The School for Good and Evil Series by Soman Chainani - Restarting August 10th 2018

[Tessa]

Description: "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 youth and spirited away.

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…? "

Me and Christina will be reading this. Feel free to join us! :)

[Christina]

This should be good :D

[Tessa]

I hope. I'm starting to lose faith in male authors for YA right now :( .

[Alley]

I really want to join in on this! I'll be reading for sure!

[Christina]

Ayee I shall be starting this weekend!

[Tessa]

I've started reading this and all I ca say is:


It could be because the books I'm currently reading are either sad or boring. This is either, it's fun an entertaining :) .
Read up to 15% [the boys bring problems chapter XD]
(view spoiler)[I was sure Sophie will end up in evil. Was not sure about Agatha though. This story brings an interesting twist to your average fairytale. At this point I really can't predict where this story is going. So far the good are beautiful, but aren't they also vain? It seems like so far. Is that a trait for good? They should be kindhearted, but they are judging Agatha based on her looks. again, a trait for bad. so, it seems like the good side is not as good as they claim to be. Also, the bad aren't that bad either. They seem to accept Sophie despite of her looks, or maybe because of them. I love the world building and I'm really curious to see where this is going. Can't wait to read more tomorrow :) . (hide spoiler)]

Christina, you were right, this is a good read. The sad part is that if it wasn't for your book shelf I probably wouldn't have decided to read this one. I saw it a long time ago and decided to skip it because of the cover. I thought this will end up to be another juvenile children's book. And the compaction with Harry Potter didn't make me run toward it either. But this is so much better than HP. The characters are complex and interesting and you don't need to read 6 books in order to see them develop. So, thank you for this :D .

[Christina]

@Tessa
Ooh glad to hear you're enjoying it so far!
TBH, it would've been sitting on my shelf for a long long time had it not been for the challenge xD
I agree the cover looks juvenile but as we all know, we shouldn't judge a book by its cover hehe

[Jada]

So we read up to chapter 5 today?

[Tessa]

Christina wrote: "@Tessa
Ooh glad to hear you're enjoying it so far!
TBH, it would've been sitting on my shelf for a long long time had it not been for the challenge xD
I agree the cover looks juvenile but as we all..."
So true :) .

Yet, I cannot stop doing it. Pretty covers often fool me :( .

@Jada, yes, it's chapter 5. You can read more if you want. I needed to stop because it's late in Romania now and I need to go to bed XD.

[Christina]

The illustrations are so eye catching!

End of chapter 2: The blurb pretty much gave the first part of the plot away (which did make me want to pick it up :))

(view spoiler)[Sophie is a fake girl who happens to be pretty and Agatha is an odd but nice girl who is supposedly ugly and in a twist of fate, Sophie is dropped at the School for Evil while Agatha is dropped at the School for Good.

It's funny how Sophie wants to be kidnapped. She's such a self centred snob, pretending to do good deeds. Not very likeable! Agatha is okay
(hide spoiler)]

End of chapter 3: those textbook names are hilarious!!

[Tessa]

"The illustrations are so eye catching!"
I'm listening to the audiobook so no illustrations for me :(.

I find Sophie interesting. She reminds me a lot of Cecily from "The wicked and the just". In her own twisted way she really thinks she's doing the good thing XD.

[Tessa]

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[OMG! This is so freaking funny! XD I can't believe how superficial Tedros is, but I'm happy he got a kick where he deserved. XD (hide spoiler)]

[Tessa]

2 stars? What did just happen?

I'm done with this and I'm done with this series. The beginning was very entertaining and until ch 12 or so I actually enjoyed this story very much. After that the story transformed from "The school for good and evil" into "How to ruin a perfectly good story".

Spoilers will follow:
(view spoiler)[I have never seen this in my life. An author transforming 2 interesting, round, complex characters into 2 cardboard stereotypes. At the end of the book Sophie is bad and Agatha is a princess. *vomits*
There are so many bad parts that I don't even know where to start. Why did Tedrose felt in love with Agatha? Just because she became beautiful? And more than that, why did Agatha felt in love with him? She used to hate shallow stuck ups like him. He didn't change, just she did. Does that mean beauty corrupts? Why did the bad guys help Agatha at the end? Just because? O.o

What the first chapters promised me: a confused Sophie that doesn't know to distinguish bad from evil. I was hoping for her to realize her mistake throughout the story. She did in like... the last 3 pages or so and she wasn't very convincing about it. I was hoping for Agatha to realize how good she is and to embrace her inner beauty. What she becomes: a useless pretty face that drools for the stupid prince. I was hoping Tedrose to realize that a good girl is beautiful because of her soul and not her face and that's what he's looking for, but does he even look at Agatha before she becomes beautiful and confident? No.... (hide spoiler)]

*sigh* Very, very disappointing. I was hoping to read a story, what I got was a fairytale, a really bad one at that. At the end of the day nothing of importance was learned here. Good is beautiful and evil is ugly. That's it. Wow, thank you author, for teaching our kids how important it is to be born with a pretty face and if you are good it's ok, because you will get a pretty pace, because of your soul, right? Such bullshit.

