Novik, Naomi The Last Graduate (0593128869)

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Polygon, Thrillist, She Reads - '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)

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 will continue in 2022