The Last Graduate
The second volume of the Scholomance trilogy follows Galadriel “El” Higgins through the senior year of Magic Boarding School. The school is a terrible place, filled with magic monsters hoping to snack off adolescent wizards and completely devoid of any adult presence. About ¼ of the students survive to graduate, and in some years no one makes it out. The rich kids have many advantages, of course, but El’s mother lives in a Welsh commune. Her father died during graduation, and El has always expected she’ll go the same way. Wonderfully plotted, this is a fine tale.