The School for Good and Evil #3 - The Last Ever After

A great book! At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy the series, but once I started reading, I was hooked! The writing style was great and there were always twists and turns in the plot line to be found. This book is awesome! I would definitly recommend it!

Admittedly, I am not the intended audience for this book- but I do teach in an elementary school and therefore do attempt to keep up with the kids' favorite books. I have to say, I ultimately was disappointed with this title and, with its confused morality and convoluted plot, would hesitate to read to my own children.
This most striking characteristic of this book is the startling resemblance it bears to other, more iconic children's titles. Elements of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and His Dark Materials can all be found in great quantities. Homage is no sin, but blatant copy is.

Oh Boy, did this series take a nose dive. It not only is it a really padded story that goes in circles, but it betrays all of its earlier subversive themes to go for the most boring, cookie cutter conclusion possible. Sophie is reduced to a plot point whenever the story is required to come to conclusion. I know we're supposed to like Agatha over Sophie, but Sophie feels vastly more real than Agatha with real world feelings and flaws. Agatha has become the perfect holier than thou ridiculously good Disney Princess that the first book was satirizing. I don't think I've ever seen an author do such a 180 in terms of gender politics. What the heck happened to this series?

How on earth did these books get good reviews??

I can't even bear to write this review I hated the books so much.

The 'good' girls were beautiful but mean, but I guess since they were beautiful that doesn't matter, expected twist where the ugly girl is actually, wait for it, good after all.

Sigh.

OH MY GOSH. BEST BOOK EVER. Soman Chainani really has a masterpiece in this book. Could not stop reading this book literally until 1 in the morning. Sophie and Agatha's Tale is tied together in an unexpected twist SPOILER ALERT They two girls are sisters. Both born by Magic. Sophie after choosing the School Master Has yet to take his ring and become the School for Old and new evil's (which WAS the school for good and evil) queen. Her prophecy is written in the book by the Storian but.... the book won't close even if you try to put it away...... but Just whose ending is The Storian questioning? Will Sophie end up with Tedros will they end together or all alone? Who will become the queen of Camelot? Do not recommend reading this if you haven't read the first two. I LOVED the whole series.(I am really sad this is the last book in the series)

On the positive side, the dust jacket is beautiful. Since I bought it for a jr high and high school library, I will review it as such.
Negatives: Too long and flowery to get a jr high or high school student. Could have used an editorial eye to cut about 1/3 of book. There is also the dreaded 'one dimensional characters' and slow pacing. Too many pop references that are dated to appeal to teenage readers.
I was lead astray by the proliferation of 5 star reviews on the store. BUT...If you are an adult, don't bother. I read it because I refused to quit. I wish I had quit.
Now, let's all sing with Eddie Murphy "Evil is good." (see, that's an 80s reference that fits in with the book)

Getting very tired of the use of language, flat characters - they're actually two-dimensional, but threaded through the rollers of this machine-made plot appear to occupy three dimensions. I'm halfway through the third book, The Last Ever After, and I'm going to propose it ends there so I can just leave it. My son (11) liked all three books just fine, though, and since my reading it was just an afterthought, I doubled the number of stars in my review.

This first novel is a pretty enjoyable read, but with a flavor of sexism throughout. The "Good" girls are of course largely helpless without a prince, the "Evil" ones are naturally single, but if you can overlook that, it's not to bad. The sequel, in the first few chapters anyway, because I couldn't stand to go further, has got to be one of the most misogynistic books I've ever had the misfortune to read. It's no longer on my device. Save your money!

So I have been reading this book since I have no internet. Ok first all. It says NYT best seller. Yeah ok. The man who wrote this has a messed up sense of 12 year old boys and girls. 12 year old girls are not out there talking about their prince kissing them and showing assets. Ok well maybe now but not when I was 12. And 12 boys are not strong with muscle and talking about you are my princess. Haha. Not unless their dad is juicing them up. It's an ok book. Brooklee will not be reading it for a while even though it's her reading level. It has good aspect of beauty is also deeper than your looks but you don't get to that until your 26th chapter out of 30. The rest talk about you are nothing without make up and looking like a 12 year old hooker. There are three books in the series. I have brought the second one to read as well. Hopefully it gets better. We will see. I am curious to see where it goes as in the end she says something about " not needing princes in their fairy tale" as the girls kiss. With LGBT big right now. Is this book going that direction? If it is. My daughter will not read it till she is in high school If I ever let her read. Not against LGBT but it doesn't need to be in my 10 year's old book. If you like fairy tales and stuff like that. This book is ok and the author isn't too bad with his writing. This wouldn't be my first choice to read again.

'[...]whether you are Good or Evil, an Ever or a Never, you must learn to respect one another, for no matter how different you may seem, you cannot exist without the other. The line between princess and witch is a thin one indeed...'

The residents of the small town of Gavaldon are all raised on fairy tales, and they all believe them to be real. Every four years, The School Master takes two children over the age of 12 and one child is placed in The School of Good and the other Evil. It's been four years.

Sophie, lover of pink and a self-proclaimed princess, dreams of going to The School of Good and meeting her Prince and living happily ever after. Agatha, lover of black and silence and solitude with her cat, isn't quite sure if she believes in the schools but she knows if she was destined to go there would be no better place for her than The School of Evil. Sophie and Agatha are best friends and when both are chosen for The School's, it comes as quite a shock when their placements are switched. Agatha is definitely not Good and Sophie can't possibly be Evil...

What worked for me: The writing is vibrant and extremely visual with alternating POV's between Sophie and Agatha which provided the reader with a glimpse of both schools through their eyes. Sophie was quite an unbearable character but I do believe that was the purpose (and only solidified her position with The School of Evil). Agatha managed to become the real heart of the story and a truly good person. Both girls struggle throughout the story to retain their friendship due to the constant stereotype that Good can't possibly be friends with Evil.

What didn't work for me: The story was excessively long and would have benefited from some additional editing. Also, once I got the gist of the backwards type fairy tale going on it did become a tad predictable. I understand that it was a Grimm-type fairy tale and was dark and malevolent, but I really hated the way Sophie treated Agatha considering they were supposed to be best friends and considering Sophie was Agatha's only friend. The biggest flaw in my opinion was the ending though. It was so strange and seemed a bit out of left field. There's 'didn't see that coming! wow what a shocker!' and 'didn't see that coming because that doesn't even make any sense.' I requested this book solely because of that fabulous book trailer so my expectations were high from the start. This wasn't a disappointment but it didn't live up to my high expectations.

Truer to a Grimm Fairy Tale rather than Disney, The School for Good and Evil was intense and distressingly amoral yet still contained what all fairy tales possess: a valuable lesson. One surety about this book, there is truly nothing like it. The School for Good and Evil is a fairy tale that's been shaken up; it's all backwards and mismatched but still manages to retain at least the structure of the classic fairy tale that we all know and love. If you're a fan of fairy tales (especially of the Grimm nature) then this is a story for you.

Maybe it is just me but I didn't like this book. I bought it because I thought it would be better. but I found that it was hard to follow and boring for my daughter. Maybe it is because she is on a higher reading level she just didn't like it.

This premise had such promise. Unfortunately, about halfway through it started going downhill and never really recovered.

I enjoyed the rocky friendship between the two main characters and I loved the way the two schools were portrayed. Unfortunately, the story was bogged down by Agatha and Sophie's almost obtuse inability to recognize the obvious fact that they were each other's happy ending, even once they were both on board with going home.

About halfway through the book, the girls find out that True Love's Kiss is needed to send them home. They discuss having Sophie kiss the boy she likes, and after lamenting how impossible it seems, Agatha embraces Sophie and says, "We'll make this kiss happen." Sophie replies, "We?" and Agatha confirms, "We." For the life of me, it sounded like they were going to kiss each other, so imagine my confusion in the next chapter when they're not back home. And, spoilers, they do kiss -- but not until the end of the book. The scene halfway through, despite how romantic it seemed, was actually just them talking about getting Tedros to kiss Sophie. Not well-written, in my opinion.

A lot of this book isn't well-written, in fact. Scenes are confusingly-written, requiring several re-reads to parse what's going on. And other scenes are written like the author was imagining a movie version of the book. There are lots of dashes at the ends of sentences where they aren't needed-- I guess it's to signal haste or urgency, but it reads as amateurish--

Eventually Agatha also falls in love with Tedros, despite hating his guts for the entire book up until then. So pointless, but sadly predictable. Sophie gains a last-minute love interest, but the two girls spurn the boys and choose each other. True Love's Kiss takes place between the two of them, which is great -- except that *right* afterward, they pat each other on the back about what great friends they are. Sure, a story ending without romance is great, but can it be done *without* this tired no-homo just-gals-being-pals trope?

Despite the problems, I found the ending satisfactory. Unfortunately, reviews for the next two books in the series have made it sound like the stale, bland straight romances that were averted by the first book's ending reappear, so I don't think I'll be reading them.

Maybe the movie version will be better. I hear it's got one of the producers for the Ella Enchanted movie working on it, so it's bound to have little to no resemblance to the novel.

The School for Good and Evil, a trilogy having a compelling theme worthy of a philosophical discussion, is deeply flawed by bad writing. There are excessive adjectives that detract rather than enhance and a mangling of common usage, such as forcing verbs to act as nouns and even as adjectives. None of this is useful. In addition, the series suffers from an unfortunately weak ending.

This book was such a joy to read. From the first chapter to the last it was magical and the story was something I have never read before. The twists throughout it were well placed and my emotions about the two main characters were all over the place. I didn't know how to feel. This book touches on some really deep material such as friendship and how things are not always what they seem. And oh the ending is definitely not what I expected! I will definitely be continuing with this series!

The only thing keeping this from a 5 star is the abrupt shifts in the point of view. In one paragraph you're reading as Agatha then in the next it's Sophie, and the further you get into it some other characters are given small point of view points that are really abrupt and I have to reread the paragraph to understand what just happened. Even with that, I couldn't put it down, for a middle-grade book I was definitely blown away. Highly recommended!

This review is also posted on wovenwithwords.com

I read this book because it was the recent middle school book club pick at the library. I must admit, I’ve always kind of wanted to read it, but this was a nice push to actually do it.

The School for Good and Evil is a middle grade book that follows the story of two friends as they learn how to become a “Good” princess and an “Evil” witch. Sophie and Agatha come from a village where they only know about the school because it steals two children (one for Good and one for Evil) every year, and the villagers then receive storybooks that contain what happens to the children inside the cover.

I really enjoyed this book. It had action, fantasy, a little romance, and a lot of friendship, and I couldn’t put it down. While it initially seems like each school focuses on very shallow opinions on what Good and Evil are (mostly dealing with looks and gender norms), it definitely destroys that opinion in the end. I think that almost all of the characters are really fleshed out, even the secondary ones, which was amazing. I love when I can get to know all about the characters in the story and not just the main ones.

The only problem I had with it was that it was told in alternating perspectives (which I usually love), but it wasn’t always apparent when the perspectives changed. My book club kids brought it up that they had wished it had been done a little differently, and I have to agree. I also didn’t feel quite so satisfied with the conclusion in regards to the Storian (the pen that writes the fairy tales as they happen), but hopefully the next two books will help bring that part of the story out more.

Overall, I recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and fairytales, and especially readers that like books that focus on friendship and how that can overcome obstacles.

I picked this up because the cover was pretty cool and the concept – a school that trained fairy tale heroes and villains – was pretty darn awesome.

To start with, this book was a lot thicker than I expected. I was expecting a thin little paperback, not a nearly-500-page epic. And I definitely wasn’t expecting all of the twists, turns, betrayals, character growth, and, well, everything.

The book starts by immediately throwing you into a world where every year, the mysterious School Master kidnaps two village kids and every kid is afraid of being taken except Sophie, who is super excited to be taken from the boring village and sent to the School for Good, where she can focus on her beauty and win a handsome prince.

Except it’s pretty obvious from the beginning that Sophie isn’t as good as she thinks she is. Her “good works” are donating face wash to the orphanage, hanging mirrors in public restrooms, and spending time with Agatha, the frumpy, ugly, unfriendly girl who lives in the house in the graveyard (who she doesn’t particularly like, mind you, but sees as a good charity case).

The story is told in alternating perspectives between Sophie and Agatha, so you get to see what Agatha is thinking, too. Agatha actually cares about Sophie – she doesn’t necessarily consider them friends (she’s aware she’s just a charity case), but she cares anyway. A lot of her motivation during the first part of the book is to rescue Sophie from the School of Evil and get her home.

I really want to say more about these girls, but it’s hard because they change and grow so much throughout the book. Part of it is learning why they got put in the schools they did, part of it is leveraging their own unique strengths. (Sophie’s skills and interest in fashion and beauty are never played as a bad thing and are actually shown as a strength.) I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but they change a lot and it’s amazing.

It’s hard to say much about the plot. It starts off with Agatha wanting to keep Sophie from getting kidnapped, but that goes out the window pretty quick and then it’s Sophie wanting to get to the School for Good and Agatha wanting to get them both out of there and back to their village. And that’s the gist of it – but there’s so much more. Class rankings. Surviving things. Extra special magic powers. And I can’t say too much because spoilers.

The school itself is absolutely amazing. You get both Sophie and Agatha’s perspectives, so you get to see both schools, and it’s fantastic. They’re exactly what you would expect from schools for fairy-tale Good and fairy-tale Evil, but it’s all the little details (like the existence of beauty spas in the Good school and a classroom made of ice with a torture chamber beneath it in the Evil school) that makes it absolutely amazing.

I almost said the school was the best part of the book for me, but it’s hard to really say that. All of it was fantastic. Each element blended with the rest of them to create a fascinating world, an enthralling plot, and masterfully-written characters that made me devour the book in one day. (Yes, I read all 500 pages in one day. It was that good.)

There were only two downsides to this book. One was fatphobia, which was mild and mostly stemming from Sophie’s vain perspective. The other was the ending – not that it was bad, but it had the opportunity to be gay and wasn’t.

I don’t have enough positive adjectives to say about this book. I was expecting a fairy tale and I got so much more. So much more. I didn’t know this was a series when I picked this up, but I’m so glad it is because I want more. I want more of these characters and I want more of this world.

I’m trying not to ramble, so just … read the book.

(And if you’re a fan, the School for Good and Evil website is really awesome.)

I love middle grade fantasy books. They have so much imagination and the stories just flow and have such good meanings to them. This one was precious! I adored it so much! I love fairy tales, I always have but the fun movie versions where Cinderella get the happy ending and nobody gets their feet chopped on. I don't like the real ones with Ariel turned into sea foam and was in pain the whole story. I love the thought of princesses and royalty, I was the weirdo up till 3 in the morning on the night of royal wedding of Kate. I at 26 like to annoy my wonderfully patient boyfriend by claiming to be a self proclaimed princess and making him treat me as such which never last more than 2 minutes. So picking up a book about how fairy tales gets created was just up my alley. First of all Agatha was and is fantastic and I love her so much. I just want to give her a hug and tell her friends won't call you a witch and to love yourself because you deserve so much more. I loved how good she was and how much she cared about other people without realizing it. Also I liked the looks aspect making fun of other princess stories where all they do is worry with their outfits and finding true love, it did it in a way that wasn't wrong or campy but got the point across. I also loved that there were fat characters and yes some things were said derogatory but it was challenged, also that characters name is Dot and she is hella strong and also deserves all the love. Now Sophie... I didn't like her but I don't think you are suppose too. It's built into her character to be shallow and self serving but just keep reading. The villain was well thought out and I cannot wait to read the next books in the series. I want to see how Sophie changes, if she does, and just read more of Agatha. I loved how the moral of nobody is good 100% of the time or evil 100% of the time was played out with the story. It also showed your friends can hurt you but forgiveness matters. Also Tedorse the love interest was so confused throughout the whole book it seemed. I loved that because finding true love in school is a far fetched dream. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm saying that it's rare when it does especially for it to last. We shouldn't build our hole lives on significant others but grow together first as adults. I adored all the different themes and it wasn't a fast read but that's more on me and my off time this past week. Overall if you like fairy tale retellings, or fairy tale origins this book is for you, it's definitely worth the read!

I admit I am not the target audience for this book, it was written for middle/high school kids probably more geared towards girls. I am an adult male. all of my gripes about this book however are about the writing not the story.
The story was great; interesting, predictable enough without being boring, and the main characters at least seemed to have plausible thoughts and motivations.
That being said I nearly put the book away and moved it to my unreadable collection on the kindle several times. I found myself utterly baffled by what was going on (or more specifically how it was going on) during the "action sequences". What I was imagining happening during the story would come screeching to a halt as Agatha did something that was utterly un-human so I have to go back and reread half a page or so imagining it in a different way so that what I knew was coming would be plausible. Then a line or two after the part I had to reread for the whole scene to make sense would seem to change that made me feel my original imaginings were correct, but they couldn't be unless Agatha was Spiderman's granddaughter or something. It felt like I imagine reading the storyboards for Alice in wonderland would be if you didn't have pictures to explain things.
luckily this problem seems to clear up around 25-30% of the way through the book and it feels like a whole new, good, writer took over the premise and it doesn't seem to rear its head again until about 80% of the way through the book. luckily this time it only lasts for a few pages before the book starts to make sense again.
Of the supporting characters (which many are added) Kikko I found very interesting even though she was featured in very little of the book, also Hort I felt had a lot of potential. all the other supporting characters had unique powers and were described as having different looks, but their personalities seemed almost interchangeable. good or evil.

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway and that in no way affects my review of this book.

4.5 stars! CONTAINS SPOILERS. SPOILER WARNING!

This book surprised me by how dark it really was. I was expecting some light and airy fairy tale twists, but this book has dark undertones. However, I loved the darkness. It made the characters more real.

I really loved the world. It was so interesting to see the different classes and challenges. I loved the Trial by Tale. There was so much action and adventure and never a dull moment. I do wish we saw a little more of the classroom challenges and what the students were learning. I hope we get to learn more about the Woods in the next book!

I'm slightly dissatisfied with the ending. It felt kind of rushed to me, and I was left with so many questions. For instance, where did the Good School Master come from? And how did Sophie and Agatha end up going home? I guess their kissed proved they were friends and didn't belong,
but I would've liked more of an explanation. What's going to happen to the School and the fairy tales now that everyone's on the same side? Will Agatha be able to forgive Tedros? Hopefully, these questions will be answered in the next book.

The characters were great. Agatha was my favorite, as I could see a lot of myself in her. Sophie's shallowness and stubbornness annoyed me at times. Also, I felt she was just using Agatha most of the time. She puts Agatha down a lot, and I don't like that about their friendship.
If they were true friends, Sophie would accept Agatha just as she is. I do think Agatha's personality changed near the end of the book. She lost her spunk. She nearly became a Sophie by falling for a guy SHE BARELY KNOWS AND HATED FOR LITERALLY THE ENTIRETY OF THE BOOK. I'm happy for her that she found someone, but I mean come on, that felt like a plot device to make Sophie hate her more. I feel like I barely know Tedros, and I would've liked to watch Agatha's strong hate slowly turn into love. But alas, such did not happen.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

The final book of the trilogy, The last ever after continues where book 2 has left where Agatha and Tedros were whisked away to Gavaldon, while Sophie and the School Master were left behind in the woods.

I'll take this opportunity to gush out on how awesome and glorious this book was! And it took me 9 hours straight to finish it (minus the toilet breaks!) The last ever after has sent me to an emotional roller coaster ride that after I finished, I actually felt quite exhausted from using up so much emotions in one day. But seriously, I LOVED THIS BOOK (even though it's aimed for middlegrade readers and I'm probably already too old for this. But I don't care!) Soman Chainani did a good job at magnifying the awesomeness of the series to the highest possible level. He definitely "Ended it with a BANG!"

Unlike the first two books, there's more action, suspense, drama, angst, mystery, comedy and romance in this one. Yay!

Sophie, while being the antagonist (and also the protagonist) of the story, you can't help but not hate her for her decisions and the things she did. You can actually relate with her inner struggles where she tries to prove that she's really good. That she only wanted a happy ending, just like her bestfriend, Agatha. And she found it in our very handsome and drool-worthy school master (who was described as someone who looks like Jack Frost, and who doesn't love him?!)
Rafal (aka the School master), who is considered the master of evil in the story, is actually very human who only wanted to find love. His Never After.
I find myself hating Sophie in some parts of the story, but at the same time, I'm also rooting for her so she can find her happy ending.

Agatha has been my favorite character since the first book because of her strong and witty character, but in this one, she seemed weaker, probably because she spent most of the time questioning her self-worth and drowning with self esteem issues. Well, I can understand her, considering that her boyfriend, Tedros, is the most sought after prince and soon-to-be king of Camelot. I think it's pretty normal for her to feel inferior because of it considering that she has never thought of herself as a special girl. You'll see how much she struggles through this, but you'll also see her grow as she overcomes her fears.
I've always been a fan of Tedros' and Agatha's love team that's why I'm super happy that they have more intimate moments in this book, sweet enough to have ants crawling all over me as I read. You'll see their struggles as a couple, and how they fight (which was very interesting to read!), and always make up in the end.

As for the other minor characters, they were also given their own spotlights and you can't help but love them more. (With Cinderella being my favorite.) All their witty dialogues and snide remarks were really amusing, especially the fairytale puns. Oh! And the twists! I definitely didn't see them coming. Although I was able to predict some, the twist was just as surprising (like how it's supposed to be.)

I'll stop now before I give too much away about the story. *winks*

Overall, Soman Chainani did an excellent job weaving the perfect ending for an awesome trilogy. I'm gonna miss the school for good and evil and all the wonderful characters. Now that it's finished, I feel like there's a hollow emptiness inside of me. *cries*
Because of this trilogy, Mr. Chainani has already made it on the top of my favorite author's list, and I'm definitely looking forward for more works from him.

I give this 5 whales. Hands down.

**SPOILER ALERT!**

So, basically there are these two girls and one is named Sophie and the other is named Agatha. At first eveyone thought Sophie was the good one and Agatha was the bad one. But then they get swapped and Sophie goes to evil and Agatha goes to good.You probably know all that. In THIS book, Agatha and Tedros got sent back to Gavaldon and have a huge fight over Filip (Sophie in boy form, how TEDROS saw Sophie) and Sophie. Then Agatha becomes wanted by the elders in Gavaldon and is threatened to death with her mom and Tedros. Her mom risks her life for Agatha and dies for them. Then they find out that she was a teacher at the school for evil and tbe school master loved her. But Callis (Agatha's mom) escaped to Gavaldon.They decide to set off on a journey to find Sophie and free her from the school master. Meanwhile, Sophie is proposed with a ring from the young school master (Rafael) because she kissed him. She accepts and is bound to evil. At first, it was the school for good and evil, then for boys and girls, and now, the school for OLD evil and NEW evil.During Tedros'and Agatha's journey, they see Vanessa's (Sophie's mom) grave and hears about her. Then they meet the gnome teacher Yuba, and the League of thirteen. Then they meet MERLIN.They help Agatha and Tedros get into the school.Merlin transforms Agatha into a boy named Egdar and Tedros into a girl named Essa. Tedros' job is to convimce Sophie to take off the ring and Agatha's is to retrieve Excalibur,the only thing to destroy the ring forever. But that won't be so easy. Sophie also gets to teach but is hated at the school.Sophie, under her ring has the word "Tedros" carved into her skin.She thinks Rafael will be REALLY MAD. She keeps it a secret. But then Rafael finds out of course. Sophie meets Essa and Egdar and becomes suspicious of them right away also 'cause the Storian stopped writing. eventually,Tedros tells who he is and turns back into Tedros. Sophie is shocked and they are caught out by Rafael. Rafael decides to teach them a lesson by going out to battle. Sophie says she will oknly destroy the ring if Tedros gives her a second chance at true love. Tedros is suprised but still does it. Then they meet Lancelot and Guinevere at the bottom of a lake which will protect them. Then Rafael comes to get back Sophie and goes to battle. Lancelot the great knight is on team good with Agatha and "Teddy". Sophie... more evil than good. Merlin mysteriously disappears and is found on a tree watching with allies who come to fight. Cinderella and Lady Lesso die sadly , but Agatha becomes queen or almost queen because she hasnt been crowned and Sophie becomes the dean of evil.

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This book had me conflicted. While I cannot say I liked the story, it did keep me hooked. However, I felt somewhat uncomfortable with the ages of the protagonists (Agatha & Sophie) who are both twelve years old and their obsession with boys. As such I concluded that all of the other princesses / witches are also twelve or thereabout. However, the males (especially the princes) feel much older, more like mid to late teens (chest hair, brawny muscles - don't see that in tween boys). At least that's what Chainani's writing style portrays.

For two twelve-year-olds, the story involves a lot of first kiss references, finding your true love, getting your happily ever afters, and sexploitation of tweens (Sophie wearing revealing clothes to ensnare a prince)... I felt it would have been a lot more believable and palatable if the girls were at least in their mid-teens. I just felt a tad bit nauseated every time I thought about their age when something related to kiss/first love/happily-ever-after happens. The "pedophile" word kept invading my head (especially at the end involving Sophie and the School Master), which made the story a lot less enjoyable. Not sure if I am the only one who feels that way...

After spending more than two weeks with this series's I'm mostly let down by that ending. As with the first took books I adored Agatha. She is a beckon of happy and good that I love reading. Her trials made me so stressed out throughout this book because I just wanted her to be happy and she can't let Sophie go for some reason. This book had Merlin, no spoilers, but he was awesome and I loved his character. He was the flighty wizard I had always thought he would be whenever he's mentioned in literally any literary form ever. I loved the old heroes and the twist it gave the book. One I didn't like was Sophie. She was absolutely horrible and I don't care about the ending I want her and Agatha to go their separate ways. Sure I know that isn't the point of the story but jeez, how much is a girl gonna take by someone who claims she's her friend. Toxic relationships aren't something you hang on too, I've learned that as an adult and I treasure that lesson because it was hard won. Anyways, another thing I didn't like was the fact this book was way too long. There was no need for as many words as this book had, you literally read every single move they made and it made it last FOREVER! I'm squidward right now screaming forever because that's what it feels like. I mean 655 pages is just overkill for a middle grade fantasy. Overall I love most of the characters and there were really fun elements to the story but there were to many issues I had to enjoy it. Be warned there's bullying again, family issues, just a lot of stuff. I'm not cool with the constant fat shaming they threw on Dot and when she finally stood up for herself I was overjoyed. It was literally my favorite part of the book and that's sad because it was so inconsequential to the total story. So, if you like middle grade fantasy and princess stories I'd suggest the first one, the next two aren't necessary.

I have seen this book around, but was iffy about starting it. After seeing the audio version available at my library, I decided to give it a chance.

Not even a quarter into it, I knew I had fallen in love. It was fantastic! I ended up pre-ordering the 3-book paperback set so I could read them to my kid.

It was impossible to stop listening. Seriously. I was at a nerd gathering, sitting in the corner and hissing at anyone who tried to talk to me. But it was so good!

It's hard to express how much I loved this book without getting into spoilers. This was nothing like I expected it to be, but everything I needed it to be.

The characters were great, but I absolutely adored the concept of the story. It was brilliant! This book should be required reading in middle schools. I'm not even kidding. The message it teaches is truly wonderful.

I will be continuing this series and I look forward to reading the next book.

This was a very cute middle grade novel.

We are met with 2 different girls. One pretty and one ugly. One evil and one good but destined to be best friends. The only thing is, good and evil can not be friends.

When 2 girls are kidnapped and dropped off at 2 different schools, one good and one evil, the girls try to find away to get back home.

This story has a very unique twist to it. I love the ending.

I do believe that Agatha is my favorite character. Evil can sometimes be good and good can sometimes be evil.

I highly recommend this book. I will continue on with the series. I would be satisfied stopping in the first book only because I was very well pleased with the ending but I will continue on just to see how things began to turn again.

