Reviews

The School for Good and Evil Series Box by Soman Chainani

cierra_carroll's review against another edition

3.0

A really great series though each book did get a tad repetitive! I could predict the endings of the last one without much thought. I did think it was a really cool twist on fairy-tails!!

booksonstereo_o's review against another edition

4.0

Overall an enjoyable series filled with awesome world building and great side characters.

Check out my review: http://bit.ly/SchoolofGoodandEvilReview

josiejumps's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

jupitersuns's review

I was reading it to my sister for bed time but it fizzled out as we had less extra time before bed

kassy25's review against another edition

5.0

Really enjoyed this middle grade series but I know there are more future books! Which has me excited! However, I’ll admit I did not enjoy the second book as much as the first and third book so my rating for the three books altogether is 4.5 but goodreads does not give half stars!

mara_miriam's review against another edition

3.0

The books in this series are generally longer than needed, there's a lot of back and forth between the main characters that instead of building the tension, sometimes make the series feel a bit tedious. Ultimately though I loved that the author plays with the ideas of how we are perceived and who has power. The author delves into the desire for true love and all the different forms it can take, as well as the need for multiple and different kinds of loving relationships to be whole; the question of what makes a person Good (beautiful, worthy, faithful, etc.). I appreciate the way that Chainani leaves the reader feeling love and compassion, as well as disappointment and frustration with our heroes.I also like that friendships and tensions between girls are central to the series, and I was happy with the non-traditional happy ending.

booknerdbobbie's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this book. I loved Agatha. The only problem I had was with the length of the book. Going back and forth with good and evil...some of those scenes could've been cut out. But it was good overall. I'm going straight into the 2nd one.

mariel's review against another edition

5.0

What the frig?!?!?
The School for Good and Evil was one heck of a ride.
It's full of adventure, action, magic, wonderful and complex relationships and character development, as well as it shares a really meaningful message.
This series may come to be one of my favourite middle grade novels. It was spectacular.
P.S. Literally, the last 40 pages just left me exhausted from feeling so much emotions.

solorepira's review against another edition

2.0

While this was a re-read, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

I read this book a few years back, the whole three books really (when I first read them, only the first three books were out.) I remember (not hating them) disliking them.

While the first book wasn’t the best, it still isn’t as bad as I remember.

And that’s really all I have to say for now.

gargamela's review against another edition

1.0

This book is problematic on so many levels that I can't even wrap my head around the fact that it was nominated for some awards today, not a hundred years ago. The whole story hinges on the premise that the two main female characters, Agatha and Sophie are friends, but we only get a glimpse of what their interactions were before ending up at the school, and let me tell you, that did not sound like any type of friendship that I would want to invest in. Both Agatha and Sophie grow throughout the story, sometimes out of the blue, and they are indeed morally grey (especially Sophie) which could serve as a way to teach young children that there is no clear division between good/pretty and evil/ugly, but that is all turned to shit by several events including the ending. If this was supposed to be some sort of feminist reinterpretation of fairy tales, than why, for the love of literature, did I only appreciate the male character (Tedros) who was actually a decent guy with an interesting back story trying to find an actual connection with another human being while also fearing that he will end up heartbroken as his father? I should also mention the superior fat shaming that has been taken to new heights by Chainani through his portrayal of Dot. So the underlying message of the book failed to satisfy me on all accounts and I only managed to finish the book because I was hoping that, in the end, the unhealthy tropes from fairy tales would be reversed (leave all hope you who enter!). But I still would have given the book 2 stars if the writing was any good, but it's not. It is very matter of factly (bland, it is fucking bland which is extremely weird since this is a book about a magical school), the world building is simply something that did not interested me (I skipped parts which described the world cause there was nothing interesting for me there) and there are serious plot holes and overly caricatured characters (just watch the teachers). I think that if I were a middle grader, reading this book would only make me think that yes pretty people must be good and looks matter because they are related connected to morality.