@Christina: I'm sorry I didn't wait for you, the story was really interesting and I kinda got sucked into it. :(

[Christina]

@Tessa
No problems! I'm still reading some other books so taking this book a bit slowly.
Sad to find it was disappointing :( Let's see how I find it ;)

[Tessa]

Christina wrote: "@Tessa
No problems! I'm still reading some other books so taking this book a bit slowly.
Sad to find it was disappointing :( Let's see how I find it ;)"
Maybe you'll like it more. Story base it was still interesting, but the characters were disappointing. At least for me. I had high hopes for them XD.

[Christina]

End of chapter 4: (view spoiler)[Sophie and Agatha clearly don't feel as though they belong. It's like a sick joke is being played on them!
Is the school master plotting something? Even the two ladies Clarissa and Lady Lessie were hinting at something...

The paintings of Gavaldon also mean something (though I'm not sure what...)

It's quite scary how the failed kids turn into beanstalks and pumpkin carriages :S

(hide spoiler)]

[Tessa]

(view spoiler)[No, they are where they belong. Do you feel that Sophie's superficial good deeds could actually make her into a good person? XD
Not that the other goods are that good either *roll-eyes* (hide spoiler)]

[Katy]

Oooh, this book was so good. My favorite of last 2 years!

[Christina]

End of chapter 5:
(view spoiler)[Sophie is getting on my nerves. She's so darn superficial...
It was funny how 60 gorgeous boys in a swordfight entered hahaha

And wow King Arthur's son! He was just as confused as everyone else with Sophie and Agatha's sorting xD Surely he can't end up with Sophie... ugh she's extremely annoying (hide spoiler)]

[Tessa]

"Sophie is getting on my nerves. She's so darn superficial... "
So are all the ones in good. :(

[Christina]

Let me just say this book is one of those that I keep pushing to the side because I don't feel like picking it up haha
I'll probably pick it up again on the weekend xD

[Tessa]

I actually got into the story really fast and loved it for most of the parts (the reason why I finished it so fast). Too bad for the ending :(.

[Christina]

End of chapter 6: (view spoiler)[it's all a sick joke! All agatha wants is her best friend to go back home with but her "best friend" only cares about going to the school for Good and marrying a prince

Ugh and seriously flood a room to use as a mirror? So vain!! Hate Sophie's guts. Agatha should just escape by herself if she wants to but I guess she can't because she's "good" (hide spoiler)]

@tessa
I won't expect too much of the ending then
So far it's sitting on 3 stars though because i find it sort of ridiculous x_x

[Tessa]

The ridiculous parts were my favorites. Sophie just made me laugh with her stupidity XD. Of course, when things turn from silly to plain stupid... ugh.

[Christina]

Oh no I forgot all about this...! I will still be reading this though. Just very slowly xD

[Elizabeth]

Restarting June 1 (Actually May 31, but apparently we forgot to make a tag...)

[Elizabeth]

I'm through chapter 8 or so. I like it so far. The characters are interesting.

[Elizabeth]

Well, she IS evil :-)

[Sarah Elizabeth]

Date changed. Sorry I didn't notice your message earlier!

[Elizabeth]

Thanks, Sarah!

[Elizabeth]

Through chapter 21. (view spoiler)[ I'm finding it very readable so far, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Sophie is awful, but I'm not sure she's any more terrible than any of the "good" princesses. I'm also pretty disturbed by the conflation of goodness and beauty, especially given the theme. (hide spoiler)]

[Elizabeth]

Finished last night. (view spoiler)[ Things that would have been awesome: Agatha being ugly and everyone being like, "No, it's totally fine that you're ugly, cuz you're awesome, and we like you anyway." Instead, she was really beautiful all along! Also, I am concerned that all the "good" people are still gross and decrepit at the end. Not so much cuz they aren't pretty as that it's hard to eat and function when you don't have any teeth. (hide spoiler)]

[Betwixt the]

Nicole and I will be starting this September 7th--feel free to join us if you want!

[Nicole - Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die-]

I'm excited for this one

[Betwixt the]

Nicole, I started! I'm only 14% in so far, but... Bahahahaha so entertaining right now!

