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The School for Good and Evil

(The School for Good and Evil #1)

Soman Chainani (Goodreads Author),

Iacopo Bruno (Illustrator)

4.02 · Rating details · 70,341 ratings · 7,886 reviews

The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from yo ...more

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Hardcover, 488 pages

Published May 14th 2013 by HarperCollins

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The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Middle Grade Novels of 2013

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Aug 01, 2013 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, romance, middle-school, kick-ass-heroine, fairy-tale, fantasy, boarding-school, witches, magic, werewolves

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?

If any book ever deserved to be Disney-fied, this would be it.

This book is seriously sweet. It was just delightful. It is a middle grade "alternative" fairy tale which parodies and utilizes fairy tale

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?

If any book ever deserved to be Disney-fied, this would be it.

This book is seriously sweet. It was just delightful. It is a middle grade "alternative" fairy tale which parodies and utilizes fairy tale tropes to excellent effect, and I constantly sniggered with laughter at its tongue-in-cheek hilarity.

It is a light book, a Harry Potter-style boarding school novel based around fairy tales. It was just fucking adorable, let me tell you, but it is not too sweet at all. For a middle grade book, this story had a surprising amount of darkness and depth. It questions the nature of friendship, it questions good and evil, it tells us that it is our choices in life that matters in the long run, that our nature is self-determined.

She was Evil, always Evil, and there would never be happiness or peace. As her heart shattered with sadness, she yielded to darkness without a fight, only to hear a dying echo, somewhere deeper than soul.
It’s not what we are.
It’s what we do.

This book tells you that you do not have to be what people want you to be. There is room for change within your soul. You do not have to fit into the mold. You are capable of more than people expect. You do not have to be beautiful in order to have a beautiful spirit.

The Summary: Most children are afraid of being kidnapped. Not Sophie.

Before you judge her, realize that the "kidnapper" in question is not a man, but a being. A mythical being called the School Master rumored to capture two children every 12 years, to make them into fairy tale creatures. One good child, one bad child. Boy or girl. They will be separated from their families forever. For most children, this is a thing to be feared.

Not Sophie.

Sophie longs to be kidnapped, she has dreamt of it her entire life. She deserves to be a fairy-tale princess. And indeed, there is no one in her village who is more beautiful than Sophie. Even when she's sleep-deprived, Sophie is a vision of loveliness.

Her waist-long hair, the color of spun gold, didn’t have its usual sheen. Her jade-green eyes looked faded, her luscious red lips a touch dry. Even the glow of her creamy peach skin had dulled. But still a princess, she thought.

So lovely. But it's not effortless. As all girls know, looking good takes a fuck ton of work, and Sophie has to work at it. Her beauty routine puts mine to shame.

As for the rest of Sophie’s beauty routine, it could fill a dozen storybooks (suffice it to say it included goose feathers, pickled potatoes, horse hooves, cream of cashews, and a vial of cow’s blood).

The School Master can only pick one good child, and Sophie is determined to be it. In her quest for goodness, she befriends her polar opposite, Agatha.

Agatha can never be described, however generously, as beautiful.

Her hideous dome of black hair looked like it was coated in oil. Her hulking black dress, shapeless as a potato sack, couldn’t hide freakishly pale skin and jutting bones. Ladybug eyes bulged from her sunken face.

Sophie and Agatha may be friends, but their relationship can best be described as "passive-aggressive". The passive-aggressiveness coming entirely from Sophie.

Sophie’s eyes flashed. “You’re lucky that someone would come see you when no one else will. You’re lucky that someone like me would be your friend. You’re lucky that someone like me is such a good person.”
“I knew it!” Agatha flared. “I’m your Good Deed! Just a pawn in your stupid fantasy!”

On the night of the kidnapping, Sophie and Agatha got kidnapped, or rather, Sophie went entirely willingly and Agatha got dragged into it. Sophie expected to be accepted into The School of Good. Agatha is praying against hope that she will not be forced into the School of Evil.

It didn't exactly work out the way they planned.

Stunned, Sophie watched Agatha plummet into pink cotton-candy mist. “Wait—no—”
The bird swooped savagely towards the Towers of Evil, its jaws reaching up for new prey.
“No! I’m Good! It’s the wrong one!” Sophie screamed—
And without a beat, she was dropped into hellish darkness.

The lovely Sophie wound up in the School of Evil, a school that trains fairy-tale villains. She sticks out like a sore thumb among the hideous creatures (her fellow students).

Here was a mass of the miserable, with misshapen bodies, repulsive faces, and the cruelest expressions she’d ever seen, as if looking for something to hate. One by one their eyes fell on Sophie and they found what they were looking for. The petrified princess in glass slippers and golden curls.
The red rose among thorns.

Sophie knows what to do.

She ran for her life.

The hideous Agatha finds herself among a gaggle of pretty pretty princesses. An entire school of Sophies. She knows she doesn't belong. She knows what to do.

Agatha did the only thing she knew how to do when faced with expectations.
Up the blue Honor staircase, through sea-green halls, she ran.

Uh, no. Sadly, the school doesn't work right back. It's a magical school, y'all, and like it or not, Agatha and Sophie are there to stay. Or else. Children who fail disappear. They have to stay, they have to work at it if they are to stay alive.

Fairy tales are darker than they look, and surviving this school will take all of Sophie and Agatha's cunning. Will they manage to maintain their tenuous friendship?

