School for Good and Evil #3

Review: Protagonists: So after the shocking ending of A World Without Princes Sophie and Agatha are split up and now seem to be on opposite sides. The character development of these two is very interesting. Sophie, as usual, still struggles with her vain entitlement, feeling that she's owed certain things, or that she's better qualified simply because she wants them. This happens to be one of the reasons I despised her in the second part of this book, I mean, I know she's supposed to be evil, but there's a limit when it's a character I should be in some way rooting for. However, over the course of the book she struggles with finding who she is. Agatha also struggles with figuring out not only who she is but who she wants to be, specifically whether she should be the future Queen of Camelot. She still can't quite see herself as the wonderful and selfless person she is, still focusing on how she appears to others upon first impression. Even though both these girls are still struggling with things they've struggled with in the previous books, Agatha's struggles seem so much more realistic and sympathetic, as opposed to Sophie who just seems as pig-headed as ever. Then we have Tedros, the boy who has come between Sophie and Agatha many times, and who I've held a well known ire for. In fact in my review of the first installment in this series, I really hated him, never expecting that I would root for him even the slightest amount in the next book, and by the last finding him one of best developed characters I've ever read. His development in this book is no different, there are demons in Tedros' past that come back to haunt him and I found he handled them excellently. Romance: The romance in this book is spectacular. mainly because there's so much doubt with all the characters. It's not all happily ever afters and shining rainbows. There are real problems that these characters, mainly Agatha and Tedros, have to go through. The solutions aren't that easy to come by either. I was freaking out about how realistic this was. Most romantic drama has some sort of drummed up excuse for why everything is suddenly peachy, or at times there might not even be any disagreement and argument. Regardless, Agatha and Tedros, no matter how much they fight and argue and yell at each other, they really care about each other. Though the love triangle with Sophie isn't quite gone in this book, which added a few logs to my I-Hate-Sophie fire, I felt like how it was handled was done expertly and, as aggravating as it was, by the end was needed to complete this epic conclusion. World-Building: The first book in this series focused on Good and Evil, why if they're in balance does good always win and how Good and Evil cannot exist without the other. The second book focused on Boys and Girls, eventually teaching that one is not better than the other and that they need to lean on each other. This book though, takes a whole new moral under it's wing by focusing on Old and New. This book takes a look at the past, past fairytales and even the past of our protagonists parents, and shows a parallel with the present. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say that this book reveals so much about this world, things so amazing and so shocking that I'm not sure I would have believed them if I hadn't read them myself, as cliche as that sounds. Predictability: Yeah, I can honestly say that there was maybe a small handful of things that I was able to predict in this book, and those things were either very obvious or very small. There are so many great twists and shocking reveals in this book that it always kept me on my toes. Forget what you thought you knew as you prepare for this roller coaster ride of a story. I loved all of the exposition, the nuggets of the past that we learned about our favorite characters, and even some unexpected but very welcome faces back into this world. There are deaths in this book, shocking and sad deaths, some of which I still can't get over. Ending: So the ending was epic. There's kind of a time limit set on when a certain thing had to be done by which added a level of adrenaline to the ending, making everything so fast paced and incredible. There was of course a recreation of the epic battle seen on the cover of the book and I have to say it did not disappoint. There is an epilogue style ending to this book, though it takes place very shortly after the end instead of farther in the future as I had hoped. While I was on the whole satisfied with the end of this book, there was a small voice in the back of my head which pointed out that there was just enough left open for a spin off. I have no idea if Chainani will write a spin-off of course but a part of me hopes he does, even if it's just novella sized, I just cannot get enough of this world. Rating: I seriously struggled on this one, there were aspects of this book that aggravated me to no end, however the pay off, and that magnificent final showdown, kind of turned my mind around on everything. I kind of want to go back and reread the first book and see if I might like it better after finishing the series, I'm sure I probably will.

