Title: Rise of the School for Good and Evil
Author: Soman Chainani
Genre: Middle Grade / Fantasy
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis: Twins. One brother born for good one brother born for evil. Both set to mentor the future generations.
Twin brothers have been fated by "The Pen" to mentor students at the school for Good and Evil. Think Harry Potter Houses, where all students take classes together, but Good and Evil are rewarded equally the more they fine tune their "true" inner spirits.
"The Pen" writes the stories of the students of the schools. With the good students usually turning up the heroes and the evil students turning into the villains of some well known fairy tales. Even Captain Hook makes an appearance, "The Pan" and Aladdin.
Loves:
- Magic without being "witchcraft"
- Plot twist at the end - didn't see that coming but should have. It was never explicitly stated. (You'll know when you know.)
- Sibling Rivalry vs. True familial love
Pain Points:
- I listened to the audio book which had amazing narration, however I do wonder if I would have experienced this differently had I read the words myself. I didn't get swept away as much as I would have liked to - which had me removing one star.
- If you haven't heard the stories/seen the movies of Aladdin or Peter Pan - it may be hard for some to get the context and connection to the characters.
- "Wands" are introduced and it began to feel a little Harry Potterish towards the end.
Final Thoughts: Enjoyable. Fun adventure. Multiple action scenes. Kept me interested enough to want to reach the next book, but not rushing to read it immediately.
