The School for Good and Evil #3 The Last Ever After

Presenting The School for Good & Evil #3 The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani.

Here is the summary of the book:

In the epic conclusion to Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling series, The School for Good and Evil, everything old is new again as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their story.

As A World Without Princes closed, the end was written and former best friends Sophie and Agatha went their separate ways. Agatha was whisked back to Gavaldon with Tedros and Sophie stayed behind with the beautiful young School Master.

But as they settle into their new lives, their story begs to be re-written, and this time, theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the villains of the past have come back to change their tales and turn the world of Good and Evil upside down.

Readers around the world are eagerly awaiting the third book in The School for Good and Evil series, The Last Ever After. This extraordinary conclusion delivers more action, adventure, laughter, romance and fairy tale twists and turns than you could ever dream of!

Love sure makes us the fools. 'The Last Ever After' takes its queues straight from the predecessor 'A World Without Princes', Agatha has finally chosen Tedros and Sophie in a fit of desperation chose the renewed and much younger School Master. 'The End' is written but why is the Storian(magic quill) at a pause. Why hasn't it begun another. This is the conclusion we deserve, this is the Last Ever After ..... and damn .. it was just too good.

In the essence of surety, Tedros, Agatha, Sophie and all the characters are at a crossroads. With the cunning School Master raising older villains and giving them the chance to redo their stories and the school now reading the 'School for Old and New Evil', everyone is doubting their roles and just what they are supposed to do. Agatha doubts her worth. Unsure about if she is the right person for Tedros. The Pendragon Prince himself doubts his happiness because what he and his Princess do is mostly argue whenever they are together. Sophie still pines and whines about what she couldn't have and resigns herself to second best and wearing his ring.

Well etched characters above most makes the story worthwhile. You have it to give to Soman Chainani. Not only does he succeed in putting forth his tale with such beauty and vivacity but also produced such noteworthy characters whether they be old or new. Agatha felt a lot more resolute this time. That sarcastic, witty and no-nonsense girl we saw in the first book rears her head here. Above all she wants to rescue Sophie and make things right with her. Tedros of course has come a long way from the pitiful state he was in before. Like Agatha, he also wants to save Sophie but also realizes that only with Agatha, he is stronger and not alone.

I know i'm not making much sense. My thoughts are in a disarray and i'm finding it very hard to articulate just how good this was. Agatha and Tedros could be such idiots at times. But whenever they clear their heads, they were at their best and just so adorable and sappy together.

Sophie, I just pitied. She just tires so hard to force fate and desperately claws for a better prospect that she doesn't care about what happens to those around her. Her jealous, selfish, and conceited comes up fully as she faces her best friends in a battle they may well make or break it all. But there is also good in her and that is more than enough.

This has been very much Agatha's story as well as Sophie's. Both have come far from the girls in Gavaldon. One of whom wanted to be kidnapped and takes to the School and the other wanted nothing but saving the former. Chainani's The Last Ever After pays on a lot of fronts. And the loose ends all perfectly tied up with surprising twists and revelations along the way.

Side characters are also given room to shine and well established boundaries shaken. This exotic and magical trilogy well just makes you fall in love all over again. I finished this weeks ago and still nursing a ginormous hangover .... I did not want it to end but oh well I foresee re-readings in the future a lot. I recommend this guys if you haven't read it yet.

"Sporting vivid imagery and a magical and a fulfilling conclusion. You just won't be able to stop turning the pages"

Genre :     Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale Retellings, Paranormal

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release Date: 21st July, 2015

My Copy: bought (paperback)

Rate:             5/5 (It was Amazing)

Other Books in the Series(review links):

           #1 The School for Good & Evil 
           #2 A World Without Princes

Buy:           Amazon | Book Depository

The School for Good & Evil #2 A World Without Princes

Presenting The School for Good & Evil #2 A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani.

Here is the summary of the book:

In the epic sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, The School for Good and Evil, Sophie and Agatha are home, living out their Ever After. But life isn’t quite the fairy tale they expected.

When Agatha secretly wishes she’d chosen a different happy ending, she reopens the gates to the School for Good and Evil. But the world she and Sophie once knew has changed.

Witches and princesses, warlocks and princes are no longer enemies. New bonds are forming; old bonds are being shattered. But underneath this uneasy arrangement, a war is brewing and a dangerous enemy rises. As Agatha and Sophie battle to restore peace, an unexpected threat could destroy everything, and everyone, they love—and this time, it comes from within.

Soman Chainani has created a spectacular world that Newbery Medal-winning author Ann M. Martin calls, “a fairy tale like no other, complete with romance, magic, and humor that will keep you turning pages until the end.”

