The School for Good and Evil

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was honestly ready to give this book five stars pretty much from the very beginning. It was amazing. I loved the characters. I loved how the author made the reader really think about the difference between good and evil. This is saying a lot from me, because I don’t normally read much middle grade.

Then we got to the ending. And I hated it. Despised, even.

The first three quarters of the book reminded me greatly of A School for Villains, which I LOVED. I thought for sure that this book would follow right along with that sort of storyline. But I simply couldn’t get past the ending.

Still, I did love the first part of the book and the writing style. I enjoyed all of the characters and the premise in general. I also have to factor in that I didn’t know this was a series when I first finished it. Thus I only docked one star because of the ending. Others may love it. I just didn’t happen to be one of them.

My Labyrinth Pets

We have a new furry addition to our family. A couple from our church was looking for a good home for one of their kittens, so we ended up taking him. It’s funny, because he looks really similar to Ludo, my older cat, just miniature. I told Husband that Ludo got to be the deciding factor. (The poor boy is thirteen years old, after all. He should have some say in the matter.) Well, he still doesn’t care for the kitten, but Husband was already attached by that point. Thus Ludo has had to learn some patience. 

After watching their tumultuous beginning, I decided to change the kitten’s name to Sir Didymus. Fellow geeks or ‘80’s lovers would recognize Ludo’s name as the giant monster from Labyrinth. If you’ve seen that movie, you’ll remember Sir Didymus as the little fox terrier who happens to be the guardian of the bridge that leads out of the Bog of Eternal Stench. He’s fearless and stubborn, and at one point, giant Ludo tries to get past him only to be clobbered by the tiny fellow. 

That pretty much sums up my cat Ludo and the new kitten’s relationship perfectly.

The kitten usually thinks Ludo is trying to play. Just like his namesake, he’s fearless. When Ludo takes a swipe at him, the kitten tends to lunge back, causing Ludo to panic and run the other direction. It’s pretty hilarious, actually. I hope that their relationship will end up more like Ludo and Sir Didymus at the end of the movie, but I’m not holding my breath just yet.