Review: The School For Good And Evil, by Soman Chainani

Book review by Gemma E McLaughlin

AS excitement mounts as we wait for the fifth book in the series, it’s a good time to look back on the first book in Soman Chainani’s classic epic.

The school for good and evil is no less than a work of true, mysterious beauty. It is a powerful and incredibly dynamic subversion of the fairytale genre.

The story is set in a small town called Gavaldon, surrounded by an endless woods. Every four years two children of age twelve or over disappear and are not seen again until four years later on the same day. The children are transformed into characters in a fairytale book, one good and one evil.

The main characters as Chainani’s tale begins are best friends Sophie and Agatha. Sophie is very beautiful but saddened by the real world. From an early age she has believed herself to be better than the mundane surroundings into which she was born . Agatha is strange and homely, She lives in a small, dark cottage by the cemetery with her mother and a small black cat.

The two friends seem to be the perfect candidates be taken off to become pupils at the legendary school which gives the book its title. And sure enough on the given night the two girls are kidnapped and taken to the school.

However, despite the conclusions the writer has encouraged you to draw about the two girls’ characters it is Sophie who is placed in the school for evil as Agatha is assigned to the school for good.

The book follows the two girls throughout their school year where they learn how to play the perfect hero and villain, studying for exams and going to all manner of mystical school events and balls.

As the book progresses it becomes clear there are darker elements to the story.

The inclusion of characters such as a school master who no one has ever seen and a young prince who falls in in love with entirely the wrong girl, add to an air of mystery and pose a succession of endless questions throughout the book.

Sophie is an incredibly eloquent personification of raw human emotion. At her core she represents the evil which is a small part of humanity. Through the incredible twists and turns of the plot I found Sophie to be a fascinating and relatable character whom I often think of when I am developing the emotional side of my owm writing.

Upon finishing The School For Good And Evil the reader is left with an incredible sense of intrigue and doubt. It is a feeling that leaves you suspecting the story is not quite finished. There are so many unanswered questions and possible answers swirl through your mind long after the fantastical magic to be found between the covers.. It is possibly the most marvellous feeling that I have ever come across in a book.

Overall this book contains fascinating character developments, simple words that become delightful poems and speeches that become powerful expressions of emotion so real you feel as though the words on the page have pierced your very soul and revealed a truth you have tried to hide from.

All this seems a little much to expect from what is by all definitions a children’s book but it contains deeply important messages for young adults living in contempotary times.