The School for Good and Evil By Soman Chainani- Review

The School for Good and Evil By Soman Chainani- Review

Reviewer: Mikayla Blanke

The School for Good and Evil is an exciting book that puts an interesting twist on classic fairy tales. Sophie and Agatha are both from a small town, Gavaldon, which is placed in the Endless Woods. Every four years, two children are stolen from the town and taken to the School for Good and Evil. The School of Good teaches students how to be enchanting princes’ and princess’ while the evil students learn how to become witches and cast horrifying spells. Sophie has prepared all of her life to go for the School for Good. She has done good deeds, spent a lot of time on her looks, and dreamed about her future prince. She even became friends with a lonely girl in the village, Agatha. When they are stolen, Sophie is excited to go to the place she’s always dreamed about. However, her excitement quickly turns to shock when she goes to the evil school while Agatha goes to the good school. Agatha and Sophie both want to get out of their school. Agatha just wants to go home while Sophie dreams of becoming a princess. Their friendship goes through a tremendous journey as Agatha tries to help Sophie so they can go home while Sophie tricks her so that she can become a princess and live with her beloved prince. 

While the story starts by making you believe that the two girls are in the wrong schools, this idea is quickly switched when you see how they act. Sophie, beautiful and charming, commits wicked actions towards the people she calls her friends. On the other hand, Agatha, who is known to look like a witch, is always trying to help others. Throughout the book, you can see their characters develop towards pure evil and pure good. This important message that you are not always just how you look, is highlighted throughout the book. The book also emphasizes the importance of friendship in the midst of hard times. While Agatha’s and Sophie struggle through their friendship, when they work together, they manage to get things done. 

The author, Soman Chainani, does an amazing job at using details and dialogue throughout the story. While reading the book, there were literally times that I could not put it down due to the suspense from the novel. I honestly cannot think of anything to criticize about this book, it was amazing! I would recommend this book to anyone due to its good messages and exciting plot. However, I also believe that this book would be especially good for people who like fairy tales, romance, and “happy ever afters.” Overall, The School for Good and Evil is an amazing book that anyone could benefit from reading.