This arrived on my Kindle just as I was going to bed the night before the release, and I forced myself to read only one chapter rather than stay up the whole night. (Adulthood finally caught up with me here in middle age.) I have thoughts on this book that are going to take me a while to put together, but overall: outstanding close to the trilogy, very satisfying, in both expected and unexpected ways. Spoiler: everyone ends up where you think they will. This book is where things got real. Tedros and Agatha actually have to be together, and realize they have differing visions for what happily ever after looks like. On the one hand, glad to see it. It's a novel sensation to be reading a couple who I actually wanted to see work it out, but it actually felt like that might not happen. Sure, it happens in adult fiction, but very, very rarely in middle grade literature. Kudos for making it feel real rather than insipid, "noble idiot" fake drama. (Which is manages at one point, but recovers nicely.) On the other hand, it made me feel like I was reading a book out of a different trilogy. That feeling stayed with me throughout the entire book. All the characters are recognizable, but the story seemed to be trying to get its arms around so much more than the other books even attempted. Other things I found frustrating: There's a cursory glance in the direction of bisexuality and gender identity issues that feels out of place because it's not dealt with in any way. Are we going to talk about Tedros's attraction to Filip? Because it comes up, and then is quickly dropped. (And I'm probably never going to stop wondering if the author was deliberately trying to slip in some questions of polyamory, or if that's just what I read into it. Don't spoil it for me. I'm happy believing Chainani was being a little subversive there.) The story of Agatha's mother and Sofie's mother was dropped in like Snape's backstory in HP7, and I felt a little cheated by it. I would have preferred to see some of it woven into the previous two books than dropped in with one big expository scene at the climax of this one. I am going to need to read this one more time before I can put more into words than this much.

While I read this book 3, I found myself so irritated by the love triagle among Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros. Especially by Agatha because she cannot commit herself to fight against the Evil. They all know they cannot make three happy couple (one will left by one's self), but they tried hard to seek ways. You will also find the history of parents, Agatha's, Sophie's and Tredos's. It's satisfying ending, and I cannot wait to read the fourth book.

I loved how the author brought back old fairy tales and aged them how he did. Hansel and Gretel in wheelchairs and the story about how Cinderella really felt about her sisters and the Prince was very different from how people reimagine fairy tales. I am very sick of Sophie but that won’t make me stop reading the series. I have no idea how Netflix and Kerry Washington are going to do the rest of the movies (and they better because that’s how I got here (lol), but I’m very curious to see.

this is my absolute favorite series but it came in a horrible condition and the text was printed very bad and some of the paper was so thin you could see the text from the other side. i recommend you get from a normal bookstore or from somewhere else. the characters and plot were amazing (as expected) but the product was horrible. this has taught me a lesson and i will not buy books online anymore.

Well... The School for Good and Evil has been a series that has constantly surprised me because even at the moments I guessed would come, there would be some sort of twist to the action, something to make it just that bit different from what I expected. Chainani seemed to be playing with expectations all throughout this series, and the final book is no exception. Actually, it takes the bar, flings it away and storms ahead of the reader, gleefully calling on them to catch up. The story focuses on our three main characters; Agatha, Tedros, and of course, Sophie. Agatha and Tedros are arguing so much and Sophie is completely unsure of her choice but so desperate for love - so desperate that she'd go to any lengths to make sure she had it. Agatha, on the other hand, is so doubtful of herself - the idea of being a Queen, whether or not she and Tedros really are true love. The one thing that she and her Prince can agree on? They both miss their friend, and set out to get her back. And from there, Chainani basically makes you question every aspect of the fairy tales you've ever read. The characters call out others for their actions and constantly question their own, all while the plot speeds ahead because the sun is melting and one day it just won't rise... As for the ending? I won't like - it wasn't the ending that I had hoped for. That being said, it was a brilliant ending, one that was perfect for the series, and that fitted in with each book previous to it. It was a true, happy ending, one that works on many levels: the main one being that it is both true to the characters, and does not just fob them off with a consolation prize. (Though bet you now some people will argue it does). Long story short? Just... wow. If the movie tales are true? This is going to be my favourite one to see adapted

This is so unexpected and sad :'c I love these books but this one has an irregular shape at the border or the pages, it doesn't matter that much because you can still read the book and that but It's not what I expected.

Brand new book in a series I am reading with my 11 year old daughter, purchased the first at Chapters ( indigo) and decided to see prices off amazon ( with indigo) and was able to get #2-#3 and #4 for a deal!!!

Gelungener Abschluss der Triologie