I have a feeling ‘Wicked’ is going to be the basis of comparison for a lot of fairytale-inspired books I’ll review in the future. In The School for Good and Evil, the inspiration isn’t so direct, but it’s traceable.
We have two heroines, teenage girls from a village where, every four years, children fall under the threat of being snatched away to a school where they’ll learn to become heroes or villains in fairy tales. Sophie is our blonde, pink-loving aspiring princess (despite not actually being royalty) who dreams of being chosen for the School for Good, meeting her prince and having a happily Ever After. As a means to secure how ‘good’ she is in the eyes of the mysterious Schoolmaster, she has befriended graveyard-dwelling, drab Agatha, whose favorite hobby is lighting and flicking matches wherever she goes.
Despite their opposing personalities (and how obviously Sophie reached out to Agatha for dubious reasons), the girls see each other as friends. Indeed, they're the only real friends they either have. Understandably, the night of the Schoolmaster’s visit results in both girls being taken to the school, albeit with Agatha trying to save them from such a fate. What neither anticipates is that Agatha is dropped in the pretty, pristine halls of the School for Good while Sophie plops into the repugnant castle of the School for Evil.
The keen reader will quickly lock on why these girls might have been placed in these respective schools. While Agatha is by no means the most charming, gentle or damsel-ish damsel (but how can you not love her after she tries to use flatulence as an escape plan?), her love for Sophie and her kinder qualities begin to shine through. Sophie’s selfish motives are much more conspicuous, but the true fathoms of Sophie’s evil and Agatha’s goodness may well take some readers by surprise. Chainani keeps you on edge for a long time, maneuvering that delicate tightrope between their potential for good or evil. Other students get a look through the moral spectrum, too, though not as in-depth. The rest of the student body consists of fairy-tale descendants (oh, no, I’d hoped to avoid that phrase at least until my Ever After High review) who are following in their parents’ legacies. This includes Prince Tedros, son of King Arthur and obligatory hunky royal to throw a wrench in Sophie and Agatha’s friendship.
Certainly the story has elements we’ve all seen before: magical school, love triangles, good/evil reversals, true love must break the curse, etc. What’s captivating about The School for Good and Evil is how involved its world is, as well as its brightly (or grotesquely) painted characters. Every chapter heralds in new details, rules, relationship dynamics, and questions concerning all of the above. Much like real high school, friendships and grades are often in flux. Motives change, stakes are raised, and emotions run higher and higher with every development. Chainani never lets you get too comfortable with how one pair of characters is getting on, as they’re bound to change in the span of a chapter or two. That’s not to say these shifts happen at random or without reason; he merely keeps you uncertain of the eventual outcome and anticipatory of what will soon unfold so that, when it does, the response is a mix of surprise and confirmation.
For me, the most interesting thematic issue this novel raises is just how much one’s moral nature is determined by personality, and how much by environment. Several times, as the girls start to change, Agatha and Sophie claim at one point that the school is altering who they are. There’s something to that, and it makes me wonder what would have happened if they had been placed in the schools that first seemed better fits. Agatha is an especially interesting case, as I think she struggles the most with realizing how good she is when so much about being a villain appeals to her. Sophie’s crisis is more that she wants to be one way because she knows it will get her what she wants, but her own character and choices, whether by nature or nurture, are working against her.
Then there’s the school itself. The narrative does achieve one thing that other school-based fantasy series like Hogwarts and Ever After High more or less glance over: how messed up the school is! There are serious issues with how it’s structured, and they somewhat figure into the plot. Given that this is only the first volume in a trilogy, many questions remain to be answered at its conclusion. The most plot-relevant points are resolved enough that I didn’t demand immediate explanations for this or that detail. But much does need to be explored and explained in the next installment. I think the book could use an epilogue to hint at what will come. My copy includes the first two chapters of The School for Good and Evil: A World Without Princes, but as they’re not technically part of volume 1, I’ll hold off reading them. I’m nitpicky like that when it suits me.
If you can keep up with the plot and remember all the names, The School for Good and Evil is a fun, fascinating look at fairy tale tropes. The premise, characters and ending hold much promise for the books to come. Now the challenge is whether the next story can live up to expectations.
Rating: 4/5
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