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With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.
The two girls soon 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 among 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?

I’ve wanted to read this book for such a long time, since my good friend Pete told me how much he loved it after reading it in 2017. 5 years later, and I’m looking forward to meeting Soman Chainani at YALC in a few weeks time, and finally decided to pick up the start of this series. I actually read this first book on audio, and I really enjoyed the narration of it and actually found it easier to read than the physical copy.

I loved how this book existed in a world where fairytales are real and the two main characters find themselves in what was, essentially, a fairytale of their own. It made for quite a unique dynamic to the story but it still felt reminiscent of middle grade fantasy.

 “You’re not evil, Sophie,” Agatha whispered, touching her decayed cheek. “You’re human.”

The only big problem I had with this book was the fact it was told in third person, and I was quite glad to be listening to the audiobook because of that. The book often changes perspective, and I found it difficult to follow at times.

The best part of this book for me was definitely the female friendship between Sophie and Agatha, and I loved how they stuck together through everything. I was a little surprised by the amount of romance, but it was reminiscent of fairytales rather than YA/adult books.

Sophie smiled weakly. “Only if I have you.”

I don’t feel like I quite loved this book as much as many people seem to, but I did still enjoy a lot of aspects of it and will definitely be recommending it to children who are looking for a new fantasy read, and have already started listening to the second book in the series!

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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