[Betwixt the]

20%:

(view spoiler)[
--So...if I'm understanding this correctly, all the kids who have gone missing from Beyond the Woods (???) are known as "readers." In other words...those who've actually READ the fairy tales, as opposed to growing up in them. Except every year, the Readers who've been stolen away to school have failed in some way or other on their task; good keeps winning, evil keeps losing, the balance of dark vs. light is actually very heavy on LIGHT. So...this is why Sophie and Agatha have been switched? Not just because their personalities point toward the OPPOSITE of what their physical appearances state (hey, how does that go again? Never judge a book by its cover?) but also because the School Master thinks maybe this will help tip the scales back to a more balanced level?
--I just really really adore the many ways stereotypes are being bended and broken here; I'm having a ton of fun with this read already! Also, Sophie is sort of a spoiled brat. I don't think I like her much.
(hide spoiler)]

[Betwixt the]

56% (forgot to update this so playing catch-up now!):

(view spoiler)[
--I'm really not sure why Sophie is so insistent she must be "good" ; it's so obvious, it's BEEN obvious from the start, that she's really not. She's spoiled, whiny, rotten... She's cruel to friends and worse to enemies... She doesn't even really know HOW to love anyone. Despite what their outer appearances suggest, I am certain Sophie and Agatha are in the right schools.
--It's interesting, too, that Tedros is so insistent on choosing Agatha during the challenges. I mean... she IS an Ever, apparently, and there must be SOMETHING there to lure him despite the fact that they rather sort of hate each other... There are a lot of stereotypes being broken throughout! I'm digging all the twists and turns going on! (hide spoiler)]

[Betwixt the]

56%:

(view spoiler)[
--OHOHOH, also: why is it that nobody has ever seen the School Master or the Storyteller...except these two strange, opposite girls? What does it say about them that the Storyteller, upon meeting them, picked up paper and began writing their tale? We haven't gotten much more from these two mysterious characters... I'm not sure which side either of the girls was written on... But that last line from the last section we saw the Storyteller in was foreboding and haunting. I don't like where this is headed.
--I just really don't like Sophie. Her head is so full of boys and love and "I HAVE to be right, I HAVE to be right!" that she doesn't see what's really going on. She's stuck up and rather prudish, honestly. I don't blame the Nevers for wanting to kill her. I'd probably want to kill her, too. (hide spoiler)]

[C.P.]

If I can get a copy, I might read this. The author will be at a book festival I'm going to soon, so I want to see if I like them enough to buy and meet him. :) If it can be arranged around Brandon Sanderson, of course.

[Betwixt the]

Courtney wrote: "If I can get a copy, I might read this. The author will be at a book festival I'm going to soon, so I want to see if I like them enough to buy and meet him. :) If it can be arranged around Brandon ..."

Oh, that's awesome!

I've glanced at a few of the comments above--I'm not sure what people found in this that I haven't, because I'm really enjoying the stereotype breaking and the "fairy tale rules" bending going on. Of course, apparently something happens at the end that I haven't got to yet... XD Regardless, I've had a ton of fun reading it so far, so if you DO pick it up, hopefully you like! :D

[Betwixt the]

74%:

(view spoiler)[
--Oh, thank GOODNESS! I was so worried, after Agatha made her wish, that she'd wake up and actually be "beautiful" (not that she's not already!) and then everything would pinwheel and be terrible and horrible and she'd get her "happily ever after" just because of her looks and I was prepared to be utterly pissed off about it. Thankfully, that's not at all what happens--and I LOVE what that says to young readers, reading that all you need to do to be beautiful is be yourself and be confident. That made me like this book even more. Good on the author for that. (hide spoiler)]

[Betwixt the]

Finished! I absolutely ADORED this read; you can see my review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[C.P.]

I just picked this up at the library, so I might go ahead and read it if I can fit it in. :)

[Betwixt the]

Courtney wrote: "I just picked this up at the library, so I might go ahead and read it if I can fit it in. :)"

Oooh, I hope you enjoy it! :D I know some people didn't like it, but I was thoroughly entertained and loved all the idiosyncrasies that were introduced!

[C.P.]

Ergh. Just realized I grabbed the wrong book from the library. After I started it. No wonder I was confused. Might try to get the right one tomorrow.

[Betwixt the]

Courtney wrote: "Ergh. Just realized I grabbed the wrong book from the library. After I started it. No wonder I was confused. Might try to get the right one tomorrow."

Oh no! I did that with Cress when I first started reading the series a few months ago--couldn't remember the order so started with it instead of Cinder. I got like...halfway? Through before I realized my mistake haha.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

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Date Changed. Restarting February 10th 2017. Happy Reading ☺

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[Eesh]

Finished chapter 1, and I'm loving how this book plays in to the beautiful princess and ugly villain trope.

[Eesh]

Chapter 6
(view spoiler)[The beginning was so promising. But it's just been downhill from there. The author is rushing everything, and all the events seem so pointless because she never took the time to make us care about the characters. (hide spoiler)]

[Eesh]

Chapter 13
(view spoiler)[That proves it, Sophie's evil. She killed a guy for cutting her hair! (hide spoiler)]