. While in some regards she has to follow the blueprint of your YA heroine that we all know, overall, none of this feels like much of a cliché. I get that the main character needs to be good at something or influence something otherwise there’d be no reason for them to be the main character. Furthermore, while El has a penchant for dark things and eradicating worlds, this is not super Mary Sue. Yeah, big evil spells come easier to her, but she still needs to put in a ton of work to learn, to practice, to survive. And while she is an integral part of saving the day, even being this powerful she couldn’t do it alone.

While I like the main character El and can relate to her antisocial attitudes, the most intriguing part of the Scholomance novels is the worldbuilding. What started in the first book and is still the case in this one is a very contained environment that we get to experience. The school is essentially cut off from the rest of the world, so most of the things we learn about this world have to do with the school. Sure, we do get some extra info but it’s more of a secondhand explanation if that makes sense. I love that even in this rather small space we learn so much about this world, how everything works, what types of magic and spells and monsters there are. This setting could get boring quickly if not done right, but I think Naomi Novik did an amazing job pulling it off.