tartbarbie's review against another edition
4.0
Sophie and Agatha survived the schools for good and evil and have returned home to their lives before they left. Sophie is hanging on to being a celebrity while a part of Agatha still wishes for her prince. While at Sophie’s fathers wedding Agatha makes a wish that changes their lives forcing them to return to the schools only to learn that they aren’t good and evil anymore but girls and boys. The girls from both schools have banned together based on Agatha choosing Sophie over her prince they realized they don’t need princes to be happy. Past princesses have kicked out their princes choosing to rule alone forming bond with witches and becoming tough fighters.
Even though Agatha knows that they need to go home a part of her still wants her prince and when she notices Sophie is turning into a witch again she seeks him out. When her meeting with Tedros turns horribly wrong with him accusing her of lies he challenges the school of girls to a trial that will decide all their fates. With the help of some of the witches that used to live with Sophie the girls come up with a plan to get them home. The only problem is they need to get ahold of the storian to finish their story. Forcing one of them to infiltrate the school for boys and find it before the trial or all could be lost.
I’m torn between which is my favorite girl they each appeal to me in different ways. I wanted to dislike Sophie because she’s kind of frustrating at times but she really just wants her best friend and I respect that. Agatha is torn between her one true love and best friend it won’t be an easy choice to make. I liked Tedros even though he went a little crazy he’s not a bad guy his feelings were hurt.
I wanted to love A World Without Princes but I didn’t but I did enjoy it. I loved the first one so much that the second one had big shoes to fill. The story is interesting it fits for the perfect reason for the girls to return to their fairytale. The book is loaded with suspense, magic, romance, friendship and evil witches that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. The author has done a fantastic job creating another beautifully written story. The writing style smooth it flows from start to finish and it’s easy to get lost in the books. I loved the characters they already had my heart from the first book and couldn’t wait to see what would happen next for them. While this one has a ending it’s clear that there is more to come and I can’t wait for the next installment because I know it’s going to be amazing. This is one of my favorite series it’s a must read.
Even though Agatha knows that they need to go home a part of her still wants her prince and when she notices Sophie is turning into a witch again she seeks him out. When her meeting with Tedros turns horribly wrong with him accusing her of lies he challenges the school of girls to a trial that will decide all their fates. With the help of some of the witches that used to live with Sophie the girls come up with a plan to get them home. The only problem is they need to get ahold of the storian to finish their story. Forcing one of them to infiltrate the school for boys and find it before the trial or all could be lost.
I’m torn between which is my favorite girl they each appeal to me in different ways. I wanted to dislike Sophie because she’s kind of frustrating at times but she really just wants her best friend and I respect that. Agatha is torn between her one true love and best friend it won’t be an easy choice to make. I liked Tedros even though he went a little crazy he’s not a bad guy his feelings were hurt.
I wanted to love A World Without Princes but I didn’t but I did enjoy it. I loved the first one so much that the second one had big shoes to fill. The story is interesting it fits for the perfect reason for the girls to return to their fairytale. The book is loaded with suspense, magic, romance, friendship and evil witches that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. The author has done a fantastic job creating another beautifully written story. The writing style smooth it flows from start to finish and it’s easy to get lost in the books. I loved the characters they already had my heart from the first book and couldn’t wait to see what would happen next for them. While this one has a ending it’s clear that there is more to come and I can’t wait for the next installment because I know it’s going to be amazing. This is one of my favorite series it’s a must read.
linzy249's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
aletolgirl's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so aesthetically pleasing. The cover, just like the first book, looks so nice and the illustrations are 10/10. But that's where the appreciation I have for this book ends. In the first book, I complained about double standards, but as for this book, it was the opposite. Misandry. I have no idea what message Soman Chainani had for the readers in this book. I understand some parts to be true, that people - usually boys, objectify women, etc, but what was the whole point? I found this book really stupid and I just forced myself to finish this because I had the actual book as a gift from a friend. This book was a good example of misandry that some extreme feminists apply into their "feminist" beliefs but I feel that the people ignorant of what actual feminism is will hold this against feminism.
Anyway, I feel like Agatha and Sophie have just been running around in circles. I don't even know who to like anymore.
Why couldn't the author just allow a best friend and a true love in the persons life at the same time? What kind of message does that give to people? That you can't love someone while loving your best friend? Omfg that's so stupid.
And Tedros, oh my god. What a piece of shit. I find Tedros sexist. They're waging a war in the name of "love" when they're not even 16 yet.