The fight escalated to a ludicrous climax, with Sophie beating Agatha with a blue squash, Agatha sitting on Sophie’s head, and the class gleefully making bets as to who was who—
“Go rot in Gavaldon alone!” Sophie screamed.
“Better alone than with a phony!” Agatha shouted.
“Get out of my life!”
“You came into mine!”

Will they be able to face the danger---the darkness within the school?

“But the boys train for war in class,” a girl moaned.
“We haven’t even learned to fight!” said another.
“Would you like to be a slave to villains?” Beatrix fired back. “Made to cook children and eat princess hearts and drink horse blood—”
“And wear black?” Reena cried.
Evergirls gulped.
“Then learn quickly,” Beatrix said.

Was it a mistake to put Sophie into the School of Evil and Agatha into the School of Good? Or will both Agatha and Sophie realize that they're where they should be, all along?

The Setting: “Well, in the School for Good, they teach boys and girls like me how to become heroes and princesses, how to rule kingdoms justly, how to find Happily Ever After,” Sophie said. “In the School for Evil, they teach you how to become wicked witches and humpbacked trolls, how to lay curses and cast evil spells.”

The setting in this book is just freaking adorable. Take all the tropes you ever know about fairy tales and squish it into a book. You might expect it to be bad? No! It's not! It's fan-fucking-tastic! We have hideously warty creatures, we have snouty, socially awkward, innately evil villains in the School of Evil. We have gloriously charming and handsome boys and girls in the School of Good (who are just so full of themselves).

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.

The setting is beautiful, we have fairy tale castles and beautiful bedrooms and pretty fluffy pink candy cane shit in the School of Good, and nasty, dirty dungeons, and food you wouldn't feed to your worst enemy in the School of Evil. There are magical geese, werewolves, gargoyles, and fairies (they bite).

And then there's the curriculum. AHAHAHA. The curriculum. Uglification, can you imagine? Poor Sophie.

The teachers are hilarious, from evil hags and witches, to an actual fucking fairy tale princess.

Princess Uma looked far too young to be a teacher. Nestled in prim grass, backlit by lake shimmer, she sat very still, hands folded in her pink dress, with black hair to her waist, olive skin, almond-shaped eyes, and crimson lips pursed in a tight O. When she did speak, it was in a giggly whisper, but she couldn’t make it through a full sentence. Every few words, she’d stop to listen to a distant fox or dove and respond with her own giddy howl or chirp.

“Oops!” she tee-heed. “I have too many friends!”

Agatha couldn’t tell if she was nervous or just an idiot.

Sophie: She's not meant to be loved. She is a character that grows on you. If you ever wanted a fairy tale trope, Sophie is IT, man. She is beautiful, she is different, she has always felt like she was meant to be a princess. And man, I felt a tremendous sense of schadenfreude when Sophie got put into the School of Evil. Sophie is a devious character. Don't let her golden fair appearance fool you. She may seem fluffy in appearance, but she is not a character to be taken lightly.

Sophie was crouched over a puddle of water on the floor, singing as she applied blush in her reflection.

“I’m a pretty princess, sweet as a pea,
Waiting for my prince to marry me...”

Three bunk mates and three rats watched from across the room, mouths open in shock.

Sophie is absolutely convinced that she is in the wrong school, and we can't blame her. It is a lifelong dream, and it was dashed to the ground in one moment. Her character development is marvellous.

All these years she had tried to be someone else. She had made so many mistakes along the way. But at last, she had come home.

Agatha: Undoubtedly, the more sympathetic of the two. The hideous girl, always the hated one. She cannot look past her own appearance to see what's underneath.

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.

Agatha's self-esteem is so low that it's below sea level. Agatha is dependent upon Sophie, in a way. They were friends before, and Agatha clings onto that friendship for so long that she nearly forgets what it means to be independent.

Agatha felt familiar shame rise. Everything in her body told her to shut the door again and hide. But this time instead of thinking of all the friends she didn’t have, Agatha thought about the one she did.
Agatha slipped into the pink parade, put on a smile...and tried to blend.

The Friendship: The friendship between Agatha and Sophie is so beautifully written. Their relationship is one fraught with power play, struggles, and they are so complex because of it. Both love one another, while deeply resenting one another, but they have one common purpose. Eventually, they realize that they have to rely upon one another to make it through.

The girls collapsed in tormented heaps.
“Ready to go home?” Agatha panted.
Sophie looked up, ghost white.
“Thought you’d never ask.”

A fantastic middle grade book, enjoyable by all ages. Highly recommended. ...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Becky rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. EDIT: Most people aren't reading the comments on this review, which I know because a lot of people just keep telling me things that I've already responded to, but I'm going to post this in the hopes that it might calm some people down.

You are allowed to love this book. You don't have to attack me because I did not.

If you have the urge to comment telling me about the rest of the series, please don't.
According to all the defenders in my comments, this book is too weak to stand on its own and ca ...more

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May 25, 2013 Mitch rated it it was ok

I was pretty excited to read The School for Good and Evil... until I realized it was a middle grade book. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against middle grade books generally, but the ones I prefer tend to be the meaningful stories starring kids with deeper themes anyone can appreciate, rather than the dumbed down, intentionally silly, or overly simplistic takes most middle grade authors choose to write instead. Still, I gave this one a chance and Soman Chainani actually surprised me a I was pretty excited to read The School for Good and Evil... until I realized it was a middle grade book. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against middle grade books generally, but the ones I prefer tend to be the meaningful stories starring kids with deeper themes anyone can appreciate, rather than the dumbed down, intentionally silly, or overly simplistic takes most middle grade authors choose to write instead. Still, I gave this one a chance and Soman Chainani actually surprised me at first, after a few chapters I really thought The School for Good and Evil would fall into the former category rather than the latter, but by the end my overall impression is a book that’s rather shallow yet completely incoherent.

