Reviews

Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

vallows's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Lo leí por la portada siendo sincera, el arte es muy lindo, pero no conozco como tal la historia y los otros libros

maggie1903's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.75

littlewit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The story was interesting. It seemed a little slow at first and then picked up. It feels a bit like a longer book was cut into two. Undecided on whether I will read the second. 

readerinvelaris's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this book, although halfway through I was getting a bit bored, but then things started to get interesting again. I decided to read this prequel in preparation to reading the main series and I have to say I’m not regretting it because I am more and more interested in this world. Also, I’m looking forward to knowing how the conflicts in this book are going to be solved.
My favorite twin is Rafal, so I hope nothing bad happens to him! He deserves to be happy!
Anyway, I was unsure of continuing right away with book two, but with the way things ended, I need answers.

tinkithesquirelll's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can see this is going to be a fav series for me 

lexi2021's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

stacy_85's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

defunctfridge's review against another edition

3.0

if i could give it 2.5 stars i would. but as i’ve been reading this series since third or fourth grade and it sparked my love for reading i’ll round up rather than down. i can’t really express my disappointment with this book. i don’t quite know what i expected considering my increasingly negative feelings of the books that began after book 4. this one was no exception to the unfortunate pattern. it’s disorganized and rushed and desperate to quickly create the familiar world in a few chapters rather then show a natural slow progress as school masters gain footing. soman tried to pack a schools years worth of events into a few weeks? two months? all together it was unnecessarily and unbearably rushed and as a result at times it felt like just words forced out and nothing more.

none of this is even touching on the audacity of soman to claim this book would have so much gay rep. i mean congrats dude you managed to write a few sentences of mere infatuation that lasted a chapter or two after essentially queer baiting for 6 books. i would never in a million years qualify this as representation as soman so clearly wants us to based on his social media posts. and the little rep that is there is either not real (aladdin’a whole chapter long plot) or just weird (looking for attractive dude to replace brothers love, bit weird and becoming a pattern considering sophie and agatha’s whole thing). it’s something that has made soman very frustrating as a writer.

throughout these now 7 books (8 if you include handbook) soman uses the same exact phrases like 20 times every book and it’s exhausting to read. yes it can work to really enforce a theme,,,when used sparingly. soman has said after the third book he wanted to age up his audience as he writes new books. his writing needs to reflect that.

at the end of the day i will read every sge book written, they are central to who i am and why i read. but i am not excited about it. when this book was announced i actually dreaded reading it. i’m dreading reading the next one. i do not want to read them. i have freinds who dropped the series after 3 and i can’t telling them to continue reading, why would i? i would never recommend this series knowing how this series turns out. and it’s not that i’ve aged. book 4 i honestly think is a great set up for a new conflict and character development as they age too. soman simply has reached the limit on expanded the world without more care and planning. i hope the next book is better, i want to look forward to this series and characters. i genuinely want to see this series succeed from a writing perspective. i don’t hate the series but i’m not happy with where it currently is.

julia_taylors_version's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

katreadsalot's review against another edition

5.0

I enjoyed being back in this world! Chainani is an absolute genius. I so enjoy how he plays with fairy tales.