The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, #1) by Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.

Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon 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 among 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 . . . ?

The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

My Review:

This is a late review, and therefore will be kept somewhat short.

I liked the premise of this story, and the world created by Soman Chainani was very magical and I didn't have a hard time imagining the scenery. There were a lot of subjects broached within the text, the notion of self-worth and loathing, the idea of beauty is on the inside, that not all ladies need a man, that one should focus on learning rather than their looks, that we can choose our own destiny, etc.

I liked Agatha a lot, although she was so selfless that I found it somewhat unbelievable. Sophie was a perfect villain, a villain we could see coming from a mile away. Tedros was an important part of the storyline, but I never really cared for him. He had potential, but didn't live up to it.

Also, to Chainani's credit, there were a lot of twist and turns that I didn't see coming. Many times I felt the story was predictable, only to have my preconceptions turned upside down.

No promises yet as to whether or not I'll continue on in the series, but I wouldn't be opposed to it if the right situation presented itself.

Read from November 24 to December 02, 2015

Top 5 Genres*: Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens/Middle Grade, Fantasy/Fairy Tales, Fantasy/Magic
*According to Goodreads
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★★★★★ - I absolutely loved it
★★★★ - Good book and would recommend
★★★ - Decent book, but wasn't spectacular
★★ - Not good, but was able to finish it
★ - Did not finish (DNF) and I don't usually rate a book I haven't finished (just to be fair to the author)

View all my reviews