Reviews

Rise of the School for Good and Evil (Signed Book) by Soman Chainani

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kamang77's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

debchan's review against another edition

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3.5

so sick and twisted of soman chainani to even write about siblings torn apart.

bc we all know what's going to happen, we all know rhian dies and rafal becomes the only school master. we know his whole story with sophie. but to think that rhian who thought he was Good, wanted to to be Good couldn't at all? and rafal who wanted to love his brother despite everything feels himself getting betrayed over and over again? absolutely FOUL of chainani.

love all the crushes rhian has, it's hilarious. at first i hated the whole siblings in love with the same guy but then it took a twist which i'm not mad about.

anyway. authors should be banned from writing about two characters who are fated to be doomed and yet despite everything and their own nature try to love each other in the only way they know how.

jaxenswag's review against another edition

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1.0

it felt like rlly bad fan fiction i didn’t like it at all what

finishorforget's review against another edition

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Decided to remove from TBR. Was a gift and not my jam.

noorandbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

"You know, Rafal, ever since we've been teenagers, you've become very moody."
"We've been teenagers for a hundred years," Rafal replies.
"Precisely," said Rhian.

OH THIS BOOK. Jaw? Dropped. Heart? Stopped. Tea? Spilled.

This was my most anticipated read of the year and it delivered. It has everything you'd want from it - action, drama, magic, BETRAYALS OUUUU MY POOR HEART...

We learned a lot of important things from this book:
1) Seers age ten years whenever they tell a truth (Evelyn really was lucky)

2) Evers were allies (what happened that made them homophobic??? this is important)

3) Rhian (and Rafal too, but more lowkey) is gay (the rep we need and deserve <3 he's such a mess and I'm definitely not in love with him or anything)

4) How the Readers came to be (angst)

5) Aladdin was an idiot (it's okay man, me too)

6) The lines between Good and Evil are extremely thin (we already knew this from the tale of Sophie and Agatha but this book just solidified it)

7)

Spoiler

The school you're sent to is not because of any greater forces, but by how you act - it's why so many Nevers act evil. They've been trained to see themselves that way (and that's why so many of them are queer and POC coded; they're trained to be seen as evil).

8) The School for Good and Evil exists because of gay drama

This book just. Completely shatters everything I know about the School for Good and Evil universe.

“I can love you and still think I’m better.”

Spoiler

OKAY SO. When I saw the cover, I remember thinking "huh, they're on the wrong sides" and I panicked for a bit and then I just shrugged and moved on. I did not make the connection. That Sophie thought she was Good and was on Evil's side. And Agatha thought she was Evil and was on Good's side. CHAINANI!!! You cruel mastermind!!!

I have so many questions from that ending... Like, when is the next book coming out??? Is this another case of the Snake and the Lion, where Rhian takes Rafal's place in order to stay the School Master? Or does Rafal just go 'eh, I'm pretty good at this Evil thing'? Is this all just supposed to be a spin on Sophie and Agatha's tale??? What would happen if they betrayed their love??? UGHHH!!!

And this just completely puts a spin on Good and Evil. The lines are so thin between them... Is it really 'love' that keeps Good good and Evil evil? Or is it desire? Desire and the intent to harm? The intent to save? Rhian loves (in his own restless way). Rafal loves. They love(d) each other. They can love. Rhian thought he was Good. Rafal thought he was Evil. How much is there that's just the Storian putting labels??? How much of Good is truly good and how much of Evil is truly evil???

QUESTIONS AFTER QUESTIONS AFTER QUESTIONS!!! I adored this book, if you couldn't tell.

Rhian: be gay do crimes
Rafal: stop being gay do your job
Rhian: fuck you i'll do more crime now

The pacing is amazing, the dialogue is witty, and I fell in love with this world all over again... Just to be left at a cliff to fall.

How thoughtful of his brother, Rhian mused; if it was him, he'd have locked Rafal out for a bit of fun.

anbeasley91's review against another edition

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3.75

This one was odd for me because it was an Aladdin and Hook mash up which I feel is an odd pair but also more about the school masters than the students. It was good and had a decent plot twist but it was just ok for me.