A review by siobhan27
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
4.0
I am a sucker for fairy tales, and anything to do with them. That is the first reason why I wanted to read The School for Good and Evil. Not only does it reference some of my favorite takes, but put an amazingly unique spin on them. I will tell you right now that this book is a must read for all fairy tale lovers.
The plot of this novel is brilliant. Every year two children are taken from their homes and brought to the School for Good and Evil to train to either become a princess or villain. Sophia wants to be next great Princess and Agatha just wants to stay home and be herself. What I loved about this book was its imagination and its ability to turn what we know about fairy tales and turn it in its head. it gives a whole new meaning to the word "retelling"
The characters were extraordinary, especially the main characters. Sophia was extremely self-obsessed and only cared about herself and how others perceive her. I will admit, she was not my favorite character, at all. But I do think that was down on purpose. Agatha on the other hand was the exact opposite, she was kind, shy and never thought of she was good enough for anything. Even their names represent what society thinks of them, and what I loved was when the author turned all of that upside down.
The only issue I have with this book is its category. I have seen it categorized as middle grade and as YA. I do belive that the fairy tale aspect and the artwork within the book are Middle Grade, but the characters and their actions were very YA based. So I found it very hard to categorize.
The School for Good and Evil was one of the most imaginative and unique stories I have ever read. It is addictive from the very first page and I couldn't put it down. Amazing read.
The plot of this novel is brilliant. Every year two children are taken from their homes and brought to the School for Good and Evil to train to either become a princess or villain. Sophia wants to be next great Princess and Agatha just wants to stay home and be herself. What I loved about this book was its imagination and its ability to turn what we know about fairy tales and turn it in its head. it gives a whole new meaning to the word "retelling"
The characters were extraordinary, especially the main characters. Sophia was extremely self-obsessed and only cared about herself and how others perceive her. I will admit, she was not my favorite character, at all. But I do think that was down on purpose. Agatha on the other hand was the exact opposite, she was kind, shy and never thought of she was good enough for anything. Even their names represent what society thinks of them, and what I loved was when the author turned all of that upside down.
The only issue I have with this book is its category. I have seen it categorized as middle grade and as YA. I do belive that the fairy tale aspect and the artwork within the book are Middle Grade, but the characters and their actions were very YA based. So I found it very hard to categorize.
The School for Good and Evil was one of the most imaginative and unique stories I have ever read. It is addictive from the very first page and I couldn't put it down. Amazing read.