I doubt I'll read the last book. But if I want to piss myself off, maybe I will.
Anyway, I feel like Agatha and Sophie have just been running around in circles. I don't even know who to like anymore.
Why couldn't the author just allow a best friend and a true love in the persons life at the same time? What kind of message does that give to people? That you can't love someone while loving your best friend? Omfg that's so stupid.
And Tedros, oh my god. What a piece of shit. I find Tedros sexist. They're waging a war in the name of "love" when they're not even 16 yet.
I doubt I'll read the last book. But if I want to piss myself off, maybe I will.
xaphiro's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
theiofthestorm's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
titanic's review against another edition
3.0
Oh boy, was this book problematic! Enjoy my long rant despite me actually enjoying the book.
I mentioned in my review for the first book in the series, how The School for Good and Evil came off as misogynistic, and unfortunately that carried over into the second, and I will not be surprised if it features, heavily, in the third. You see, the author has it in his head that Girls™ are Weak and Fragile and Only Care About Appearances whereas Boys™ are filled up of Gore and Fighting and Rowdiness. Yet, if these characters are to be fully fleshed out, they would and could be all of these things, but to fit into these worlds you have to be Masculine™ and Feminine™ and it's disappointing.
You could argue that that's the point of these stories. But Teleri, these are fairytales and that's why they are so stuck by gender norms and social constructs from when they were originally written, and I could very well see your point. But these are targeted at a younger audience (it's tagged as a middle grade read: eight to twelve-year-olds, or in other termsvery impressionable minds.)and writing so much toxicity into the book without even addressing it is very harmful. And so what if he made the characters real. Not every girl is worried about eating cake because of their waist size. Not every boy is chiseled at the age of twelve. It's toxic to write about because the more it gets normalized the more young readers think it's the norm, and strive to reach these impossible odds.
But, let's not get ahead of myself because that is not the only flaw this book has. I almost filed a sticky note with my thoughts on the problematic moments in this book. First, the quickest to mention. It used a slur. I don't think everyone knows it's a slur so I could give this a pass, but I don't feel like it.
Now on for a big problem this book had. It painted slaves in a good light. The whole premise of this book is whether team girls or boys will win and if boys win, Tedros (the love interest) will kill Sophie and Agatha, but if the girls win, the boys will surrender themselves to being slaves for the girls. Yep, you heard it here (not first bc hopefully someone else pointed this out in one of the 2592 reviews)folks. 2014 and he wrote a whole ass 400+ page book with girls talking about their excitement of owning human beings. Someone come cancel this man already, I'm done.
Oh wait, I'm not. I still have more left on my note. That's right, more negatives and I gave this book three stars? What the hell is wrong with me! So as mentioned, the school is divided into girls and boys. Now, one of the teachers is a gnome. Cute. This gnome is a male in the first book but when it comes to the second, they're a girl, but still look a lot like the male gnome who taught the class. Maybe it's a twin. Maybe they're genderfluid. Maybe it's none of your business. Now, what you don't do, is write about sexual abuse like it's no big thing. You see, a character just happens to have "checked" that this gnome is female. I'm assuming the teacher wasn't flaunting their genitals towards an underage student, if so that's another red flag for this book. So, my only conclusion is the character abused the gnome and checked their genitals without consent. Why am I angry about this? It's just a book you say! Once again, it leads back to impressionable minds. If it's okay for a girl to check without permission, maybe it's okay for someone else. Maybe I'm ranting and being over the top, but the blatant disgust this book makes me feel at times, my god.
Now, coming full circle, we're back at the misogyny. Wow, what a fun ride! Near the end of the book, Tedros is bonding with Filip and all that great stuff, but unfortunately, more negative remarks are thrown about. Tedros says Filip is "worse than a girl" because he is showing his emotions by crying. This also ties into my last point by the amount of toxic masculinity this book holds. I don't know why the author things boys shouldn't cry or care for other boys, but he came off as a firm believer in men hiding their feelings and it saddened me. Why shouldn't men and boys cry? It's a toxic idea that they're not allowed to show their emotions.
And there we go, all my negative impressions of the book. Laid out before you for you all to judge. Now, you're probably wondering why I gave this book a three-star rating if I clearly hated it so much. Well, I didn't hate the book. I just had to pretend I didn't see all the mess listed above and it was actually quite enjoyable. The second was definitely better than the first, especially watching Sophie and Agatha's friendship blossom, as that wasn't really a thing in the first book.