First of all, I’m not a fan of black and white good versus evil - I tend to find those kinds of stories played straight, well, boring (and judging people based on their looks just plain dumb and not a lesson any kid should be learning) - no matter how many cheesy fairy tale riffs are used to liven up the story. I guess I’m just one of those people who much prefer a book that asks questions - what makes someone good? what makes someone evil? - which is why I saw a lot of promise with Chainani’s premise, with the beautiful but vain Sophie ending up in the School for Evil while the ugly and loathed Agatha's in the School for Good. Made me wonder, why is Sophie evil? Her vanity? And is everyone wrong about Agatha because, besides Sophie, they don’t really know her? For a while actually, Chainani did seem to be going in that direction, with self professed goodie Sophie confronted with situations that brought out the evil inside her, and Agatha doubting whether she truly is a witch as everyone says. As an exploration of good and evil, not the subtlest thing ever, but for a middle grade book, pretty good.

Unfortunately, it seems to me like Chainani really didn’t know where he was going after those initial few chapters, because even before the story of good and evil totally falls off a cliff, The School for Good and Evil is just horribly inconsistent. Sophie is, one moment, an incompetent villain, and the next, the most powerful and feared witch in both schools. Agatha spends most of the book holding Sophie’s hand as Sophie struggles as a villain, then all of a sudden discovers her inner princess and now can’t go toe to toe with Sophie even though she’s been better with magic through the entire book. Sophie’s fellow witches Hester and Anadil are one moment Sophie’s evil tormenters, the next her evil coconspirators, and finally on Team Good. Things about the School Master and his mysterious agenda are revealed, but then they don’t go anywhere. There’s some talk of why Good succeeds in fairy tales while Evil doesn’t, but that doesn’t go anywhere either. After reading through all these twists and turns trying to figure out the point of the reveals, I’m sorry, but the plot just didn’t make any sense, none of the characters behaved with any rhyme or reason, and if there’s supposed to be a coherent message about good and evil, it’s completely lost to me.

And ultimately, that’s my problem. I wouldn’t be complaining if I thought Chainani wasn’t trying to tackle good and evil in a way that’s far deeper than the typical middle grade adventure, but with all the inconsistencies and a zigzagging plot built more for random unpredictableness than conveying a moral, The School for Good and Evil is more like a fairy tale written by M. Night Shyamalan than the Brothers Grimm. Even before the ending which caps a book of nonsense with a scene that makes the least amount of sense of all, with an explanation for Good’s triumph and Evil’s failure that reads like it was borrowed from a fortune cookie, I didn’t like at all the way Agatha and Sophie, characters initially written to challenge stereotypes of good and evil, themselves become stereotypical good and evil characters. After so many pages spent on these two friends discovering their inner selves, whether hero or villain, at this school, why one is good, one is evil, I’ll never know. And if you can’t even deliver on the central premise of the book, then what’s the point?

As for positives, Chainani’s writing is fairly amusing in places... and that’s about it. The School for Good and Evil works as a middle grade princess and witch story, I guess, but those who read fairy tales looking for morals and deeper meaning should probably stay away. ...more

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Oct 19, 2020 Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

”Tonight she would be taken into the woods. Tonight she would begin a new life. Tonight she would live out her fairy tale.”

And what a fairy tale it would turn out to be! *lol* I wasn’t all too sure what to expect when I went into this, because all I knew was that one of my favourite bloggers loves this series to bits and pieces and has been raving about it for months. XD I dunno how you usually choose your next book, but for me this was the main reason to finally pick up “The School for Good and ...more

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Oct 13, 2020 carol. rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: no one. Ever.

Shelves: female-lead, young-adult, fairy-tale, yuck, fantasy

No one knows a girls’ friendship like a guy, amIrite? Just kidding, totally sexist of me, just like this entire hetronormative mess of a Hogwarts derivative with more contradictory messaging than Trump’s CDC. It can’t decide if it wants to deconstruct fairy tales or affirm them (think Shrek, with less humor); similarly, the definitions of ‘beauty’ and ‘ugly’ (I hearby challenge Chainani to read The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, click here for an updated interview with Ms. Wolf), as well as definiti ...more

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Mar 25, 2014 Natalie Monroe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fearless-protagonists, girl-squad, laugh-out-loud-humor, lgbtqia-if-you-squint, pleasantly-surprised, kick-ass-heroines, my-inner-feminist-cries-with-joy, fabulous-five-stars

4.5 stars

Now before you do anything, I want you to take a good long look at the blurb.

Sounds cute, right? A re-imagining of fairytales. A Hogwarts-like school where princesses/princes and villains are trained. Two very different girls that hint at an unlikely friendship.

Okay, now throw those thoughts in the lake. Go on.

