J.C. Buchanan

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Title: The School For Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1)

Author: Soman Chainani

Published By: HarperCollins (2013)

Synopsis: 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…? (Taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainai left me thinking two things:

Wow, that book was good. 

Wow, that book was confusing.

While the book overall was a very fantastical story set right in a very believable fairy-tale setting, many scenes were incredibly confusing. I found it very difficult—mostly in the second half of the story—to keep track of where characters where, what they were doing and why they were doing things. The plotline itself was fast-paced and brimming with adventure, fantasy, and magic, and generally this kind of thing is good: however, in this setting and this book, it felt like there was too much of it, which resulted in confusion.

The relationship between Agatha and Sophie was…interesting…and confusing. The beginning, the first half, was phenomenal, and I loved Agatha’s character so much and her heart to just make sure Sophie was okay, while Sophie seems to care only about herself. Over the course of the story, we learn the characters’ true beings—that Agatha, though she appears a witch, is actually a kind girl who only wants to help others; and Sophie, the girl we all think is gonna be the princess, turns out to be a wicked person who cares only about herself.

Or so it’s portrayed.

While I loved Agatha and found her written very well, I was rather in disbelief about Sophie.

For instance, I never really knew if she was evil, good, evil faking good, or good faking evil; even after finishing reading, I’m not that sure of her true intent. Also, despite the many many attributes of her character that suggests hidden cruelty, I found myself feeling sympathetic for her as she’s pushed through Evil School. I understand that it’s a fairy-tale world, but really, you put anyone—princess or not—in that evil place, and they’re going to come out a villain. Sophie, to me, seemed like a semi-decent girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the other hand, the author did an amazing job with Agatha. She was written so beautifully; I loved her heart to help her friend, even if it meant getting herself in trouble. I loved her intent, where she feels more at home at Evil with its dirtiness, but knows in her heart she doesn’t want to be evil. She was done so well, and I loved her.

The ending. It was strange, not to mention incredibly flummoxing. One page Sophie was good and on Agatha’s side; the next page she’s trying to kill her. One page you think, good, Good is going to prevail! and the next you think, Is Good actually Evil and Evil actually good? And I have no idea what the author was trying to accomplish by the ending scene and “who needs princes in our fairy tale?” but it came off very strange. I understand the concept of friendship, but it just did not come off the way it was intended to. Not to mention the thing with the School Master and Sophie! That just added to the weirdness and the confusion.

Negative Content/Notes: 

A lot of scenes in this book, though written with a juvenile sense, were rather creepy. There was no way of knowing what was coming next—which in this sense was not good—and the whole prospect of Agatha’s best friend suddenly trying to kill her because she’s her “Nemesis”(and then the next page desperately apologizing) was confusing and creepy.

Overall:

While this book’s writing style, plotline, themes, and set were aimed towards a more juvenile audience, lots of the scenes were either creepy or confusing, and like I’ve said, the ending was just weird. While I did enjoy the book as a whole, the things I disliked just outweighed the good things. I wouldn’t not recommend it, just don’t expect anything incredible if you do read it.

Rating: 3.0

Recommended to: Ehh…not sure I’d recommend it.

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Title: The Limit

Author: Kristen Landon

Published By: Aladdin (2010)

Synopsis: An eighth grade girl was taken today . . . With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fast-paced thriller that doesn’t let up for a moment.

In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the monthly debt limit imposed by the government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit—and to change his reality forever. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

This book was very well done. Plotted and described in a way that reminded me of The Girl Who Could Fly, The Limit is set in a futuristic world where families who cannot keep under their debt “limit” are forced to send their children off to workhouses to work the debt  off. Our main character, Matt, has never truly worried about the limit; his family manages money well—or so he believes. When his family suddenly finds themselves over the limit one fateful day, Matt finds himself being sent off to one of the workhouses without so much as a goodbye. He dreads it and just knows it’s going to be torture, and fears he will never get out once he arrives.

It had a pretty good plotline; at any rate, it was interesting enough to keep me reading. The writing was acceptable, with longer sentences and better word choices. The descriptions were decent, and Matt was a good main character, working for the sake of his family and friends rather than for himself. His love for his sisters was well expressed, as well, and yet he still felt like a realistic teenage boy.

*MINOR SPOILER BELOW*

However, there were aspects of the plot I found very unbelievable and fell a bit flat. For example, in one scene, Matt decides to run away. And despite all the security the author has gone into detail explaining over and over how strong it is, Matt still defies the odds and gets away. And not even that. He makes it all the way back to the city—walking, even though it took two hours to drive there—and even gets back to his house. I thought the security was super tight? I thought the people in charge were super smart? How was it even possible Matt made it that far?