I loved this book. It talks about friendships, loves, and good and evil. At first, you would think this book was about the differences of good and evil people. But, this book is all about how if you are pretty you are not nessisaraly going to be good, and if you are ugly, you arent always going to be evil. Agatha and Sophie (two best friends) prove that true.
Every year in Galavan, 2 children go missing, no matter how hard the villagers try to protect them. They are taken to two schools. One good, one evil.
Sophie, is the type of girl who wears glass slippers, and giggles whenever a cute boy looks at her. Agatha, lives in a graveyard and hates almost everyone. Natrally, you would think that Sophie would go to the school of good, and Agatha would be stuck in the school for evil. But when Sophie is dumped into the school for evil, and Agatha is given to the school for good, everything falls apart.
SPOILER:
Sophie is evil and Agatha is good. Agatja gets Tedros, Sophies dream prince and king Arthors son.
Agatha is Sophies nemasis…

All her life Sophie has dreamed of her happily ever after. She’ll do anything to be taken by the schoolmaster at the School for Good and Evil, even making friends with the self-proclaimed witch of the small town in the wood. Agatha has never had a single friend, and though she knows that Sophie is only her friend as a good deed, she doesn’t want her small bit of happiness to be taken away. When Sophie’s biggest wish comes true, which also happens to be Agatha’s worst nightmare, things don’t go as planned—for Sophie finds herself in the School for Evil, whereas Agatha lands in the School for Good. Even though the girls will do anything to make things right—in their own way—there might not be a mistake.

Who doesn’t love fairy tales? Seriously, please introduce me to this person. I have an obsession with fairy tales—retellings, continuations, the original, whatever it may be. Whether it is middle grade, young adult, new adult (though I haven’t read one yet), I will get it within my clutches. When this book first came out, I had to resist from buying it but finally had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. The narrator added so much to the story, and for the kid that is skeptical about reading, listening to this book would be perfect place to start.

It was difficult to like Sophie throughout the entire book, though I did feel sorry for her, at times. From the beginning, Sophie had a way about her that didn’t sit well with me, and her attitude made the School for Evil an obvious choice. Her character went through some major development, which is bound to show up in the next two books in the series.

Agatha—the underdog I couldn’t help rooting for. Her main problem was that she saw what everyone told her was there, instead of trying to find the good inside of her. Though it took her some time to realize it, the School for Good was exactly where she needed to be. Plus, add in a dash of Happily Ever After, and I couldn’t wait to see if a prince fit into Agatha’s new life.

Friendship was a large theme in this book. Agatha had never had friends, but neither had Sophie, really. Together, they made an unlikely pair—Sophie: all pink and frills, Agatha: all black and greasy hair. Which is why this made for such an interesting tale. Happily Ever After never did look so far away for this group, especially when neither could agree on a happy ending.

Usually when someone says middle grade, it means there probably won’t be a love interest. However, this was not the case with this novel, which I adored! Even though it was young love, Tedros’s presence added something to the novel, that princely feel. For the girls who have always dreamed of their prince charming, a school where you didn’t have to worry about the trials and tribulations of dating was hilarious and not such an awful thought.

Though this is a middle grade novel, any age would enjoy this fairy tale adventure. It’s an extremely stereotypical story, looking at the basic outline of fairy tales through the ages, with your everyday princes, princesses, and the wickedest of villains. Once you finish, you won’t be able to resist continuing Sophie and Agatha’s story—for with all good fairy tales, there’s always a twist. {Moriah}

Sophie's kiss bought Rafal back to life and he's resumed control of the School for Good and Evil. Only there is no School for Good anymore. Instead it's the School for New Evil and the School for Old Evil with Rafal as the Schoolmaster and Sophie his queen.

In the meantime, Agatha and Tedros have been banished to Galvadon, where living together for weeks has bought them to the verge of breaking up. Agatha and Tedros must make their way back to the Woods to save Sophie from herself and the entire world from Rafal.

But what if Sophie doesn't want to be saved? What if she is perfectly happy being Evil's queen? And are Agatha and Tedros meant to live happily ever after together? Or was their fairy tale romance a mistake?

Love sure makes us the fools. 'The Last Ever After' takes its queues straight from the predecessor 'A World Without Princes', Agatha has finally chosen Tedros and Sophie in a fit of desperation chose the renewed and much younger School Master. 'The End' is written but why is the Storian(magic quill) at a pause. Why hasn't it begun another. This is the conclusion we deserve, this is the Last Ever After ..... and damn .. it was just too good.

In the essence of surety, Tedros, Agatha, Sophie and all the characters are at a crossroads. With the cunning School Master raising older villains and giving them the chance to redo their stories and the school now reading the 'School for Old and New Evil', everyone is doubting their roles and just what they are supposed to do. Agatha doubts her worth. Unsure about if she is the right person for Tedros. The Pendragon Prince himself doubts his happiness because what he and his Princess do is mostly argue whenever they are together. Sophie still pines and whines about what she couldn't have and resigns herself to second best and wearing his ring.

Well etched characters above most makes the story worthwhile. You have it to give to Soman Chainani. Not only does he succeed in putting forth his tale with such beauty and vivacity but also produced such noteworthy characters whether they be old or new. Agatha felt a lot more resolute this time. That sarcastic, witty and no-nonsense girl we saw in the first book rears her head here. Above all she wants to rescue Sophie and make things right with her. Tedros of course has come a long way from the pitiful state he was in before. Like Agatha, he also wants to save Sophie but also realizes that only with Agatha, he is stronger and not alone.

I know i'm not making much sense. My thoughts are in a disarray and i'm finding it very hard to articulate just how good this was. Agatha and Tedros could be such idiots at times. But whenever they clear their heads, they were at their best and just so adorable and sappy together.

Sophie, I just pitied. She just tires so hard to force fate and desperately claws for a better prospect that she doesn't care about what happens to those around her. Her jealous, selfish, and conceited comes up fully as she faces her best friends in a battle they may well make or break it all. But there is also good in her and that is more than enough.

This has been very much Agatha's story as well as Sophie's. Both have come far from the girls in Gavaldon. One of whom wanted to be kidnapped and takes to the School and the other wanted nothing but saving the former. Chainani's The Last Ever After pays on a lot of fronts. And the loose ends all perfectly tied up with surprising twists and revelations along the way.

Side characters are also given room to shine and well established boundaries shaken. This exotic and magical trilogy well just makes you fall in love all over again. I finished this weeks ago and still nursing a ginormous hangover .... I did not want it to end but oh well I foresee re-readings in the future a lot. I recommend this guys if you haven't read it yet.

This is a pretty terrible book. Review below contains spoilers.

*****

*****

The underlying premise of this book is really dark - an evil school master tortures, murders, and enslaves children in service of creating fairy tales for a group of readers and in his own service. This is a terrible thing! A different book or short story, written for more mature audiences, could have taken this premise and turned it into a decent work of fiction. Sadly, that is not what happened here.

The main issues:
1. Good vs. Evil - as many other critical reviews note, the differences between "good" and "evil" are superficial and based on appearances. If you are ugly, you are evil. If you are good, you are beautiful. If you appear not to fit this mold, no one can cope and it means the end of days. The mythology around this is mixed - do you have a good or evil soul, and can do nothing about it? Or does good and evil all come down to what you do? The book does nothing with this other than the most superficial treatment possible. The message of good = beautiful and worthy is repeated over and over and it such harmful messaging. There is no discernible difference in the students in each school, aside from their physical appearances. Yet the evil students live in a slum, essentially, and are constantly told they are unworthy of love and nice things. The good students are focused on getting a ball invitation. Don't even get me started on the rampant sexism in this whole ball + prince/princess thing. This could have been handled so much differently and ultimately renders the book nonsensical.

2. Sophie and Agatha. All of Sophie's lines, for the first 85% of the book, are some variation of:
* But I am good!
* I'm a princess!
* You're a witch!
* You promised!

Sophie is the worst and doesn't have a meaningful thought in her head. Agatha is slightly more redeeming but needs to get on with her life and realize terrible Sophie is no friend. Getting through the stupidity of these characters becomes a real chore as the book slogs on.

3. Magic/School - there is some magic in the book, and that saves if from being zero stars. But not nearly enough. Also, the teachers suck. Probably because they are set pieces and not real teachers at all interested in the students. If you are reading this book expecting some cool development of magical talent among young witches, then be prepared to hate the middle 70% of the book.

I could have written so much more - really, this book is not worth your time.

When I first saw this book at Barnes and Nobles, I thought that the cover was very elegant and beautiful. The cover got me to look at the Synopsis, which made me want to read it even more.

In this fairytale journey, Sophie and Agatha meet their match when they are taken to their schools by a mysterious bird and dropped through the air. As Sophie is dropped she sees that she is falling into the muck and filth of the School for Evil; while Agatha gets dropped into the cloudy, yet sparkling river to the School for Good. Sophie expected to be the princess of the fairytale with her golden locks glass slippers and hot pink dress. Agatha on the other hand just wanted to go home to her graveyard and Reaper (her cat), but instead she got taken to a bright pink wonderland of beauty, candy, and love. What measures will these two girls take to get home and go back to their old lives???

I'm really excited to share my point of view on the book. The whole time I was reading it, I was sitting on the edge of my chair. There were parts of the book that were really suspenseful. This book is a great read for tweens, teens, and adults, because readers like the impossible. For example: I've heard people talking about 20 years from now us having video games that you get transported into and cars that fly (like that's going to happen). Fiction is the impossible, if you ask me, because fiction means "written stories about people and events that are not real; or do not exist ~ Merriam Webster"!

This book was a unique and clever idea, a school that plays on the tropes of fairy tales, and yet it missed the mark in a few different ways. First of all, you've heard people say "show instead of tell" when it comes to writing. Why tell your audience something when you can show a scene or example to illustrate the point? Well, Chainani has the opposite problem here. He wants to show every pointless scene you can think of. Instead of using tells to quickly move from one scene to another or speed up pace, you get scenes for everything. This book could've been a bit closer to 300 pages instead of 500 and still managed to tell the story well if it cut out some of the superfluous scenes.

My other problem is a I feel like Chainani had good intentions with this book, to show how we are more than labels or expectations, but that doesn't always come across. The book is a bit messy. Not only is there a lot of scenes that felt unnecessary, it took away from some of the stronger points of the novel. Near the end, characters who do bad become "ugly" and characters who did good turned "beautiful" and while I think the point was to say appearances don't matter, your heart will reflect to your outside, it felt more like a bizarre commentary on appearances where you can't be unattractive and GOOD. Poppy cock! It just was messy and some of Chainani's messages were lost in a fray of messy writing.

Even so, the book had it's strong points, such as two dynamic female leads who struggle with their complex personalities in a black and white world, or the focus on the friendship between the female characters. The School for Good and Evil is a good book. It's clever, sassy, and had good intentions, but in the end, I feel the execution was too messy and convoluted to do the story justice

I am giving this a 2.75.

Third time was the charm. I have attempted to read this and listen to it on audiobook previously, and I just could not get into it. I finally decided to give it one more try before unhauling the series.

This was pretty intense when dealing with Evil and punishments, since this is more middle grade. I also thought several things were like a Harry Potter rewrite, and I wish some aspects were more original. I also feel the story went in circles, talking about the same things over and over. It could have been a lot shorter, and still gave the same messages.

I really loved Agatha! I could not stand Sophie. Overall, I did not love this. I own two more books in the series, but I am not sure when I would pick up the next one.

Agatha, Sophie, Tedros.... so very loyal, stupid, wonderful...
This tale has been a roller coaster of stories that's for sure!
We pick up here in book three, just where book 2 left off. Agatha and Tedros are on the run with Sophie to escape the school master.
There has been an extra tag a long as well!
We follow the group as they seek asylum to gather their wits and see about getting that ring destroyed. Tedros, get a shock that he will not soon recover from!
Sophie is still having that inner battle of good and evil, we FINALLY get to see the WHY behind this whole tale. Just how the girls are connected, and who each of them are destined for.
I loved this story, and I am amazed at the creativity of not only new characters but also the re-vamping of the old ones as well!
Well written, easy to read and follow, and so very enthralling!
This is a good read indeed!
~Dowie

’ve had this book sitting on my to-read shelf for almost a year. True story. I bought it from Books of Wonder last May.

Here’s the thing. I wanted to love this book. I really did. And, the more I got into it, the more I enjoyed it. But, I struggled at the beginning.

The School for Good and Evil is the story of Sophie and Agatha. Sophie is all things princess – pretty, pink and full of what she thinks is enough good-will to help her land a prince. Agatha prefers black and brooding, and she’s seen enough of the cruelty of the world to know that nothing really has a happy ending.

They are two girls living in their own world, even though they’ve heard the stories. The stories of the children kidnapped, never to return. Sophie is convinced being kidnapped is the way for her to find the fairy tale ending she’s always wanted. She knows that, if she’s taken, she will go to the School for Good, where girls are groomed (literally) into fairy tale heroines.

And, she gets her wish. Sort of. Sophie and Agatha are captured, but the Storyteller has something different in mind for them. Agatha is dropped in the school for Good, while Sophie lands in the muck and mire of the School for Evil. Based on appearances, it looks like there has been a mistake, but the Storyteller never makes mistakes.

The School for Good and Evil is an interesting and entertaining look at what really makes people good and evil. It’s a story about appearances not telling the whole story and how our preconceived ideas of what really makes a person who they are. It’s only when the truth is revealed that Sophie and Agatha can fight to write the story they want their lives to tell. When life becomes less about perfect parties and princes, the girls realize that the most important thing they can have is each other.

The School for Good and Evil reminds me a lot of a middle-grade version of Wicked.

This one kind of left me breathless. You don’t go into a fairytale expecting it to surprise you; the genre’s biggest claim to fame, love it or leave it, is its overall predictability. But for every plot point I saw coming, there were a dozen others that twisted and writhed and looped around anything I might have guessed, causing me to question right along with the characters: Just who is actually Good/Evil here, anyway??

These characters, man. Talk about humanity! Dumb and clever, admirable and horrid… and that’s just Sophie, though the same description could easily apply to much of the rest of the cast! Chances are I’m talking particularly about Sophie, though, given that she might possibly be my favorite. She drove me crazy, but doggone it, I couldn’t help rooting for her to get her act together – partly for her own sake, and partly for Agatha’s, bless her irrationally loyal heart. Agatha may or may not tie for favorite.

I’m sure I’m neither the first nor the last to compare this duo to Glinda and Elphaba from the musical “Wicked”. Yeah, I know, it was a book first, but I couldn’t get past more than a few pages. So as far as my head canon is concerned, this is the “Wicked” novelization Gotham deserves.

For anyone in the readersphere complaining that there aren’t enough stories out there centered around female friendships and helmed by dynamic antiheroines, this is a series starter I’m telling you to check out.

A fun fairy tale-inspired book following two female protagonists in a story where only one seems destined to be the heroine of the story. An interesting take, with the girls ending up split with one being placed in the School of Evil and the other in the School of Good. Will their friendship divide? Were they placed into the correct school to begin with? It is a fun and enjoyable read, and good enough to convince me to read the sequels.

This one is a lot harder to gauge the readership for. Young girls of all ages will definitely enjoy the book and find themselves relating to both girl protagonists in the book. Lovers of fairy tales will also thoroughly enjoy the weaving of fairy tale elements into this fresh, unique story. It was a great book and a fast read in spite of the number of pages and one that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

This is a juvenile fantasy book. I really liked the cover and was looking forward to a quick fun read which it is. Sophie and her friend, Agatha, both get mysteriously kidnapped from their small village to The School for Good and Evil in some distant place. They both think they got put in the wrong school side of the school though and encounter the fight of the life to remain friends. Both girls find themselves living a fairy tale!

I think children would like this book but I was a bit disappointed in it because it really made no sense to me. There is a lot of action and magic going on; however, I found it a bit hard to follow. I liked it enough to care about the main characters, although I really liked Agatha the most and didn’t care much for Sophie, even from the start. I did want to see how it would end and liked the ending. I didn't realize this was a series because it could stand alone.

Oh my god.

OH MY GOD!

OH.MY.GOD!!!

Seriously I can barely think of anything else to say. Soman Chainani completely blew my mind with The School for Good and Evil! This books was just so incredibly addicting and I could not put it down. I don’t even give a rat’s ass that this book is supposed to be a middle-grade book!

So the story is about two girls. Agatha and Sophie. Sophie dreams about being taken by the School Master to the School for Good and Evil and she just knows she’ll be Good and become a princess, meet her Prince Charming and live Happily Ever After. While Agatha dreams of being just normal and being Sophie’s friends, ignoring the villager’s whispers that the School Master will take her for Evil School.

If only that were the case…

When Sophie and Agatha get kidnapped by the School Master, to attend the The School for Good and Evil, Sophie’s worst nightmare comes true as she’s literally dropped off at Evil School, while Agatha is dropped at Good School. Both girls can’t believe how there was such a mix-up. Especially Sophie who believes she should be at Good School and not Agatha. As their school year continue, both girls discover things about themselves they never expected. And they soon discover that their fairy tale, maybe, just maybe, be unlike any other ever made.

Okay so, like I said this book blew me away and I can’t wait to start A World Without Princes, which is what I’m doing once I’ve written this review. I know this a middle-grade book, but I just don’t really care, I haven’t been this excited or enchanted by a middle-grade book since Harry Potter! And that’s saying something! So yeah, Soman Chainani is now offically on my Author-Auto-Buy-List, he created something so special with this fairy tale-esque book that conquered my heart.

As for the characters: I hated, absolutely hated Sophie at the beginning. She’s spoiled, conceited, so absolutely full of herself and extremely vain! And she was so annoying too! And I hated her even more all the times she put Agatha down and betrayed her trust, but towards the end of the book I actually felt sorry for her. Agatha on the other hand was really nice, and I liked her a lot, especially since she’s just so kind and also a bit shy. She did have some self-confidence issues but Good School helped boost her confidence in herself. Then you’ve got other characters like Hester and Grim, and mrs. Dovey, the School Master, Tedros and Beatrix and so many more!

I do have to admit that there’s not that much character development. Most of the characters stay the same as they are when we first meet them. Even in Sophie and Agatha there isn’t much change in them throughout the story, just some little differences here and there.

Now all of that said, I am going to read A World Without Princes and once I’m done with that one, I’ll pine for the third book in the trilogy, which won’t be coming out until 2015 *sobs*.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is what I've always hoped and dreamed a fairytale would be. It's got relatable characters on both sides of good and evil, it's got humor and drama and romance. And, best of all, it's got some serious girl on girl friendship!

I feel like you never see friendship, real, amazing friendship, anymore in books. Especially between two girls. It's like once the romance kicks in all friends, including best friends, are forgotten. Well, I've got to say, Chainani does not let the romance element of the book overtake Agatha and Sophie's friendship. That's not to say the romance isn't a big part of the novel, it is. And it's not like Agatha and Sophie don't have their issues and fall out as friends ever, because, uh... Yeah. They definitely do. But, at its heart, The School for Good and Evil is about overcoming obstacles and sticking with the people you love, the real people you love, the person who would fight to the death to keep you safe. Even when you probably don't deserve it.

My favorite moral of this story is an oldie but a goodie: Don't judge a book by its cover. And Chainani weaves that thought into The School for Good and Evil seamlessly and beautifully. Sophie is beautiful on the outside, but inside's not as shiny and polished. Though, no matter how horrible of a person Sophie is, you can't help but want to like her. While Agatha is, on the surface, not beautiful and bubbly or chipper, but when you get right down to it, Aggie's the one to call when you're in trouble and eventually people start to recognize her for it. True beauty doesn't shine from outside in, it shines from inside out. That is the message Chainani is sending in this book and it's a much needed one. Because it doesn't matter if you're tall, short, fat, skinny, white, black, blonde or brunette or any shape or color in between. If you're a beautiful person on the inside, people will eventually be able to tell on the outside. And if they can't, then I'm willing to bet they're insides are uglier then they say your outsides are any day.

The School for Good and Evil definitely has a Disney movie vibe to it. It's very animated in its writing. Things just seem to play out in your head in cartoon form while you're reading. But there's so much more killing and death in this book then I would have ever thought. So many people and creatures die throughout the book and everyone wants to kill everyone else. Death is nothing new in YA or fairytales, but for some reason it caught me off guard here. The deaths weren't usually very emotional and were usually brushed over, though that didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I think it ultimately added to the fairytale vibe.

If you love fairytales or Disney movies (and, c'mon, who doesn't?) then why haven't you read this book yet?! Action packed, romantic, and full of fairytale goodness, The School for Good and Evil is a must read. Can't wait to see what happens next in A World Without Princes!

I originally bought this book for my step-daughter - Yes. I AM the evil step-mother. MUAHAHAHAHAAHA! - But I started reading it, just to see what it was like, then DEVOURED the book. I didn't give it to her until I was done. You should have seen the look on her face. LOL! Oh, man. She's reading it now and is just as engrossed as I was. I bought the second book as soon as I read the last page.

I LOVE what Ms. Chainani did with good and evil, and it doesn't take a lot of effort to GET the message she's saying. I do wish she'd paused just a moment longer and given Agatha more. Just....more. Her shining moment when she saw herself for who she really is was huge. I don't know if maybe I just read it too quickly--because I really was--or if it really needed to be extended, or made more powerful. I don't know. But the book is really good and is a great lesson-learning book for a lot of young girls out there.

"A tale of two girls,
Taken from their home,
Who find a new school,
Where the magical roam."

I have never been interested in fairy tales. Never did I like a famous Disney princesses such as Cinderella, or Princess Aurora or Snow White or Ariel - with the exception of Pocahontas, Mulan, and Princess Meredith, because they're badass. I didn’t like how the girl, upon first sight, fell in love with the handsome prince, and I didn’t like how they all rode off into the sunset. (I will admit; having a castle filled with servants wouldn’t be that bad. But I wouldn’t like to be cooped up in it all day, only to come out for special occasions and looking like a super model.) I would choose a dinosaur toy over a doll any day. I just never went through that phase of fairies and Happily Ever After.

Yes, you might have called me a strange child, but I thought I was just practical.
So, you can already guess that I’m not a fan of re-tellings and such. (True, I loved Cinder...) So what exactly drew me into School for Good & Evil? At first, it was the title. I mean – that’s a pretty dang sweet title. Then it was the cover. Then the blurb. And then the selling point was the trailer. As each thing was revealed to me, I became more and more excited. Why? Because deep down, I knew that this wasn’t going to be some normal fairy-tale. That this wasn’t going to be some sort of black-and-white fiasco, where the villains are evil just ‘cause and where the good are always beautiful and always gets the guy.

Was I right?

Yep.

Oh I love it when I'm right.

"A terrible mistake
changes the two girls fates,
as they are sent to the wrong schools.
'No!' they cried. 'This can't be true!'
'Then,' they replied, 'you don't know the real you.'"

This book has all the ingredients fairy tales tend to have; good people, evil people, beautiful girls, ugly witches, henchmen, animal companions, and everything else you can possibly think of. Then, we have a new twist in which they are all put into a school and are divided up into Good or Evil, and have them compete against one another to see who’s the best. Good apparently has been winning for years now, and Evil has not had a chance to shine. But do you know what this book does? It takes some old elements, adds some new ones, and makes fun of the fairy tale cliché’s to make this book completely and utterly enjoyable.

In the end, you just can't help yourself; you just love it. It gives you this warm feeling throughout, even though it does become a little dark and poignant at parts. You feel like your there, at the school, with all these wonderful (and surprisingly complex) characters around you. And the drawings! Oh my gosh they are breathtaking! Even if I didn't like this book, I would have kept it simply because it would be too beautiful to give it up.

If there was one complaint I have, it is Sophie, the girl convinced she is good although she is in the School for Evil. I could not stand her. Every chance I got, I cheered for Agatha to realize how terrible a friend Sophie was and to stop helping her. She was obviously not Good at all; she was selfish, ignorant, and down-right mean. But looking from it from the long-run, I can understand why the author made her this way...

Ultimately this book not only looks at a different perspective of fairy tales, but also focuses of friendship and what lengths you would go to keep it alive. The ending was action filled and a emotional roller-coaster, and I loved it to pieces. But let me tell you; that was SOME cliffhanger. So much so, that I was nearly red with rage. Nevertheless, this book was so good that I don't think this review does it justice (especially with the stupid poems - sorry for that, guys). It makes you laugh, cry, smile, get angry, and makes you so happy you picked it up that you dance.

"In the forest of primeval
A school for Good and Evil
Twin towers like two heads
One for the pure
And one for the wicked
Try to escape you'll always fail,
The only way out is
Through a fairytale."

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is what I've always hoped and dreamed a fairytale would be. It's got relatable characters on both sides of good and evil, it's got humor and drama and romance. And, best of all, it's got some serious girl on girl friendship!

I feel like you never see friendship, real, amazing friendship, anymore in books. Especially between two girls. It's like once the romance kicks in all friends, including best friends, are forgotten. Well, I've got to say, Chainani does not let the romance element of the book overtake Agatha and Sophie's friendship. That's not to say the romance isn't a big part of the novel, it is. And it's not like Agatha and Sophie don't have their issues and fall out as friends ever, because, uh... Yeah. They definitely do. But, at its heart, The School for Good and Evil is about overcoming obstacles and sticking with the people you love, the real people you love, the person who would fight to the death to keep you safe. Even when you probably don't deserve it.

My favorite moral of this story is an oldie but a goodie: Don't judge a book by its cover. And Chainani weaves that thought into The School for Good and Evil seamlessly and beautifully. Sophie is beautiful on the outside, but inside's not as shiny and polished. Though, no matter how horrible of a person Sophie is, you can't help but want to like her. While Agatha is, on the surface, not beautiful and bubbly or chipper, but when you get right down to it, Aggie's the one to call when you're in trouble and eventually people start to recognize her for it. True beauty doesn't shine from outside in, it shines from inside out. That is the message Chainani is sending in this book and it's a much needed one. Because it doesn't matter if you're tall, short, fat, skinny, white, black, blonde or brunette or any shape or color in between. If you're a beautiful person on the inside, people will eventually be able to tell on the outside. And if they can't, then I'm willing to bet they're insides are uglier then they say your outsides are any day.

The School for Good and Evil definitely has a Disney movie vibe to it. It's very animated in its writing. Things just seem to play out in your head in cartoon form while you're reading. But there's so much more killing and death in this book then I would have ever thought. So many people and creatures die throughout the book and everyone wants to kill everyone else. Death is nothing new in YA or fairytales, but for some reason it caught me off guard here. The deaths weren't usually very emotional and were usually brushed over, though that didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I think it ultimately added to the fairytale vibe.

If you love fairytales or Disney movies (and, c'mon, who doesn't?) then why haven't you read this book yet?! Action packed, romantic, and full of fairytale goodness, The School for Good and Evil is a must read. Can't wait to see what happens next in A World Without Princes!

I wish the store did half stars as this is a 3.5 star review on my blog.

I started off really excited about reading this book. It was a lot of fun but then towards the middle it started to lag and seem like it was never going to end. I felt like there was a couple of times it could have ended and then I would see I had a lot more to read.

What’s it about?
It’s about two girls from the same town who get chosen to enter The School of Good and Evil. Sophie who has always wanted to be a princess her entire life has been grooming herself for the day she will enter the School of Good is put in the School of Evil. Agatha who lives alone in the cemetery and has never had any friends, except Sophie gets sent to the School of Good.

Sophie just knows there has been a mistake, she should have been in the School of Good with her blonde hair and her practiced smile. She has done everything she thought she should to be Good. She wants her Prince and will stop at nothing to get him. Agatha doesn’t know anything about being a princess and feels more at home in Evil, but she doesn’t want to be Good or Evil she just wants to go home.

Normally your fairy tale doesn’t start until you are out of school and in the woods but the tale between these two friends starts early and in their first year of school. They soon learn that to survive they are going to have to accept what has been chosen for them and rid it out to see what happens.