This book will not be anything like you imagine. Many times have I found myself questioning whether or not it should even be classified as middle-grade. The pretty cover clothes a ...more

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Mar 28, 2013 MischaS_ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, english, best-books-ever, czech, top-20, amazing-cover, wow, pb

EDIT: After finishing A World Without Princes I realised that I didn't remember what happened in the first book. So, I had to re-read it. The first book is slightly better than the second one. Btw, Tedros needs to be punched! Hard!

Naprosto boží! Jedna z nejlepších knih, kterou jsem letos četla! Chystala jsem se na ni už dlouho, ale říkala jsem si, že počkám až vyjde u nás. Pak jistá osoba z ní byla tak nadšená, že jsem si ji musela přečíst taky. A teď ji doporučuji naprosto všem.

Je spousta retel ...more

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Dec 12, 2017 emma rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 3-stars, reviewed, owned, from-publisher-author, that-setting-tho, children-s, dark, fairytale

AFGHASDFGASHDF THIS BOOK. I’ve never been more emotionally unstable in my life.

Far from true, but still. I’m torn up inside.

https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...

I love the premise of it so much it hurts me to try to put it into words. But I will suffer through this pain for you.

So, The School for Good and Evil focuses on Sophie and Agatha. Sophie is beautiful, shallow, and a bit of a snob. Agatha is ugly, insecure, and very kind. They live in a world in which fairytales happen, and every yea ...more

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Feb 04, 2018 Jessi ♥️ H. Vojsk rated it really liked it

“She had always found villains more exciting than heroes.
They had ambition, passion.
They made the stories happen.
Villains didn't fear death.
No, they wrapped themselves in death like suits of armor!”

Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Did you ever wish you were part of a fairy tale like Snow White or Cinderella?
Yes? Than that’s the perfect book for you.
Every four years two children are kidnapped from Gavaldon and disappear. This year the mysterious man takes two girls, two friends:
Sophie and Agatha.
But wh ...more

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Jun 10, 2015 Reynita ★ The Night Reader ★ rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-love-the-cover, middle-grade, enemies-to-lovers, original-and-fresh-story, so-funny-lol, 2015-reads, fantasy-books, 2017-reads, romance-books, slow-burn-romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ~~REVIEW TO COME TOMORROW~~

Second Read Review :

THE REVIEW IS POSTED

"For he looked into your hearts and saw something very rare. Pure Good and Pure Evil."

this book was recommended to me by my big sister, she said that this book was good and she thought I would like it and I should tried reading it but that time I hated reading novels for no apparent reason. I just hated so I just ignored her recommendation until February 2015. I don't remember the exact date but I do remember that on February 2 ...more

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Feb 19, 2016 Maureen rated it really liked it

This might even be a 4.5/5 stars. I really really enjoyed this a lot - the anti fairy tale thing is so well done and just SO GOOOOOD. Love the characters love everything LOVE.

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Feb 03, 2016 Riley rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5
Overall I enjoyed this book. The story was really fun and I liked the way the author played around with fairytale tropes. But what killed it for me was the pacing. It took forever to read because I would read 50 pages but it would feel like 200. And the plot switched between moving too fast and too slow.
I will continue with the next book though since I am invested in the characters but I think I will listen to it on audio because reading this book felt like a workout and I don't have that ki ...more

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Oct 15, 2020 Sofia rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: that-one-character-i-hate, problematic, love-geometry, what-a-terrible-ending, mary-sue, gary-stu, your-typical-mg-fantasy

Would someone please tell Chainani that girl-on-girl hate and misogyny don't look that cool in the year 2020? ...more

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Jan 24, 2021 Lilly rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: wait-this-is-actually-a-book, i-have-been-disappointed

This book is awful. *Drops mic, exits stage*

But for real, this is one of the most disorganized dumpster fires I've ever read. ~~Worse than my writing, and that's a massive feat.~~ *Drops mic and exits stage once again*

I guess I probably have to say more than that. Prepare for an ugly review of an even uglier book. Basically, we have these two girls with as much personality as the computer I'm typing this review on. So none. Because being an evil witch and a happy beautiful princess aren't fl ...more

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Jul 18, 2013 Barb Middleton rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, fairy-tale

"Now I see why you two are friends," the prince says to the main characters Sophie and Agatha.

But... wait! I want to raise my hand and ask, "Tell me why they are friends!"

This is a problem considering the story hinges on this main point. While Sophie and Agatha are supposedly the best of friends, the character development doesn't show how this happens. When Agatha and Sophie first meet, Sophie isn't Agatha's friend and she says so; she realizes Sophie's just using her. Sophie is beautiful, shall "Now I see why you two are friends," the prince says to the main characters Sophie and Agatha.

But... wait! I want to raise my hand and ask, "Tell me why they are friends!"

This is a problem considering the story hinges on this main point. While Sophie and Agatha are supposedly the best of friends, the character development doesn't show how this happens. When Agatha and Sophie first meet, Sophie isn't Agatha's friend and she says so; she realizes Sophie's just using her. Sophie is beautiful, shallow, and narcissistic. Sophie wants to go the School of Good and Evil where two children are kidnapped every year from her village later to be found in a fairy tale storybook. She believes she will find her prince at the School of Good and live "happily ever after." Agatha is the perfect villain for the School of Evil, Sophie thinks, because she is ugly, lonely, and isolated, and Sophie thinks if she's with Agatha her chance of being chosen will be more likely. When Sophie is kidnapped (just as she wants) Agatha tries to rescue her and in the process the two end up at the school except Sophie doesn't go to the School of Good, she ends up in the School of Evil, while Agatha is dumped in the School of Good.