And then, when he gets back to his house, he walks in, sees his little sister and says, “Hi, Abbie,” before going upstairs. No tiredness? No fatigue? No emotional aspect of “I can’t believe I’m home”? Nope. Then he goes to his mom and she barely notices he’s there, only is worried about money and new businesses. And then Matt blows up at her for not being careful enough with money, careless enough that he and his little sister were both taken. (That part, at least, was understandable.)

Then, of course, there’s a knock and it’s the security. Finally. On top of it all, he willingly goes back to the school. This was the one part of the story that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Seriously—I know the security is going to come after him and make him come back, but first of all, they wouldn’t catch him the next morning. It would be minutes later, from the way the security is described in the book. Secondly, he wouldn’t go all the way out there just to tell his parents Lauren was sick, then willingly go back! The impression that came off as a result was the school was some kind of place one could easily leave at any time and then come back, when it was supposedly the other way around.

* SPOILERS OVER *

The one other thing was: while the workhouses before he arrives are described as some kind of horror place, once he gets there it seems more like a fun school. He’s supposedly there to do “work” that will help pay off his family’s debt, but I’m still in the dark on exactly what this “work” was. All that’s said was that he worked all day at a computer at online school classes, then created intricate new designs for popular companies. If this were any other genre, I’d say that it seems incredibly unrealistic that they’d make the “work” for thirteen-year-olds  creating new hit designs and animations for companies, but then again, this IS a dystopia where teens seem to be very experienced with computers. I do wish there had been more detail on the work, though. The only impression I got was that it was fun. As well, despite the word “workhouse”, scenes where the characters openly admit they’d like to live there forever are constant. Even Matt wonders if he’d like to stay there and never go home. After all, it seems to him like a perfect paradise.

Negative Content:

None.

Overall:

Other than those few things, though, the book was very well done and I enjoyed it. Like I’ve said, it reminded me much of The Girl Who Could Fly, and that put a positive spin on my reading. Though it definitely isn’t the best book out there, this dystopian story was a fast-paced, intriguing, and a somewhat well-written read. I wouldn’t consider it a favorite, but I’ll probably be re-reading it sometime in the future.

Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Recommended to: Anyone looking for a clean dystopian.

 

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Title: The Other Side of the Island

Author: Allegra Goodman

Published By: Razorbill (2008)

Synopsis: 

Honor and her parents have been reassigned to live on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea. Life is peaceful there, the color of the sky is regulated by Earth Mother, a corporation that controls New Weather, and it almost never rains. Everyone fits into their rightful and predictable place. . . .

Except Honor. She doesn’t fit in, but then she meets Helix, a boy with a big heart and a keen sense for the world around them. Slowly, Honor and Helix begin to uncover a terrible truth about life on the Island: Sooner or later, those who are unpredictable disappear . . . and they don’t ever come back. (Taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

Wow! This book was amazing amazing amazing! I’ve read many a dystopian in my life, but this one is way up there with some of the best ones I’ve ever read. I read it in almost one sitting. It was so captivating and interesting!

Honor and her parents live on an island under the watch of Earth Mother and her many rules, but Honor’s family doesn’t follow most of those rules. They have an illegal second child, stay out past curfew, and even Honor’s name, in which the H is silent, doesn’t seem appropriate anymore. Honor and their second child—her brother Quintilian—worry about their parents. Because in this world, if you don’t follow Earth Mother’s rules, you disappear, and don’t come back.

I love, love, loved this book. Great writing, great characters, and a great realistic feel! Even though Honor starts as a ten-year-old and finishes as a fourteen-year-old, she stayed true to her character and everything pulled together fabulously.

Adventurous, mysterious, suspenseful, and clean…every so often I reread this book, and it never fails to remain one of my favorite books of all time.

Negative Content/Notes:

No negative content. However, there were some “religious” themes that had me knotted up for a while. Characters in the book worship “Earth Mother,” they pray to her and there is a version of the Lord’s Prayer they say to her. Honor’s parents, however, tell her that is not the answer, and that there is more to life than what she has been taught. While some could view this as some sort of message against Christianity, my final verdict is that I don’t see that at all. You could also say, after all, that Honor’s parents’ search for the Forecaster might represent going against the religious culture to follow Jesus. At the end of the day I just don’t think the author meant to send any sort of theme like that at all–based on the tone of the story I think it was only there to create an interesting story. I just thought it was worth noting.

Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

Recommended to: Highly, highly recommended to probably ages 10 & up!