What did I like:
I really liked the story line and the underlining them of what really makes a person good or evil. Agatha was my favorite character and she was shy and a little timid. She liked staying on her own, she has dark hair and to everyone in Good school she looks evil. She doesn’t fit in with the pretty princesses. It’s not that she isn’t pretty but she doesn’t see herself as pretty, but she is always trying to do what is right. When she learns things about the schools she really tries to get Sophie and her out, but it doesn’t work. Even when her friend is being bad she still tries to help her which proves she should be in Good school.

Dot is another one of my favorite characters, she is from Evil school. She befriends Sophie right off the bat even when Sophie is mean to her. She knows that Sophie doesn’t look evil with her blonde hair but tries to bring her into the fold. Dot though in evil school you could tell has a little good in her and at times I really felt sorry for her.

Sophie was your classic evil character. Good on the outside evil on the inside. Everything she thought she was doing to be good was always rather selfish and only done to better herself. She was my least favorite character but she gave me a few laughs. All the time she was trying to prove she was good I kept thinking to myself..man you are pure evil..lol.

I enjoyed the ending and even though I am curious to see what happens it didn’t really leave it with a huge cliffhanger so I am glad of that. I checked my shelf and see that the next book is just about as long..ugh..as this one.

What I didn’t like:
As I mentioned earlier I started out thinking this was going to be probably a good four star read for me but then it just started to lag and drag. The book is almost 500 pages and I think could have easily had about 75 pages shaved or more and still be a good read. I actually had to put it down and read something else because I just couldn’t read anymore. It has nothing to do with the story not being good either because I really loved the story. I also want to read the next book in the series, but I just wish it wouldn’t have been so long. Now some of you who love long reads are going to probably have no problems with it, I just don’t like long reads much.

Overall I thought it was good and if you have a middle grade child who loves to read then they might enjoy this even though it’s a bit long. Any of the young children I know don’t have staying power for this long of a book. I do think that older children would find it appealing as well especially if they like fantasy and fairy tales.

It’s also being made into a movie and I really think it would make a great movie as long as it’s done right. I always cringe when a book is made into a movie cause they never do it right, but I always watch them.

The funniest opening pages I've ever read. You could just SEE Sophie being dragged through the woods, her smug, vain smile plastered on her perfect face. This entire part of the book was incredibly funny thanks to her characterisation :D An enjoyable, imaginative, and thrilling read, with a fab, original idea!

I have more reviews like this in my blog http://ccarpelibrum.blogspot.com/ check it out.
Thoughts prior to reading it:
When I read the synopsis I fell in love with the concept of it. Sophie was beautiful and she thought herself to be an ideal princess while Agatha who was fond of graves and dark clothing seemed destined for evil. When they are elected or rather kidnapped for the school Agatha is chosen for the school of good while Sophie finds herself in evil. A part of me wanted to know if they were chosen that way because that was truly what each of them were or if the schools could turn good to evil and vice versa. Mainly I wanted to know what would happen to these two girls and their friendship.

Thoughts after reading it:
I really enjoyed the world Soman Chainani created. The school for good and evil is intended to educate each child on their role in their fairy tale. Sophie is in evil and she is certain this is a mistake. How could she possibly be evil? Then there is Agatha, who is instantly thought of evil the moment she steps into the school for good. The girls fervently try to change schools but are always sent back to their previous schools. It is not a mistake they are told time and time again. There are signs that show Agatha is good and there are signs that Sophie is evil. Their friendship is threatened and all the girls want to really do is to return home.
This book is intended to 8-12 year olds however I think this book is enjoyable for all ages. One thing to take into consideration is the immense size of the book. It has nearly 500 pages (imagine how thick that book is). There are some dense parts in the book so it is important to pay close attention and stay attentive. There were some parts that may have felt that they were prolonging a scene much longer than necessary. I did like the development of the characters. Although the two friends are very different they each developed in their own way. They friendship seemed very fickle at times but they managed to somehow hold on. I have a lot of appreciation for Agatha who seemed to be the one working the hardest on their friendship. I don't know if the same could be said about me if I had gone through the same situations as Agatha. There is a book two which I will be reading soon. There seems to be a much higher rating for book two so I hope it is better than the first. Also I heard that this book was acquired for it to become a movie. I really look forward to that. I think it will make a great movie because of how much action there is in it and the fantasy world concept of it. To read more about this news follow this link http://schoolforgoodandevil.com/readers/movie-news/

Once upon a time a girl dreamt of being kidnapped….

Wait..What?

Every four years two children from the village are taken away, whisked off to a school where they learn how to be in a fairy tale. One of the children could end up a hero while the other is destined to be the villain. Sophie is sure that once she is taken she will get to find her prince and her happily ever after. She has even found the girl from the village who she is sure will be her counterpart and befriended her…that’s how good she is. Agatha is sure that Sophie is crazy and there is no such place, let alone why does she have to be the villain.
On the outside it makes perfect sense. Sophie is beautiful, blonde, wears pink dresses and can sing while Agatha has straggly black hair, carries dead things in her pockets and lives in a graveyard.

“Say I sink to your intelligence level and pretend to believe all this. Why am I going to villain school? Why has everyone elected me the mistress of evil?”
“No one says you’re evil Agatha,” Sophie sighed. “You’re just different.”
Agatha narrowed her eyes, “Different how?.....”
“….For the Create a Tale competition your story ended with Snow White eaten by vultures and Cinderella drowning in a tub.”
“I thought it was a better ending.”
“You gave me a dead frog for my birthday.”
“To remind you we all die and end up rotting underground eaten by maggots, so we should enjoy our birthdays while we have them. I found it thoughtful.”

Agatha has never had a friend before Sophie so when a shadow comes to steal her in the middle of the night Agatha tries desperately to save her friend. They are both taken but everything seems to go wrong when Sophie is dropped into the grounds of the School for Evil and Agatha is sent to the school for good. It must be a mistake Sophie is sure she is good, she must meet her Prince, fall in love and get her Happily Ever After. Agatha doesn’t want to be at the school, the only thing she cares about is saving Sophie and getting home.

It is all harder than it seems and to survive each must do well in the school they’ve been assigned to or suffer a fate worse than death.

In the School for good, Agatha can’t help but notice that the Good might all be beautiful and princesses and sure they are supposed to be courageous and kind but mostly they seem vapid and selfish. All the princesses want is a prince to love. Their biggest goal is to get a prince to ask them to the ball or suffer a fate worse than death. As far as Agatha is concerned

“love is something storybooks invented to keep girls busy”

In the School for Evil, Sophie is at a loss for why she would have ever been placed there. She is a princess, just look at her. There has been a terrible mistake but she is convinced if she can just get a prince to kiss her everything will be fine.

I had such a fun time reading this. It makes fun of itself. Agatha was incredibly likeable from the beginning and Sophie grows on you but it takes a lot of time. Sophie is harder to love because she is probably 75% evil and 25% good. Sometimes she goes a little overboard. I loved the friendship between the two girls and how much Agatha really cared for Sophie and just wanted to go back to the village so they could still be friends.

The side characters of the evil school were also a lot of fun, as evil characters are. They are just misunderstood by the other side. They are the children of famous fairy tale villains and sure they’ve had stirring of love before but luckily they’ve been stamped out by their families early.

“First time I told my dad I liked a girl, he slathered me in honey and sealed me in a bear den for a night. Haven’t liked one since.”
“First time I told my mother I fancied someone, she baked me in an oven for an hour,” Mona agreed, green skin paling. “I never think about boys now.”
“First time I liked a boy, my dad killed him.”

And of course there is a Prince. Tedros is everything Sophie is sure she wants and deserves. Son to King Arthur he is the most desirable of all the princes.

He glistened with a noble sheen as if his blood ran purer than the rest. The stranger took one look at the frowning sword armed boys pulled his own sword and grinned.
Forty boys came at him at once but he disarmed each with lightning speed the swords of his classmates piled up beneath his feet as he flicked them away without inflicting a scratch.
Sophie gaped bewitched
Agatha hoped he’d impale himself. But no such luck.

There were some great classes and challenges that were a good time to read through and I loved the push pull of the friendship between Sophie and Agatha. The ending was a little different than I expected but I really enjoyed the twist at the end. I liked so many of the ideas behind this story and it will be interesting to see where the author took it in the next book which I will of course be reading soon.

Recommended for when you want something fun that is more about friendships than romances. Great MG reading.

The School of Good and Evil is an interesting book - what is essentially a riff on fairytales ends up being a straight adventure story lacking any of the morals upon which it is based; as such, it ends without making a point and contradicting itself and the characters throughout. Less demanding readers will read it as a simple tween romp and enjoy it as such. But more demanding readers may be frustrated by the lack of point of view by the author.

Story: Agatha and Sophie live in an isolated village in the middle of a forest. Every year, the 'headmaster' of the School for Good and Evil comes and takes two children in the night to be students in his school. Sophie eagerly wants to go: she's sure she'll be a fairy tale princess. Down to Earth Agatha, however, finds the whole thing pathetic. When both girls are taken to the school, Sophie ends up in the school for evil (to be a witch) and Agatha lands in the school for princesses. With both girls sure they are in the wrong place, how will they survive their schoolmates long enough to get back to their village?

Most of the book is a fish-out-of-water story of each girl dealing with the horrors of their situation: beautiful Sophie with the farting/warted/dowdy evils and grounded Agatha dealing with the vain and superficial princesses. There should be a lot to mine here and a lot to be said about not falling into the cliches of either group. But somehow nothing is really said - is Sophie evil in her heart? Is Agatha really purely good despite her frogs and antisocial behavior? Are the princesses, with the callous and selfishness, really good? And are the evils really born that way or made so through cruel treatment? The answer ends up muddled in each of those situations as the story mostly concerns Agatha trying to get home and Sophie stymieing her. Even a point that neither is wholly good or wholly evil fails to materialize in this muddled plot.

In listening to this Audible version (in which the narrator did an excellent job), I kept feeling like there was going to be something deeper than the shallow story on top. The story really lacked nuance, depth, and especially a POV by the author to make this really work for me.

Sophie and Agatha live in the town of Galvadon, a story book town where once a year, the Schoolmaster kidnaps two children away to attend The School for Good and Evil. These children will then end up in fairy tales and be written about for posterity.

Sophie is blond, fair, and pretty, and seems (to herself) to be a shoo-in for the school for Good. Her friend Agatha, dresses in black, and lives next to the cemetery, but doesn't believe in either the school or the fairies, and has no desire to be kidnapped. When they end up being kidnapped and Agatha ends up at the school for Good and Sophie at the school for Evil, the plot revolves around Agatha trying to get both of them home and Sophie trying to swap places with Agatha while winning her prince.

The book plays up to all the story book cliches, where the school for Good has classes like "beautification", "talking to animals", etc., and the school for Evil teaches "Uglification" amongst others. The story is funny and entertaining, especially as Sophie demonstrates her twisted ideas about what it means to be good.

Unfortunately, the author writes himself into a corner and ends up with a disappointing ending that fails to take advantage of the milleu. The big reveals turn out to be not all that interesting, and the characters never end up being very fully developed. Ignoring the ending, however, it is a fun read and can be mildly recommended for airplane reading.

Every four years, the School Master selects two students from Gavaldon, where all the children avidly follow fairy tales, to bring to his school. THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL by Soman Chainani takes place the year two girls, best friends, are chosen. Sophie and Agatha are polar opposites in the way you would expect good and evil to be. Sophie flounces around in fluffy pink dresses and performing princessy deeds while Agatha hides in drab black clothing and enjoys being alone with her cat. Sophie eagerly awaits the day she'll be swept up by the School Master to learn how to be a princess before being placed into a fairy tale fit, quite literally, for a princess. On the other hand, Agatha knows she's already doomed to a less than glamorous existence and has none of Sophie's ambition.

Swept away by the School Master, the two girls find themselves dumped in two schools located on the edge of the Endless Woods. To her complete shock, Sophie finds herself dumped in the School for Evil, among the other wannabe witches, villains and henchmen. At the other side of the divide, Agatha finds herself surrounded by preening, perfect-looking girls. Both girls think that clearly someone made a mistake. After much difficulty, they meet up, deciding that they need to see the School Master. Returning to their respective schools, they both discover there are more sinister forces at work. Agatha recognizes children from Gavaldon written into the stories, and some have less than happy endings. As both girls struggle to come to terms with their school placement, they discover that they may actually be more fitted to their respective schools than they think. Sophie and Agatha make a pact to escape and return home, but Sophie quickly loses sight of their common goal at the arrival of Prince Charming. The best friends soon find their friendship on shaky ground. It seemed, like the School Master had said, that good and evil could never remain friends.

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is a fun and exciting read, incorporating elements of beloved fairy tales and putting a modern twist on others. While Sophie is enamored with the idea of happily ever after, Agatha wants to forge her own path. She tries to save both her and her friend from the conniving motives of the School Master by getting them home safely. She scoffs at the idea of a class teaching the girls to save themselves from harm by talking to woodland creatures, wondering why they can't learn to sword fight like the boys. She's compassionate, worrying about the fates of others that her fellow Evers can't seem to understand. THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is mismatched and backwards, rewriting and retelling all the traditional elements of a fairy tale. Good and evil can't be determined by appearances, nor can outward appearances mask true intentions. Good and evil aren't black and white. Good and evil can't be clearly defined.

Reviewed by Ashley L.

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

As a long-time devotee of fairy tales and all their retellings, this book has been on my radar for a long time. I love the idea of schools training up the next generation of heroes and villains, especially when those people are pulled from an ordinary world like ours. The big twist here though is that while beautiful Sophie expects to land in the School for Good to be groomed to be a princess, she actually ends up in the School for Evil while her friend Agatha, whose penchant for black and offbeat style had her marked as villain material, enrolls in the School for Good. This book follows the ups and downs of their crazy first months at the schools against a larger tapestry for their fairy tale is only just getting started.

Like most of the books from HarperCollins, I found the writing of this one absolutely addicting. It's a little on the longer side but the last half, especially, flew by. I could not put it down. The plot has a lot of setup introducing both girls in their homes before transporting them to the schools but it all seemed necessary to set up our expectations for life at the schools. A bonus was that this has illustrations, which helped bring the story to life even further.

Once we're at the schools, it felt a little bit like Harry Potter (in the best way!) Since our two protagonists are split, we get a close look at both schools with their different philosophies and agendas. Everyone at the schools is as baffled as Sophie and Agatha as they also judge based solely on appearance. Sophie refuses to do villainous work, attempting to gain entrance to the good school while Agatha merely wants to go home. The girls have a lot of (mis)adventures as these goals are pursued. I don't want to share any spoilers so I can't be more detailed but it was crazy entertaining.

Of course there are a lot of other characters. The most notable is Prince Tedros, the most popular good boy who is the object of Sophie's affection. Since she thinks he is the handsomest boy, it is only fitting that she, as the prettiest girl, be paired with him. Sophie and Agatha also have a lot of interactions with all of the other students and a few notable professors.

Now I did have a few little quibbles although they did not keep me from greatly enjoying this book. I think it was maybe a little long? I'm not firm on that but some of the emphasis on who/what equaled good versus bad wearied me; luckily the latter half had more adventure. I also found Tedros to be super dull...but that's only because Sophie and Agatha had so much pizzazz.

Overall: Recommended especially for lovers of fairy tales as well as fantasy fans and lovers of younger YA (I originally thought this was MG but I know think it is sort of on the borderline depending on your tolerance for violence.)

This was highly entertaining to read - its frenetic cartoonishness reminded me of the opening credit sequence from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. On speed. Chainani obviously has a gift for translating his visual imagination to the page. There are gorgeous illustrations by Iacopo Bruno, but even these are just an extra treat when Chainani's descriptions are so good.

Sophie and Agatha are great characters, and so are most of the secondary characters even if they're mostly underdeveloped. My main problem with this book is that it's so wildly inconsistent. One could argue that a story chiefly concerned with muddling the distinctions between good and evil should contain muddled examples and explanations of what's good and what's evil, but many of the explanations given or implied in this book don't really make any logical or narrative sense. I'm not sure what to make of it, whether or not this is always intentional, or part of a larger message.

For example, Sophie is identified as "evil" from the get-go because she's overly concerned with the outward appearance of beauty and goodness, but one could argue that this is also true of the entire student body of the School for Good. Lip service is paid to the idea of true beauty and goodness coming from the inside, but this, too, is underdeveloped. The upending of tropes is more successful with Agatha, who is truly "good" despite her aesthetic love of dark things because she's a true friend with a big heart. But it seems that this book's definition of goodness (insofar as it has one) is also dependent on a the idea that "Good" girls are largely defined as those who are loved by princes. The rah-rah-sisterhood moments, wherein boys' love is deemed irrelevant, are thin, few, and far between, even though the whole novel is supposed to hinge upon the friendship between Sophie and Agatha. This novel has some deeply problematic gender essentialism that would make me pause before passing this book on to younger readers. There are hints of examination and undermining, but they don't go anywhere. I hope that this is addressed more deeply in Book 2.

Also, one would think that a magical ranking system which automatically broadcasts students' "grades", without teacher input, would be able to detect when someone has been cheating. And one would believe, from this book, that One Good Deed can automatically negate a vast array of bad ones, up to and including murder.

Plus there's a weird ending that left me going "Huh?", and an icky (and actually quite pedophilic when you think about it) bit with the School Master.

I'm glad I read this. Very glad indeed. Even though (or because??) it was sometimes an exercise in sadomasochism. It's a schizophrenic book, on the more intellectual end of the silly/smart spectrum, yet lots of fun. The writing is pretty strong, but could be just a little tighter.

I'm looking forward to Book 2.

What can I say? I really loved this book. Charming, creative, and fun, I was ecstatic when Oyster added it to their reading collection. I'm a big fan of duality, and the concept of good and evil lurking in everyone, so this story was really appealing to me.

I thought it was interesting seeing how the 'evil' school was handled. I liked seeing the reasoning behind the villains thoughts, and how they trained to fight good, and why. I also liked seeing the way good had perhaps been a bit corrupted with time, focusing on looks and princes not necessarily just doing what was right. Plus, throw in a warped overseeing power, and that just makes everything more fun.

There is a scene at the end a number of people commented on (I will try to avoid spoilers) that did knock the book down a tiny notch for me. While I don't care who kisses who, I wish there was a bit more reasoning behind the why and what it meant and all of that because it did confuse a lot of people. It may be a regional thing, or a personal thing, but I know where I'm from you only kiss someone you're in a romantic situation with. Some people treat that differently, so I'm not sure if this is one of those cases, or a shift towards the romantic. If that all sounds cryptic, once you read the book it'll make a bit more sense. Or you can just read the spoilers of other people blurting it out.

That happens too..

Overall, I liked the twisted fairy tale sort of vibe to this book, the schools, the classes, and the plot. Yeah, I just like some magical fluff sometimes. Now to wiggle away and capture book two....

First in the School for Good and Evil fantasy series for children.

A fantasy for children about good and evil which emphasizes friendship and incorporates the precept: don't judge a book by its cover.

My Take
In some ways, it's rather simplistic with the School for Evil and its Evil Shore and the vice versa of the School for Good and its Good Shore as well as being a contender as a Harry Potter wannabe---for a much younger audience. It's a good story with a surprisingly mature vocabulary, even though the sentences and many of the conflicts are too obvious.

Be sure to check out the map just inside the front cover. It's nicely done and gives you a sense of what---where---you're reading.

While I understand that it's Agatha's goodness that makes things go right, I am surprised that she's so amazingly dim when it comes to Sophie and her selfishness. It was so obvious that it was annoying.

Chainani wants to be sure you get that Sophie's character is evil; it's almost too childish with that heavy foot Chainani is stomping with---I'm surprised that Sophie can't hear the author let alone herself. I do have to wonder if Chainani is taking the mickey out of our image-obsessed culture---Sophie is so worried that she might be developing thick thighs when everyone knows princesses always have perfect proportions!

There are some good lessons in this. And they're obvious enough that the kids should pick up on it easily. Lessons that might help them determine if someone at school really wants to be friends. That Sophie pfft she tests her creams and potions on Agatha to see if they'll work and claims that's what friends do. Help each other. Yep, as long as it's Agatha she's practicing on and not herself! Agatha, well, she's different. She thinks weddings are scary, publicly refuses to believe in those fairy tale stories, and being friends with Sophie makes her feel normal. The truth of love---and it's not kisses! That ongoing issue Sophie has with not listening. Why studying is a good way to survive!

I like the Storybook theory the kids have. A very clever twist by Chainani to take this to a different level and introduce some depth.

"It's not what we are, it's what we do."
.
See if the kids can identify all the fairy tales Cainani adds into the story. With the same idea, see if the kids can tell you the stories of those students who succeeded and entered into certain fairy tales.

I was impressed by how well Cainani played on my mind. Even though I knew Sophie deserved to be in Evil, Cainani had me doubting it from time to time.

Manley's premise that ugliness is better than beauty made sense. If you can't get by on prettiness, you develop your mind. It was just a bit hard to swallow the way he presents it.

Sophie does get clever. I love how she forces Hester to help her entice Tedros. Her Lunchtime Lectures on beauty are a crack-up with a combination of good advice and a slap in the face for the boys.

I am looking forward to reading A World without Princes that is currently scheduled to be released in 2014. I'm dying to find out where Chainani goes from here!

The Story
Sophie just knows she'll be taken for Good School, at least until she's mean to that ugly Radley. Well, after all, "she's beautiful, he's ugly. Only a villain would delude him. Surely the School Master would understand that."

Everyone in the village knows that the School Master will raid Gavaldon for two children: one for the School of Good and one for Evil. It's happened every four years for the past two hundred years.

Sophie is positive that she'll be taken, she's praying for it, hoping for it, knowing that she's destined for Good, and if the School Master should take Agatha, well, it would be perfect since she's so obviously for Evil. I mean, look at them!

Only it goes wrong for both Sophie and Agatha.

The Characters
Sophie is beautiful and very concerned with being kidnapped the next time the School Master raids her village. She's working very hard at being kind. Including calling Agatha her best friend. Stefan, a millworker, is her hardworking, widowed father. He's interested in the widow Honora, who has two sons. Grimm is a mean, nasty, ugly cherub.

Agatha is another ugly one whom everyone thinks is a witch, and she lives at the top of the hill in the village graveyard. Reaper is her bald, wrinkled cat. Callis is her scary mother, who's anticipating Agatha getting into the School of Evil.

Students of the School of Good, the Evers
Beatrix is the belle of this class, and she knows it. Kiko is about the only Good girl, besides Agatha, who gets the truth of Good. Reena, Ava, Giselle, and Millicent are other Goods. Tedros is the son of King Arthur and carries his sword, Excalibur. He leads the boy princes at the school who include Tristan, Chaddick, and Nicholas.

Students of the School of Evil, the Nevers
Dot, whose talent is turning anything she touches into chocolate; the wicked, demon-carrying Hester; and, Anadil, who can control rats and make them grow, are Sophie's roommates. Mona has green skin and can make her lips glow red, and Arachne can pop out an eye. Beezle, Vex, Brone, Hort grows hair, Ravan, Flynt, and Titan are boys.

Garrick and Bane, a little boy who liked to bite the girls, were kidnapped from Gavaldon.

The teachers are good and evil, instructing in both schools
Professor Sheeba Sheeks teaches Special Talents; Professor Bilious Manley teaches Uglification; Castor (he's a two-headed dog---Pollux is the other half---with a split personality and a removable head); Lady Lesso teaches Curses and Death Traps; Yuba the Gnome takes the children into the Blue Forest to teach Surviving Fairy Tales; Professor Clarissa Dovey is the dean of Good; Professor Sader is a seer; Princess Uma teaches Animal Communication; the very weird Professor Anemone who teaches Beauty Secrets; and, Professor Espada.

The School Master is the kidnapper for the School of Good and Evil. He protects the balance of good and evil. The Storian is a pen that writes the fairy tales, the stories that pull Good and Evil in to be the characters of their books. The Beast is a huge black wolf who tortures the children in the Doom Room. The Crypt Keeper is quite particular about how the dead are buried.

Mr. Deaville owns the Storybook Shop at which the original storybooks appear. Every four years.

Readers are children from Gavaldon. Evers are Good and Nevers are Bad. Students eventually will graduate to one of three levels: Leaders "train to fight their future Nemeses"; Followers become henchmen or helpers; and Mogrifs are the ones who change.

The Cover
The cover is cute with the girls hovering over the moat that separates the schools. The rainbow-kissed school of pastels with the black-clad, slightly Gothic Agatha and the black swan facing off with the white swan in front of the pink and gleaming Sophie side by side with the lightning-struck school of black.

The title sums it all up with the girls perfectly positioned for the divided school they attend, The School of Good and Evil.

The School for Good and Evil looked to be a very promising read, and turned out to, just not in the way I had expected it to. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting when I began reading the book, maybe a short term at the school then the two girls being sent off into their own fairy tales or something but whatever it was the book threw me for a loop within the first chapter. This story was far darker than I had imagined it being, told more in the style of a Grimm fairytale than most that we see today. By the time I had finished the book I had enjoyed it but I also had some issues with it.

First of all while the story gets on to a very interesting start it is slow. Overall it's a pretty slow book. Yes there are times where things heat up and the action/story really get going but for the most part it moves along at a pace all it's own. While I liked the detail the author went into about the school the huge cast of characters began to confuse me and many of them blurred in my mind. I often found myself wondering 'Who was that again?' and 'When did they show up?' Another thing that really bothered me about the book was the way Sophie treated Agatha. They were suppose to be best friends but one minute she's all nice and the next she's mean and cruel. I can almost understand why it was done, but the story would have been better if their friendship had been done in a more natural way. Yes friends fight and they can be mean to one another but that is something that strengthens them. These fights were never really resolved, they just magically disappeared or in some cases got worse. It frustrated me.

And the ending, what can I say about the ending? It didn't feel like one for starters. The whole ending scene felt very rushed and while it tied together plot threads it did it in a way that was both weird and almost uncharacteristic for the book. At the same time other plot threads were tied together neatly and very characteristic. And the books last chapter felt like the author just stopped writing and said 'See you next book!' giving us a conclusion without actually giving us a conclusion. It left me feeling very frustrated and eager for the next one to come out to find out what really happened.

Now that I've gotten all the bad out of the way let me tell you what I did like about the book. The magic! The classes! The different schools! The fairytale history! I loved how it took the fairytale lore we know and love and put a different spin on it. I enjoyed both Agatha's and Sophie's character growth through the book, and while at times it seemed like one or the other was regressing in growth I appreciated the fact that the girls changed. Too often do I read a book where the main character grows a little but is stale for most of the book, this book did not do that. Even the more prominent minor characters began to grip me with their growth and personality. These are the one's that the author seemed to put a lot of time and effort into and stood out to me more than some of the others that tended to get jumbled in my head. By the end of the book I had really grown to care for each of the main characters and their closer friends.

The story itself was great, as slow as it seemed in many parts it did keep moving. The story was very original, I loved seeing the way the two schools interacted with one another and how each class progressed. The different tests and games were amusing and I found myself very interested in the school's history. Just enough clues about whats really going on are provided for both the characters and the reader to begin to unravel what may have actually happened hundreds of years before, though you are still left going 'Say what?' when everything is finally reveled.

Overall I have to say this book is a good read if you need something or are a fan of fairy tales, just keep going through the slower parts and it will pick up again and again often enough to keep you interested and pining to find out what does happen. I do however recommend reading it only after you've got your hands on books 1 and 2 at least. (Though it's suppose to be a trilogy so if your one who hates reading then waiting just wait for all three to be released.)

I was very impressed with this book. The underlying idea being developed in the book, in my view, seemed to be that each of us is like a garden containing the seeds of both good and evil. Then, a lot depends on the particular circumstances of our lives. If one finds oneself in the school of Good, the good is nourished, and the evil is not, while, on the other hand, to find oneself in the school of Evil, evil will be nourished. Thus, one expects little love between those for whom good has fluorished and those growing in an environment that favors evil in this fairy tale, but two friends who love each other and find themselves in different schools (and contrary to appearances) experience the power of love to cross almost uncrossable gaps.