The two misfits continue to be friends but mainly because Agatha pursues it the most. She goes to extremes to rescue Sophie and it never made sense to me given Sophie's quickness to betray Agatha at every turn and Agatha's dislike for her at the beginning. Sophie and Agatha are superficial and flit between wanting beauty on the outside to beauty on the inside. Agatha says in the beginning that beauty is temporary but later confesses she thinks it brings happiness. Sophie believes only in beauty with no understanding of ugliness that comes from hate. Her personality struck me as psychopathic, probably because she resembled the murders I just read about in a nonfiction book called, "Greed, Rage, and Love Gone Wrong: Murder in Minnesota," by Bruce Rubenstein. She cheats, murders, and lies with no remorse and Agatha goes along with her because she is her only friend. Sophie's dumber than a doorknob most of the time before transforming into a mastermind villain at the end. An explanation for her surge of brainpower is given, but it felt contrived. The characters are stereotypical and wishy-washy for a good portion of the novel. They start to come together at the end but I wasn't vested in their development because it took too long.

The bag of mixed messages continues with the prince, Tedros, who loves one and then the other meanwhile badmouthing each when dating the other girl. He seemed pretty hypocritical to me when he says to Sophie she's a terrible friend because she uses her friends, betrays them, calls them fat, and liars. He too, is prejudiced toward others, lies, and betrays people who are different. The seesaw continues as Agatha hounds Sophie to impulsively kiss Tedros immediately and then lectures her later for not making a plan of attack to kiss him. Teachers are like caricatures that don't offer words of advice. For instance, when Agatha and Sophie are punished by the teachers in burning shoes until the girls want to die, I thought it focused on the cruelty of the teachers versus the girls argument. The teachers are mostly idiots throughout the story with no control of students. When some teachers impart a few words of wisdom at the end, it seemed out of character and too late. I also didn't like the message that failure is unacceptable and students who failed were dealt an awful fate. Failure is difficult to deal with and those who failed were the kids the author kills off the most.

The ending and what it suggests might offend some. I won't give it away but I didn't see that coming. It is one of many reasons it is better for older students. Some of the plot is predictable such as the love triangle, but there were also some interesting twists such as when Sophie has to deal with a duplicate of herself in class creating an introspective moment. Unfortunately there were too few of these occurrences which makes the book fall short of its potential. Transitions were confusing at times such as when Sophie and Agatha would talk to each other in mirrors. I seemed to always be rereading those parts because I didn't' realize they were looking at their reflection to see the other. The action scenes and magic is very creative and I enjoyed these parts.

There is a reader prophecy and riddle. The prophecy didn't seem necessary to the plot because it wasn't told until the end. The overarching theme of good and evil in human nature fell flat because the characters weren't complex enough. The stereotypes enforced in this book are my biggest complaint. That ugly people aren't happy unless they are beautiful, that a girl isn't happy unless she has her prince, that girls only think of boys, that a fat person has no friends, that a married person isn't happy. Some of these are refuted at the end but it comes too late. Or perhaps the author is trying to do too much. At one point Sophie tries to rally the villains into having hope and feeling good about themselves. At first her advice surrounds just superficial beauty before turning toward what it means to accept oneself, but the message never gets delved into because the plot suddenly shifts into a Dark Lord hullabaloo; thus, losing the opportunity to dig deeper into this theme. This book's potential isn't reached and it is a shame because it is an interesting premise and creative fantasy. Maybe the sequel will pull it all together.
...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Jessie (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, tales-of-fae-and-faery-tales, reviews-2013, arc, edelweiss-arc, faint-praise-award, reviewed, 2013-reads

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First of all, if the awesome book trailer for The School of Good and Evil is what created an interest in Chainani's fiction debut, all I can tell you is this:

photo how-to-stop-being-single_zpse11a9769.gif

(Even watching that trailer now, after the fact, I am excited and impressed. And then I remember. And then woe.)

The book sadly doesn't live up to the awesomeness that advertised it. I'm not even a fan of book trailers, but the promotion department for this book deserves a big raise. The editin ...more

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Aug 17, 2013 Jessica rated it liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, fairytales, library

Impressive world-building, bogged down by so. much. plot.

They tried to escape umpteen times. The Good and Evil sides faced off another umpteen times (but someone would always back down). The ending went on and on, with magical and physical battles as well as riddle and prophecy solving. It needed an editor to rein it in very badly. Many of the minor characters were interchangeable, as were the teachers. I had trouble remembering which of the teachers taught at which school, since they all mingl ...more

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May 29, 2013 Liz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children-s-lit-and-middle-grade

So, again, I had a feeling about this book. Before even starting it I knew I'd like it, probably even love it. And it proved me right.

"Agatha, you dressed as a bride for Halloween."
"Weddings are scary."

It's impossible for me to dislike a character after such a statement. From the very first page I was sucked into the magical realm of the School for Good and Evil and it didn't let me go until the very last word.

Sophie is a princess at heart. She loves pink, is beautiful, cares for her lo ...more

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Mar 11, 2016 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it really liked it

WOW. That turned into a real roller coaster ride at the end. I'm flabbergasted. Need to start the second book ASAP! ...more

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Apr 10, 2021 Aliyah ♡ ♡ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Contains minor spoilers and major spoilers which will be blocked off with 🦋🦋🦋
I’ve got 3 questions after reading this book.
1. Why was this book so cringe?
2. Why did it get on my nerve more times than I can count?
3. And why did I genuinely enjoy most it?

