The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani Book Review

 The School for Good and Evil 

(The School for Good and Evil #1)

By Soman Chainani 

Published Year: 2013

Page Count: 488 pages 

Medium Used: Paperback 

Genre: Fairy Tales,Middle Grade, Children's Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Academia, Young Adult, Humor, Action, Adventure, 2026-read.

Rating: 5/5 😎 😎 😎 😎 😎 

Just wrapped this. What a wild ride! Where do I start?! There is so much happening in every chapter it is very tough to keep track of it all. So I stopped trying after a while and just sat back and enjoyed. On the whole, this is a book with a message. With multiple messages actually. 1. Looks and beauty can betray the actual nature of a person. Sweet and beautiful looking Sophie is vile and cruel at heart and ghoulish, raven looking Agatha is the best of persons there ever would be. 2. A person need not be completely good or evil - there can exist a balance or mixture of both traits. Cruel Sophie too wanted joy, happy ever after, prince charming and all the pinky pink stuff young girls desire for. 3. All the students, teachers, wolves and fairies in the school are mere puppets playing their roles according to the designs of the magic pen called Storian (resembling a supernatural force we call God) in the school master's tower. 4. All princesses need not be damsels in distress, they can be as fiesty and chivalrous as the princes too. 5. A happily ever after need not be the case with every union. There may be more hidden gems of messages in this complex yet linear plot but these are the major ones which i gleaned.

I was bursting out laughing while reading the book. There is so much humor and lightweight comedy in the narrative. Its only in the last hundred pages or so that the plot took a serious turn. Sophie and Agatha hail from a town called Gavaldon. Sophie is pretty, has been reading fairy tales all her childhood and wants to be kidnapped by a school master who visits their village every four years to steal one good and one evil child away. He takes them to a far away school for good and evil and puts them into good or evil tower based on their core nature. Once their training is done in four years, they become part of fairy tales. Some end up princes, queens, their henchmen or servants or animals and plants in those tales. So, Sophie dreams of nothing else. She wants to become a princess and win her prince charming. Then there is Agatha. She lives a secluded life in a graveyard with her mother and a fur less cat. She is shunned by everyone because she doesn't look pretty or do pretty things. She is a loner and doesn't want to leave the safety of her home. Sophie strikes up friendship with Agatha to prove to herself that she is good. Then one day the school master comes and takes them both. To everyone's shock, Agatha is put into good and Sophie into evil towers. We will see as the story progresses why that is. The school master is fully justified but also we can't deny there is some softness and vulnerability to Sophie. She is not pure evil. Definitely not all time evil as every one comes to suppose later. 

Initially, Sophie tries to switch schools with Agatha. She is convinced the master has made a grave mistake but turns out all her plans and schemes turn to dust. Agatha wants to go back home with Sophie and becomes part of her plotting. Agatha helps Sophie to come first in all her tests and challenges, she takes the form of a cockroach and aides her in winning over the affection of a real prince Tedros. A couple of times Sophie betrays Agatha and shows her that she doesn't want to go home but stick with her prince. As Tedros learns that Agatha has been the one he was really attracted to, a change comes over both Agatha and Sophie. Agatha wants to stay back. She wants to have Tedros. She doesn't want Sophie interfering. Sophie too wants something sinister than her former self. So how do these two former friends reconcile? How do they come to believe in love for the other and give up silly fighting? Neither of them can win over the other. There is too much love and resemblance between them. It has to be both winning together. Evil and Good winning together and bringing all their polarized forces together!! Such unity brings happy tears to my heart. I just love all unity and no war situations.

I am very eager to see what happens next in the series. I felt this book is more fun and should be treated in the same vein. These are like children who hardly know right from wrong. To brand them as good and evil is too hasty and immature. I have come to rely on Agatha to save Sophie from every turbulence..so who needs a prince right? Sophie is the princess and Agatha is her prince in a costume. Loved this absolutely. 

I am also very surprised at the word play involved in this book. I mean the author showed amazing command over the language. He is an American born Indian citizen and I am gloating that he is one of the very best! The character development is simply superb. Flawless. Cheers 🥂🥂🥂