Such a fun book! I really enjoyed this one, and I can't wait for the next books to hit the shelves.

If you are a fan of fairy tales-- or in this case fractured fairy tales-- you will LOVE The School of Good and Evil. It has everything a great adventure needs: romance, villains, and lots of dry humor.

I must admit though, I have mixed feelings for Sophie and Agatha. Well, really I have issues with a certain prince (Tedros) that shows up. Here it is in a nutshell: Sophie and Agatha get mixed up (or so they think) on their way to the school for Good and the school for Evil. Sophie spends most of her time trying to convince everyone she is meant for good instead of realizing how selfish she is. Agatha agrees with Sophie and plots to get into the school of Evil as well. Until...

You can guess the 'until'. I was really disappointed with that aspect of the story. It just felt wrong. I"m not saying the prince should choose the 'bad guy', but for two besties to fight over a guy like that just doesn't cut it in my book. If Agatha was such a great friend, I feel like Tedros should take more of a back seat to Sophie. Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way, but I ended up thinking Agatha was a good bit selfish herself.

Now, don't get me wrong. I really liked Sophie and Agatha. Agatha was a riot! She had me laughing all throughout the book. Sophie mistakes were also pretty entertaining. In addition to the two girls, there were a smattering of other characters that added to my enjoyment. I personally like Dot-- the witch with the chocolate touch.

I read something that said this might become a movie. That will be awesome, and I will be there. There is an epic battle scene that will leave you on the edge of your seat. You will not be disappointed!

I was hesitant to read the book at first because I'm afraid that I won't like it. But as I read further on... I was mesmerized. The story is affluent and imaginative. It somewhat reminds me of Harry Potter, it's magical! Also, the illustrations are superb! It's lively and intricate and it truly depicts the theme.

The story is a fairy-tale like no other. Gavaldon is plague by a mysterious thief, a thief that swiftly kidnaps children. Children that is ever lost and never to be found, unless one reads a story book. Sophie dreams of becoming a princess. She's primed to be one, pretty and graceful. But does she have a good heart? Agatha, doesn't like to socialized. She's reserved and loves everything in black, a quality of a witch. But does the façade tell you who she truly is? Now the story took a warped turn when they found themselves being kidnapped and placed in a school for good and evil. Friendships will be tested and love will be found. Buy a copy now!

The world-building is impressive! The book has a map of the school. It is very well made, colorful and mind-blowing. You get to see first hand the world Soman had created.
The story is also told in third person. Imagine a voice that tells a magical story as you listen and get lost into the world. In my case, I imagined Gandalf's LOL. Not a drop of boredom there! Soman took his time in describing and explaining the magical world, providing you with vivid imagery that will surely satisfy your imagination. I' am blown away. Plus the humor is exquisite; there are loads of funny scenes that will tickle you, like these subjects: uglification, henchmen training, animal communication etc... put my old college subjects down to shame. What an interesting curriculum!

What made this book shine are the lessons and realizations. I learned many things about friendship, trust and camaraderie.

The characters are awesome! They are unpredictable in a way that will make you more curious to get to know them more. I also love that there's character development. From spoiled to giving, timid to outgoing, monotonous to exciting, restraint to freedom...whew!

The characters are diverse also. Sophie has the physical attributes of a princess, gold hair and alabaster skin. But her personality is in reverse, plastic to be exact. Agatha, is the epitome of an emo, in modern world. She hates drama and loves to wear dark colors. Two different girls put in opposing section. Which one is truly good and evil? Also the side characters are awesome! They gave the story a great depth. We have the prince charming, storian, friends and enemies. There is a wide array of personalities!

The love-angle is okay. Not much highlight is given, it was confusing at first. But if you like a conservative romance portrayed innocently then this you will enjoy this book.

Overall, The School for Good and Evil is a nice read! I recommend this book for all ages who seeks adventure and humor.

I give this, 4.5 not quite good and not quiet evil whales.

The Story-
In the village of Gavaldon live two best friends, Sophie and Agatha. Sophie is pretty and sweet and Agatha is dirty and solitary, but they both have each other. Sophie dreams of living a fairy tale life. Agatha just wants to stay at home with her cat. Every four years two children are kidnapped from their village, and rumor says that they are taken to the School for Good and Evil where they earn the rights to live their own fairy tale.

Sophie is determined to get kidnapped, and Agatha is determined to stop it. Though Agatha tries her hardest, Sophie is taken and Agatha follows. Together they are taken to the school, but to their confusion, Sophie is dropped off at the school for evil and Agatha is placed in the school for good.

They try to tell the school teachers that a mistake was made, but the grown-ups don't listen. So our two friends begin their first year at school in full panic. Sophie does all she can to prove she is good, and Agatha does everything she can to help. Again and again they try to prove Sophie is good, but just when they think they've pulled it off, something goes wrong.

My Thoughts-
First off- 5 stars! Loved it. This middle grade is complex and full of twisty plot turns and imaginative scenes. The whole book revolves around the questions- what is good and what is evil? and can one person be both? The author does an excellent job creating different scenes that showcase both Sophie and Agatha's personalities. It is clear that them being switched is for an unknown purpose, but you have to read the book all the way through to figure it out. There is no easy guess.

Bravo for something that is layer upon layer of story. The characters are fully developed, even the side cast. Agatha is my favorite. What an unbelievable friend? She is true to Sophie even when it is obvious Sophie is using her to win the prince. Plus, the ending is spectacular. I really didn't know how it was going to work out. Sophie seems irredeemable, but her last act gets a thumbs up from me. This is a really good story that children will love to read.

Whenever there is a map at the beginning of the book I get a little excited. Mostly it's because I know I'm about to go on an adventure. That's exactly what this book is: an adventure. The School for Good and Evil is an epic story about two girls who are friends that happen to end up at what they think is the wrong school. You see for years a shadow comes every year to their town and picks up two children: one good and one evil. They are then taken to a special school where they are either trained to be a villain or a hero or princess. Sophie was born to be a princess or at least she thinks she is. While most children are desperately afraid of the shadow, she longs for it to take her away. Agatha is fine living in the shadows. She doesn't really believe that there is a shadow taking kids away. Agatha and Sophie have a unique friendship. They're opposites, but they find solace in one another.
Sophie's dreams come true when she is plucked by the shadow. Agatha watches as her friend is taken, but won't let her go without a fight. The shadow takes Agatha as well. But this is where the story gets interesting. Agatha is placed in the School for Good while Sophie is placed in the School for Evil. Everyone including them is sure a huge mistake has been made. Everyone except for the School Master. Little do the girls know their story has already begun.
This is definitely an adventure! Sophie and Agatha are great characters. They represent so many themes and stereotypes that are in today's culture. But there is also love and redemption in their characters. I am so glad there is going to be a sequel to this book. Not only did the author leave us with a cliffhanger, but I just couldn't get enough of this story. So much happened in this book. The quest that both girls are on is very similar to the quest most kids are on today. This book is easy to read and very entertaining. It has some underlying darkness to it, but it's not any worse than most fantasy books for kids. I highly recommend this book to kids as well as adults.

The School for Good and Evil is a clever, fun read that explores the human heart and what it means to be good and evil.

Agatha is a recluse, she isn't pretty, and her only company is a black cat named Reaper. Sophie spends hours on beauty care, she dresses like a princess, and she believes in fairy tales. Everyone thinks that Agatha will be sent to the School for Evil, and Sophie knows that she'll be sent to the School for Good. Realist, mistrustful Agatha could never fit in with the gorgeous princesses, and how would naïve, wanna-be-princess Sophie survive among evil witches? That's all if you look at the surface, however. Despite her gruff ways, Agatha is kind and caring. She considers Sophie her best friend and looks after her in spite of all the mean things Sophie can say. In comparison, Sophie is selfish, greedy, and as we learn, has a vindictive side to her.

Personality-wise, it's so easy to love Agatha. She's down to earth and isn't the kind of girl to wait for Prince Charming to come save her. In fact, she's the kind of girl who'll step in to save him if it looks like he can't help himself. She also isn't afraid to speak her mind, and I just love her dry sense of humor and the sensation she makes at the School for Good. (Not in a positive way, but amusing all the same.) It's harder to like Sophie, the spoiled brat that she is. And yet, I grew to love her character and what it adds to the story. Agatha is good and kind from the start. It's Sophie that needed to grow, and in spite of the things she ends up doing, she's the one that really made me question the meaning of good and evil.

Even if this is a fairy tale about two girls, there has to be romance to make the story complete. I adore how the romance is handled. He can be a jerk at times, and like Agatha I didn't know what Sophie saw in him at first. In time, however, more about him is revealed, and I could see the good in him. It was fun learning who is who's true love. This story isn't afraid to make fun of its characters and where they're all coming from. More than that, I love how it pushes the boundaries of good and evil and how it shows us that we can all be more than what people expect of us. And that girls don't necessarily need a prince to make them a princess.

It's been a while since I've read such a fun story about princes and princesses. This is a fairy-tale story that readers of all ages will enjoy. While this is a book that can stand on its own, I am glad that there is a trilogy in the making and can't wait to read the next installment!

Reader thoughts: I think I can see where this book was trying to go, but it didn't work for me. 1, I think the book was trying to say you don't have to be enemies if you don't want to. 2, that you don't have to be evil, even if everyone calls you evil. 3, that it's what you do that matters over who you are. 4, that just because you like pink doesn't make you an Ever.

These didn't work for several reasons. 1, Sophie tried to be good. She did her best she was capable of (which was no better than other Evers) and she was still called wicked, and she eventually gave up. 2, labels changed characters. 3, Evil school liked being ugly, and good school encouraged its students to think only about balls and dresses and makeup (like, a princess fails (i.e., dies) if a prince doesn't ask her to the ball). This may have been a wink at cliches, except that people who acted evil turned ugly as if ugly were synonymous with evil.

The adults were incompetent slaves to magic.

The ending was rushed and incomplete. I was unsatisfied with the way Sophie was treated (anything was too good for her), and I dislike cliffhangers. I get from the second book's blurb that Sophie and Agatha went home, but that is NOT clear from the end of the book.

What did I like? Some of the different magic creatures, the magic pen, the school master, the blind seer dude who can't answer questions, the weird talents (chest hair and chocolates), and that each of the MCs had a very strong goal in mind.

What did I love? That Agatha is an awesome friend. She NEVER gave up. She gave Sophie a chance time after time after time to redeem herself. She saved her life and her grades and her love over and over and over again. I loved Agatha's loyalty. These days, we see too many memes about dropping friends because they drag you down or aren't good enough for you. People, this is not what friendship is about! Agatha shows what friendship is about. It's about caring for them when the DON'T deserve, not just when they do. It's about caring for you friends when you DON'T feel like it, not just when you do.

Writer thoughts: It was neat how Soman forced his characters to fight for their goals and how the conflicts clashed so perfectly. Also, the MCs were so out of place, and that was a perfect place for them to be. Not only were they readers, but they did not fit their schools. That allowed them to ask questions the rest of the cast knew, but that readers wouldn't. What is that trick called, something about having Dr. Watson around so Sherlock will explain everything?

Also, the conflicts elevated nicely. Several times I thought we were at the final conflict (the talent show, the ball, the school master, the cupid shooting arrows, the tunnel and underground river) when we were merely at the next step in the conflict. While this led to a very flash-flash-flash ending (most questions answered, but a very unsatisfied feeling) it was neat to watch it unfold.

Sophie's persona was foreshadowed, but maybe too strongly. One of the reasons that I didn't like the book as well as I could have, is that I never liked Sophie. She gets as much page time as Agatha, and we're unsurprised to find her turning evil, but it does make it hard to connect with her.

Soman attempted to make Tedros interesting, and I can find the scenes where he tried (the first scene from Tedros's pov, the internal conflict about his father and mother, the arrow-shooting-the-tree scene, the clever pin-her-handkerchief-to-the-ground scene, and the lock-Agatha-up scene) but it fell flat. I don't know why, and, as a writer, I really want to know what went wrong here.

Tedros came across as, "I'm a handsome prince who needs to pick a perfect princess because my father is famous and I can't make mistakes, and I'm too clever for anyone except the perfect princess. Others think about clothes and are shallow; if I think about clothes, I'm just fashionable."

You can also read a great interview with author Soman Chainani and see a guest post for him on my blog A Backwards Story!

Without a doubt, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is my favorite middle-grade novel of 2013 so far. It's deeper, darker, and more complex than I thought it would be when first hearing about it. At first, it sounds like the book will be a cute, sweet story about two friends who mistakenly wind up in the wrong classes at the School for Good and Evil. The truth has never been so wrong.

Sophie and Agatha are "best friends" from Gavaldon swept away from everyone they know and love one night and brought to the legendary School for Good and Evil. At first, everyone thinks their presence is a mistake. Blonde-haired Sophie knows she was meant to be a princess and have her perfectly Happily Ever After alongside Prince Charming, but she somehow wound up assigned a Never, taking classes on how to be a villain. Agatha, on the other hand, doesn't care about beauty or princes. She lives in a cemetery and always wears black. Everyone in Gavaldon already thinks she's a witch, so why did she wind up an Ever, taking classes on how to be a princess and live Happily Ever After? Everyone is sure that the girls were mixed up when being brought to the school.
...But were they? Sophie will do anything to be a princess. She's been practicing her entire life. She made sure to do good deeds all over Gavaldon...good deeds that included befriending Agatha, who'd she'd otherwise choose not to associate with. She's also willing to do anything to become an Ever, even if it means bringing down her best friend.

What impresses me the most about THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is the way Soman Chainani turns fairy tales and stereotypes upside down. While the classes involving villains (Nevers) and heroes (Evers) are fairly black and white in expected ways, main characters Agatha and Sophie are not. They are both so much more than they initially seem. I love books where characters become something...bigger. Sophie has a huge destiny in front of her that she can't see properly. It's thrilling to watch her journey and see the truth lurking behind why she was designated a Never as the story unfurls. This book is more Sophie's story than Agatha's, though it's seen through the eyes of both girls. Agatha evolves much later in the novel, following the path of a girl who doesn't know what she wants in life. She's confused and can't see clearly. She's often bullied and put-down. There's so much more to her than what meets the eye, however, but Agatha needs to learn to love herself before anyone else can.

There's a lot of danger and darkness lurking around the corridors of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL. The book has a lot more gritty rawness than I expected, reading more for older kids than younger ones. There's also a little romance involved (after all, it is a fairy tale!). I would say the series is age-appropriate to the later Harry Potter books rather than the earlier ones. The ending is highly satisfying, as any fairy tale inspired book should be, and also unique in an unexpected way that makes sense, but everyone won't see coming. Even better? There are two more books in the series. With how well everything ended, I can't wait to see where Chainani takes us next when A WORLD WITHOUT PRINCES launches in 2014.

*Actual rating on my blog is 4.5 stars

This book was so fun!! I got completely lost in it and couldn't seem to get enough. The characters, the story, everything just came together so well! I was lost in the magic and the fairy tale world. I was excited to know what their story would be. What a cool premise!! This book was pure excitement for me. I haven't felt so lost in a world since reading Harry Potter. This was a fantastic start to what is sure to be a series people will fall in love with!

Sophie has wanted to be a princess her whole life. She has prepared for it. She is a firm believer of the rumor that each year two children are taken, one for good, and one for evil. When she gets taken and ends up in the school for evil she thinks there had to have been a mix up. Of course we soon learn that she is not really good and pure. She is in fact selfish, self centered, and not really very nice at all. The thing is, she really thinks that she is. She was a hard character to like personality wise, but I absolutely loved her. She made the story amazing!

Agatha who is boring, drab, and not pretty should have been in the school of evil right? Not a chance. She doesn't fit in with the gorgeous, well mannered princess girls, but her inner good is what makes her beautiful. It's clear from the very beginning that she is right where she belongs in the school for good. I loved that she was always so willing to help people, especially Sophie. Sophie was so mean and insulting to her, but she cares about her. She will always be there for her friend. I really loved Agatha! She was the root of the story for me.

There is of course romance. What kind of fairy tale would it be without one? I would like to say that I liked the love interest, but he was a bit of a shallow jerk at times. I did like him, but I thought that he could have been a little nicer. He has his issues though, so I can see where that stems from. I thought the way the romance was done was absolutely brilliant. I won't really go into it more than that, but it was really great!!

This book was amazing story wise, but what made it even more fabulous was listening to the audio. The narrator captured the characters and the story so well. I was enchanted by the story telling and could not have asked for a better narrator for this particular book. I loved this book, but the audio was the icing on the cake!

Full of action and adventure, this is a must read book. I enjoyed every single second of it. Filled with great characters, and a fantastic setting, this is sure to please! There is a bit of a cliffhanger ending, but it's not so much you want to tear your hair out. I can't wait to see where the story goes next. If you are looking for a great audio, this is one you will want to get, but the physical copy is full of beautiful illustrations also that really enhance the enjoyment. I would recommend this book to anyone!!

*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

**The audiobook version of this book is one of the best I've ever read - narrator Polly Lee is a storytelling genius, bringing each and every character to life, and probably increasing my love of this book tenfold.**

The School for Good and Evil does the impossible and creates an entirely new and exciting take on the classic fairy tale. This middle-grade story is complex and sophisticated enough to please any age of reader by exploring the concepts of "good" and "evil" while providing insight and background into classic tales (who were Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel?).

Best friends, the beautiful, good Sophie and the dark, sullen Agatha, are whisked away from their homes and dropped at the legendary School for Good and Evil where, if the good study hard enough, they can become princes and princesses of fairy tale lore and the evil may become renowned villains in those same tales. However, the girls are horrified to discover they have been placed in the wrong schools! Though the events that follow may be slightly predictable, Soman Chainani's superb writing paints the most wonderful of scenes throughout the pages that the reader cannot help but become immersed in the tale.

Chapter by chapter, The School for Good and Evil is heart-breaking then inspiring, humorous then tense. The climactic conclusion provides just enough closure to be entirely satisfying, yet wanting to experience more of the fantastic world Soman Chainani has created.

This soared WAY above my expectations. I'd never thought I could come to like Rafal. I did think that the timing was a it messed up, both in real life and in the writing. Soman took a really long time writing it. In the book when Agatha and Tedros are in Callis' house, it stated that it had only been two weeks since they disappeared. In that case, Hort went from clingy weirdo to a ripped heartthrob...IN JUST A FEW WEEKS. The same with Dot. How did she gain 60 pounds in just a small window of time? On top of that, it's like the whole school curriculum is done by the time a few months pass, since people are already mogrifying. Also, it's pretty hard to believe that basically three fourths of Good's heroes are dead by the time Agatha and company gets there. When Agatha sees Snow White die, it makes it seem like Snow is young. She must have a non-aging spell on herself, compared to Cinderella. Chainani might have skimmed over The Story of Callis and Vanessa just a leeeetle bit. I thought he could have expressed that story at another time, not literally in the middle of a war. I did really like the story, though it could use a fourth book or at least an epilogue.

I love a good fairy tale inspired story, and the story to this sounded interesting with potential to be either really great or really strange in a hard to judge way. It was the latter.

The World is a pretty good example of that latter option. I feel like it really should have been better developed, why are things the way they are? Why do we have this 500 year old tradition? Of course this is the first book of a series so you want questions to carry over to the other books, but you need to pick and choose which ones wisely and I kind of feel like he didn't. So while the world is unique it just didn't make sense, and not in the fun nonsensical wonderlandesk way.

I loved out protagonist Agatha, this is one of the most honest portrayals of of a twelve year old I have ever read. More than anything she's just unsure of herself. I did have a hard time buying that she was so purely good at the beginning, but by the end I kind of understood her a little better.

Sophie was ridiculous, I did enjoy laughing at her shenanigans, but I feel like this book kind of tried to be more realistic about the concept of good and evil and really tried to highlight that by framing it in this world which normally would be so black and white. But the realistic nature of those themes and their poignancy is kind of lessened by how most of the characters and especially Sophie are such caricatures.

There is quite an emphasis in this book on romance, and it kind of made me uncomfortable. Now in this day and age I know that kids the same age as our heroes are "dating" but really what adult takes that seriously? From an older standpoint we realize the even the most precocious tween is still a child. Complaints about fairytales glorification of romance are rampant and unavoidable, and yet those consequences that supposedly come from fairytales feels far more connected to how this treats the relationships of its characters.

The main plot was interesting and well developed, but was weighed down by a few too many other things going on. Mostly the whole thing was enjoyable and while I think it would have been better if it had been cut down a bit and been more concise it isn't a huge problem. The gigantic problem that cannot be ignored is the ending. This ending is not good, it's flimsy and imprecise and ill explained.

I really enjoyed this book, and I feel like all it's flaws are the result of a debut author. There is such potential for greatness in this and I'm certain that Soman Chainani's writing will improve phenomenally with every book. I hope that the later books explain the questions raised in this one better, and if that is the case this will remain a solid recommendation. I just really hope I'm right and they live up to their potential.

I loved this book! It starts cute and simple and I thought it probably a little too childish, but I found myself liking the writing and continuing to turn pages. As the story progresses the plot definitely thickens and the evil ramps up about 100 notches... I am on board for book 2 without question! I thought it very interesting that the author took some of his inspiration for this series from Disney movies. I am a Disney movie lover, cartoons included, and I absolutely felt like I was living in a Disney movie! Very well done to this author! His books can be read and enjoyed by children and adults!

Framed as the story of two girls who travel to the land where fairy tales come from, this book is a twisted mess of themes: what does it mean to be good or evil? Can someone be both? Is it better to rely on the love and friendship of others or on our own independence and strengths? and multiple others. This creates only confusion to the story, not depth and complexity, and this confusion is increased by the fact that none of these themes are clearly illustrated or clearly resolved. In the end, the resolution seems to be that being good will you bring you friendship and love, which you can spurn, but most important of all, will make you beautiful, unless you're beautiful already, in which case being shallow and vain will make no difference.

Bought this for my niece, but decided to read it before I gave it to her. I'm glad I did. It is a violent book that I would NOT recommend for kids as young as 8 (which is the age level the book reccomends on the back.) There is a lot of talk of murder and Sophie even drowns another character at one point. I know older fairy tales have a tone of violence in them, and that seems to be what this book based its views of fairy tales on, but I personally was never fond of those versions and am not fond of this book either.

The School for Good and Evil is a very interesting and compelling book series.

If you like action and fantasy you will probably fall for this series. I love how in this book the phrase opposites attract applys to most of it.
There is a bit of highschool drama in it, (probably because Sophie is VERY dramatic,) but also it has a bit more comedy then tragedy. I'm not sure if this applys to you, but personally, I don't really like a lot of tragedy.
Anyways, hope you like them!

Every year for the past 200 years , two children - one good and one evil are kidnapped from their town and taken to a school where nobody knows. The schools are The School for Good where Princesses are made like Rapunzel, Cinderella etc and The School for Evil where Witches , Trolls etc are made. Sophie - pretty and in love with Pink dreams of being a Princess and can't wait to be taken to the school whereas her friend Agatha wants to be left alone - Agatha likes to mix potions and dress in black - so when the two girls are kidnapped it's assumed that Sophie will go to The School for Good and Agatha - The School for Evil. However, what happens when the two girls are dropped off at the opposite schools than people assumed. Has their been a mistake or will the girls discover in due time that being Good and being Evil isn't exactly skin deep and that to go to the school you must be a Pure Soul of either Evil or Good?
This was a lovely and fun read and I can't wait to read more in the series. Great if you love the series Mythos Academy and Percy Jackson.

#This was an ARC from Eidelweiss Books.

I can't believe I waited this long to write this review. By now, most people probably already know about the awesomeness of this book.

The kids at Gavaldon grow up believing in fairytales and especially in The School for Good and Evil. Every couple of years, two kids are taken from the village; one gets into The School for Good, where he/she is trained to be a hero and find his/her happy-ever-after, while the other kid gets into The School for Evil, where villans are made. The story follows Sophie and Agatha, two girls who couldn't be more different from each other.

I wanted to get my hands on The School for Good and Evil as soon as I read the blurb and the book trailer just made me jump up and down in anticipation.
Luckily, thanks to Chainani and Harper Collins, I was able to get my hands on ARC. I swear, I devoured this book in just a couple of hours, I loved it from start to finish.

Magic, love, honor, goodness, heroes, villans, battle, enchantments and what-not - this book has pretty much everything!

This is the stuff of fairytales and when this gets made into a film, I'll be one of the first in line to watch it!

Summary- Agatha and Sophie. Best friends. Polar opposites. Everyone believes that Sophie, who is beautiful and loves pink, will be chosen to go to the mystic School for Good and Evil, specifically the Good School. Agatha, who wears black, unshapely dresses, and has dark, misshapen hair, is expected for the School for Evil. But what happens when Sophie gets put into the School for Evil, and Agatha – the School for Good?

What I thought- This is a great book about how looks can be deceiving. Sophie and Agatha are really great, realistic characters, who you really route for, although, I knew at once that Sophie would really be Evil (her state of mind in her old town kind of set me up for it). With this story, Mr. Chainani really prompts deeper thinking about what is really good and what is really evil. I like how the characters develop in the story and Sophie and Agatha decide who they really are and what is really important in their lives. The ideas of the schools for good and evil is cool. I like that it is where fairytale characters get their “training.” I also like how it references common fairytales (or not so common), as in that some of the characters are related to the main characters from the fairytales (someone is the daughter of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood), for example). This book is a marvelous debut from Soman Chainani! It kept me up at night reading **Oops. Sorry Mom! ;) ** It is very well written, and is quite funny! The black and white illustrations are a great touch.
*NOTE* I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book in the series. It was a great ride though the kingdom of fairy tales. I enjoyed learning more about Sophie, Agatha, their parents, friends/enemies, and the School Master himself. First we had the School for Good & Evil, then the School for Girls & Boys, and now we are introduced to the School for Old & New.

Can Agatha get her Ever After? Is Sophie really the Queen of Evil? You'll have to jump into this book to find out! I can't wait for book 4 to come out.

Sophie and Agatha are friends while one is beautiful and perfect the other is dark and different. It’s been four years since a child was kidnapped from the village and Sophie is hoping she will be taken this time. Agatha doesn’t want Sophie to go she’s her only friend and when the shadow takes her she latches on going with Sophie. The girls arrive at the school with Sophie expecting to land in the good school while Agatha will be placed in the Evil school but both the girls are in for a shock.

Sophie struggles with being a witch because she knows that she is good not evil like the school master has determined. With the help of Agatha they try to get the prince to fall for Sophie even though she’s destined to be a villain. The Evers and Nevers will face a series of challenges that will test them all changing their lives forever. Will Sophie find her happy ever after she so much desires?

I wanted to like Sophie right from the start but I found myself connecting with Agatha more. I liked Sophie through the book but in the end Agatha was my favorite. I didn’t want to like the Sophie’s evil roommates but they grew on me as the book progressed. I also liked the prince he’s a good guy and in the end I think he picked right.

I picked this one up a couple of weeks ago and it’s been tempting me on my shelf ever since because I love the cover. It’s been a while since I last read the synopsis so the whole book was a pleasant surprise of what would happen next. I was drawn into the girl’s world captivated right from the start it’s an enchanting story that I couldn’t put down. I’ve always been a fan of fairy tales but The School for Good and Evil puts an exciting new twist on the concept creating a fun new story. I think the author did a great job creating a new world for us to fall in love with. The story is beautifully written from start to finish. I loved the characters they were easy to connect with and I enjoyed getting both points of view even if Agatha was my favorite. I loved the story it’s a fun read that kept me on the edge of my seat and I can’t wait to read the next installment. This may very well be my favorite book of the year.