Subjective grade- 50%
Plot - 55%
Writing & dialogue- 75%
Worldbuilding - 90%
Character development - 45%
Character relationships - 30%

The school for good and evil follows best friends, Sophie and Agatha who like all children are shrouded in stereotypes. ...more

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May 30, 2014 Maddie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: completed-series, favorites

I LOVE THIS BOOK. SO MUCH. FOREVER AFTER.

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Jul 23, 2013 Carol rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ****MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT****
***okay don't say I didn't warn you***

The School for Good and Evil has a great premise: Sophie desperately wants to get out of the tiny village where she lives. Every four years two children are kidnapped from this village, one Good and one Evil, to go to the School for Good and Evil that prepares them to take their part in fairy tales. Sophie wants to be a princess, and win her prince. While everyone else in the village hides and uglifies their (good) children when ****MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT****
***okay don't say I didn't warn you***

The School for Good and Evil has a great premise: Sophie desperately wants to get out of the tiny village where she lives. Every four years two children are kidnapped from this village, one Good and one Evil, to go to the School for Good and Evil that prepares them to take their part in fairy tales. Sophie wants to be a princess, and win her prince. While everyone else in the village hides and uglifies their (good) children when the School Master comes a-kidnapping, Sophie plans to entice him to take her.

One of Sophie's conscious good deeds is to befriend the ugly and unwanted girl who lives in the cemetary. Agatha only has one friend, one person who values her. When Sophie attempts to get kidnapped, Agatha tries to save her, and they both end up taken by the School Master. But then Sophie ends up in the School for Evil, and Agatha ends up in the School for Good. Both believe they are in the wrong place.

All this by pg 41. So far, excellent! What a great idea! And this is why I gave the book 2 stars. And then we have 447 more pages of what happens when they get to the school.

Agatha wants to go home. Sophie wants to change schools. And she wants to win a prince of her own (you have to get one to ask you to the Ball. Only the Goods have a ball.) All the Good children are beautiful. Agatha is not, so she doesn't feel she belongs. All the Evil children are ugly, some to the point of serious deformation. Sophie is beautiful, so no one feels she belongs. She is told there are never any mistakes.

So, we're going to find in the end that Agatha is really good, and Sophie was only faking being good so she's actually Evil. But that doesn't make sense, because Sophie may not be that good, but that doesn't make her evil. But this would make some kind of sense. What actually happens, doesn't.

The equivalence of goodness and beauty is revolting. The objective for the girls, to get the prince of their choice to ask them to the Ball, where they may receive their kiss, is likewise revolting.

The adventures that Agatha and Sophie undergo are so over the top, they are hard to follow. But no matter what happens to them, from almost drowning, to being taken to the torture chamber and murdering the torturer, there are never any emotional or physical consequences.

Sophie has roommates in her Evil tower room; Agatha has classmates in the Good school, but after 400 pages, there were so undifferentiated, I was still having trouble remembering who was who, with only a very few exceptions. The same went for the teachers. Description doesn't go nearly as far to make a character memorable as behavior. Dot, Hort, Beatrix and Tedros can be told apart. The rest all run together.

If a climactic event happens in a story, and in the next line you have to explain what just happened, and why it is important, that is a strong sign that you need to go back to an earlier place (or two) in your story and set it up. When the event occurs, the audience should enjoy it will full understanding as it happens.

Agatha is the main character, and yet the final move is given to Sophie. Agatha becoming the most beautiful princess ever, was really revolting. Really? Beauty and goodness are the same thing? And she always was that beautiful and didn't know it? That's just not true. And if there's one thing fiction should never do, it's tell lies. This may sound like a paradox, but the purpose of fiction is to create situations that reveal truths about humanity. If stories say things about people that are not true, then they have no purpose.

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Mar 25, 2014 Robin (Bridge Four) rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, cotton-candy, witches-warlocks-and-magic, fantastic-fantasy, 4-5-stars

Kindle deal for a limited time 02May18 $1.99 on Amazon

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 b ...more

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Nov 24, 2017 Tina ➹ the girl who lives in Fandoms rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite, reviews, 2017, want-this-edition, cover, all-time-fav, fav-heroine, i-recommend, golden-stars, wow-end

4.5 Golden Stars

Cute story!
with such a unique idea!
where were you all my life!?
& if that only thing didn't happen in the last page, I would give it 5.

Agatha is my first favourite main heroine of all times! (not a sidekick) she was awesome!
& she's definitely not ugly! fight me!

a unique idea in a unique world! a school for Good and Evil! that was Awesome! with both Nostalgic & new feelings! (I know it's such a contradictory phrase, but it is exactly what I felt)
there was a forest.
there was a palac ...more

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May 24, 2014 Inge rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, all-time-favourites, young-adult, middle-grade, villain-antihero-love, faeries-fae-elves, magic

"Who needs princes in our fairy tale?"

