OSR: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Title: The School for Good and Evil
Author: Soman Chainani
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Goodreads | The Reading Room

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…?

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

Review by Nara

*One Sentence Reviews (OSRs) are reviews where I attempt to describe each aspect of the book in one sentence. I thought it'd be fun to try and convince someone to read/stay away from a book in very few sentences. This is the first one, so we'll see how I go*

Plot
Fast paced with just the right amount of action, it was rather exciting because quite a few plot twists were thrown in.

Writing
From the third person perspectives of both Sophie and Agatha (with some bits from other characters' points of view), you really feel immersed in their thoughts and are really able to gain insight into how the events of the novel are affecting them.

World Building
The descriptions of the setting are incredibly vivid- so much so that I could easily visualise each scene down to the most minute detail.

Sophie
I liked seeing Sophie develop throughout the novel, but she just started out so darn prissy that I felt, even later, I couldn't quite relate to her.

Agatha
Definitely my favourite character, she had a bit more depth than Sophie (and was infinitely more likeable)- strong and kind, I really loved seeing her coming to terms with her own character and "destiny".

Tedros (the love interest)
To be honest, I don't really see the attraction- he's a bit bland and, frankly, a bit of an idiot.

Romance
Not much of a proper romance in the novel, and when it was included, it turned out to be a teensy bit cliched, although sweet all the same.

Cover
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Overall
An outstanding premise backed up by an interesting plot, well developed characters (albeit a bit cliched) and incredible world building: would definitely recommend it.

Really liked it

Ratings
Overall: 9/10
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 5/5