Book Review: The School for Good and Evil: A World Without Princes

 Hi everyone and today I shall be reviewing the second in the esteemed book series: The School for Good and Evil, which has a subtitle: A World Without Princes.

As you already know, the Categories assessed shall be Pacing, Language, Characters and Plot. Each category will have 10 points and I will be ranking the book over 40 points. I will be giving my own opinion on each of the categories. 

DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS ALERT IN THE REVIEW! DON'T READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK

Okay, so a bit of information on the book. It was first published in 2014 (in fact I have the 2014 paperback version), it was written by American author Soman Chainani and is the second in the lineup. Now that we left our beloved heroes in Gavaldon, will the journey satisfy the fact that the end was not written or did this fairytale really need to close?

Now, let's get started!

PLOT: 

We are transported back to the world of Gavaldon. But what is it about the plot that makes us want to revisit the characters again? Well, Agatha is feeling unsure about her happy ending with Sophie so she wishes for a happy ending with Tedros. However, in doing so, Gavaldon (and ultimately Sophie and Agatha) are put in danger and they must find a way to seal their ending before it is too late. As a subplot, Sophie tries to prove that she is in fact Good, so Agatha can go back home with her; WITHOUT Tedros.

Look, I'll admit it, I was surprised how well the plot was handled. There's a message of equality; unlike what most fans say, I think that it does not have the message that boys are superior in every way. It may seem that way, however, when you think about it, feminism isn't about girl superiority. What it IS about is equality between genders. This means that one gender cannot be sidelined for another: whether male or female. But what does this have to do with the book? I agree with Hester when she says that boys are needed whether we like them or not. The execution is what avoids it from becoming a patriarchal book as Agatha and Sophie represent the truth of what it means for friends to break apart, and why there is nothing wrong with that, unlike what Sophie thinks.

The only bad thing I would have to say about the plot is that I think (unpopular opinion here so bear with me) that The School for Good and Evil could have been wrapped up as a standalone novel PERFECTLY without needing the second installment. However, since the characters are fun and the setting is evolved better in this book, I will give it a pass.

Overall I would rate the plot 7/10.

CHARACTERS: 

SOPHIE: 

The Sophie we all know and love is back. Well, sort of. Let me explain. This time she has swapped roles with Agatha, in the sense that now it is HER who wants to go back home to her happy ending. It is somehow satisfying to see her struggle so hard with this after what happened in the last book. All jokes aside, there is one thing I don't agree with her on. Friends can grow apart naturally without one having to struggle to repair the friendship. It is healthy, even, to grow apart from someone because one of you has matured more than the other. It wouldn't be fair on the other person in reality to keep clinging on. Now there is one thing I enjoyed relatively more in this book about Sophie than in the previous one: I could actually understand her actions without me having to cringe at the blatant obviousness about the fact that she is being selfish. I'm not saying she isn't selfish (on the contrary, she still is). However, her mistakes are ones that all of us do, and she learns from them for a change, making her seem more human. Which I love. 

AGATHA: 

Like I said about Sophie taking on Agatha's role in this book, Agatha takes Sophie's. And the results? It's justified. Also may I say that Agatha is way MORE intelligent than Sophie? I forgot to mention in my character analysis, but Sophie is kind of dumb in this book and the one before this one. Anyway, back to Agatha. So yes, it is justified, simply because it's her turn. It is not fair that all her life she was constrained to thinking she was a witch and not have any self worth. Being a princess brings more to that. 

TEDROS:

So finally we get some development on this guy. A little more meat if I do say so myself. I love the chemistry he had with Filip who was a boy version of Sophie and the love he has for Agatha. He explains it himself that Agatha was the only one who saw through his good looks and found a person worthy of love. I also adore the fact that they fleshed him out and uncovered that although he IS the most handsome boy in the land, and he IS 

THE SCHOOL MASTER:

So yeah, spoiler alert. HE'S NOT DEAD! Just like the previous installment he doesn't appear much, only appearing in the last few moments of the book. But one thing is clear, he is back. For Sophie. And Sophie goes with him. I understand her motivations about this, especially since Agatha chose Tedros (her ex boyfriend) over her and that stuff hurts, I know. But the guy is pure evil, why would you choose him? I'd rather stay alone and wait for someone worth it than pick the Evil part of the Storian. Nothing much more to say about him unfortunately, so let's move on.

DEAN SADER:

I would call this character a watered down version of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. She got under my skin quite a bit, but not as much as aforementioned Umbridge. We learn that she is August Sader's sister (August Sader is the seer and Agatha and Sophie's teacher from the first book, who sacrificed himself to save them) and that she was in love with the School Master.

Overall I would rate the characters a 9/10.

PACING:

The pacing for this book is somewhat faster than the previous installment. In fact there were moments where I had to stop reading because the action was going so fast that I had no idea what was happening. What was particularly good about this book was that this time around, its pacing felt balanced: not too fast, not too slow.

Overall I will rate the pacing 8/10

LANGUAGE: 

As per the previous installment in the franchise the language here is prose. Very smooth and flowy to read, however also very sharp, especially in the descriptions. The author's wit particularly shines in the dialogue, as there are very witty characters in this book, except for one already mentioned. There is nothing else to say about he language except that it remained the same as the last novel.

Overall I would rate the language 8/10

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The twist that it was in fact Sophie and not Agatha that wished to be back in the School for Good and Evil was honestly a good twist and was handled well. It seems that their happy endings are finally complete, but I'm sure that since there are 4 more books in the franchise left to go, that it is going to be disrupted. It was an easy and fun read and I recommend it to anyone who loves fairy tales with a twist and fans of the fantasy genre. 

Overall I rate the book  32/40

What are your thoughts on the book? Tune in in the comments! Thanks for reading my review on this book, and don't worry, more are to come soon! Happy writing, everyone!