I'm going to kick my past self for never picking up this book when I've wanted to read it for so long. Look at all the fun I missed out on! This was SO good. ...more

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Aug 24, 2015 Sanaa rated it really liked it

[4 Stars] Well that was a whirlwind of an adventure if I ever read one! It was fun, hilarious at times, gruesome and shocking, and also just action packed and heart wrenching. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly Chainani is trying to say in this. I get that the main message is that good and evil are more shades of grey than anything else, and it also emphasizes the importance of friendship. But there are certain things that happen in this story that slightly bewilder me. I did enjoy the ...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Giselle rated it really liked it

Shelves: signed, own, arc

Adorable and adventurous, The School for Good and Evil is a fun escape from reality. When beautiful Sophie and weird Agatha end up in the wrong school - perfect Sophie can't be evil now, can she? - they're determined to fix this unforgiving mistake.

This is a magical adventure through and through; the book is set at this School of Good and Evil, a wonderfully imaginative school that trains future fairy tale characters. Meaning when you graduate, you'll be in a fairy tale book; whether a princess Adorable and adventurous, The School for Good and Evil is a fun escape from reality. When beautiful Sophie and weird Agatha end up in the wrong school - perfect Sophie can't be evil now, can she? - they're determined to fix this unforgiving mistake.

This is a magical adventure through and through; the book is set at this School of Good and Evil, a wonderfully imaginative school that trains future fairy tale characters. Meaning when you graduate, you'll be in a fairy tale book; whether a princess, a villain, a gremlin, or even a tree, your faith will be determined by how well you do at this school. This idea kind of blew my mind a little; I found it so unique and incredibly fun. The girls, each clearly thinking they're in the wrong school, are determined to trade places, but this proves to be quite the challenge. Told in a dual POV, we have Sophie who's the picture perfect of a true princess fighting against face warts and drab clothes; while her strange, ugly friend (her words!) is stuck being taught how to be a perfect princess in a perfect pink dress that was clearly meant for Sophie. This role reversal is both amusing and kind of refreshing. It shows that what's on the outside doesn't always reflect the person's true self, sending an important message to young'uns. Sophie is an obvious brat who thinks a good deed involves teaching others how not to be ugly anymore. It makes you happy that she's finally learning a lesson on what being good really means. These two protagonists are polar opposites, both offering the book their own dash of charm and warmth.

The great characterization doesn't stop at these two, we have a vast number of characters by their side who fill up the book with humor, mischief, magic, and lively personalities. These include teachers and students, as well as various magical beings ranging from gargoyles to wish fish. If this isn't enough to charm you (be difficult, why don't you) check out the delightful illustrations we're treated to at every chapter beginning:

Furthermore, the plot has an intriguing mystery element involving the school master and its history which had me entranced. I loved the idea of the battle that turned the master into a mystery himself, leaving me dying to know more. Moreover, everything surrounding this whole story is mysteriously compelling. It's also highly creative with magical touches at every corner - an MG novel perfect for fans of Harry Potter and the likes. As the plot can become a bit dark, even sinister at times, I would hesitate to recommend it to the younger end of MG readers, but I recommend it to everyone else - young and old. You'll never find yourself bored, and you're bound to feel the book's enchanting atmosphere the minute you open its cover, just look at it:

--
A copy was provided by the publisher for review.

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

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Jan 09, 2017 Emma rated it really liked it

I was searching for a middle grade book with complicated characters and interesting themes; that is exactly what I found in The School for Good and Evil. Friendship is one of the things this book focusses on most. Agatha and Sophie look like a pair that no one would expect, but their bond continually survives all the obstacles thrown at them. Ultimately it is what's most important in their lives.

My favorite part of this book was the question posed again and again. What is it to be good? Is it ab ...more

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Sep 30, 2017 Trisha (The Tea Reader) rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, audiobook, middle-grade

This book was great, this book takes a unique spin on classic fairy tales and how their viewed. This is shown well with the two main characters Sophie and Agatha, based on what a classic princess and villain should look like dictates that Sophie "the princess" and Agatha "the villain" but toys with expectations based on appearance. Something that I really liked about this book is the strong friendship between the two main female characters, also the power of forgiving others even when they don't ...more

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Jul 31, 2013 Faye, la Patata rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013, young-adult, series, august-2013, finding-oneself, refreshing, 1st-in-series, slow-and-steady-romance, academy-setting, friendship

Once upon a time, in a land far away…

How many times have we seen our dear, precious stories from childhood start that way? How many times have we read about beautiful princesses, tricked by a witch, or a goblin, or other nasty creatures, and eventually saved by the prince and lived a "Happily Ever After"? How many times have we wished for our own fairy tale ending, to have our own prince swoop us up and run off towards the horizon?

I, for one, during my early years, wished for that a lot. I sighed, imagined, daydreamed. I even fantasized about being Ariel and having my very own Prince Eric (call me creepy, but hey! I was young!), about having to live in a big castle with luscious gardens and with servants tending to my wants and needs left and right (this got amplified when I visited some castles in France and Germany. They were absolutely beautiful).

So, what do these have to do with The School for Good and Evil?

Imagine all the things you've seen in fairy tales. The princesses, princes, evil witches, henchmen, sidekicks, talking animals and beanstalks. Take all of that, add a few others more, put them in this book, divide them between good and evil, make competitions who are the best in such and such, in which the highest tier of the groups will become the wealthy, just king/prince and the sorcerers and witches, and the bottom of the can the ponies/mice and cockroaches.

And then what?

THEN MAKE FUN OF THEM!