Choices made and consequences wrought. At the end of 'The School for Good & Evil' first book, we see Agatha choose Sophie instead of Tedros, to save her best friend's life and wen back to Gavaldon. But Happily Ever After lasts only when you actually mean it and Agatha doubts she chose the right one. When your best friend tries to kill you, that leaves a bitter after taste thus in a moment of weakness she wishes for her Prince depositing them back to the school but thins are different now. Instead of 'A school for Good & Evil', it now spells 'A School for Boys & Girls'.

A choice, a single spark blazes the path to unexpected beginnings. Who needs a Prince when you have a powerful witch friend by your side or vice versa. A tense arrangement at best. For the girls, the subjects go from Debeautification, Princeless Power, History of Heroines and for the boys every battle training they would need for the brewing war. A recipe for disaster as an old evil hides in the shadows waiting for the moment to stake its claim. Agatha & Sophie's friendship is tested. The motives, the means and their resulting actions are intricately woven throughout this tale. Their actions  may vary but their motives are same. Both want to be accepted and loved and cared for.

Sophie was pretty much he same as was in the first book but the selfish and narrow-minded side rears its head more than others. It is attention she craves and most of all as I already stated not to be alone. As long as Agatha is at her side but its this wish that sends it all spiraling again. In her misguided sense of love, she does questionable things again. Desperation has always clouded her mind and you just can't help seeing her complexity shine through these moments. Fairytales today stress on this one fact the most - 'Villains are not born, they are made' and I very much appreciate Chainani for incorporating this element throughout this series.

Agatha on the other felt in denial. Her choice - Sophie or Tedros. These oscillating feelings made her doubt herself brought her down a few notches. The rebellious sarcasm, the wit and intelligence she had in leaps and bounds in the first time felt sorely lacking this time. Always turning a blind eye to Sophie's faults just so she could keep a lid on her feelings for Tedros.

Now Tedros Pendragon on the other hand had the most character degradation. Resorting to letting his rage and his sword do the talking he felt truly pathetic. Prone to being easily manipulated, he felt kind of pathetic without Agatha by his side and not all that resolute and charismatic Prince he was in the first book. In a way he reminded me of Bradley James' portrayal on the BBC show 'Merlin', prone to self-pity and indecision during the time when something went bad. Tedros is given more ground and somehow we can't help but sympathize with where he is coming from.

Looking at the scenes as they play, 'A World Without Princes' is not all that different from the first book. But Kudos to Soman Chainani for presenting his characters in similar but such different styles. Despite propensities of the needful, the author has created an exotic and stratifying-ly elegant sequel. Coupled with its many diverse character developments and a much darker tone, 'A World Without Princes' keeps us tight and on tenterhooks till the end. Definitely looking forward to what 'Last Ever After' has instore for us.

"An epic intrinsically magical and exponentially breathless sequel"

Genre :     Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale Retellings, Paranormal

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release Date: 15th April, 2014

My Copy: bought (paperback)

Rate:             5/5 (It was Amazing)

Other Books in the Series(review links):

           #1 The School for Good & Evil 

Buy:           Amazon | Book Depository

The School for Good and Evil #1 The School for Good and Evil

Presenting The School for Good & Evil #1 The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani.

Here is the summary of the book:

“The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

Fairytales are our past, present and future. We grew up on the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Snow Queen and so much such extravaganzas. They teach us so much, the meaning of family, friendship, honesty and valor and to do what is right. This is very much true with the authors today coming up with some great re-inventions of the originals, about with the same moral but for a new and modern readership. And Soman Chainani's The School for Good and Evil succeeds in leaving said mark on its reader.

"Don't judge a book by its cover" a valuable lesson this book teaches us in plenty. Outward appearances doesn't always portray whats inside. Likewise bathed in makeup and clothes in pink also doesn't guarantee a person is good and the other sunken looking and in black doesn't always mean evil. The School for Good and Evil  as I explained it much more complex than how simple it appears it to be. Simple to understand with its exotically vivid scenery and characters, it captures your attention and it simply doesn't let go.

Agatha and Sophie's arduous journey is simply a joy to read and experience. The Painful self-discoveries. The mission to go back home. Their lives separated in the separate schools and how they survive it. A selfish Sophie and a selfless Agatha looking for a place to belong. Added a colorfully varied supporting cast and you have a never before experienced saga that you can't comprehend at least not until you yourself have a taste of Chainani's magic pen.

And this is just the first book of the series and already Universal is turning it into a movie (very excited for it). With an abundance of action. drama, romance, fantasy and magic, The School for Good and Evil from Soman Chainani is the perfect series debut. 'A World Without Princes' is next on the bucket list and I am very excited to see what Chainani deals us next.

"A riveting fairytale saga that will have you clambering for more"

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Paranormal, Romance

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Release Date: 6th June, 2013

My Copy: bought (paperback)

Rate:              5/5 (It was Amazing)

Buy:           Amazon | Book Depository