The Last Graduate

I definitely didn't like this quite as much as the first book, even though I ended up giving them the same Goodreads rating (this one was really more like 3.5 stars). The info-dumping didn't get any better and, honestly, I felt like I ended up unintentionally skimming a LOT because we would go into pages of detail on how exactly the magic system works. It also felt like there was a lot of day-to-day slogging, following the characters way more closely than necessary. I felt bored for a lot of the first half.

The second half was much better, and I found myself much more invested in the plot even though it also struggled with some of the points noted above. I truly wish Novik would have spent a little less time cramming every bit of info she had about the magic systems into this and a little more time showing us more character interactions. It made the story feel a lot more at arm's length and harder to get invested in when having information beat into my brain instead of getting to know the characters more.

Anyway, I did like this! I blew through the last third of the book (even though I think the end is mildly ridiculous) and am looking forward to the sequel. And I'll probably preorder it so I have pretty matching books on my shelves.