Ladies and gentlemen, the closest thing in pop culture that I could think this book is similar to is Shrek , not just because of the many fairy tale references (and that the school is responsible for the fairy tale characters becoming who they are), but also because of its subtle mockery of the clichés and stereotypes common in these stories. I, for one, laughed a lot and amused myself greatly.

At the School of Good, we have princesses who think of their beauty and their princes, and we have princes who think of their macho-ness and their princesses. There, they have classes on Animal Communication, Chivalry, Beautification and the like. At the School of Evil, we have the sons and daughters of brutes, witches, and evil sorcerers past, who are ugly, who bask in the negativity of everything, and who would study hard in Uglification, Henchmen Training, Curses and Death Traps for a wart or two (yes, in one of their classes, if you correctly answer something, you get a wart plastered on your face! A wart on the chin would make you fearsome!).

These were all so ridiculous, yet so true in many fairy tale stories we've come to know and love, that I found myself laughing at every chapter. And oh, when the princes appeared, and the knight in shining armour Prince Tedros came out with a "…halo of celestial gold, eye blue as a cloudless sky, skin the color of hot desert sand, he glistened with a noble sheen, as if his blood ran purer than the rest," I imagined this:

(Not that he's really like that, mind you… but with all the mockery going on, I couldn't help it!)

It became even more priceless in the eyes of Agatha and Sophie, two readers not from the magical, fairytale realm, who were kidnapped from the outside world and taken to this very place for reasons unknown. Sophie had wanted this all her life, and like the other princesses, she cared a lot about her beauty, about her prince, about becoming a princess. Agatha, on the other hand, had lived all alone, friendless, at the town cemetery, where she thought of dark things and cheered villains for their quest of power. You'd think Sophie would go to Good, and Agatha to Evil, but it turned out it was the other way around!

I loved Agatha's dry wit and humor. She thought all the princesses were shallow, and was wary of their extreme devotion to handsome, golden boys, make-up kits, and gowns. I couldn't help but find her adorable and endearing, with her snark, sarcasm, and hatred for anything girly. To be honest, even though she may like dark things and whatnot, she was more "Good" than the princesses and princes with their snobby and shallow personalities, and every time she was treated with condescension, I couldn't help but think, "How can these people be Good? If you're really a Good, shouldn't you help others in need?" I was rooting for her from the very beginning, hoping that she'd be able to teach these superficial kids a lesson on how to be a real Good.

Sophie… well… Sophie is Sophie and she is NOT Good at all. I couldn't stand this girl. She went from annoying to downright unbearable to absolutely horrible, but even though that's the case, her character development was one of the best I've ever seen. Her development from bad to worse even overpowered that of Agatha's. You'd probably be asking how I've come to this conclusion when she's the "villain" of the two, but it's true! Sophie's desire to be a princess and have her own prince placed her in a lot of trouble, putting a dent not only in her dream to be with Tedros and be a princess, but also in her friendship with Agatha. I couldn't help but hate this girl so much with her antics, but in the end, if you look at the overall context of the story, it would all make sense, and you don't need to like her in order to appreciate her "growth". One thing is for sure, this girl makes the whole reading experience a hellish ride. She was bad, yes, but she was misguided at the same time, and you'll feel sorry for her for it.

In the end, though, this book is more than just a story about fairy tales and how they came to be. It's a story of love, magic, and ultimately, friendship. A friendship that goes beyond mere looks, that forgives, that helps and listens; a friendship that looks into each other's hearts and understands despite your faults and misconceptions. Sure, Sophie made me see red. Agatha made me want to cry for her. But the ending… wow. The ending was awesome. The rollercoaster ride of intense emotions was well worth it just for that ending.

So, all in all, this book will make you smile, laugh, cry, mad, and will make your heart tight with so many conflicting emotions. I absolutely recommend this to those who'd want an original take on fairy tales and magic, and to those who'd want to read a touching story of friendship.

…they kissed, and they lived happily ever after.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my thoughts in any way. Thanks for copy, HarperCollins!

P.S. The drawings are preeeeeetty! For best results, right click the images and click Open Image in New Tab, so you'll see it in a higher resolution :D

Screen Shot 2013-08-02 at 6.27.13 PM

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About Soman Chainani

Soman Chainani

4,686 followers

Soman Chainani's first novel, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List, has been translated into 26 languages across six continents, and will soon be a major motion picture from Universal Studios.

The sequels, A WORLD WITHOUT PRINCES and THE LAST EVER AFTER, debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List as well. Together, the books of the series have been on the ...more

Other books in the series

The School for Good and Evil (6 books)

Books by Soman Chainani

A World Without Princes (The School for Good and Evil, #2)

The Last Ever After (The School for Good and Evil, #3)

Quests for Glory (The School for Good and Evil: The Camelot Years, #1)

A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil: The Camelot Years, #2)

One True King (The School for Good and Evil: The Camelot Years, #3)

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“I'm in a weird place because the book is about to come out. So I'm basically just walking around like a raw nerve and I'm not sure that I...

Trivia About The School for Go...

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Quotes from The School for Go...

“She had always found villains more exciting than heroes. They had ambition, passion. They made the stories happen. Villains didn't fear death. No, they wrapped themselves in death like suits of armor! As she inhaled the school's graveyard smell, Agatha felt her blood rush. For like all villains, death didn't scare her. It made her feel alive.” — 353 likes

“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.” — 239 likes

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