Confessions of a Literary Addict

Watch out for spoilers!

Read my review of the first book here.

A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani
Series: The School for Good and Evil #2
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fairy Tale
Release Date: Published April 14th 2015 by HarperCollins
Format: Paperback, 433 pages
Rating: 5/5 Crabapples
Find it here: Goodreads || Book Depository

After saving themselves and their fellow students from a life pitched against one another, Sophie and Agatha are back home again, living happily ever after. But life isn’t exactly a fairytale. When Agatha secretly wishes she’d chosen a different happy ending with Prince Tedros, the gates to the School for Good and Evil open once again. But Good and Evil are no longer enemies and Princes and Princesses may not be what they seem, as new bonds form and old ones shatter.

Okay, first off. Let me just say, these book trailers? Hot damn. A+. Rewatching them after finishing the book only makes them better, I suggest giving it a go yourself if you haven’t already. I wish more book trailers were like this.

The actual book lives up to its trailer, and I liked it even more than I liked the first book in the series. The princesses and witches of the first book banning together in a single school and learning how to become total badasses? Yes please. I did feel bad for the boys, who got the short end of things this time around, but I thought it was really cool how the girls were learning to take care of themselves this time around, rather than how to be a pretty princess (for Evers, at least) and wait for their princes. If only there had been a good balance between the two, but I guess we wouldn’t have had this sequel if that where the case, huh?

This series just keeps getting better and better as Agatha and Sophie’s story develops and their characters start to mature and grow. Agatha is growing as a person and becoming the princess she is, in a good way, and Sophie is learning from her and growing as a person of good rather than evil. Sure, she’s still selfish and she pulls a total twist at the end with her choice, but she was trying even harder to be worthy of being Agatha’s true love throughout the whole book and she grew on me like you wouldn’t believe. I wasn’t thrilled with her in the first book, I favored Agatha over her, but in this one I definitely was liking Sophie more for her deeds and the way she kept trying.

The part where Sophie was a guy and totally won over Tedros, though? I don’t know how I feel about that. I don’t want Sophie to end up with Tedros, but I’m also not sure I want him with Agatha. I just don’t like Tedros all that much, he seems like a pretty spoiled guy who wavers too easily on what he wants. Agatha deserves better. If Tedros stays with her, be better shape his ass up. And I don’t mean end up with Sophie, shape up.

For some reason I was getting the vibe all through the first book that Sophie was going to end up with Hort, but I guess that’s not the case. Poor Hort. I like him. Oh well. I can still hope she’ll end up with him or something, right?

I can’t wait for the third book, and by the time this is published I should have already sunk my teeth into it if not finished it, so here’s hoping it lives up to the incredibly high standards I now have for this series (edit prior to final publishing, currently half-way through book three: IT DOES. IT REALLY DOES.) and wraps up the loose ends. I’m ridiculously excited.

Are you neck deep in this series? Let me know what you think of it, please! By all means, argue against me on things, I like to see different viewpoints if they’re out there. I like to see all opinions, even if they’re the same as my own or completely different. I just really like to talk.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Nova