Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
I had heard a lot of good reviews of this book and I was expecting it be better than it was. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed this book, I ended up giving it a 3.5/5 stars, it just didn't blow me away.
The concept of the story is intriguing and is what drew me into the book in the first place. The idea of taking two children and bringing them to The School for Good and Evil, all while integrating the fairytale stories we all ready know, is a fantastic outline, and one I was really excited to read. Having the two main characters, Sophie and Agatha, think that they should be in the opposite school to where they have been put, did a really good job at blurring the lines between what we stereotypically think is good and evil. Overall I enjoyed the plot, although I found it was a little slow in the middle of the book, and looking forward to finishing the rest of the series.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
I think the main reason I didn't give The School for Good and Evil a higher rating, was the fact that Sophie pissed me off 70% of the time. She is a very vain character and I feel that she didn't grow much throughout the book. She was whinny, but refused to do anything of worth that would help her situation. She used her friends and others to get what she wanted and most of the time was a terrible friend to Agatha, who was supposed to be her best friend. I only started to like Sophie, after she accepted the fact that she was the villain of the story and embraced who she was. And then she redeemed herself further when she sacrificed herself for Agatha, even though at that point Agatha was her nemesis. Sophie was a really good villain and I can't wait to her character develop throughout the course of the series.
On the other hand I absolutely loved Agatha. She is smart, independent and fiercely loyal to her friends, even when they don't deserve it. She broke away from the stereotypical princess and spent most of the time wanting nothing to do with boys. That is until she found her prince. But even then she still refused to be the "princess" and be left behind and told what to do by a man.
Agatha's prince Tedros, was nothing more than what you would expect from a fairytale prince. He didn't see past peoples looks and thought Agatha was a witch until she found self confidence and let her natural beauty show. He believed that princess weren't there to do the hard work, but to stand there, look pretty and be rescued/protected by the prince. Tedros had the potential to be a really great character, but he fell short. I hope to see some character development over the next few books.
The romance in The School for Good and Evil was at times unnecessary. First Tedros thought he was in love with Sophie and Sophie thought he was her one true love. The entire time Tedros and Sophie dated I was thinking "please let this end". It was based entirely off lust than actual feelings and the only reason they broke up was because Sophie was Sophie and would rather save herself than him. Then Agatha and Tedros realised they were destined to be together and went from hating each other to trusting and loving each other, in what felt like the space of a page. Although I do like the pairing of Tedros and Agatha better. Lastly on the romance side of things, the School Master being obsessed with Sophie and thinking that they were meant to be together. Creepy and unnecessary. That plot point could have been taken out of the story and it would probably have ended the exact same way. It was probably the worst twist the entire book.
I know it probably sounds like I really hated this book, but I swear to god I didn't. I think it was a good setup for the rest of the series and the characters, major and minor, have so much room to grow. The storyline is amazing and I can't wait to see this world be built upon. Hopefully I will get around to reading the second book soon.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
xx Holly.
