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lawbooks600's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Representation: Implied minor Asian character
Score: Six points out of ten.
Man, this was worse than the first book, so much so that I'm a little disheartened, the first book was alright and I hoped the second one would be a much needed improvement to the series. It wasn't. It's highly unlikely that I'll read the third and final instalment in the trilogy since it's more than 600 pages, and I don't think it's worth my time. It starts (more like continues) with the main characters Sophie and Agatha and after the events of the first book the School for Good and School for Evil don't exist anymore. Instead there are new gender segregated schools (Really? They were co-ed and now this. Come on.) called the School for Girls and the School for Boys. More flaws surfaced as I read through more of the narrative. First, I struggled to connect to any of the characters, second is the pacing, since the books I read recently were all slow paced (and sometimes that can let me explore character dynamics or other aspects of the novel but if the characters aren't that well written, what's the point of the slow pacing? I don't get it. It doesn't work here.) The second half of the story had nothing much happening and it fizzled out in the end. Shame. At least the bonus content (of which there were 50 pages) were intriguing enough for me to read and were better than all 430 pages of the book combined.
Score: Six points out of ten.
Man, this was worse than the first book, so much so that I'm a little disheartened, the first book was alright and I hoped the second one would be a much needed improvement to the series. It wasn't. It's highly unlikely that I'll read the third and final instalment in the trilogy since it's more than 600 pages, and I don't think it's worth my time. It starts (more like continues) with the main characters Sophie and Agatha and after the events of the first book the School for Good and School for Evil don't exist anymore. Instead there are new gender segregated schools (Really? They were co-ed and now this. Come on.) called the School for Girls and the School for Boys. More flaws surfaced as I read through more of the narrative. First, I struggled to connect to any of the characters, second is the pacing, since the books I read recently were all slow paced (and sometimes that can let me explore character dynamics or other aspects of the novel but if the characters aren't that well written, what's the point of the slow pacing? I don't get it. It doesn't work here.) The second half of the story had nothing much happening and it fizzled out in the end. Shame. At least the bonus content (of which there were 50 pages) were intriguing enough for me to read and were better than all 430 pages of the book combined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
Full trigger warnings: Blood depiction, physical assault and injury, death of people, sexism, slavery mentionedneko_reads's review against another edition
dnf. i just could not put myself through this, and its kinda sad because I kinda wanted to like it since I used to but no. just no
this book just takes everything the first book worked for (not much) and killed it. the lgbtish relationship? NO we just couldn't be happy with that, there has to be some boy involved
this book just shows the weirdest sexism reversed, homophobic, tasteless book. so the main characters have no character anymore. sophies character is dead, shes just quiet and agatha is TERRIBLE. now her entire world is tedros. Tedros has no character, its terrible.
also the quote "whats a boy? someone who wishes for a girl. whats a girl? someone who wishes for a boy. whats someone who kissed a girl? DEFINITELY A BOY" homophobia if I've ever seen it.
anyway ill shut up about how much I hate this now like IT IS THAT BAD
this book just takes everything the first book worked for (not much) and killed it. the lgbtish relationship? NO we just couldn't be happy with that, there has to be some boy involved
this book just shows the weirdest sexism reversed, homophobic, tasteless book. so the main characters have no character anymore. sophies character is dead, shes just quiet and agatha is TERRIBLE. now her entire world is tedros. Tedros has no character, its terrible.
also the quote "whats a boy? someone who wishes for a girl. whats a girl? someone who wishes for a boy. whats someone who kissed a girl? DEFINITELY A BOY" homophobia if I've ever seen it.
anyway ill shut up about how much I hate this now like IT IS THAT BAD
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death of parent
lakinglaze's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wanted to really like this book and it had a lot of potential, but I didn’t love it. There are just too many problems, the plot development is lacking, and everything just felt flat and under developed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Confinement
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Slavery, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Torture
Moderate: Death, War, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, and Death of parent
ashleylowry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Bullying, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Gaslighting, and Murder
booktrovertreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Murder
carmineslamp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
AHHHHHHHHH. I feel like this is such good middle grade fantasy. I'm in college and I still find myself riveted by it. I loved some of the twists and squinted at others, but eh, what do you expect.
WHY WERE TEDROS AND FILIP SO GAY FOR EACH OTHER??? THOSE ARE TWO HOMOSEXUALS. BRUH. BRUH. AND TRISTAN??? BRO, SHIT R U I N E D ME
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Death and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Torture
Sexism in reference to the girls calling the boys born slaves and the boys just fucking hating women, I guess.xandra_lyn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
So even though I enjoyed this more than the first book, I'm rating it lower.
Pros: pacing and end were much better than the first book
Cons: the animosity between the genders is horrible. I know toxic masculinity wasn't a word back then, but this shows the awfulness of it without having the characters realize how awful it is. I also hate how these characters go through horrific things and have ZERO PTSD. The cruelty is awful and sad, and I don't think anyone actually treats people that way - and if they do, then toxic masculinity has been destroying people for so long, we no longer care that it's put into a children's book.
Pros: pacing and end were much better than the first book
Cons: the animosity between the genders is horrible. I know toxic masculinity wasn't a word back then, but this shows the awfulness of it without having the characters realize how awful it is. I also hate how these characters go through horrific things and have ZERO PTSD. The cruelty is awful and sad, and I don't think anyone actually treats people that way - and if they do, then toxic masculinity has been destroying people for so long, we no longer care that it's put into a children's book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture and Death
Torture: tedros is beaten, and although it doesnt go into the details, it goes into his state of mind before and after and it's heartbreakingjaidlyn_7's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Slavery, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Death
just_klaudia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Death