Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

26 reviews

samantha_06x's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved the book the author developed the magical lore and world building well, by slowly introducing the elements as the main characters discover the new world we are able to learn and understand with the characters as apposed to being frustrated by their ignorance. 
The book does a good job of making you as a reader become invested in Sophie despite her questionable decisions and ultimately want a happy ending for the 2 main characters. 
Lost a star as

I felt the end was slightly rushed with the appearance of the headmaster which was quickly resolved which did not give me as a reader enough time to experience the shock of the twist fully as the plot swiftly moves on.

 
As well as this when linking being evil to ugliness there will always be some issues as the concept of ugliness is inherently racist/abelist/fat-phobic. I don't think this was handled well with

Sophie's insults towards Dot being fat. If Sophie's comments were evidence of her evilness this would be slightly better. However this is not the case as at the end of the book when the villains are transformed to be good and given 'makeovers' Dot's body is described to transform into an 'hourglass figure'. I was shocked at this unnecessary addition which justified Sophie's comments.

Although the book is written for a younger audience I think anyone who enjoys fantasy books like Harry Potter will also enjoy this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Minor: Kidnapping, Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Child death, Sexism, and Grief

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, and Fatphobia

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, and War

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Animal death

Minor: Animal cruelty and Torture

hayleyvem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Violence, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Torture, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, and Lesbophobia

xandra_lyn's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Did I end up liking this book? Yes. 
Did I start off liking it? Absolutely not.

The first half is rough. There are interesting aspects, but it just took too long to get to the point. It's also kinda crass at points. About half way through, it picks up and I could not put it down. 

And then. And then!!!
It ends on a cliff hanger. Super obnoxious.  

But yes, I will be reading the second book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Torture

Violence is vague, but I can't describe all of it because there's too much. There are several deaths in it. Torture: nothing explicitly described, but talk about hearing people scream from the doom room a lot.

ninahuynh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I can't help but rate this book 4.75 stars! This is technically a reread, as I have read it once during middle school. Now as an adult, I can see the appeal of the book to my middle school self and still do enjoy the book. There are moments when the characters get on my nerves, but I have to remember that they are children and trained to think in certain ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Death of parent and Fatphobia

flyintothestorm's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm going to read the second one too, because I don't know if the book was really plain and predictable and trying to do some things that it didn't achieve or if it gave me that impression because I knew more or less the plot of the movie and it was setting things up for the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Violence and Death

Minor: Death of parent

thecourtofreading's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this has always been a childhood favourite of mine; i remember being obsessed with this world and the characters, and now the movie is out on netflix i decided to reread ... as an 18 year old. and i'm still absolutely bewitched by it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia and Death

Minor: Misogyny, Blood, and Death of parent

ednam0dewannabe's review

sadly I don't have enough time to read it :c

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Confinement

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Vomit

midnightgremlin'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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child death, and Body shaming

Moderate: Fatphobia and Death of parent