This book sparked my interest when i was in sixth grade which was three years go and now i was able to experience the adventure first hand. This book was hard to put down and i spent hours on my bed, reading and wishing that I had red this sooner. Though, i first found this book becuse of my teacher, who had a whole library to look at.

this story was more than filling for me. it was somethong to take m mind off memories of bad experiences. but all the problem solving and the plot twists caught me off guard. then the things that made a lump, form in my throat were the things that i wanted to see. every little detail, shown and explained in the best way possible.

i oved this book and i hope that others agree with me.

My Review: Follow two friends Sophie and Agatha as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Sophie likened herself to a princess. She spends her time looking and dressing like a princess and hoping to join the likes of Rapunzel, Cinderella at the school of Good. While Agatha sees herself at the school of Evil where witches and Trolls are made.

They soon find their fortunes reversed when they were kidnapped and Sophie finds herself at the school of Evil and Agatha at the school of Good. Their only way out of this fairy tale is to live through it. The story shows the true behavior of both girls, who is truly good and evil.

I would recommend this book to those that love to read both fantasy and adventure books.

FTC Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the HarperCollins Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion in any way.

I had pretty high hopes for this book, what with how much it shows up at book stores and the generally great cover, but I wound up rather disappointed. While I understand that this is the first book, and there's a fair amount of hyperbole involved, the characters are so ANNOYING and immature. You never like ANYONE in these books. There needs to be at least ONE person you like in a book, and this one just lacks it everywhere.

The construction of the world is fairly interesting, however, and that's what has made me request the second and third audiobooks. While book one is rough, the core idea is intriguing enough to bring me back. It reminds me a bit of "The 10th Kingdom," which I adored, and a little bit of the Disney "Descendants" series, which intrigues me.

Overall, I'd say this book could be a huge miss for a lot of people, so avoid it as a gift. Library check-outs are good, and preferred over adding it to your own collection without a trial.

It was worth finishing, but only just barely. I usually enjoy YA fiction (though that may be passing, as I haven't enjoyed most of the YA fiction I've read recently) but this felt overly long and yet the characters felt under-developed. There were too many minor characters who were used enough that I had to keep them straight, but not given enough personality that I could remember who was who. The teachers, for example, were mention by name but never given enough personality to remember who was who.

The whole thing felt like it leapt from big event to big event with no time to process why anything mattered. Some minor events were there only to fill in a hole plot and it was as obvious as bond-o on a car bumper.

Over all, it just felt overdone, but the ending was unsatisfying. Big event. Big event. Big event. Undo. [scene]

I wanted to like this story. I really did. When I started the book I did really enjoy it. There were some funny parts that actually made me laugh.

But this is a middle grade book, about and targeted to ages 8-12. The characters, male and female are so horribly sexualized it's honestly disturbing. I have no idea how this was approved as a middle grade novel. The girl, Sophie, is at one point described as wearing a very revealing dress with a slit up the side that shows off her creamy legs.

The first book ends with the School Master, who is obviously not a child, trying to marry Sophie, who is only twelve.

I tried to push through and finish the series but I stopped at Part 2 of book two. I just can't keep reading sexualized descriptions of children.

Ever since my friend recomended this book to me,I have been obsessed with this book series. My name is Agatha and I have a classmate called Sophie and we are the exact OPPOSITE. My friends always tease me as we are frenemies and in th book they are best friends. Okay, so back to the book. Soman Chainani exeucuted this book perfectly. Not to sound cheesy, but the book kinda bring you into the story. The last book in this thrilling trilogy has just the most fitting ending you can dream of. Also, the plot fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. Different scenes are described with immense detail, making the scenes act before your eyes. If you're also obsessed with the book series like me, I suggest you buy the hardcopy of it.
My two complaints are these: First; the girls sound like they're lesbians in the book when they reach Gunivere's house. I know Soman is just trying to show how much the two girls care for each other, but it makes it sound like they're lesbians. My classmates were appalled by this.
Second; there are only a picture per chapter. I know it is because the book is so thick and there's hardly any space to put more pictures in, but I would like more pictures as they're so beautifully drawn. Who illustrated the pictures?
Although I have two complaints, I wil still rate it a five-star worthy book

Now in my 68th year I've read tons of books and recently discovered that books written for teens, our young adults, are well written and very entertaining, more so that many books written for adults. This book is so well thought out and a page turner... I couldn't put it down... the authors' insights into how characters behave, interact and the results of their choices are fascinating. Other reviews are in depth so I will not go on... but just want to say... read this book!

It would be helpful to alert sensitive readers that, although there are a few violent scenes, this is not a violent book, and everything works out in the end. This unconventional, anti-clique fairy tale (with strong, multifaceted girl characters) is about becoming friends with someone who at first seems totally different from you. My 12 year old daughter cannot wait to read the next book in the series. Highly recommend.

I did like this series. The first book took a while to get into, but it eventually got pretty good. The second book was REALLY boring and I could barely get through it. The end of it showed promise though. The last book, The Last Ever After, is easily the best one, so I am glad I finished the series.
I do like the characters. I feel like when you are reading it, you know them. The story is good. It definitely is worth reading, but I do have my ranting to give.

RANTING STARTS
In the beginning, Sophie is pretty selfish. You see her turn really ugly and while she does love Tedros, it doesn't stop her from being evil. In the first book, I do see why Tedros really gets angry and I do see why he gets to like Agatha. In fact, I didn't mind Agatha and Tedros together.

In the second book though, I felt differently. Sophie tried to be good in the second book. She really wanted to be good. She still loved Tedros. Tedros felt kind of split between the two girls in the book. Agatha really got on my nerves and I started to hate her. She whined the whole book! Seriously, she was like "waaah, I don't want to be with Sophie, I want to be with Tedros. Waaah, I should have Tedros and not Sophie." It was at that moment that I wanted Tedros to end up with Sophie for sure. I really started to find Agatha a bad and wrong choice and it really started aggravated me.

In the final book, it is more of the same with Agatha. She whines, albeit not as much and Sophie is the star. It is clear that Agatha has problems with her relationship and Tedros and Sophie makes such a better fit! It is clear that Sophie is looking for love and I felt like Tedros could love her as she wanted. Then the author went in the direction where Sophie didn't feel anything for Tedros after their kiss! This whole time Sophie was pining after him and felt nothing? Ugh.
Then in the end, SPOILERS Agatha ends up with Tedros and Sophie ends up alone. It should have been Agatha who ended up alone and Sophie in Camelot. I get that they needed a new master, but Agatha should have been the master. Very frustrating when you finish a series and it just feels "wrong" with who a person ends up with!

END OF RANT

Anyways, if you are looking for a good story about friendship with twists and turns, then this is for you. If you are looking for a series about true romance STAY FAR FAR AWAY.

Anyways, if you are looking

The School for Good and Evil follows Agatha and Sophie as they are kidnapped from their homes and brought to the school for good or evil. Basically is a school for kids to learn to be their true selves, either villains or heroes. They are given tasks and are tested to see where their ranking is among the other students. Students who fail disappear, and students who thrive get their own fairy tale. Sounds pretty straight forward and normally Sophie and Agatha would embrace their new situation but there’s one problem. Sophie, who’s been primped, pampered, and is destined to be a princess is placed in the school for evil and Agatha, who is the exact opposite of Sophie, is placed in the school for good. Pretty soon, Sophie’s in raggedy clothing, her hair’s a mess, and she’s being ridiculed by her classmates for being too pretty. Meanwhile, Agatha is too frumpy, too ugly, and too anti-social to be a princess. She finds herself an outcast from both the princesses and the princes.

While this is a middle grade book, I did find that it was also entertaining to read as an adult. There are some darker moments and some underlying things going on that gave it just the edge it needed to not be too light and sweet. It kind of took what we all picture a fairy tale to be composed of, and it made you question a lot of things instead of just seeing it in black and white. Now, I know this is getting a lot of flack for being too image driven and how the story line revolves around being pretty, ugly, or getting “the guy,” but it’s a parody of fairy tales. What older fairy tale didn’t revolve around being pretty and getting the guy? Cinderella and Ariel had to change their physical appearance to become “beautiful” and “acceptable” in order to get the prince’s attention and love. Aurora and Snow White needed some creeper dude to come upon their dead-like bodies and kiss them in order to bring them back to life and thus marrying them and having a HEA. Granted, the original stories for some of these aren’t quite as happy or PG as Disney portrayed them. All I’m saying is, this story took those basics that we all know from fairy tales and it gave you a new perspective on how it all began.

I will never grow tired of reading this book. Sigh. I just cannot get over how amazing it is. How much I love it. This is my third time reading this one, and I think I fall in love with it more and more each time I read it. Which is just the best feeling. Eee. But I also get more heartbroken each time too, lol. Which is truly the meanest. Hmph. I'm so glad I decided to re-read the trilogy before reading the handbook. Because I really needed this. I love this book so much. You know, despite all that evil heartbreak, lol. It's the best.

I don't know what I wish to say about this book this time around. I just cannot truly believe how amazing it is. Soman is all kinds of amazing for writing these books. Sigh. Okay. The characters. I adored reading about them all. But my favorite is, of course, Agatha. I love her beyond words. She is the kindest person. But gah. She has been alone and without anyone for so long. Then she gets to this school, and everyone is treating her badly, and I just. I need my Agatha to be happy and loved. I need it oh so much. Sniffs.

While reading this book for the third time, I have truly realized that I might actually hate Sophie. I just can't help it. She is so evil in this book. I get why Agatha wanted to be friends with her. But at the same time, I did not. Because Sophie was mean towards everyone. She was especially mean towards Agatha at all times. I felt like she was using her the whole time, and I did not like it one bit. Hmph. I do like reading about Sophie. As a villain. She does not make a good friend at all, sadly. Agatha deserves much more.

It had taken her whole life to make a single friend. And here these girls had become best friends in minutes as if making friends was the simplest thing in the world. Agatha prickled with shame. In this School for Good, where everyone was supposed to be kind and loving, she had still ended up alone and despised. She was a villain, no matter where she went.

I'm not going to mention all the other characters. But yeah. They are all amazing. Like Kiko and Dot and Hester and just all of them. I very much adored Tedros. Though he was also a lot of stupid in this book, lol. But I get him. Sort of. Either way, he is all kinds of cute, and he can he pretty sweet too, and I ship him and Agatha oh so much. Sigh. I did not like it when he was with Sophie. Hmph. Because she tricked him. So many times. And I was not okay with all of that. So mean. But also kind of interesting to read about.

There is just so much in this book. There is so much magic. And I loved it all so much. There are so many amazing characters. Even the teachers. I adored some of them so much. There is a school for good and one for evil. They are both so much fun to read about. And I never get tired of reading this book. All the fights still made me nervous, despite knowing the ending. This book just makes me so happy. And sad. But I don't mind. Because The School for Good and Evil is all kinds of precious to me. So much love.

I'm just so happy with how much I love this book. Eee. I mean, it also makes me the saddest, but I'm dealing with that. Though I am nervous about re-reading book three. When I read it almost a year ago, it killed me. And it is still killing me to think about it. Ahh. But it is also the most perfect book, and so I cannot wait to read it again. Just so worried about my heart. Gah. I'm so excited about re-reading the next two books. Then the handbook. And movie next year. And a fourth sequel book too. Eee. Excited.

If you still haven't read this precious book, then I do not know what you are waiting for. It is one of the best books I know of. The writing is perfection. The story is incredible. And all the characters are amazing to read about. This book has everything. It is said to be a middle grade. Which it is. But I also feel that it is much older than that, because so many bad things happen, lol. And the characters are older. And in love. And gosh. This book is just the most stunning thing. The whole series is. I could not have loved it more.

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I first read this book from May 9th to May 10th 2014. See my review on my blog, Carina's Books.
I read this book for the second time on August 8th 2015. See my book recommendation on my blog, Carina's Books.
I read this book for the third time from July 24th to July 25th 2016. See my new post on my blog, Carina's Books.

From my 10 year old daughter: "What if you could follow your soul to a destiny as a fairy tale hero or a villain? This story is about the meaning of friendship and love. The way it’s narrated helps us to understand this. In “The School for Good and Evil,” two girls, Sophie and Agatha, who live in Gavoldon, discover where fairy tales are born. Sophie, a pretty girl who tries to prove her goodness, meets Agatha on one of her “good deeds,” who seems strangely different from the rest of the people in town. Together they go on a journey to the School for Good and Evil, where they find out where the missing children go. But then, they find themselves in their own fairy tale to find who is good and who is evil. I definitely recommend this book, because of its suspense, creativity, and total awesomeness. Just be prepared!"

Although I loved the series, I am a bit disappointed in the ending.

First of all, this book was very well written and I adored the beginning and the middle. I liked the backstory with Callis and Vanessa and that explained a lot.

Okay, so let me explain something before I get to the cons of this book. first of all, I liked Sophie best, more than Agatha so I may be a little biased. But anyway.

I wish the story had a different end. Sure it was great. Fairy tale Prince and Princess lived happily ever after. But it seemed so generic. It ended exactly like every fairytale does. (with some exceptions) I wasn't satisfied with what Sophie ended up with. I do not understand how she was that happy at the end to be alone. I don't even know if Hort and Sophie would end up together. It did seem like she liked him a bit before Tedros came along.

Other than that, I really liked this book.

Sophie: The believer in the books, the lover of pink and all things that have frills, and a master at beautifying.
And
Agatha: Who doesn't believe in magical schools, likes black, and has no interest in loosing her friend to princess humbug.

Two girls. One story. One pretty one ugly, one princess one witch. It seems obvious who's who. Until your dumped on the wrong side!! Sophie's dropped in Evil thrown upon villains. While Agatha is stuck with stuck-up princesses.

Let me just say, this book grabbed my attenton from the first time I saw it's cover! And of course who doesn't love a story about good and evil colliding once more? Truly my review is five and a half, most of the parts in the book were gorged in beautiful details and got me sucked into characters easily, but unfortunately some parts... prevented me from having written a five star.

Overall, it was a good fairytale but be prepared for an interesting cimax and tons of twists!! Hope for sequel!

Interesting tale of children in a school where they are taught to be in Fairy Tales. I have to say, I wanted to like this book more than I did. It felt so very long at times, and the character evolution terribly slow. One suspects this could have been a better book if it had a better editor, and the author had better guidance during the writing process. Also felt far too much like a paler imitation of the Harry Potter books - kids at a magical school, good vs. evil, spells and fantastical creatures. Also, there was an amount of violence that felt too mature for the intended audience - (spoiler alert) - many creatures are killed that turn out to be inhabited by children. Felt more brutal and less contextual than the Harry Potter books. In the end I enjoyed aspects of the world that was created, but think many readers will be disappointed at the wasted potential of the book, and how much of a slog it feels like at times while reading.

Book Review: ‘The School for Good and Evil’ by Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil sequel has an enchanted yet modern taste. Soman Chainani deeply channel’s the magical feeling you get when reading this story. If you like the suspension of all the twists and turns in the Harry Potter series, or if your craving for something unpredictable, this will definitely fill your appetite.

You can tell that Soman purposely leaves us at cliffhangers to make time for crazy new additions and mood changes. Soman did great making subtle changes as well as extreme ones. He completely used his imagination and whipped up the perfect school to learn magic aside from Hogwarts! I feel like by creating the ‘Good/Evil’ sides Soman was somewhat showing a reflection of ‘Heaven/Hell’. A moral you get from this story is that your outer appearance doesn’t necessarily mean your bad, nor vise versa that being pretty doesn’t make you automatically good. This concept is important for anyone’s self esteem.

Soman did a whimsical job creating a suspenseful mood to the story line, which keeps you on edge with exhilaration. In every chapter, Soman added a positive tone, which balances out the negativity you get from some of the other characters. As the story progresses Soman mixes the pleasant and uncomfortable tones by mixing and mashing good and evil which forces our curiosity and desperation to continue on reading. All of the mini tone changes have a great affect the story. Mood changes are often tricky to pin point because they are all very subtle.

The character development is interesting. Agatha was very well developed and grew immensely in her personality. Both her strengths and her weaknesses are crystal clear to understand. She is and open-minded girl with a heart pointed in the right direction. Agatha absorbs knowledge like a sponge and she is a good role model. She isn’t the same character she was when she started. Although Sophie has a ‘back and forth’ personality, her character still develops really well. She too starts out at one point, goes through a personal maze and ends at another point. This is a mere reflection of life, it take searching out figure out who we are. Some of the smaller characters could’ve been expanded on, but some characters are there just to fill gaps.

When the Sophie and Agatha reach the school, they find out where they belong. At this point, the author aggressively twisted the plot in exciting ways. This book is meant for those who like surprises, need some magic, and search for adventure! If that sounds like you then this novel won’t be a waste of time or money.

I heard the author on the Time Ferriss podcast and told my daughter that she should read the books. She already had and sent me a copy while I was deployed in the Middle East. It's a great concept, and it's well-executed. The best way I can describe it is "Hunger Games" meets all collective fairy tales. I commend Mr Chainani for his creativity.

I really don't know how I feel about this book to be quiet honest. On one hand I liked it and it hand enjoyable parts, on the other hand there were some infuriating and uncomfortable parts. The one thing I did love about this book that is was easy to read and I flew right through it.

I was going to write what I like about it, but can't really pinpoint what I did beside the writing style. Okay, I like the whole premise of it, but not how it was executed. The whole idea that the people from fairytales attended a school to be who they became to be was fascinating.

I've been wanting to read this for a few months and was excited that my mom got this for me for Christmas and I couldn't wait to dive in after I finish the book I was currently reading. Besides the synopsis drawing me in, the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Okay, lets get to the review. The book starts off with Sophie daydreaming or dreaming to be kidnapped by the School Master from the School of Good and Evil. We learn that the School Master comes to the village of Gavaldon and takes two children, 12 and up, the parents of the good and beautiful children do everything in their power to prevent that to happen. The children of course are afraid, but not Sophie, she wants to be taken and go to the Good school and have a happily ever after. She haves a best friend name Agatha who is the complete opposite of her and doesn't want nothing to do with the school.

As you can tell the end up going of course, like the back says, but not to the school they thought they were going to. To be honest I wasn't surprise that Sophie ended up in evil, I couldn't stand her from the start, she had the making of someone evil. I couldn't stand the way she treated Agatha and the fact that she, Agatha, took the abuse from her so called friend.

Sophie is evil and she doesn't even realize what she does is evil because of some prince. Speaking of which the schools are what peeved me off the most. Everything was so black and white, no greys whatever. And the message that it sent was awful. If you're beautiful then you're good, if you're ugly the your evil. I guess that's why Agatha and Sophie went to the opposite school to mix things up, but I would of love to see more of it. I have no problem how the evils were taught, my problem was how the goods were taught, especially the girls. I wish it was more empowering than relying on their prince to save them. Their lessons were pointless to me.

This review is all over the place, but this book was good to a certain point until I was upset with it. I do like it and may want to continue on with it, but I read some reviews for the second book and I can tell I'm not going to like. I just wish it was better executed.

Fairy tale clichés at their finest! The School for Good and Evil was a really great fast pace, funny and exciting story. Sophie and Agatha are best friends. Sophie is beautiful with long blond hair and green eyes. Agatha is a loner who cares nothing for her looks and lives in a graveyard. You would think Sophie would go to the School for Good and Agatha the one for Evil, but you would be wrong. Sophie ends up learning how to be a witch and Agatha takes classes on how to be a good princess. When I first started reading this book I was a little skeptical because all the girls in the School for Good are just pretty decorations that wait for a boy to save them, and the student in the Evil school are told time and time again that they will never be loved because they are ugly. The boys in Good were not any better than the girls. Acting with a superior air because they are "men". By the middle of the books some of these attitudes started to be comical and you really started to like and sympathize with the character (even the evil ones). Agatha was a great role model for girls and I loved her. I even forgave her when she wished to be pretty because all girls want to be pretty. By the end of the book the fairy tale stereotypes where shattered and the message that it's not who we are but what we do that make us good or evil. My only main problem with the book was some of the descriptions the author used. The kids in this book are about 12-15 and the book is marketed for grades 3-7. I wouldn't give it to any child under the grade of 4 mainly because the character Sophie is described to dress seductively sometimes, and it does have a few violent scenes. Other than those 2 things the books was still appropriate for the tween audience. I give it two thumbs up and I cannot wait until the next book coming out in May of 2014.

This was such a great ending to the School for Good and Evil series. It had twists and turns with parts where I felt like I was going to blow up with frustration because of Sophie, Tedros, and Agatha's very frustrating relationship but there were also sad parts which made me cry a bit. Betrayal, love, hurt, friendship. I read this whole book in 2 days because I couldn't get my eyes off of this book making new questions in my head at every turn. I wish this series never ended because it was wonderful but since this is sadly the last book I decided to just read it over again.

A series I'll never forget...

This book has just solidified my belief of the saying that "looks can be deceiving." You know what really makes me hate a book? It's not the badness nor the prose nor the plotholes. It's the fact that I went into it with loads of expectation only to be severely disappointed upon arrival at the finish line. And this is what happened to me after reading The School for Good and Evil.

Fairy tales are one of my comfort reads. Whenever I'm suffering from a great book hangover, I always crave for something light and entertaining. But I didn't achieve those with this book. Sure, the premise of The School for Good and Evil is refreshing and enticing. But the execution was horribly done. The story was too restrained for my taste. The only surprise that I've gotten from this book was the ending. The rest of the events that occurred were kind of foresighted.

The story of The School for Good and Evil spins around the lives of two best friends from the town of Gavaldon, Sophie and Agatha. Sophie is aspiring to attend The School for Good and Evil, become a fairy tale book princess/queen and live happily ever after. On the other hand, Agatha hated happy ever afters, beautiful dresses and was contented to live in their house located in the town's cemetery compound. Fate, however, has different plans for these two girls. And soon, Sophie found herself at Evil Tower learning to uglify her beautiful self while Agatha was forced to endure the mockery of her beautiful classmates at Good Tower. Will the girls find their stories retold on fairy tale books? Find out.

Told from alternating POVs, The School for Good and Evil gave me a direct insight to the train of thoughts of our two leads. It was an approach that heightened my loathing for Sophie and Agatha. The more I read their thoughts, the more I see how bad they were developed. Half-baked, inconsistent and a little bit stereotypical of YA characters.

Sophie is beautiful, blonde and all things perfect. But she's a bitch and somewhat slutty just like the other bitches that populated our YA books. She has a misguided belief of goodness. At the beginning, she grabbed my attention. Her attitude is a curious one and I am really anticipating how her character will play out until the end of the book. Sadly, Soman failed to make a good villain out of Sophie. There was little to no transition when she became a super villain. Okay, here's the thing. There are times I was offered glimpses of the extent of Sophie's powers. She is innately a bad person (without her realizing it believing that she's the Queen of Good) and that's where her power lies. However, most of the time she was swinging between having no powers and suddenly, getting all too powerful.

Then here comes Agatha, the good soul... ugly, plain, anti-social, weird and geeky. Another stereotype. She had my sympathy once but when she failed to see through Sophie, I start stomping my feet. I know, I know. Her love for Sophie is unconditional but good and strong characters aren't that stupid to allow themselves be used by bitchy friends. Instead, they will make pro-active ways to teach their good-for-nothing friends a lesson and at the same time, holding their hands. But Agatha here acted with inconceivable submissiveness bordering on co-dependency. GRRRR. There was so much potential in her character that was wasted.

If you think that the male love interest of this book compensated for the two "epic fail" female leads then think again. Tedros is a SPINELESS, INDECISIVE, POMPOUS, SISSY, DOUCHEBAG that I want to slap from all angles. He is no Prince Charming. He is just a pretty decoration that serves no real purpose to this book.

The secondary characters suffered from the same thing. Sophie's Evil classmates were more tolerable than Agatha's good classmates. So when I met the residents of the Good Tower, I was really hoping that I would be introduced to people brimming with goodness and kindness. But alas, I was presented with the shallowest people on the planet. Agatha's "GOOD" classmates were vain, condescending, self-centered and spend the day wishing that they will be swept off their feet by their prince charming or princess charming. This book is not only insulting the fairy tales but also my vocabulary. The way this book presented GOOD is just BS.

And I don't want to expound about the main antagonist of this book. For me, he's not that important.

Almost all fairy tales gained their popularity from happily ever after romances. Although instalove is constantly present, still we love it...we take joy in it. And definitely, romance is almost always the plot driver of a good fairy tale. But please don't expect that in this book. It was crudely done and I just had no idea what Soman would really want to do with Tedros, Sophie and Agatha.

The plot was lacklustre and loosely knitted. The twists or the lame attempt as I would like to put it deserve two eyerolls and a smirk from me. Even the story's theme wasn't sturdily developed. It was like Soman pulled a Hansel and Gretel who couldn't find his way out in the woods.

There were only three things that I grudgingly appreciated about this book: 1. The lovely lovely cover; 2. The awesome world building which makes me want to live in the world Soman has created, and 3. That unexpected ending...it's a world without princes indeed. Other than these, this book didn't manage to stand out from the troupes of poorly done fairy tales. And the worst thing is, I am obligated to read the next two books. Yeah, I know. I am the world's greatest masochist.

Can Soman redeem this series in the second book? I am keeping my fingers crossed. Otherwise, it's another 12$ down the drain.

This review first appeared at Thoughts and Pens book blog.

"No wonder princesses were so impotent in fairy tales...If all they could do was smile, stand straight, and speak to squirrels, then what choice did they have but wait for a boy to rescue them."

I love fairy tales even though they can be the most cliche stories. There's just some magical and mind blowing about fairy tales even though most of them end with a happily ever after. I even love the gruesome, classic Grimm Fairy Tales which are quite entertaining. I went into The School For Good And Evil with pretty high expectations and for the most part I enjoyed this book.

The School Of Good And Evil revolves around two friends, Sophie and Agatha, who are so different from each other. Sophie is the princess type with her blonde hair and urge to find her true love. Agatha doesn't really care about such silly things such as love. Somehow Sophie ends up in the School For Evil while Agatha ends up in The School For Good. Both girls feel that they don't belong at their school and want out of this fate.

Soman Chainani does a superb job of creating such a vivid and magical world. I loved reading the descriptions of each of the schools and their quirky classes. The School For Good And Evil was a fabulous backdrop to this book and I loved reading about this strange world. Each school was really awesome in their own way but I don't think I'd fit in at either school at all.

It's a bit hard to read a book when you don't like one of the protagonists. I really disliked Sophie, I know this was the author's intention but I couldn't bare reading about her. She was extremely superficial, irritating, self-centered, and snobby. Chainani did a great job of making Sophie a very realistic and developed character but I couldn't stand her. Thankfully by the end of the book, Sophie had evolved as a character and she was certainly more likeable.

Agnes is the star of The School For Good And Evil and I couldn't help but love her from the get go. I love how Agnes pokes fun at princesses (see quote above) and fairy tales. Agnes was an extremely loyal friend to Sophie even though Sophie wasn't so kind to her. If I was Agnes, I probably would have ditched Sophie if she treated me the way she treated Agnes (This is probably why I would never be apart of The School Of Good). Agnes was the kind of character that I definitely could relate to and I hope to see more of her in the sequel.

Pacing is a bit of an issue in this book and I feel like the plot moved a bit too slow at times. Also I think this book is a bit too long for the middle grade audience it's targeted towards and this book could have been shortened a bit. This book is nearly 500 pages and I felt there were times when my attention wavered and I was a bit disinterested in this book.

Overall The School For Good And Evil was a delight to read and I'm definitely excited for book #2. This book may be targeted towards children but I definitely think this book has some crossover appeal. I think many Young Adults and Adults will love this book even though they are not the intended audience. I heard that the movie rights to this book have already been sold and I think this book would make a fabulous movie. Fans of Once Upon A Time will love this magical, spellbinding story of what it means to discover who you are. Thank you to HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Unlikely best friends, Sophie and Agatha, test their level of friendship as they are whisked away to the School for Good and Evil, where failing your fairy tale is not an option. Sophie, the embodiment of all things good, finds herself dumped in the School of Evil while Agatha, the dark and broody, is placed in the School for Good. Clearly there's been a mistake, right? But when the going gets tough, their journey exposes who they really are and all may not be what it seems.

