Friday, August 19, 2016

The School for Good and Evil~Soman Chainani | Review

Title: The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1)
Author: Soman Chainani
Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fairy tale, fantasy
Length: 488 Pages (Hardcover)
Release: May 2013
My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Review
Just over a year ago when the list for Yallfest 2015 was announced I added this book to my reading list. Let's just say that I did not read it when I had planned (although I did buy a copy and get it signed).

There were a lot of things that I really appreciated about this book and only a few things that got under my skin. First of all I love the fact that it flips fairy tales upside down. It plays into the fact that not everyone is Good or Evil, they have aspects of both. And sometimes something that looks good can be evil, while something that looks evil can be good. Packaging is not everything.

This book delves into what it means to be beautiful. It's not just physical beauty that matters, but the kind of person you are. Often I think that gets glossed over in fiction. Here it comes right out and throws it in your face, again and again.

The characterization and development in here was rather excellent. Agatha was by far my favorite of the characters and I loved seeing her progression from awkward and unsure to confident and self aware. And while Agatha was my favorite, Sophie was definitely my least favorite. There were only a handful of moments where I could stand her character and they were always fleeting. But her progression was still well done and you got to witness her descent into something she never wanted. Chainani's writing was also polished and read really easily, which I appreciated. It wasn't my favorite style, but I found many things that I enjoyed about it.

Now for the things that I did not like very much. The friendship between Agatha and Sophie probably tops the list. I felt like it was a very one way relationship, even at the end. Sure they both cared about each other in their own ways, but I felt that only one of them ever truly wanted the best for the other. And it didn't matter what she became in the process, she still fought for her friend. I just didn't like how out of balance that was, but I'm sure that will be addressed in the following books so I'm not too worried about that.

Tedros is probably the other main downside. I didn't completely dislike his character, but I didn't love him either. He wanted to be deep but was constantly failing. He wanted a girl that cared about more than just who he was and his looks, but then always refused to give anyone but the most beautiful girls a chance. He did start to change as the story progressed, and I appreciated that, but I was not satisfied with how his story and his princesses played out. I hope that there is more development of that particular relationship in the next book.

This was overall a really fun and fast paced read and I am definitely excited to continue the series and see where things end up for Agatha and the rest of the characters. There is humor, heart, and great lessons to be learned.

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