Review: Fall of the School for Good and Evil

Fall of the School for Good and Evil

Written by: Soman Chainani

HarperCollins

2023

Return to the beginning of the end with Fall of the School for Good and Evil and see the twins seal their fate and define the rest of the series.

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Fall of the School for Good and Evil is a masterful addition to the series, both heartbreaking and mesmerizing; despite knowing the ending, the how is what catches the reader off guard.

Amazing

I am a grown woman, about to turn 32 years old, and let me tell you, I absolutely love this series. Since the beginning, I have been with the series, stumbling upon The School for Good and Evil when the first book was released. I was doing what I usually do and just perusing the shelves, looking for something to read while I sat in the café. I was either 21 or 22 at the time. I grabbed this book, captivated by the cover, sat in the kid’s section, and began reading.

Needless to say, I left the bookstore with the book and preordered every single book after that.

So, as a huge fan, I knew, or at the very least sensed, this story’s direction.

But it was the how and the journey that kept me hooked.

Soman Chainani is a masterful storyteller and writer. I loved how the bond between Rhian and Rafal was built and broken. These are two brothers who love each other and also struggle with their own identities.

So many complexities go with the characters who all struggle to be good or evil. But that is all subjective. And that is what the twins were meant to represent; that was their test. They are two halves of the same coin, good and evil, showing how both sides can test a person. That was why the school was once one school instead of two.

The intricate storytelling and the level of depth that goes into the story make princesses into warriors, thieves and pirates into heroes, and princes into villains. Even in a fairytale, nothing is black or white. Some are more villainous and genuinely evil, but someone is always someone else’s villain.

Chainani shows that characters and people must be true to themselves to be happy.

Effortless

But, as I said above, I knew how this story would end, and that did not diminish the heartbreak I felt at the end.

The journey to that point, the character development, was so impactful. After reading every book before this, you know that one brother is going to kill the other. But you also know these brothers love each other. They love each other so much, and yet, love is not enough, not for one.

To see how it ends, to know how it ends, Chainani still makes you hope for a different outcome you know is impossible. But you hope the love these brothers have for one another will win out.

But that’s not the story.

This isn’t just the Fall of the School and Evil. It is the fall of the brothers from grace. The beginning of their end.

Final Thoughts

There is so much I can say about this fantastic series. The Fall of the School for Good and Evil is the cherry on top of a brilliant series. I’m heartbroken by the end and saddened that this is probably the last book in this beautiful series.

Absolutely a must-read for all ages.

Cynthia Ayala

Cynthia Ayala-Bujnicki majored in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Editor-in-chief of Cyn's Workshop, she loves to read and write while tending to her pepper plants. She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, two kids Dante and Selene and two furbabies Mr. J the Kitten who Thinks He's Batman (yes, that is his full name) and Nyx.