I could say this was one of my top 3 reads of the year thus far. Though the story is categorized as middle grade, I thought it touched on a few mature themes here and there and could have been placed into the Young Adult category. It's certainly impressive when that group is reading 500-page novels. Though lengthy it's at least an easy read, which is to be expected, but it's still very engaging and well-written for the most part. I think the youth and adults alike will thoroughly enjoy it.

I loved how it took the lore and stereotypes of past fairy tales and pretty much turned everything on its head. The book even includes some great underlying messages, so it's clear that the author did quite a bit of homework. There is a lot of character development for both girls, and I appreciated the gradual process. The POVs switched between the two throughout the novel. I think I preferred Agatha's POV and thought process, but Sophie's POV served its purpose as well.

I wasn't crazy about the ending. That was probably the one area where I believe it deviated from the formula and not in a satisfying way (for me at least), but the rest of the book is very strong.

Though I've only seen an episode of the show Once Upon a Time (I'll get around to more eventually), I feel like this type of book would appeal to those fans. I highly recommend this entertaining and fresh take on what it means to be a fairy tale. What most surprised me was how this appears to be Soman Chainani's debut novel. This might be the beginnings of a new series, but the work as a whole could be a standalone. If this is a sign of things to come, I will certainly make sure I follow this author's future works!

*ARC Provided by the publisher.

I LOVED this book so much. it was very well written and I devoured it within two weeks. my only compaint is that there was way too much angst in this book, considering that it was aimed for at least 10+ but don't get me wrong, I loved how dark and angsty "the school for good and evil" was…but it may have been a little bit too angsty. this book was also very sentimental, I actually got a little bit teary eyed during Agatha's big speech during the circus of talents. XD and also, could you do me a big favor and slap Sophie in the face? I absolutely HATED Sophie, she was a complete b!tch, even when she wasn't being evil. But, even with Sophie in it this book was OUTSANDING and I loved every paragraph of it. also, I can't get over how much this book reminds me of Wicked…:P

This review might come across as a bit overly harsh, but I want to say that overall I did enjoy this book. It's just that when it comes down to it, this book fell prey to being too overly ambitious for its own good.

But first, the good.

There is a lot to like here, such as the not-so-subtle LGBT themes in the work. I think that Chainani is trying to build this up to where Agatha and Sophie will pair off in the final book as each other's destined True Love, which I like. It's a bit bold for a book aimed at middle schoolers, but it'd be nice to have something LGBT friendly that isn't written to be A Very Special Episode. The characters aren't bad either, although the best ones for most readers will likely be the side characters such as Hort, Dot, Kiko, and even Beatrix. There's just something about the way that they're written that you either love to hate them or love to feel sorry for them. What really stands out though, are the descriptive scenes and the illustrations. I feel a little bad for anyone that's only listening to the audiobook, as the illustrations truly do add to the book and give it a little extra oomph.

And now for what didn't work.

Ultimately what went wrong here is that Chainani tried to fit way, way too much into one book. We have several Big Big Events happen in the book and I can't help but feel that trying to deliver one big event after another made them lose their effectiveness. I guess the best way to explain it would be to say that it kind of felt like what you'd get if you tried to condense the first three books in the Harry Potter series into one abridged book. Yes, it'd still be fun, but it sort of loses a bit of its gusto in the process. It kind of had this "everything and the kitchen sink" aspect to it and I think that this would have been a little better improved by either turning it into several smaller books (which would have allowed for a bit more buildup) or by some selective editing. When we get to the final reveal/hurrah of the book I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed because I'm already exhausted by the time I got there. This is apparently going to be made into a film, but the way the book is set up makes me feel that this would be better served as a television series because it'd work a little better with how many major events and plot the book holds.

Now this doesn't mean that the book is awful or that I'm not curious to read the next book. It's not and I am planning on reading the next book. I just hope that it's a bit more restrained than this book was, as its overly ambitious nature takes away from the delicate love story that Chainani is trying to weave around Sophie and Agatha.

Ordinary children, boys and girls are being kidnapped to a school to be trained as fairy tale heroes and villains. To become princes & princesses or witches. That is The School for Good & Evil. When two best friends, Sophie and Agatha was kidnapped, how will their friendships fare, when one was to be trained as princess and the other as witch. And let’s not forget about the prince charming. I love the concept and plot of the story, especially the idea of a school for training children to become more good or evil. It certainly does not have your ordinary ‘everyday’ classes like in a normal school. Instead, they have all the funny and incredible classes for the heroes and villains. Just to name a few, “Spells for Sufferring” class, “Winning Your Prince” class. I just love the school. It really reminds me so much of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The two main protagonist & antagonist, Agatha and Sophie are just amazing. The friendship between Sophie and Agatha reminds me of Darcy and Rachel in Something Borrowed & Something Blue by Emily Griffin. Throughout the book, I grew to dislike Sophie tremendously until at the very end of the book, where there was a surprise turn of event. I was very much invested in the other characters as well. Which leads me to feel that Soman Chainani really nailed it in the characters building part.

Overall, I think Soman Chainani did a great job in characters development. It iss a wonderful cast of interesting and rather unique characters. The book is never boring with so many different interesting characters. This book is no doubt a good choice for readers who enjoys a fast-pace, exciting and intriguing story of princess, princes and witches.
I will definitely continuing on with the sequel A World Without Princes.

Judging from the early reviews, it seems the majority love it and there's a minority that doesn't, but I'm firmly with the majority. The version I read was an Advanced Reader's Copy, so I can only imagine that the final version is scarily better!

This book is so fresh, so original, and so CRAZY that it has to be read to be believed. Don't believe anyone who tries to compare it to something. There just isn't a comparison. It's like the fairy tales you read as a kid, just demented and strange and completely engrossing. (At one point the main character wears a sequined burka?!!)

The best part about the book is that Sophie is so insanely unlikeable and yet she's the character you can't wait to read more about. I'm nervous about any sorts of spoilers here, but it's safe to say that Sophie manages to pull off the same kind of charismatic scene stealing normally reserved for villains. Meanwhile Agatha is as likeable as Sophie is not, and she becomes the heart of the book unexpectedly. Her scenes are surprising and touching. By 500 pages with these two characters, you haven't had nearly enough and just want the next two books as fast as Soman Chainani can write them.

There are some scenes in this book that just stay with you long after you're done: the wish fish, the golden goose, the flowerground scene, the trial... It's like every chapter has this brand new stage and it becomes almost scarily addictive racing ahead to see what's next. I read it in less than 2 days...truth is it just takes over your life. Be warned.

I started this book with great hope and enthusiasm for the author's style of writing. The world he created was interesting and scary like a fairy tale. But it's just drama, drama, drama. I love twists and turns. I love not being able to except the exact ending but this one was just too much. I never got attached to any characters because I didn't really like any of them. I read books for younger readers because I like a world of truly good and truly evil. I don't like this flip flopping drama of this book. For people who thrive on drama and want to live in a gray world, this book is for you. Everyone (men included) within this book is a drama queen. Everyone comes across as shallow at best and deeply flawed at worst. I might as well read a newspaper. I read magical books to get away to a land I would love to be. I don't read them so I can read about all the characters (and I do mean all) being petty and shallow. The reason the Disney Fairy tales that this writer rips off have been successful is that they speak to deep and mythical parts of our hearts. These are butchered fairy tales in a drama queen soap opera of mediocrity. Good is shallow and passive and evil is weak and manageable. I utterly dislike this book and hope no child ever picks up it's pages to learn a lesson about real life (as that what REAL fairy tales are for). If so that child will learn true goodness and love aren't so great and evil isn't all that bad.

OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!!! It's amazing, like crazy amazing! It's so hard to put it down! I need the sequel NOW.

The Scool for Good and Evil is the story of best friends beautiful Sophie and homely Agatha from the village of Gavaldon where every 4 years two children, one fair and kind and the other hideous and mean, are taken by The School Master to become princes, princesses, or villains. While Sophie eagerly awaits beginning her life of Happily Ever After, Agatha just wants to spend time with her friend and leave the fairy tales in books. Sophie gets her wish of being taken to the school unfortunately she gets taken to the evil side to begin lessons in Uglification and curses with fellow Nevers and Agatha going into the Good side.

The world of Good and Evil is so detailed and fantastical. I really felt like I had gone into a world of princess and witches.

I loved Agatha from the beginning, she's very likeable with her slightly snarky attitude and ability to be nice without being a pushover, while my feelings toward Sophie where so back and forth. One moment I hate her and think she's a brat next I felt some sympathy for her and then I hate her again. In the end I don't love or hate her. She's simply Sophie. She may not be likeable and she may be downright horrid at times but she wants to be Good and that's enough for me.

The only thing I had a slight problem with was the slight lack of depth to Tedros character. I would have loved to seen more to him then being the handsome prince. Does he have hobbies other then sword fighting? What about flaws? He must have one or two.

But this little annoyance is nothing in the scheme of things so don't let that put you off because you're going to love The School for Good and Evil and the ending will leave your mouth gaping open and you as desperate for the sequel as me!

*Warning: may contain spoilers*

This started out so wonderful and on such a positive note for young women I felt a bit cheated. I wanted to give this a 5. I really did, and I would have until I noticed some things in this book that should have been addressed, but weren't. First of all, the sexism needs to be addressed along with some hints toward eating disorders equaling beauty/acceptance. I'll get to these in a bit...

Every year 2 children disappear from Gavaldon. They are taken by the mysterious school master that no one ever sees, and dropped into either the school for Good to become an Ever, or the school for Evil to become a Never/Villain. Almost every child fears being kidnapped. The ever blonde and dressing in pink Sophie, however, is ecstatic when she's taken and dreams of being the princess she thinks she is. Her unlikely anti-hero with black hair and clothes friend Agatha tries to stop it, only to be swept up and kidnapped also. Then the two are dropped in the opposite schools: Agatha in Good and Sophie in Evil. For the first third of the book the two friends conspire as to how they're going to get home. But little by little they both start showing that it's not what's on the outside that matters, but who you are on the inside and what you DO that counts. And one by one, each girls starts winning their challenges, even if by accident...

"The boys went off to fight with swords while girls had to learn dog barks and owl hoots. No wonder princesses were so impotent in fairy tales, she thought. If all they could do was smile, stand straight, and speak to squirrels, then what choice did they have but to wait for a boy to rescue them?" Oh how I loved this quote! Agatha, the smart, sensible and self reliant one says this. That's what made it more disappointing toward the end. She came to want a prince after all. Now there's nothing wrong with having a crush or wanting to go to a party, etc. It's that she went from self assured and independent to thinking only of a guy over the friend that she spent the entire book helping to cheat in an attempt to get out of there and go home. Just when they start winning and working together, things start changing.

Even though they hate where they are, each of them learns to adjust and even make new friends in their respective schools. The teachers weren't very 3 dimensional, but it turns out they're stuck in their positions much like the wolves that guard Evil and fairies that guard Good. They don't really dull out advice b/c they can't.

I liked Agatha more in the beginning and Sophie more towards the end. Agatha dressed as a bride for Halloween b/c "weddings are scary". She dresses in black and has a cat that decapitates birds. She's melancholy, and that's OK. She slowly discovers her inner beauty, and that wearing make up or a nice dress doesn't make you a Good OR an Evil person.

Sophie slowly becomes more and more evil as the story goes on, whereas Agatha was always good hearted. She slowly becomes more ugly on the outside as she shows more ugliness on the inside.

I do like the point where Agatha thinks the Good teachers made her beautiful, but since she's always avoided mirrors she runs around the school smiling. When she finally sees her reflection she noticed nothing has changed except one thing: she was smiling. That is what made her beautiful.

The equivalence of goodness to beauty is offensive. I hope that the author was trying to show the outlandish idea in the form of absurdity, but if so that message needs to be a lot more clearly written. The objective for the girls in the Good school? To get a prince (Notice I said A prince. As in any one) to ask them to the Ball, where they may receive their kiss, however if the Ever/Good boys want to go to the Ball alone, that's fine is likewise offensive. You see, in the school for "Good" only beautiful girls get boyfriends and if you don't get a date for the Snow Ball, you die. LITERALLY!

OK, so the message is that women need men but men don't need women. Here, right here is where you failed me Mr. Chainani. I loved your messages in the beginning. I don't appreciate or have respect for the bait and switch you've done by sucking in a reader like me, then slowing trying to seduce me into thinking in this manner of "I need a man or else". I had major issues with the idea that a girl just "needs" a boy or she'll die, yet a boy can choose to be alone? What a HORRIBLE message! What is wrong with you, Mr. Chainani?

Just STOP with the need for a woman to have a man while a man can choose to be alone. Not having a partner doesn't make you evil and being with someone doesn't make you good. Second, the message that 'good' girls are thin, should stay thin, and not eat is prominent. In the beginning when the Ever girls are getting ready, they are so concerned with looking good they miss breakfast and Beatrix states "breakfast makes you fat anyway". WTF kind of message is THIS to send to young girls?? Women have enough negative messages thrust in our faces about how to look without this garbage adding to it, especially at an impressionable age.

"Tedros was used to girls watching him. But when would he find one who saw more than his looks? Who saw more than King Arthur’s son? Who cared about his thoughts, his hopes, his fears? And yet here he was, pivoted purposely as he toweled so the girls could have a perfect view." Here it was in the beginning that I thought Tedros, King Author's son, was like some women who are only sought after for their looks and/or fame. Then he goes and just becomes a misogynistic jerk. He's supposed to be Good, an Ever, but all he does is judge the girls based on appearance and talk about the Ugly/Never girls by insulting their appearance. I can't stand his misogyny. He locks Agatha in a tower to...ready for this...protect her! Seriously, what IS it with men and protecting?!?! If you lock someone up against their will it's not protecting! It's certainly nothing less than raping someone's free will... "I'm a man and you're not" and " I'm a prince and I'm GOING to protect you!" he says to her as he does this. That bulls*** wouldn't fly with me and thankfully it doesn't fly with Agatha, either as she climbs down the tower through the window to save the day. Yes Agatha!

As Agatha busts into the Never school to see the Nevers in their "no ball" Mr. Full of himself Tedros busts in with all the Ever boys, during which Tedros berates Agatha again: "A real princess wouldn't question my authority". What authority is that? The fact that you have a penis?? This is one of THE worse messages I have ever seen in a book! Particularity one directed at impressionable young girls. The Nevers deciding to have a No Ball is one idea I liked. This is very different from Snow Balls in that it is for villains and has no rules. Meaning you won't die if a boy doesn't ask you. Note: I'm not saying there's something wrong with guys, just guys like Tedros who have this "I'm a man and therefore I rule" attitude. Guys like this deserve to be eaten by a fire breathing dragon.

The end does redeem itself by the girls choosing each other instead of a prince. Sure they had to go through some turmoil and discovering who they really were, but in the end they didn't fight over a boy. Oh thank you for this! Some people didn't like that Agatha and Tedros didn't end up together. Actually I loved that they didn't end up together. I love the fact that the girls stuck together instead of having to end up with a guy in order to have a happy ending. Again, there's nothing wrong with liking guys or wanting a date to a dance. I know what it's like to be 13-17 age range and think you're life is O.V.E.R. if you don't get asked to the prom. The drama of being a teenager is legendary. But the ending and the idea that the girls chose each other is just beautiful, along with the lines of Good and Evil blurring. There's no one school or the other now. There's no black and white, cut and dry, mean or nice. There just isn't. And I like that idea that it's all one place now where everyone is able to have a chance, no matter what your gender or looks on the outside are.

How this is a best seller and a recommended read for young adults is beyond me. The world building is fantastic and the ideas are good, just make the women stronger and get rid of the 1950 sexist attitudes toward women and it will be a 5, but right now it's just a horrible book for modern/independent women/girls and boys/men alike.

Loved this twisted fairy tale! I love how I went into this book expecting the main characters to stick to their "roles" only to find out that these characters were written with such depth they felt incredibly real to me. This book is all about not conforming to society's expectation and finding your "true self." This book is well written and kept me up way past my bedtime. I highly recommend to any fan of fairy tales!

Sigh. This book just kills me. So much. This is my second time reading it, and I still love it the most. This book is a huge favorite of mine. Because of that perfect ending. But also because of all the heartbreak. I couldn't help but love it all. Despite how it made me cry. Hmph. I just cannot help but love this book the most. It made me fall in love with Agatha even more. It made me ship her and Tedros even more. It made me dislike Sophie a bit more, lol. It is simply the most perfect fairytale story. And I love it beyond words.

I'm not even sure how I should talk about this book. It is the final book in this trilogy. Except, not really. Because the handbook just came out, which is a companion book. And next summer there will be a book four, which is a direct sequel to this one. Which I could not be happier about. Sniffs. I'm so happy. And excited. And I simply cannot wait. Eee. I just need there to be Agatha and Tedros point of view too. Ack. Fingers crossed. But anyway. This was the perfect ending, yet there is so much room for more. Always.

The plot in this third book is just all kinds of amazing. At the moment the whole school is evil. With Sophie being their queen. Which was a bit depressing, for those poor Evers who was forced to be evil. Shudders. But they were all being so awesome and strong about it and I loved it so much. I should mention Sophie a little bit now. I am pretty angry with her. I like her a little bit. But in this book. I just. She is so evil. I felt like she has always tried to ruin Agatha's happiness, and I can't help but hate her for it. I did not love Sophie.

This book still breaks my heart the most. And I'm still a bit bitter about all of that, haha. There is some serious relationship angst. But it also wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, to re-read it. It still makes me hurt so badly. But I also enjoyed reading about the angst. Because it made me love Agatha even more. She truly is the most good and kind and loving person. I wish the angst hadn't happened, but I also get why it had to. And I do think it made their relationship even better. Sigh. But also, yeah. Heartbreak.

I don't really have all that much to say about this book this time around. I just. I loved reading every moment of it. This book is long, but I wanted it to be even longer. Hmph. The ending is simply perfect. Heartbreaking. Happy. So good. Reading about these characters are the very best thing. I love Agatha and Tedros so much. And I do like reading about Sophie. And everyone else. I still adore Hester so much too. And Merlin was awesome. I just. I love The Last Ever After oh so much. My re-read was the best.

But seriously. If you still haven't read these books, then you really must. It is middle grade, yet young adult too. More the latter, I think. The characters are about fifteen years old, probably. Tedros at least is almost turning sixteen. A bit young still, yet they are all so adorable and so grown up even so. And I just love reading about them all. Sigh. Anyway. Yes. You all must read these books. Right away. I would recommend them for everyone. Because these books are the best. You are all going to love Agatha.

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I first read this book from August 9th to August 10th 2015. See my first review on my blog, Carina's Books.
I read this book for the second time from July 27th to July 30th 2016. See my book recommendation post on my blog, Carina's Books.

I LOVE this series!! It's thrilling, mysterious, hilarious, and romantic rolled into one! I finished the entire series in about two weeks, because I couldn't put these books down! The third one was my favorite. The never ending suprises and discoveries kept me on the edge of my seat! So much deph!

The Last Ever After is the final book in the School for Good and Evil it takes place just after the end of the second book with Agatha choosing this time Tedros over Sophie for her happy ever after. Leaving Sophie with the young school master who wants to be her happy ever after even if they are evil. However things aren’t as easy for Agatha and Tedros back in her village with him just a normal boy and they are forced to hide of with the village determined to have their heads. Deciding that neither one will be happy without Sophie since she’s their best friend they must return to the school to get her.

It’s only after returning to the school that they learn the fate of Sophie and what it means for their friends as well as the schools. Now that Evil has truly won they schools are both evil even the former Ever’s are evil doing the bidding of the School Master who is determined to win Sophie’s heart so he can use her for his sinister plans. That’s not all that’s changed he’s raised the villains once dead to change their stories slaying the elderly heroes and hunting Agatha and Tedros. Will they be able to save and fix everything before it’s too late or will this be the end of everything that they have known.

I adore Agatha she’s clearly one of my favorites in the series but that’s because she’s such a good person willing to step aside for her best friend. I admit in the book I did have a few moments of wanting to toss it across the room thanks to Sophie and Tedros but they redeemed themselves in the end. I love our little witch coven who worked hard to save the school as well as their friends. I also really enjoyed the old fairy tales it was so much fun seeing old tinker bell and Peter even the white rabbit.

I’ve been impatiently waiting for this moment the conclusion to one of my favorite series came out. Than the moment it did I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my favorite world. It was clear right from the start that The Last Ever After was going to be impossible to put down, and I almost finished the whole book in one day. A truly amazing end to a series that has kept me spellbound right from the beginning. The story is captivating with enchanting characters evil sorcery’s princes and even a few witches. I love the characters I was able to connect with them right from the start after all I have been attached to them since the first book. The Last Ever After is an emotional whirlwind just when you think you have it figured out it surprises you full of twists and turns. I honestly love this series and I know for a fact it will be a re-read in the future because I’m going to miss Agatha and Sophie. I feel the author did an amazing job creating a beautifully written series that captured my heart as well as my imagination. If you are a fan of fairytales this is a must for you. I just wow loved the whole series of The School of Good and Evil but this was the best.

I have been wanting to read this book forever. It really really sounded like something I would love. I ended up enjoying it a lot. I would be lying if I didn't admit that the cover and the title were the first two things to capture my attention.

This book is about Sophie (a beauty obsessed blond who is determined to do good in her own way) and Agatha (a dark and unloved child, who is incredibly cynical). They live in a town where every year two children are kidnapped by the School Master, one goes to the School for Evil while the other goes to the School for Good.

Everyone in town knows that Sophie will go to the school for Good and Agatha will go to the school for Evil...but the opposite happens. What follows is a hilarious and touching story about what makes good good and what makes evil evil...and also what happens when you try to ignore all the grey areas in between.

This was a creative and engaging story. It doesn't get five stars because, while I enjoyed the story, I wasn't ever completely sucked in to it. There were parts that were a bit slow as well. Some of the stereotypes for good and evil were a bit over the top and ventured into the territory of silly instead of funny.

I really really loved the idea behind this story. The idea that there is a school for learning how to be a Hero or a Villain is an awesome one and it was executed in a very interesting way. There is also a story that is broader than just the existence of the schools that added a lot to the plot.

My only real complaint is that while the book tried to preach the whole "Good is who you are not how you look" theme, it kind of fell short because good people would change to looking pretty and evil people would start to look evil...I thought this was a bit inconsistent with the theme.

Overall a very fun and unique read that twists the whole idea of fairy tales on its head. I really enjoyed the concept and the world. There is some humor in here and the story delivers a good message about friendship. I never found the characters to be all that engaging and, while I enjoyed the story, I was never completely sucked in. My only other complaint is I thought the “good is who you are not how you look” message was a bit inconsistent throughout. I would definitely recommend to those who love twisted fairy tales, this was a very good book. I definitely plan on continuing the series.

I was hoping Hort would find his frog pajamas (inside joke from the first book) and I was also hoping Hester would slap Tedros about every chapter (he needs it) but the book was SO good! I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

(Review by the daughter of this user)
This book never let go of my interest, not once from the first sentence to the last word. On the subject of the first sentence, this sentence is a hook that is sure to grab the attention of most readers, and the rest of the book definitely keep it.
*SPOILER ALERT* My favorite character is definitely Agatha, who is actually one of the most Good characters in the book, under seemingly evil layers. Sophie was one of my least favorite characters, mostly because of her vain attitude and willingness to do any amount of evil to get into the School for Good, and near the end of the book, she does something so Evil that even the Nevers help Agatha stop her. Then, the School Master tries to kill Agatha, but Sophie saves her and the Storian kills Sophie instead, then Agatha kisses her back to life.
*end of spoilers*
So, all in all, this is an amazing book, and I can't reccomend it highly enough.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Two girls who get swept up and into The School For Good And Evil. Agatha finds herself genuinely horrified she and friend are in fairy tale school and learning how to be a princess is enough to make her gag. She vows to get herself and Sophie out of there and home, and the sooner the better! Sophie meanwhile has been bemoaning her fate being dropped into the school for evil to become a witch. Was it a mistake? And part will King Arthur's son play in Sophie and Agatha's lives at the school?

This was a book I bought 100% for the cover. And thank God, I was not disappointed.

This book is just plain fun, and the characters felt so very real. The world was interesting, the story was gripping from beginning to end, and it had a unique twist on the whole "magical school" storyline.

The absolute best thing about this story are the two main characters. Agatha and Sophie have a very, very real dynamic that feels like a true friendship, complete with pitfalls like selfishness, codependency, and trust issues. Yet it feels like these two characters care deeply about each other. It's the heart and soul of this book and it's done amazingly well.

My friend bought this for my eight year old daughter, but as a mom and teacher, I wanted to read it first. I found the writing to be difficult to follow at times. I had to reread to figure out who was doing what. Very confusing.
The story went in loops. The same theme ran through the storyline several times. By the end, I wanted to scream, "I get it, already!"

I first heard about this book through the place where I intern at. The author, Soman Chainani, made a presentation there a few months before the book came out. Having had fairytales follow me around within the past year, I was curious to see what this one was about.
Despite this book being a New York Times bestseller, I'll admit that I was a little concerned going into it. The title gave off a sense of polarization, which I didn't really find fitting in storytelling in any kind, for at the end of the day, no one is ever truly good or evil. However, I went through with it and wounded up enjoying it very much and finished it up a few hours ago. In some way it kind of reminded me of "Wicked," where the exterior of the two characters would make it obvious as to what their personality types are really like. However, throughout the chapters though, it shows what their true colors are otherwise. Soman really went in depth on what it means to be good and evil and I believe he did his research well in bringing about both those factors in the character.
While the book is marketed for kids ages 8-12, I truly believe that teens and adults will like it too; for its in depth look on the two forces of good and evil, the sense of escapism from real time and that it's an overall good story to read just in general.

I have a lot of favorite books. But this book? Brilliant, creative, and amazing, this book leaves echoes behind when you finish reading it.
Agatha and Sophie are best friends. Sophie hopes to be taken to the School for Good, where she is sure she will become a princess and find her One True Love. Agatha, a girl who wears black and owns a nasty cat, wants to stay behind in the fairy-tale obsessed Gavaldon. When both are kidnapped and taken to the School for Good and Evil, there is a mix-up and Agatha is placed in the school for Good, while Sophie is stuck in the School for Evil.
My favorite character was probably Agatha. She grows so much in this book, learning that beauty is kindness, valor, and honesty, instead of makeup, clothes, and looks. Another thing I like about Agatha is that she gives Sophie so many second chances, after Sophie has repeatedly betrayed and humiliated her. This story goes beyond the fairy tale world and into a sort of grim realization zone.
Sophie is a complex character. At some times, especially near the end of the book, she's the sort of character that you wish was real. But in the majority of the book, you hate her and hope Agatha and King Arthur's son, Tedros, win out in the end. But I did like Sophie in the end of the book, and a little in the middle, too.
This is such a great book.

I really enjoyed this book. It is very exciting and everything that happens is unexpected. Sophie is a princess like girl who lives in the town of Gavalden. Agatha lives in a graveyard in Gavaldon with her mom. Despite their differences, the two are best friends. Everyone in Gavaldon reads fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White, all the classics. Every year two children are kidnapped, and as the people of Gavaldon believe, are taken to the School for Good and Evil. Sophie is dying to be kidnapped thinking she'll go to the school for good. Agatha has no interest but seems perfect for the school for evil. But things seem to go opposite ways for them and Agatha just wants to go home. Sophie is determined to switch schools. But as the story unfolds you will start to question whether they were in the right schools the whole time. This book is amazing and I would recommend it for sure!

