Review: School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

By: unknown on Sunday, August 18, 2013



The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Published by HarperCollins

Released: May 14, 2013

Hardcover, 488 pages

Source: eBook
Reviewed by Angela



 

“The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

(May contain spoilers)

I knew this was going to be a middle grade book before I read it, it didn't disappoint, but I think it should get an award for the book that made me scream in frustration the most. Seriously, it did. I wanted to scream at the characters so badly, for being so stupid. Yet, it was still enjoyable.

I love fantasy and fairy tales, ever since grade four actually, when I read Ella Enchanted. That's also when I stared liking the romance in books. This book has both of those, fantasy and romance plus a very interesting plot, so I couldn't not read it.

It started out kind of slow, but kept going at a relative pace. We were first introduced to Sophie, who wished to be kidnapped into the Good, where she can be a princess, find her prince and live happily ever after. Of course, its pretty obvious that Sophie wasn't the perfect princess she thought herself to be. Her "good deeds" included, donating lemonwood face wash to the town orphanage saying that proper skincare is the greatest deed of all. You could tell Sophie was vain, selfish and self absorbent. Then we meet Agatha, Sophie's "best friend". Everyone thought Agatha was the witch, the evil one. She didn't like people, only wore black and lived in the cemetery. Well, as you can guess, Agatha isn't the witch everyone thinks she is either. Looks can be deceiving. Very.

When they both first arrived at the school, they were convinced they were in the wrong place. Sophie's the princess and Agatha is the witch. Agatha determined to get home and Sophie determined to prove that she's Good, both girls work hard to prove the mistake. The more they try to prove the School Master wrong, the more they prove him right.

There were two things that I didn't like about this book. Sophie and Tedros. Sophie is just a selfish little butt who only cares for herself, calls Agatha her friend only when she needs her, and betrays her when she doesn't. And Tedros. Oh Tedros. You're supposed to be the knight in shining armour but instead you are a stupid, judgemental, spoiled prince. Other than those two, the other characters were okay, I really liked Agatha.

Beyond the plot of the story, there is deeper meaning, if I am not mistaken. It tries to tell us that the world is not Good and Evil, black and white, princess and witch. There are so many in between. For example, Sophie is definitely not a Good princess, yet she isn't an evil witch either. Witches are ugly and Sophie is beautiful. Agatha is "ugly" and she was put into the Good, where everyone is beautiful. Everyone has another side to them. At one point of the story, Agatha wishes to be turned beautiful, and she does. Not in a physical way but emotionally. She felt beautiful, and acted like it, everyone looks at her beautifully, even when nothing changed. When she thought she was ugly and dark and acted like that, everyone thought she was.

I really enjoyed this book, though some parts went more slowly than others but I'll be sure to read the next one, A World Without Princes. Sadly it comes out next year, sigh. Also, I heard there's going to be a movie! I'm actually pretty excited if there is one.

4.5/5