Book Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Title: The School for Good and Evil

Author: Soman Chainani

Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fairytale

Series: The School for Good and Evil #1

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Physical Copy

Source: Bought

Publication Date: May 14th, 2013

 

 

Synopsis: 

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.

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“In the forest of primeval
A school for Good and Evil
Twin towers like two heads
One for the pure
And one for the wicked
Try to escape you’ll always fail,
The only way out is
Through a fairytale.”

My Review:

This book was perfect! I couldn’t put it down at all. It has everything from fairytale to friendship. It even makes you think twice about your favorite fairy tales! Oh! and it also makes you laugh at the idiocracy of everything.

PLOT

The plot was really interesting and fast paced through most of the book. When I say interesting, I mean REALLY interesting. You see, in the School Of Good, you will find princesses who can’t stop thinking about their beauty and princes who think only about their macho-ness and their princesses.Apart from that, these students will be learning this like Animal Communication, Chivalry, Beautification and various other such topics.

In the School Of Evil, on the other hand, you will find children of the ‘bad guys’ who are ugly and love the negativity of everything. These students would be learning Uglification, Henchmen Training, Curses and Death Traps and the likes. Oh and a wart on your face makes you fearsome!

This book made me laugh out loud at times because of how true these seem in the fairytales we have read! At the same time, it made me realise how society at large is sending out all kinds of wrong messages to children these days.

PACE

The pace was perfect! I finished this book in a day and never once felt like putting it down. The pace stays kinda consistent throughout, but if it does slow down it won’t make the book boring.

CHARACTERS

There are many characters in this book that I love so very much but I will only talk about these two:

Sophie

Holy Moly! She has one of the BEST character developments I have seen in a while. She is evil yes, I didn’t particularly like her throughout the book, but gosh her development was done with such perfection ❤

Throughout the book, my adoration for the development and utter hatred for the character just kept increasing! She was so unbearably, horribly annoying! Yet, I felt very sorry for her. She did what she did simply because she was misguided. Did that make her a bearable character? NO! But I understood where she was coming from.

Agatha 

I freaking LOVED her! Her dry wit and humor were such a treat to read! She was snarky, sarcastic and hated everything girly. She liked a lot of dark things but she was more “Good” that anyone else in that book! Unlike the rest, she wasn’t shallow or snobby. Which was beautiful to read. Her character development was also done beautifully but was overshadowed by Sophie’s.

Overall, this book will make you laugh, cry, piss you off and make you think! 

Do I recommend it? Hell yeah!

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4.5/5

Pace: 4.5/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

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About The Author

He is a writer, film director, and a die-hard tennis player!

The School For Good and Evil debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List, has been translated into 26 languages across six continents, and will soon be a major motion picture from Universal Studios.

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Have you read the book? 

What did you think about it?

Do you like the cover? I loved it! 

Let me know in the comments below! 😀