While the book started off a bit slow I made myself read further and glad I did. Once I got into it I ended up reading 400 pages in one sitting between supper and bed.

blonde haired Sophie loves pink and dreams of being carried off by her Prince Charming while raven haired Agatha loves her cat and hanging out in cemeteries. Yet when taken away into their own fairy tales its Agatha that taken to the school for good for princess training while protesting Sophie who even up with bad guy training in the school of evil. Despite each protesting no belonging their actions prove their in the school their meant to be. As best friends Agatha fears the worst for Sophie for how many villians live at the end of their fairy tale. Getting her out of that school is her top priority.

I've had my eye on this book for a while because of my love of fairy tales. And, in the end, it did not disappoint. While I enjoyed it, the book fell just short of great in my eyes. I think that this was in part due to the length. I enjoyed the book a lot, but it felt long to me. I would laugh hysterically only to realize that I progressed a mere five pages in the book. I think that such feelings can be attributed to pacing issues that were resolved in the second half of the book. Granted, most of the action and scheming took place in the second half and it was much easier to fly through the book then. Overall, this is a very satisfying two day read.

Agatha and Sophie are best friends for life, despite their being the tender age of twelve. They live in a town that fears and loves fairy-tales. Every four year, the mysterious School Master comes in the dead of night to steal away two children: one who is inherently evil and one who is inherently good. These kids are taken to the School for Good and Evil to train as villains or heroes for their own future fairy-tales. Sophie has dreamed of being taken away by the School Master so that she could attend the School for Good ever since her mother's death and her lack of a proper relationship with her Father. Agatha, on the other hand, fears the idea of the school because she's a bit of a loner and unpleasant to eye. She feared that her baggy black clothing and her living in a cemetery will immediately place her in the School for Evil. When Agatha sees the School Master come to take Sophie away, she races after him to rescue her friend, only to realize that she is the second child to be kidnapped in that year's duo. And, even worse, she was dropped into the School for Good while Sophie suffered in the School for Evil.

As a reader, I found that twist to be great because it's not the least bit surprising. Agatha has the heart of gold. All she does is worry about Sophie and, in truth, she risked her life to try to save her best friend. She has the biggest heart and her story slowly proves that beauty is on the inside, not the outside. Sophie, on the other hand, totally deserved to be dropped in the School of Evil. Despite looking like a miniature Sleeping Beauty, she doesn't act like one. She is perhaps the most vain character I've ever come across and ninety percent of the time the obnoxious tones that spewed from her mouth often had me rolling my eyes. But, bravo for that Chainani, because that's just excellent characterization. I found the switch of schools to be great because of the wide difference in personality and such a thing led the way for a lot of shenanigans and fun comparison ranging from prizes, clothing, ideals, classes, and authority figures. I mean, fairies versus werewolves. Of course there's going to be some interesting twists with that!

My one issue with this novel was the romance. The overall lover boy is Tedros, son of King Arthur, whose awesome sword fighting skills, leadership qualities, and good looks landed him in the School for Good. Granted, he tends to fall for stereotypes a lot. Tedros is the most desirable boy of all so all of the Princesses are swooning over him. Well, them plus Sophie who is convinced that Tedros is the love of her life. Seriously, several times she literally claimed him by saying, "He's mine." It was a little much. What creeped me out was the fact that the girls were twelve and Tedros was old enough to be dealing with a little bit of stubble. And he found them attractive! I understand this is a fairy-tale world, but some inner part of me thinks we have a mini-babyeater on our hands. Then again, the romance really is only as innocent as that of young children anyway.

With an explosive ending that makes you beg for more, Chainani's captured my heart with his unique world that turns fairytales upside down in the most delicious of ways. I will certainly be keeping my eye out for book two, hoping that the pacing picks up exactly where this one left off.

Great book! I found this book in a Sam's Club, and thought I would give it a try. I was not disappointed. This is a great book, for the young or old reader. I found it fascinating, a girl who thinks she's evil, ends up in the School for Good, and the girl who thinks she's good ends up in the School for Evil. Makes you think, how well do you know yourself?

Though the back cover of this book is crammed with famous authors praising this writer, the writing is sloppy, lazy, and dilutes what is essentially an interesting story with lively characters. The author can't tell the difference between nouns, adjectives, or verbs, or intransitive and transitive verbs. Why didn't the publisher have this book line edited? Very sad. Especially in a book for young people.

People may look at this misuse of language as "creative" or "poetic license." The fact is however that it waters down the story and the action, whereas skillful use of language increases the reader's attention and engagement in the story.

By the time the main characters had fallen out of tower windows for the third time, drowned in sewer sludge for the fourth time, and changed sides for the fifth time, I stopped having any belief in any sort of reality to the story. It stopped having any meaning when the characters, their actions, and the events of the story had no effect from one scene to the next.

This author is supposedly an award-winning screenwriter. Perhaps this novel was a rejected screenplay sold as a novel, quickly cobbled into a different format? It would make a fun movie. There's lots of vivid description despite the mangling of the language--I couldn't tell what things were that were described, but I did get lots of colors and atmosphere. And there were humorous asides that would be worth a laugh in an animated film, whereas they were just jarring in a novel, like mentioning Mother Teresa--hello? in a fairytale fantasy world who is that? How would the characters know about her?

There was no pacing--everything was at a breakneck speed--and very little structure to this novel. Pacing increases involvement in the story and characters, where lack of pacing makes the brain go numb. Structure builds the story from scene to scene, and increases the tension and suspense for the reader. Oh well, this didn't happen.

I was entertained right to the end, but it was like cotton candy. I kept reading to see what would happen, how the story would turn out. I kept hoping it would somehow make sense and enlighten the artificial (and ultimately superficial) division between good and evil. And a half hour after reading the ending, I couldn't remember the ending! I couldn't remember how it turned out.

I'm a big fan of fairy tales and I thought this would b a good book but I did not enjoy the twists and turns in the book. The cover looked so interesting and I think the author could have made more with the concept because that is what drew me in to read the book. The language of the book was slightly confusing as the characters kept changing their character. I still do not know whether Sophie is good or evil,nor Agatha. All in all, it was a decent book although I would not really recommend it.

Got me black into reading. I pick this up at Barnes and Noble on vacation and I'm glad/sad that I did. I read this book the first 2 days of vacation then got the second during vacation. When we went to the beach I read it most of the time. It is a little grim though so maybe get this for 7th grade or older.

Similar to other readers, I was appalled by the "beauty=good" cliche, and was unsure if the writer meant the book to be a satire. It would have been a nice satire if this was the case, but generally in satires death is also comedic but a significant event. Unfortunately, when Sophie murders the wolf torturer in cold blood, and shows no remorse when she sees his corpse later on, and the general result of this discovery was nothing, it was the final blow in my hope that something meaningful would occur in the character development or even that the writer would create a coherent world view to accomplish the main point of the book, which seems to be to answer the question "what is true good, and what is true evil, and how can people be redeemed?" The conclusion could have been groundbreaking, but instead, it was the disappointing one, that only youth, appearance and materialism are all that matter, and sacrifice, humility, and wisdom are meaningless.

This book had me hooked on the first page. I recommend this series to 10 and up due to some blood and some descriptive fighting. I got so latched on to these characters and cannot wait for the next book! If you like fairytales and harry potter I suggest that you read this book. I think that even though this may seem like a girly book,boys should read it too! This is a must read for all!

This is my favorite book. I loved it. I would recommend this book for people who like princes, princesses, villains, heroes, sorcerers, good, evil and magic in general. If you like "the Land of Stories" you will also like this book. I would recommend this book for ages 9 and up. The story is about two friends, Sophie and Agatha. Sophie, who wears pink and feels like a princess, ends up in the School for Evil whereas her friend Agatha, who wears black and who is considered to be a witch, ends up in the School for Good. They both feel misplaced, but were they?

I loved this book! The way everything was described if felt like I was there and was seeing it for myself. I could feel the character's feelings, I literally cried at the end! There is nothing negative I could say about this book. I also would like to see a book from other people's point of view like Tedros, Beatrix,etc.

The premise of this book is fantastic, and the first few chapters really gripped me. I loved the "Elphaba and Galinda" vibe that the author was setting up, and the grimmer flavor of the town's relationship with fairy tales. Sophie and Agatha both seemed like really fascinating characters with a lot of potential for development and growth, and I was looking forward to how the story progressed.

And then the rest of the book happened. Plenty of other reviewers have discussed the problems with pacing, so I'll just chime in and agree that this book was several hundred pages longer than it needed to be.

My biggest issue here is that there was little-to-no real character development, for anyone. The few times we *did* start to see a character gain some depth--Agatha feeling betrayed by Sophie, Tedros feeling betrayed by Sophie, any development of the other students or the teachers--they promptly lost it in the next scene. These characters flip-flop like no other. Having an inherently "good" character fall for an evil one's charm can be a great, tense conflict in writing. Having that character fall for the evil one's tricks over and over and *over* again saps all sympathy that you might have for them, and just leaves you shaking your head and wondering how you are supposed to connect with or like someone who is so unutterably *dense.* Despite the love and friendship professed by multiple characters throughout the book, I can't bring myself to believe any of it--and that's a serious flaw in any medium.

None of the students or teachers outside of the main two girls had any depth, either--one is the "fat one" to be teased, one is the "creepy one" to be avoided, and all the rest are either vapid or jealous cronies.

The overall tone of the story is unpleasant and jarring. A grim fairy tale world can be absolutely delicious to read about. An apparently-sweet world that covers a dark underbelly can also make for great reading. However, this book jumped indiscriminately from pointless comic relief and princesses primping to having the main character dragged off to a torture chamber. Disturbing violence and unpleasantly creative punishment is "glossed over" as part of the comedy, too--seriously out of place in a book meant for middle-graders.

This story felt like it wanted to be a Grimm-esque, comedic romp that would deconstruct and poke fun at the heart of what a fairy tale is--and instead it just felt like a strangely-malevolent, amoral, and poorly-constructed shadow of what it could have been. It's a pity, because I really wanted to like this book, but--although I tore through it, because I can rarely bear to leave a book unfinished--it left a bad taste in my mouth. Read it for the premise, if you want, but don't expect to feel happy-ever-after when you're through.

I absolutely loved this series and highly recommend it! All questions were answered in this final book and a happy ending was reached despite all Evil. I did feel this last book got a little too long-winded at times in descriptions and unnecessary dialog. It was the first time I felt bored in all 3 books. Other than that I consider the series a masterpiece!

WARNING TO TEACHERS!! I LOVED this book almost cover to cover- but I should have been warned about the big lesbian ending!

I bought the book at our school book fair so I could read it then put it in my classroom library. Whoa, this book could get me in a LOT of trouble! How is it that there would be a giant uproar if two princes ended up together, but no one is talking about these girls ending up together? There are LGBT references throughout, but the ending clinches it. Make sure you read the ending (pages 486-488) before offering it to kids/teens. The author should have stopped after Agatha's performance at the Circus of Talents...

This book definitely has its place and audience -- It is a WONDERFUL LGBT book.

The whole entire book was amazing! If you love adventure this is the book for you. You really have to pay alot of attention to the little details in this book. It is packed with action and at the end of the book you will be amazed. This is a book where you cant just read a little bit of it and then give up on it, you have to read the whole book, and trust me, you will definetly enjoy it. :)

The first time I saw this book was when my friend had read it. She said that it was really, really good. I then read it and saw that it was amazing. It is about a girl who wants to be a princess and a girl who thinks that fairytales don't exist. They go through many dangurous events together. They fight, fall in love, get in trouble, and have trouble fitting in. This book is one exciting read.

This was a perfect ending to the trilogy. All three books were great. Sometimes a book loses it's luster after the first or second release but that wasn't the case with this trilogy. I only wish mention of Hort's wish was elaborated on in the ending somehow. That would have been a nice epilogue maybe. I enjoyed every moment of reading and all of the characters came alive. I needed a fun, enjoyable book to read because I struggled through my previous book for various reasons and was left in a book-rut or a 'book hole'. This was exactly what I was looking for. It was one of the books that I really enjoyed for leisure and was one the reminders of why I love to read so much. I would definitely recommend reading it. I'm actually sad that this is the end.
Yes some of the outcomes may seem a bit cliché. Yes love triangles can be a little out-dated as some reviews mentioned. What I liked about Chainani was how he took out-dated, clichéd perspectives and put s pin on them and kept you intrigued until the end. He also made you wonder if there would be any changes in the outcomes at certain intervals of the story. Or if you knew, he gave it a little spin where it wasn't exactly the same as everything else. For example if two artists write about the same topic in a song but have different means of expressing it, you are more drawn to one than to the other depending on how alluring one is in comparison to the other. Same thing here. So, I think that even though some topics discussed were maybe not completely outside the box, they were still extremely well written and deserves all five stars.

This one is so 5 stars! I started this one not knowing it was for Middle School kids. But that doesn't take anything away from this 488 page book of Good vs. Evil!! In this wonderful world that Chainani has created you find that all fairy tales are created in a school for both good and evil and the town beyond the woods is where all the books get read. Now I can't go into to much detail as I don't want to give anything away. But this book was so good it's just beyond words!

This book goes back to the old fairy tales that we all grew up with but adds a twist that will make you read very fast and will make young readers want to read until the last page. Even if they have to hide under the covers with a flashlight to finish it.

This is a trilogy and I can't wait for next year to come so I can read what happens next for our friends of the good and evil school.

OMG there is a book trailer! And it just made me want to read this book again!! I checked out the authors site. I didnt know that this was written by a man well good job! Also it looks like Universal has purchased the rights to this book and it also seems like we might see it on the big screen in 2015! I cant wait!!

For some fun with this book you can apply to the school (Apply SGE) and see which school you belong in!

My 9 year old also read this one and this is her review:
I looooooooooved this book! And this was a really big book for me to read! It took me three days to read it but I did it! I hope to meet him one day so I can get this book signed. And I cant wait for the movie!

This is what I got!
Congratulations!
It is my pleasure to accept you to the School for Good, with a soul score of 80% Good and 20% Evil. As an official EVER, you join a pantheon of great heroes that have graduated from my school, including Peter Pan, Snow White, Aladdin, Cinderella, King Arthur, and Rapunzel.
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

This book was realy fun. I thought that Sophie would be good aand Agatha being bad, but no!!! They got on the "opposit" school. I couldn't belive that Terdos liked Agatha, unti Sophie ruined everything. I started to dislike her. THE SCHOOL MASTER IS EVIL!!!! That really schocked me. What was really weird is that Agatha kissed Sophie, I never thought that their would be lesbians, but it was still great. This book earns a zillion of stars.

This was one of the best books ever. The description was wonderful and I found the plot enthralling. I started reading it just because I was bored, but I soon was completely sucked in to the story. Soman Chainani has the fine ability to make fairy tales seem real, and that is an extremely rare gift. Another great book series is The Land Of Stories. 3 out of 2 thumbs up!

I am addicted. This is the best of the 3 books. It makes everything that happened in book 1 & 2 make so much more sense. I would recommend you read the other two before this one, so you get the full impact of how genius Soman is. The story is really well written and action happens quickly. The characters are all ones you can root for or care for. I would argue even the "evil" ones are sympathetic. I actually got the kindle version on pre-order because I was so addicted to the first two. The formatting was really good. The moral of the story is also good. You should check on Good Reads for its rating, where people rank books. This book has one of the highest ratings on that site. I would definitely recommend this to others. It is better than both the first and the second - and those were hard to top.

Like several other reviewers, I saw the (really great) book trailer for this. That was great. In fact, it actually gave inspiration for a scene of a novel I'm working on. Kudos to whoever put that together.
Unfortunately, the book trailer was the only thing good about this book. It was just bad. I've reread some of my writing from when I was maybe nine or ten, and I must say that the writing of this story is about the same level as that. It doesn't flow, and it doesn't transition. The events are just BAM BAM BAM with no pause whatsoever in between. It's disorienting.
And the viewpoints! The story switched back and forth between viewpoints - sometimes half a dozen times on a single page - with no warning and no indication other than a new paragraph. Again, disorienting.
One last thing that bothered me: Evil was evil: nasty, violent, hateful, etc., but Good was just as bad: stuck-up, snooty, and horribly judgemental. I think perhaps that was intended, but it left no one for me to root for - quite aside from being a very questionable morality.
I probably got a hundred pages in before I started skipping through it. I gave up after about a half-hour of that. I just couldn't read it - and my other option was James Dashner, whose Maze Runner I found to be abysmal, though a page-turner.
I know that many people read negative reviews and say, "They're just haters," so I want to make it clear that I'm not hating. I think that anyone can write a decent to good book with time and hard work, as well as a good editor. However, Mr. Chainini needs all three. I'm giving this two stars instead of one because the idea was really great, but It looks like a middle schooler wrote it without any editing. I hope, though, that Mr. Chainini will improve his style and continue writing. The one thing I never want to do is discourage fellow writers, but I also want to save readers' time.
I hope you found my review helpful,and that you find a good book to read. I've spent many a night surfing my kindle looking for a decent book, and if you're doing the same, I feel your pain.

I loved the premise and the undercurrent that fairy tales would not be a nice place to live at all, but though the book starts out well enough it quickly becomes a muddled mess, looping in on itself without any coherent theme. It seemed to be trying to tell all possible stories that could have come from the premise at once instead of deciding on one. Is the point that people aren't good or evil? Is it that good and evil are both necessary and need to be in balance? The book seems to waver between believing good and evil are binary or useless ideas, between thinking Sophie is helpless and needing direction or an extremely powerful mastermind, and so on. The tacked on cliffhanger exemplifies the book's confusion. It's not setting up an overarching plot line, it's just failing to figure out what the end goal should be and how to determine if the characters are succeeding.

Also, why is everyone surprised at the concept of a beautiful, vain villain? They reference the story of Snow White. It should be a plausible idea.

("One of my goals in writing The School for Good and Evil was to give the book new energy from chapter to chapter, so you never feel like you're in the same place twice. For each of the 30 chapters, I'd pick a book (sometimes a piece of music or an article) that I remembered loving as a child or adolescent and obsessively reread it until I put the chapter to bed." Hmm. That explains a lot of the lack of direction.)

I loved this book. A masterpiece of a vivid land full of imagination. Soman Chanini should be proud. It tells about the blank spaces between good and evil. A twisted plot wil not allow you to put it down. I read it for more than 4 hours nonstop. A MUST

I am kind of picky when it comes to reading. Something must grab my attention and keep me there I can say this book does that. Even though it is about fairy tails, it takes that and turns it on its head and gives something new. It is really and I cannot emphasize really enough well written. This book series is a prime example of publishing done right. I would recomend this series to all ages as it teaches lesson which young and old can learn from.

With an unlikely heroine and a seemingly twisted beginning, this story, set in a fairy-tale land you've never seen before, will take you on a roller coaster ride like no other. You'll have no choice but to hold on until you are flung off at the end, gasping for more!

Amazing read, it is no surprise that the book is in popular demand in our school library.

(to see this review with .gifs, go to my goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/826608690?book_show_action=false#comment_form)

[spoilers]
Sooooo this is a lesson on how an amazing cover can sell even the worst book. I deeply regret buying this. Let me tell you why.

At first, I read the way Good was portrayed (especially the girls) and I thought, this will be overturned. By the end, it will be revealed that these vain, catty, boy-obsessed children are actually evil. And I can't really blame them for being vain and catty, because if they aren't asked to the ball by a boy, they fail (aka, they die. Literally).

But then I start to realize, that the divide between Good and Evil is REALLY confusing.
Evil can never have love (the catch phrase of the book), and yet according to Dot (who is evil), being a friendless villain is humiliating.

Evil does not forgive, they seek revenge, and yet Dot saves her roommate's life and they're friends again.

Good is about purity and not vanity, and yet at the end when the evil students do good things, they become beautiful (Dot even becomes skinny) and the good students become ugly (some even go bald).

Evil must be ugly because only when they're ugly can they get rid of vanity and be FREEEEEE, so they obsessively try to make themselves uglier (isn't this a kind of vanity?).

So at the end, when the evil people did good and got pretty and the good did bad and got ugly, I realized that what the book was ACTUALLY saying was that appearance actually does indicate the state of the soul.
But, I hear you say, isn't it saying that the outside reflects what's inside, making a physical response to the saying "actions speak louder than words"? You would be right, if you weren't so wrong!
Because Aggie, who everyone thought was evil, is said through most of the book to be very ugly (thus everyone thinks she is evil). Then, a teacher tells her she will make her beautiful. When Aggie thinks this has happened, she is beautiful (people even stop and stare, amazed by her beauty). When Aggie finally sees a mirror and realizes nothing has actually changed, she realizes that because she thought she was ugly, she was ugly. So even though she was "good," poor self-esteem was enough to make her look "evil." Once her self-esteem had been boosted and she thought she was beautiful, she was beautiful. Let this be a lesson, teenage girls: even if you do good things, unless your self-worth improves, you will always be ugly and people will call you a witch. And actually, I'm not sure this book even says that, because is it really self-worth if you only thought you were beautiful because other people were telling you as much?

However, now that Aggie is pretty and has self-esteem, suddenly she fits right in with the good girls. Suddenly, she doesn't care about going home, seeing her cat, seeing her mother, or helping Sophie (her only friend). Because who needs home, family, or friends when you've got BOYS! One boy, in particular. Now that she has the possibility of a happy-ever-after, she throws everything out the window and tries to get asked to the ball so she doesn't die.
That's right, it's a world where if a girl is not pretty enough for a boy to ask her out, she is killed. And apparently, every year the boys make a pact that two of them will go together rather than having to be the one to go with the ugliest girl. And again, I thought, this will be overturned.
NOPE

Instead of the girls becoming self-reliant beings who are worth more than what a man is willing to say they're worth, the magical thing that happens is THIS year, all the good girls get asked and no one dies.

But that's not how it ends. It ends with Sophie (evil friend) dying for Aggie (good friend) and Aggie's kiss bringing Sophie back to life (true love's kiss). Sophie says, "who needs princes in our fairy tale?" and for a moment I think YES! It is all undone! Realizations abound!
NOPE.
Because as the girls disappear to go to Happily Ever After together, Aggie realizes if she goes with Sophie she'll never get to be with the BOY!
"She whirled to Tedros. With a cry, her prince seized for her--'wait!'"
And as I understand it, the sequel Aggie regrets spending happily ever after with her best friend, so she leaves and goes in search of Teddy.

One brief shining moment, and then that.

So what is the book about? It's about how girls are motivated entirely by boys. Female friendships are broken apart by boys. The back-stories of evil women usually involve boys. And even though you might not need a boy in the end, you REALLY want one. Also, poor self-esteem makes you ugly, and no boy will want you then.
To be followed by the sequel, which is about how best friends will never replace boys (although, to be fair, I haven't read it. And won't.)

But I'm not finished! I could, in fact, go on for a very long time about all the problems with this book (go ahead, ask me. I dare you), but I just want to mention quickly the problem of the wolves, and the naked thing.
I'm not sure the author understands what wolves are in fairy tales. In this book, the wolves are in charge of the evil school, and at one point Sophie refuses to change into her school uniform. "So the wolf took care of it himself." (Literally a quote from the book.) So this child has just been stripped and re-dressed by a wolf. In a fairy tale. Later, Sophie dreams of her father, who is wearing a wolf mask. I felt kind of sick to my stomach.
This leads me to my final problem: how often the girls are naked in this book. I don't have the patience for it, but if anyone is going to read/re-read it, I would love it if you would put a flag next to every time a character is naked/wrapped in or hiding behind something to hide their nakedness. They take each other's clothes off their backs, they wear boys' PJs because they burned each other's clothes, they come back naked from this spell that they do (and they do it a lot), a boy becomes naked to use his talent... It would just be interesting to see how many times in this book children are naked.

Okay, tl;dr, I'll shut up now.

Middle Grade books have always been a hit or miss for me, some are a bit too kiddy for my taste but others are just perfect for me; and The School for Good and Evil definitely hit all the right spots. It was obvious that it didn't cater specifically to children even though it is an MG because most of the time I was reading it, I felt as if I was reading a YA novel, in a good way though. There was a level of maturity to this book that most MG novels try to capture but can't seem too and that made The School for Good and Evil appeal to me even more.

I have always been fascinated with fairy tales so when I read the blurb of The School for Good and Evil, I immediately knew that it was a book that I needed to read. I mean hello, the schools where princesses, villains and other fairy tale peeps are made? Too cool. Just reading the blurb of The School for Good and Evil will definitely whet your appetite and leave you asking for the real book. And that cover? Way too gorgeous for its own good, it easily draws the reader's attention and entices you to read it. Aesthetically speaking, it's very appealing to a reader but what's written inside will completely dazzle you. Seriously.

After spending a few minutes gawking at the super beautiful map inside the book. You will then meet Sophie and right from the get-go, you will know what kind of person she is. Sure, she's pretty and gives of "princess" vibes but that's all on the outside. Sophie's goal has always been to be taken by the School Master and being real life princess but while she may be good in the surface, her intentions are anything but selfless. Which is why she hangs out with Agatha, the kid everyone considers a witch in their tiny town. The one everyone expects to be taken as the bad. The two obviously have a very dysfunctional relationship, one is in it for the end game (having her very own fairy tale) and the other, wanting her very own friend (even though she pretends she doesn't want one). So when Sophie is taken by the School Master, Agatha makes it her mission to save her friend and keep Sophie with her, thus ending with both the girls being taken to The School for Good and Evil.

When Sophie is placed into the School for Bad and Agatha is placed into the School for Good, it comes off as a mistake which cannot be remedied for once they have been entered into their respective schools, they cannot leave. I knew that Sophie deserved to be put into the School for Bad but I was apprehensive as to Agatha's placing because I didn't really see much good in her. Being placed into the wrong school was a huge roadblock in Sophie's so proving she deserved to be an Ever became her goal while Agatha's was just to get her friend back, no matter what.

About 100% of the book, I wanted to strangle Sophie. A bit drastic? Trust me, once you read the book, you'll understand. I have never met a character so annoying, self-centered and so immature, really. I don't know if Soman Chainani made her that way on purpose or what but he definitely succeeded in me not liking her. Sophie's desperate attempts at trying to get into Good's side made me feel bad for her because she was so embarrassing. Especially whenever she would brush aside Agatha's efforts at trying to help her because Sophie thought that she knew better when she obviously didn't. I wanted to cover my eyes whenever I would read her scenes because I hovered between feeling bad for her and wanting to off her. Yup. Sorry, kid. But I do have to say her powers are cool, that is all.

While I may have completely disliked Sophie, I completely adored Agatha. As the book went on, I began to see why she was placed into the School for Good in the first place. Sure she wasn't most people's ideal image of good but her goodness was inherent and natural. Agatha was simple whereas Sophie was flamboyant, and her simplicity made me like her even more. She was herself throughout the whole book, she never tried to change her image and be someone else. But when she finally found herself I just wanted to give her the biggest hug and happy cry because oh my goodness, it was such a beautiful moment. Watching her free herself from her cage of insecurities and loneliness was amazing. The one thing that saddened me about Agatha was her selflessness, while it is a great trait to have, she took it a bit too the extreme. She helped Sophie a bit too much which you will realize yourself once you read the book, but other than, I loved her. Agatha's kindness astounded me, I am happy sighing right now. I would absolutely love to have Agatha as a friend, really.

Tedros, oh, Tedros. I love and hate the guy. It was amusing watching Sophie embarrass herself for him and the other girls pine for him because let's face it, when there's a really yummy prince in front of you, you'd want some of that. But while Tedros may be good looking, athletic, smart and pretty much everything you want in a guy, there's still a part of him that most people overlook because of his other traits. He's just a guy who wants someone who understands him and doesn't just see his pretty face and title but who he really is. So deep, right? All I will say is... Agatha + Tedros 5EVER. (Dang, these kids have a better love life than me.)