I felt warm inside reading this one, and it did leave me confused on what to rate it as I did, deep down, enjoy it. It was a fun read and I think I'm a fan of the series, but the number of problems that accused in under 500 pages was deeply concerning. I hope the author got better when it came to writing for the third book, but I know the chances are highly unlikely. Shame really, this could have been so much more enjoyable if all that mess had been avoided.
I mentioned in my review for the first book in the series, how The School for Good and Evil came off as misogynistic, and unfortunately that carried over into the second, and I will not be surprised if it features, heavily, in the third. You see, the author has it in his head that Girls™ are Weak and Fragile and Only Care About Appearances whereas Boys™ are filled up of Gore and Fighting and Rowdiness. Yet, if these characters are to be fully fleshed out, they would and could be all of these things, but to fit into these worlds you have to be Masculine™ and Feminine™ and it's disappointing.
You could argue that that's the point of these stories. But Teleri, these are fairytales and that's why they are so stuck by gender norms and social constructs from when they were originally written, and I could very well see your point. But these are targeted at a younger audience (it's tagged as a middle grade read: eight to twelve-year-olds, or in other termsvery impressionable minds.)and writing so much toxicity into the book without even addressing it is very harmful. And so what if he made the characters real. Not every girl is worried about eating cake because of their waist size. Not every boy is chiseled at the age of twelve. It's toxic to write about because the more it gets normalized the more young readers think it's the norm, and strive to reach these impossible odds.
But, let's not get ahead of myself because that is not the only flaw this book has. I almost filed a sticky note with my thoughts on the problematic moments in this book. First, the quickest to mention. It used a slur. I don't think everyone knows it's a slur so I could give this a pass, but I don't feel like it.
Now on for a big problem this book had. It painted slaves in a good light. The whole premise of this book is whether team girls or boys will win and if boys win, Tedros (the love interest) will kill Sophie and Agatha, but if the girls win, the boys will surrender themselves to being slaves for the girls. Yep, you heard it here (not first bc hopefully someone else pointed this out in one of the 2592 reviews)folks. 2014 and he wrote a whole ass 400+ page book with girls talking about their excitement of owning human beings. Someone come cancel this man already, I'm done.
Oh wait, I'm not. I still have more left on my note. That's right, more negatives and I gave this book three stars? What the hell is wrong with me! So as mentioned, the school is divided into girls and boys. Now, one of the teachers is a gnome. Cute. This gnome is a male in the first book but when it comes to the second, they're a girl, but still look a lot like the male gnome who taught the class. Maybe it's a twin. Maybe they're genderfluid. Maybe it's none of your business. Now, what you don't do, is write about sexual abuse like it's no big thing. You see, a character just happens to have "checked" that this gnome is female. I'm assuming the teacher wasn't flaunting their genitals towards an underage student, if so that's another red flag for this book. So, my only conclusion is the character abused the gnome and checked their genitals without consent. Why am I angry about this? It's just a book you say! Once again, it leads back to impressionable minds. If it's okay for a girl to check without permission, maybe it's okay for someone else. Maybe I'm ranting and being over the top, but the blatant disgust this book makes me feel at times, my god.
Now, coming full circle, we're back at the misogyny. Wow, what a fun ride! Near the end of the book, Tedros is bonding with Filip and all that great stuff, but unfortunately, more negative remarks are thrown about. Tedros says Filip is "worse than a girl" because he is showing his emotions by crying. This also ties into my last point by the amount of toxic masculinity this book holds. I don't know why the author things boys shouldn't cry or care for other boys, but he came off as a firm believer in men hiding their feelings and it saddened me. Why shouldn't men and boys cry? It's a toxic idea that they're not allowed to show their emotions.
And there we go, all my negative impressions of the book. Laid out before you for you all to judge. Now, you're probably wondering why I gave this book a three-star rating if I clearly hated it so much. Well, I didn't hate the book. I just had to pretend I didn't see all the mess listed above and it was actually quite enjoyable. The second was definitely better than the first, especially watching Sophie and Agatha's friendship blossom, as that wasn't really a thing in the first book.
I felt warm inside reading this one, and it did leave me confused on what to rate it as I did, deep down, enjoy it. It was a fun read and I think I'm a fan of the series, but the number of problems that accused in under 500 pages was deeply concerning. I hope the author got better when it came to writing for the third book, but I know the chances are highly unlikely. Shame really, this could have been so much more enjoyable if all that mess had been avoided.
melissaheartsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
hannah_curtis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jaw417's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75