The first book of the series is A Deadly Education and it was spectacular, and now, a year later, The Last Graduate has been released, and I am yet again enthralled by the magic. 

The book follows a seventeen-year-old girl named Galadriel, or El, as she fights for survival at Schoolmance—a school for young wizards. 

The main goal is to survive until graduation when the characters are forced to fight to escape. El knew from the beginning that she could escape because she wields more power than most people in the magical community, especially when it comes to dark spells. 

The main plot in The Last Graduate is El, Orion—her obvious love interest—Aadhya, and Liu—her best friends—try to make it through Graduation. The book follows their training and studying, and it was all very intriguing. 

Another source of intrigue, apart from the schoolwork, was the characters. El wasn’t used to having friends and the novel showed her growing to be more affectionate while still keeping her sassy attitude. Orion was an average teenage boy with a knack for heroics, and he was strangely relatable; he was the perfect complement to El. Though there was a great abundance of growth for El and Orion, Aadhya and Liu remained stagnant—they were astounding characters but did not achieve any growth. 

And while there were many aspects of the novel I loved, I was less thrilled with the information dump that occurred on every other page. It was as though I was receiving a history lesson every time a small detail or spell was introduced. I found myself skimming through the long details that were simply unnecessary. It was not realistic in the slightest as El rambled through years of history. The novel gave an excuse for her knowledge saying the magical library gave her books on all of those topics, but I found myself wishing she didn’t remember anything from the assorted books. 

Another aspect of the book that just didn’t sit right with me was the fact that El only received recognition for being a brilliant witch and a strong female when she became friends with Orion. El showed multiple times she didn’t need a man and was a strong, emotional, powerful woman, yet the characters in the book looked past her and saw Orion. 

I was absolutely thrilled when she showed her true power and people came to the realization that she had no need for Orion’s protection. She was recognized as the strong female she is, and it meant so much to me. I was given the chance to see a female who was strong, angry, and emotional. The best part was that she got help; her friends calmed her down when she was enraged and listened when she was upset. Aadhya and Liu were also strong females who stepped up and took a load off of El’s plate. They worked together and were emotional without being depicted as weak for it. 

If the history lectures were removed from the novel, I would say it was an almost perfect book. I loved the plot, the magic, and the characters. It helps that the cover is gorgeous. I will be awaiting the next installment of the series with much anticipation.