Other than having a great character line up, The School for Good and Evil also boasts not only a great story line but also the most beautiful setting evah. The way Soman Chainani describes the school grounds and even the forest surrounding the place will captivate you. If Disneyland ever ran out of ideas for their theme parks, they need to make a School for Good and Evil place somewhere in there because it's just gorgeous. You will fall in love with the place because of how intricate everything is and how even though the School for Bad is suppose to be ugly and whatever, it still comes off as beautiful. If there was a plot of land available for sale in that area, I would totally be all over that.

The line between good and evil is questioned in this book and you will be given the chance to see the two from different perspectives. Sometimes, being good doesn't necessarily mean you are and so is being evil. The dichotomy between the two is broadened and also narrowed because trust me, while you're reading The School for Good and Evil, lines will be blurred and things will get crazy, trust me.

Soman Chainani has written a beautiful and enthralling novel that will appeal to every age out there because it has a bit of everything, action, romance, the meaning of friendship and everything else in between. You will never read a book like this one, Soman Chainani has written a one of a kind novel that will amaze you. I just loved this book. Loved it. LOVED. IT. And can I just say, that ending made me cry. Real tears, yo. Real tears. Also... School Master, please take me, I don't even care which school I end up at. Just please, take meeee. *waves arms*

Rating: 5/5

Official blog post:[...]

In grade 8, our teacher had us read this book with the sales pitch of- "The writer went to Harvard and studied fairy tales for years there!"
Even back then I knew about genre deconstruction, having read loved Watchmen, so I was going into this (having not seen the cover.) cautiously optimistic. I don't know how the author graduated, let alone got accepted into Harvard. This book doesn't break down and rebuild fairy tale tropes so much as follow them to a tee, complete with- "Good looking people aren't necessary good people!" and- "Don't judge a book by it's cover!". Even as a straight fairy tale this watered down. The plot and characters are written like Anime/Fanfiction and it's absolutely dreadful.
If you're an anime freak, you'll probably like this: the ones in our class sure did. Everyone else should steer clear.

A clever mix of Harry Potter and classic fairytales with an anti-stereotype message. At times, it did feel a bit long and one of the main characters was hard to like (Team Agatha all the way), but I enjoyed it.

This is story was great. I couldn't take my hands off my book. It should have been five stars but the reason is because It really needs an epilouge. Not another book, it is too neatly ended for that, but an epilouge would be awwwwwwwweeeeeeeessssssssssooooooooooommmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I was disgusted at this book. It was suggested to me by a friend, however, my friend had only read the first few chapters. She explained the concept of how it was a school that taught people to be fairy tale characters but a good girl got in the school for villains so now she is in trouble. So it started off in this town with a beautiful girl who, WANTED TO GET KIDNAPPED??? All the other kids his from the kidnapper but she was trying to get kidnapped. Trying. So she has a best friend. Except she is ugly. So that stirs up some trouble. So there were two school parts, a part for good, and a part for evil. They thought Sophie (the pretty one) would be good and Agatha (the ugly one) would be evil. But they switched. I thought and knew that it was about learning that just because you're pretty doesn't make you good, but it taught the opposite. Sophie spent hundreds of pages trying to get a guy, and Agatha was just trying to get home. Plus, the prince of our fairy tale is a jerky jock who kicks animals and doesn't care about girls feelings. So I thought that it would just end with Sophie realizing that she is evil and Agatha realizing that she is good. But no, it just made them reform to what people thought they were, then sent them back home. No lesson learned.

Polar opposites Sophie and Agatha are the best of friends. Sophie, with her fair looks and ladylike demeanor, is destined to become a princess while Agatha, who lives in a graveyard and dresses all in black, is tailor-made to become a witch. But when they are captured and delivered to the School for Good and Evil, where boys and girls are trained to become heroes and villains, it is Agatha who is placed in the School for Good and Sophie unceremoniously discarded in the School for Evil. As the girls attempt to switch places and correct the grievous mistake, they discover that their fates are tied to how well they learn their lessons and apply their knowledge and skills. Both Good and Evil are in for a surprise, for Agatha and Sophie are no ordinary students and their story is no ordinary tale.

As I've stated before, I try not to buy into the hype of anything. But buying into the hype (and this series definitely has its share since it already has a movie deal with Universal Pictures) and having your own set of expectations is different. Before I read a book, I go into it either without presumptions or I attempt to keep my expectations on the low side. However, there are times when I can't help but have high hopes, even though I am well aware that there is a high probability I would end up being disappointed. My experience with this story is one of those times.

The start of each chapter featured a lovely illustration by Iacopo Bruno, but none are as beautiful as the colored map that showed each School. On paper (literally), the concept sounds very good; it piqued my interest right away. But surprisingly, the story just dragged, like a long road trip with nothing to divert your mind from how long and uneventful the journey is. My attention waned whenever certain things were explained in great detail, such as the girls' experiences in the classroom, any time the two Schools gathered for an assembly, or the Trial by Tale. My eyes shouldn't glaze over during those parts, especially since they are portrayed as noteworthy or memorable or even climactic. Unsurprisingly, I found myself more interested by the character interactions and the character growth, particularly Agatha's. But my dislike for Sophie dashed what little enjoyment I got from reading Agatha's scenes and adventures. I understand that Sophie is meant to be unlikable, but seeing as she is Agatha's counterpart, that meant I am already predisposed to scorn half of the story. Add my other misgivings on top of that and there is even less for me to like.

But my greatest disappointment with this book is its lack of crossover appeal. This is just my personal opinion and undoubtedly there are others who will disagree with me, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention this in my review. Now, I'm not comparing this story to Harry Potter (Agatha and Sophie aren't even in the same realm as the Golden Trio; Harry, Ron, and Hermione are untouchable); I'm strictly using that as an example. Even though I didn't grow up reading Harry Potter (something I lament even to this day), I never felt as if I was too old to fall in love with the wizarding world. Harry Potter transcends age, whereas The School for Good and Evil feels strictly rooted in middle-grade, its target demographic. It was childish and immature; reading this story was an exercise in patience.

From my particular adult standpoint, The School for Good and Evil was a subpar, uneven tale that completely missed the mark. But I bet my twelve-year-old self would have loved it.

If you like melodramatic writing where everything Bashes and Gushes and there is lots of Betrayal! and absolutely zero finesse in the writing...then buy this book. It's a hot mess. Other reviewers have critiqued it more eloquently. Do not buy. It's like a bad action movie where they substitute lots of erratic camerawork instead of actual fight choreography. A mess.

---SOME SPOILERS IN HERE--
I got this book because a friend reccomended it to me. She said it was kind of like the play, Wicked. I think I got too hyped up. Sophie was a (what's the word) interesting character. I m on the younger side of this reading level, so when Sophie was in those outfits, it kinda scared me. Otherwise, it was ok even though the concept reminded me of Ever After High. A lot. Some of the characters were just there. Nothing special going on, no secrets, no nuthin. Agatha was just there. She was like Sophie's assistant. Some of the riddles in this book were obvious. The ending was weird.

The School for Good and Evil was a book that kept me wondering and guessing what twist turn was going to happen next. The conection between the characters is like non-other that Ive read. would highly recommend this book to big Harry Potter and fairy tale fans. Soman Chainani makes a believable fantasy relm with characters that will want you to find out more about them. Now Im not trying to say that this book is flawless in every way but for a big fantasy fan like me it was another world I was excited to discover about. Ive read the second book also and it gets even more exciting. So read about this world and enjoy its pleasures. Cant wait until the third book comes out!

I loved this book because of how the plot unfolded, and the main characters, Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros went on personal journeys to find out what Ever After means. I think that the way that Soman Chainani presented Good and Evil in this book just went to show how one might use love to find one's true self. What Sophie, Tedros, and Agatha choose in the book has consequences that I hold to be well deserved. The way that they choose to search for Ever After, and true love is the reason that Sophie was determined to be Evil, and Agatha and Tedros, Good.

As Sophie and Agatha are revealed to be sisters of opposite souls by the dead seer, it would only seem fitting that they pursue Ever After in different ways. Agatha looks out for and loves her match, and expects only the same of him, whereas Sophie expects love, and a crown from her match, as well as never-ending admiration and compliments.

The book is chock full of trials of the heart, trials of devotion, and how the characters handle loss. The girls and prince must find Ever After, whether they end up alone, or with a match, all while trying to save their world from impending doom. The School for Good and Evil #3: The Last Ever After reveals all and more.

This book is a different look to fairy tails than one would normally see. Anyone would loves fantasy and likes twist on old fairy tails would really enjoy this book, though you need to read the 1st and 2nd book first. This is more of a children's book, but could be interesting for some adults also, just depends on your style. I love this book series, personally I think this is the best book ever, but I say that a lot. I guess you just have to read and find out. ( ;

I loved this book for many reasons. One, it was attention grabbing. I love books like that as do many other people. The second reason. Everything was so unexpected. At first I was thinking wow, this can't end well. But, at the end they both end up still alive which is more than most fairy tale characters can say. These were two reasons why I liked this book.

This book is so awesome, I was reading it for four straight days in a row! I have, of course, read the first two, but this book brings Sophie and Agatha's relationship to a whole new level! This book will have you reading constantly and gasping at every little twist. I am forever grateful to Soman Chainani.

i really think that sophie was really vain and that she only cares about herself,she took advantage of agatha's willingness to be her friend and really was just using her as a good deed but agatha on the other hand thought that the friendship was genuine and i really think that sophie was a inconsiderate jerk. i really LOVED the book

My kids and I read and enjoyed the first two books in this series. As a family of queer-positive folks, we especially enjoyed the way the first volumes questioned and undermined assumptions about gender-roles, and even played with same-sex attraction between characters. The pleasures of the School for Good and Evil lay in the fact that the author asked us to question our ideas about good and evil, which we all enjoyed discussing between chapters.

Readers be warned: a lot of what we enjoyed most about this series is jettisoned in this final volume. On the contrary, many of the structures that were questioned in the first two books are restored in this one.

This is a lengthy book that feels even longer than its 650 pages. Yet despite its length, many plot threads are introduced with little payoff, and characters with potentially interesting arcs get shunted aside without explanation. Instead, there is a lot of redundancy here, with our two leads repeating their same patterns over and over again. Without giving away the ending, I will say that our family found it very unsatisfying and unearned.

My rating is 4.5 rounded up.

Firstly, I am a huge fan of this series and couldn't wait for the final book. I finished it in a day and I think it's a great conclusion to the series.

I adored how we got to learn a little bit more about the fairytale world and find it refreshing that the setting isn't solely the school. I also liked the character development in this. It's truly charming to see how Sophie's character has progressed.

Now onto the cons.

The first thing I noticed was how confused the characters were. One moment Sophie was evil, then good and it was all these revelations were expressed through lengthy paragraphs. This is not necceasarily a bad thing, but sometimes, it crossed my mind that Sophie seemed bipolar. Of course that thought was unjustified and was likely just my mind running wild after staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it. However, Sophie did switch sides a few times, but Chainini's writing style made it believable. The only other thing I would complain about was the backstory of Callis and Vanessa. I had nothing against that story, I rather liked it to be honest. However, the name had me rolling my eyes. Its title is almost cheesily similiar to Sophie and Agatha's tale. That was a huge turn-off.

Okay, there is only one more thing I have to gripe about.

The ending.

This story ended with an epic battle between Good and Evil. I expected a Deathly Hallows sort of ending: casualties, some bloodshed, and me crying over the loss of a character I'd come to love.

*cough* Weasley twin *cough*

However, the deaths weren't explored and only very few were mentioned and when those people whom we actually knew died didn't really leave that much of an impact. I mean, if you're going to write about the death of a character, you should make it so that my black heart would tremble, feel sympathy, wish it weren't so, and curse the day your fingers flitted across the keyboard and ended the life of said character. I also expected some of the characters to sustain an injury of sorts.

I mean, this is a war, right? So why not have Merlin get a temporary blindness in his eye from the battle? Or better yet, skip the battle, refuse Sophie's selfish deal and just control her hand to destroy the ring? I mean, we established that Merlin essentially has the power to do that...And another thing, Sophie has led to the deaths of so many people but she isn't going to face ANY CONSEQUENCES AT ALL?! The Justice System there must be really lenient, then. And through all this, Agatha still considers her a friend?!

Well, those are the only problems I found with the story. I loved the cutesey couple moments between Agatha and Tedros and wished there'd been a few more of them. I liked this ending and only wish there was an epilogue, preferably Hort and Sophie's wedding.

But overall, it's a book I highly recommend, I can't wait to see the movie, and Soman Chainini is a brilliant author whom I can't wait to see more from.

Honestly, I only opened this book at the store out of sheer boredom, but DEAR GOD am I glad I did. This sounds like a kids book at first, where Good always triumphs over Evil and true love and blah blah blah. But the whole point of the book is to throw those concepts out the window! And Chainani did a great job with that.

Though to this day I wonder how Evers ever won a single contest. Evil may have had no self esteem, but other than Agatha, Good didn't have a single IQ point among them.

Deeply flawed. This is one of those books, or rather, series, where the real problem is the author. I have nothing personal against Soman Chainani, but this book makes it evident that his enthusiasm for the pagentry and melodrama of pre-modern myths and folktales blinds him to the fact that modern fantasy has to MAKE SENSE. The magic in this story fails to operate by any kind of consistent rules, a great deal of time is spent talking about good and evil without ever clarifying what they really mean in this world's metaphysics, the setting isn't explained either, what was apparently a mass murder was just glossed over, and the ending comes out of nowhere.

I really wish there was a way to throw audiobook downloads because that's pretty much what I'd do with this one. For one, the length - it's soooo long. I kinda wanted to cry the number of times I thought a chapter had ended or should have ended only to find there was another ten minutes. Overwritten? Yep.

So, as to the story, I was with it for a while - exploring the whole good versus evil and how looks don't reflect the insides and all that. But the main characters were so obvious throughout. There was no real suspense other than the 'would you just get to that already' feeling from a very early point. I was literally hours ahead in some of my predictions. Chainani posits a lot of cool ideas but has no follow through. His story is literally everywhere without a solid focus. One second we're exploring the nature of fairy tales, the next we're considering the point of it all and then we're off trying to decide if we like boy but we don't like boys apparently until we do because ... whatever. The point is there is no good resolution in the end. There wasn't even enough of a hook to make me care that there are two more books.

The School of for Good and Evil had lots of potential but the only really good thing I have to say is that Polly Lee's narration was the one thing that kept me engaged throughout and that had almost nothing to do with story and almost everything to do with the fact she made it all go down so smooth.

I'm not that into fairytales but I did like this one. It just goes to show that friendship and forgiveness was indeed a powerful magic ( not to sound like a my little pony right now.) This is a must read if you want a good fairytale.

Personally, this is probably the best book I have ever read. The only thing that was a little uspetting, was the fact that it took them so long to figure out that they were in each other's stories. I would, for sure, recomend this book.

I knew this was coming. Agatha with her Prince. But Sophies ending I dont think anyone knew. Evil? Good? Something in between? School Master? Tendros? Hort? Agatha? Perfect ending. '...but then I remember I'm me!' Just AMAZING. So amazing I even cryed that there will never be any books so perfect, so amazing, so awesome, The only downside is I cant rate infinity stars!!!!!!!!

(Written by a 11 year old) My mom got me this book from Costco. I read a few chapters, and didn't like it, but now.I wishh.I had kept the book!! I was 8 back then and didn't like fairy tales. Now I LOVE them because I read The Land of Stories series. I REGRET IT!!!

Interesting premise, disappointing execution.

The story seems to want to question the superficial cliches of good and evil, yet never can quite move beyond those very same tropes it's trying to subvert. The characters are flat, stagnant, and dumb. The pacing is uneven, and the world-bulding seems incomplete. I kept flipping the pages in hopes that things would get better, that characters would learn and grow or that the plot would reveal that the setting itself constrained these characters to their flat selves and would need to be conquered...something interesting! Sadly, that hope was dashed.

I'm glad I borrowed this book instead of purchasing it.

Finally, perhaps the word "clump" is used to refer to shoes in the author's own personal experience, but it is not a synonym for any type of footwear I've heard of before. The misuse of this word is peppered sporadically throughout the book and is quite irritating and jarring. The editor should have caught and corrected this.

I haven't read this yet - I'm considering buying it. But I find it odd that many of the 5 star reviewers for this title have either never reviewed a book on the store before, or have just recently reviewed perhaps one other book. Many reviews also aren't from the store verified purchasers. People often review books they get from a library, but would so many 5-star reviewers already have borrowed it from the library, when it just came out in May, and many libraries stop purchasing at the end of the fiscal year (until the new fiscal year begins July 1st?) Just wondering . . .

I loved it I read for more than two hours everyday I can't wait to read the second one make sure you read the whole thing.
Sometimes I got lost in the book as in I didn't understand what was going on but the rest was so good
BUT THE ENDING SCARED ME THEY LEFT THE WORLD BUT I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE THE CHARACTER!!!!

This book was GREAT! It has lots of action and some romantic moments and I wish this book did not come to an end. The book should have a movie to go with it. I recommend this book to kid like me, that like action mixed with romantce in one book. The characters in this book are great. Some are loving and caring and some are mean and cruel. Like I said I really recommend this book. You will regret it if you don't get it 'cause you will miss out on a great adventure!

I am a fifth grade student and I was looking for a book to inspire me and when I found these books I read through them in a week and I would like it if the author could maby do a book about what happens after they go there separate ways because "I am on of the edge of my seat" needing to know more and I can't wait to find out what you are doing next!

This is probably my favorite book I have ever read. It has all the great things a book needs, love story, friends, a awesome and creative problem, and many great characters to bring it all together! This book you can not guess what is going to happen and there is no characters that do all these dumb things for no reason. Very great book, can't wait for the second one to come out in April!

After struggling all summer to find a great book to hold her interest, well this is the one. I read out loud the first chapter and it's very well written, has some great vocab words, and caught her attention right away. Chapters leave questions in your mind, leaving the reader wanting to know more. Well done and we will be reading second book as well.

I LOVE this book! It's very intense, exciting, and adventurous.
I would definitely rate this 5 stars! I liked the part when Sophie and Agatha realize they're right where they belong. 'Good' with 'Good', 'Evil' with 'Evil'.
I'm very excited for the movie and can't wait to read the next books!!
I recommend this book/series for 8-12 year olds.

This book is REALLY AWESOME!!! I am 9 years old and I enjoyed this book so much, I had my head buried in it for a solid 5 days before I read it AGAIN. It's now my favorite book ever! If you are bored of fairytales, try this one!

I absolutely loved this book! The writing brings the characters alive in a twisting and addicting plot. I found myself reading late into the night and can't wait for the next two books in the trilogy. Really hope Universal gets a jump on making the movie! It's an excellent young adult book of fiction that carries messages about self-image and self-worth, inner and outer beauty, social judgment, and the gray area between good and evil that are important for all young adults to understand.

I really liked the book but the ending felt incomplete. There were so many loose ends that I had to read the last page again. How could Sophie and Agatha just leave like that? What happens after they disappear? Will Agatha and Tedros ever get back to each other? Won't Sophie still be mad at Agatha for "stealing" Tedros? Where did Agatha and Sophie go? Please tell me there is another book on the way!

This book was a fantastic ending to the school for good and evil series with lots of action, adventure, and fun!

(not reccomended if you have not read other books in series)

reccomeneded for ages 7+

My daughter finished the book and said it was the best book ever! She is now moving on to the second one and we hope it is just as amazing. She said its adventurous, captivating, and romantic with hate. We totally recommend this book!

great book! i loved it! the book really shows how you can't always tell who is who. it was very exciting, too ,and i always wanted to read more.all in all,i enjoyed the book very much. i recommend it.

Soman Chainani's stunning debut is a must read for anyone interested in fairy tales, fantasy, humor, and friendship. The book is brilliantly paced and each page engages the reader's imagination with the energy of a lightning bolt. The characters are wonderfully quirky: hilarious, unexpected, and deeply human. I started the book and couldn't put it down. The School for Good and Evil is in dialogue with great books for both adults and children such as Mary Poppins, the Harry Potter Series, His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass/ The Subtle Knife/ The Amber Spyglass,Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years), and even the Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade books. It's an entrancing read and welcomes you into a wholly original world that has its roots in its genre's literary traditions. Read it and become spellbound. I hope there will be more in this series; if Chainani's masterful cliffhangers are any indication, undoubtedly, there will be.

if you like magic action or any conflict you will love this book its the best book ive ever read i highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good story·the if you like ths book you will love the series!!

I was lucky enough to receive an early manuscript of The School for Good and Evil and despite the book being geared towards kids/ya I could not put it down (I read all 490 pages in one day!).

This is a fantastic read for all ages with a great premise, a balance of comedy and scary intensity, and a surprisingly positive message. I think this book would make a great gift for Harry Potter fans and fans of fantasy!

It's sad when greed stands in the way of enjoying digital material. When one buys your book, consider a lesser cost for audio sync. Having to pay full on both is no longer appropriate.
Check it out, see what other authors are doing.

As a parent, I wish I would have read this book before my 11 year old daughter read it. The only positive thing I have to say about this book is that it shows the reality that none of us, when we are completely honest, are as good as we'd like to think. Other than that, this book encourages girls to flaunt their bodies to get boys attention and that beauty is penultimate. And my biggest gripe is that it teaches that the love between friends is the same as romantic love. SPOILER: Thus the two main characters have to have a romantic kiss to demonstrate that they choose their friendship over the relationship with the prince. Again, so twisted. When will we start teaching our kids that romantic love is not the only love we have - that the love for friends, family, (and for some of us, God) are just as important? Teaching our kids that romantic relationships must compete with our friendships is a horrible idea.

these books changed my life. i highly recommend this book to al my friends who loved it!!! this is an epic tale about sophie agatha and tedros. this story has unexpected twists and an epic magical journey that ever body should be willing to take.
(do not read the back first it spoils the who book!!!)
BTW loved this booh

The world of fairy tales has always formalised the rules by which its characters play. The good are beautiful, the wicked - hideous. Princes must use bravado and charm to save their princesses, who will, in turn, be eternally grateful and swoon on cue. And everyone will live happily ever after.

The School for Good and Evil delves further into this world and uncovers the school responsible for training the characters in every fairy tale. It is an institution that perpetuates the classic rules. Good 'Ever' princesses are taught to be beautiful and at one with nature, whilst wicked 'Never' witches are taught spells to become ugly and vile. The most successful princes are popular, handsome, and good with a sword, whilst the best Never boys are treacherous and incapable of love.

Into this world are thrust Agatha and Sophie. Two girls brought up on the same tradition of fairy tales, with firm ideas about who they are meant to be. Sophie, the popular and beautiful girl who ensures she performs a good deed each day is certain that she'll be the most successful princess ever. Agatha, brought up in a graveyard with a vicious cat just wants to be left alone.

But the school has other ideas.

This is a book that transcends fairy tales and will charm children and adults from the first sentence until the end. It questions ones identity and reveals some unnerving truths along the way. For while Sophie and Agatha are taken on a journey to find out who they really are, they also discover what it is they really want from life.

This book has the potential to be as important to the childrens' literary canon as Harry Potter and should be an essential on any reading list.

Pure delight. This book is a radical overhaul of what we think we know about fairytales by a writer who has clearly saturated himself in myths from the world over. It's a breath of fresh air that is full of pace and introduces loveable characters with brains and courage in limitless supply.

Chainani's world is dangerous and packed to the spires with adventure and intrigue. But more importantly, this is one of those rare books that will get children to think for themselves and to break out of the moulds that the world has cast for them. Girls and boys alike will learn from this that absolutes and extremes are incompatible with life which is messy and wonderful and teeming with possibility and change.

This story breaks all the rules and shows how rules must be broken if freedom, friendship, and intellects are to flourish. I read an advance copy of this through work and could not put it down. My only wish is that I had read this fifteen years ago when I was still a child!

Parents will love it. Teachers will love it. Children need it!

I have to admit this story swept me away! This is a epic story about two young girls that get sucked into a story of their own. It has love and friendship, with a side of revenge! One of the best books I have read hands down.

The School for Good and Evil is the fairy tale of all fairy tales. It's packed with adventure and mystery, leaving the reader excited for more. I was pleasantly surprised by my intrigue because I'm not a big fantasy fan. This is a great book for family reading. Parents will enjoy the story as much as the kids.

I loved fairy tales as a kid, and I love Harry Potter as an older adult. This book is neither, but that's OK. What impressed me most was the statement of differing purposes between Good and Evil. It reminded me so much of the comparison between Democrats and Republicans (with Democrats being the Good). See if you agree:

1. The Evil attack. The Good defend.
2. The Evil punish. The Good forgive.
3. The Evil hurt. The Good help.
4. The Evil take. The Good give.
5. The Evil hate. The Good love.

The Good part is also what I very much wish religion and society would strive for. But, of course, I am being naive.

I picked this book up after reading all the glowing reviews, only to discover that its merits were greatly exaggerated.

The premise of the book is somewhat unique: Children from different villages are kidnapped and put in a school where they train to either be villains or heroes that must ultimately go up against each other to produce the fairy tales we know and love. Sophie and her "best friend" Agatha, are kidnapped but, to Sophie's horror, dropped off in the wrong schools. Pretty princess Sophie goes to the school of evil and "ugly" Agatha goes to the school for good. The evil side teaches villainy but condones intellect and personality, while the good side aims for good deeds but enforces physical beauty and sexism. The book promises us that both girls discover something new about themselves and about friendship.

In my mind, this plot would have ended in a smart, fun, but cliché story where the characters discover that there is no such thing as ultimate good or evil, but that everyone has traces of both. It seemed like the author wanted to go there, but the end result was a lot different.

Sophie spends a vast majority of the book (literally hundreds of pages) trying various cartoonish methods to win the prince she feels she should have. Agatha is intelligent and resourceful, but fails to do much more than support Sophie in her quest. There is a lot of catty bickering, poorly described action scenes and way too many adjectives. The pacing is not good and the middle chunk of the book could easily be thrown away with no impact to the overall story.

For a reason I can't understand, the author also felt the need to put in blatant references to popular literature. In one part of the book, Sophie has a scarlet letter placed on her chest which she decides to accept as she parades around in skimpy outfits. In another scene, the children go on an assignment to the Garden of Good and Evil (get it?). These references were really cheesy and will likely not be understood by the book's very young target audience.

I may have forgiven these things had the character development been better and the ending more satisfying. Unfortunately, Sophie and Agatha remain one-dimensional characters throughout most of the book, while the author does not bother developing any other characters. The ending itself was bizarre and the cliff-hanger too bold a move for a story that offered so little gratification. I am also not sure that the morals the other reviewers speak of are well-developed.

While the author shows great imagination and the potential to do interesting work, I found that there was much lacking from the School of Good and Evil. However, the action, adventure and cartoon-y dialogue may fare better with elementary school readers. I would not use the term "groundbreaking" to describe this debut and would be cautious to recommend the book to teenagers.

I had high hopes for this book, and while I can say that the story is somewhat imaginative, it really drags on and at times is downright painful to read. I read out loud to my daughter, and never before have I had the experience where I've simply gotten lost in a thicket of very unrhythmic, nonsensical words. It often feels as if this book was poorly translated from another language. The sentences almost seem intentionally designed to confuse and trip up the reader. My daughter at several points has said out loud, "Too much description!" Which is true. The author will go on for paragraphs, tying long strings of adjectives together, so by the time you get to the end of the whole mess you've completely lost the plot. We're struggling through it, like a bad meal, but it's not a lot of fun, and I look wistfully at the stack of new books we have lined up. Save yourself the headache.

My 11 year old was given this book as a gift, we watched the trailer on youtube and were excited about the plot idea. We loved the idea of the grimm fairytale getting all mixed up. But as I read this book I was just plain creeped out. There are strange sexual overtones, weird dark bits of humiliation and torture and the ending was flat out bizarre. I stopped my kid from reading this and threw it away. I would not recommend it to anyone and was glad I hadnt paid for it. As I said, we enjoy this fantasy style genre, but this book is really dark and has too much weird sexual inuendo for me to let my daughter read it. Disappointed and creeped out.