The School for Good and Evil

 The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani was strange, mysterious, and very unpredictable. The story is about a school of students taken from their homes (once a year, sometime after they turn twelve-years-old) to study either good or evil and then graduate and, hopefully, become part of a fairy tale. The main focus is on two friends from the town of Gavaldon: Sophie, who loves wearing pink and giving beauty tips, and Agatha, who wears black and lives in a cemetery. They are taken in the middle of the night by the schoolmaster, Sophie to the evil tower and Agatha to the good. Sophie is sure there must be some mistake, and Agatha just wants to go home, but there is no telling where their futures will lie. But why tell you about the book when I can show you?

(Design & Animation: Manny Palad & Michael Blank

Original Music: Luciano Storti)

Have you ever seen a trailer for a BOOK before? This was my first, so I found it really fascinating. Of course, it tells you little of what's actually going on--much like its movie counterparts.

First Impression: The two main characters, Sophie and Agatha, fascinate me a great deal. On the surface they present themselves a certain way, but inside they are different people. On one hand, I'm really interested in this book, and I just want to quickly propel through it. On the other hand, I'm a bit frustrated that I can't predict where it's going. I know, I know, I shouldn't want to predict the ending (or at least the climax), but part of me always has questions about the ending running through my head as I read. The main problem this poses for me is that I'm constantly wondering, "What is 'the point' of this book?" Not that there has to be one, but usually there is in books meant for children and young adults, so that's kind of what I expected. Initially, I thought Sophie and Agatha would discover that they were different from everyone's assumptions about them (including their own). Every time I start to see this, however, there is a twist and the book plunges deeper into something I haven't quite figured out. I feel like I'm rambling now. Anyway, Chainani's novel is keeping me in constant suspense.

Conclusion: This book is so crazy and unexpected, I am in shock. I'm alternately torn between loving the ending and hating it--my emotions have been jerked back-and-forth about a million times. When I first started reading this book, I glanced at the Goodreads reviews, and it didn't seem promising. I always try to finish books I start, however, so I continued on. Thank goodness, because this book is fantastic! Chainani outdoes himself with this debut novel--an original, unique fairy tale in a sea of repeats. Not at all what you would expect, but I would definitely recommend it.