The School for Good and Evil - Cora Lewis-Patterson

        The School for Good and Evil is a book I loved when I was younger. Not only did it take place in cool settings, had awesome characters, and cover art I liked, but I also really enjoyed the writing and storytelling. Even if I did not like a character's personality, I would still find myself enjoying reading about them because of how they were written. For example, even though there were many flaws to the two main characters, Agatha and Sophie, I was able to thoroughly enjoy their character arcs because of how their arcs were laid out. In this post, I will be discussing more in-depth why I loved this book and why you should read it!

The School for Good and Evil, written by Soman Chainani, is about two young girls named Sophie and Agatha. They both live in the village of Gavaldon where fairytales are very prominent. This is because every four years on the eleventh night of the eleventh month (November 11th), two twelve-year-old children are taken away into the Endless Woods. In these woods, the children are taken to either the School for Good or School for Evil. In the book, Sophie and Agatha are both chosen to be taken into the Endless Woods. While blonde, blue-eyed Sophie is expected to go to the School for Good, and “ugly”, bug-eyed Agatha is expected to go to the School for Evil, they are each sent to the opposite schools. While there, Sophie attempts to prove that she belongs in the School for Good, and Agatha is determined to return home with Sophie. Throughout the book, Sophie and Agatha both learn many new things about themselves, as well as teach others new things about the schools and stereotypes. 

Now, for some reasons I loved the book, and why you will hopefully love it as well:

1. The plot is very unique.

In the story, not only are fairy tales prominent, but the characters can become part of their own stories. As mentioned earlier, in Gavaldon fairy tales are beloved by all. This is not only because the citizens find them interesting, but people originally from Gavaldon are featured in these fairy tales as well, meaning that they are able to read about their old friends and see how they are doing. It also means that they themselves may possibly become part of one of these stories as well. 

2. The characters have obvious flaws, but it makes them human and relatable.

Through the two main characters, we can see multiple parts of their personalities that are not very appealing. In Sophie, she thinks that she is better than everyone else and can do no wrong. Basically, she believes she is a helper to anyone “less fortunate” than her. In Agatha, we can see her outward pessimism and lack of care toward many things. However, these traits can be relatable to some and make the story appear more realistic and more appealing.

3. It is part of a series.

Although I myself have only read the first three books in the series (The School for Good and Evil, The School for Good and Evil #2: A World Without Princes, and The School for Good and Evil #3: The Last Ever After) they were all compelling pieces of literature and captured my interest greatly. I have reread these three books over three times each, and I have yet to become bored while reading. Although I cannot speak for the later books, I have unfortunately heard that they do not live up to the standards of the previous books. However, the first three I can definitely say are great.

In all, The School for Good and Evil is a complex storytelling of how two best friends were able to defeat the odds and stay friends through tough times, all while growing as people and proving bad assumptions wrong. Through a wonderful setting, thought-out characters, and lots of room for storytelling, this book (series) is definitely one worth reading!