Tag Archives: Midas

Review: Fall of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,
Fall of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani cover shows a boy with white hair and golden armor in front center foreground. A boy with wavy red hair stands over his right shoulder in similar armor, glaring at him.

Fall of the School for Good and Evil (Rise of the School for Good and Evil #2)
Soman Chainani
HarperCollins
Published May 2, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Fall of the School for Good and Evil

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is the #1 movie now streaming on Netflix—starring Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Sofia Wylie, Sophie Anne Caruso, Jamie Flatters, Earl Cave, Kit Young, and many others! 

What rises . . . must fall. Two brothers. One Good. One Evil. In exchange for power and immortality, they watch over the Endless Woods and rule the School for Good and Evil. Yet all School Masters must face a test. Theirs is loyalty. But what happens when loyalty is corrupted? When the bonds of blood are broken? Who will survive? Who will die? And what will become of the school and its students? The journey that started a hundred years ago throttles towards its end. This final chapter in the duology that began with the RISE OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL brings the tale of the twin School Masters to the brink of war and a shocking conclusion that will change the course of the school forever.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book was that it took me back to the world of the School for Good and Evil and gave me a chance to revisit some of the characters I loved from the first book. I loved seeing what Kyma, Marialena, and James Hook were up to and watching them pivot based on new information or circumstances that came up.

The story-slash-plot isn’t as densely packed in this book as I thought it was in the first one. The story also had a very large cast of characters, so at times, I struggled to keep the details straight about who was doing what. It was also a boy-heavy cast. I think there were something like two or three girls with a presence in more than one scene, so really not that many, considering the number of boy characters included.

I’ve only read the first book of the School for Good and Evil series, so I don’t know if that series centered a lot more around female characters as a whole, and this duology is more male-centered in order to counter-balance that. That would make sense, though, and be a nice way to broaden the appeal of both series.

All in all, I enjoyed revisiting the world of the School for Good and Evil and getting the complete story of the School Master. I’ve been thinking of listening to the series on audiobooks next year, so it’ll be interesting to go into those books with the backstory in mind. I’m curious what references to it I might find.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
At least one character is described as having bronze or brown skin. One character briefly indicates he might be attracted to both boys and girls. Another boy indicates he is only attracted to other boys.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Rafal and Rhian have the ability to breathe a bit of their souls (and their magic) into another person. Both use this ability, which one recipient refers to as a kiss.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic.

Violent Content
Thematically, the story gets a bit dark at times– very true to the vibes of some original fairy tales. In one scene, some characters are left to be devoured by a cannibal who shows up wearing the literal faces of his past victims. Some leaders collect armies who agree to fight for them. Some scenes reference battles. One character has the ability to turn whatever he touches into gold, including people.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of FALL OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL in exchange for my honest review.


Review: A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

A Touch of Gold
Annie Sullivan
Blink
Published on August 14, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About A Touch of Gold
King Midas once had the ability to turn all he touched into gold. But after his gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, Midas relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.

Kora spends her days locked in the palace, concealed behind gloves and veils, trying to ignore the stares and gossip of courtiers. It isn’t until a charming young duke arrives that Kora realizes there may be someone out there who doesn’t fear her or her curse. But their courtship is disrupted when a thief steals precious items from the kingdom, leaving the treasury depleted and King Midas vulnerable. Thanks to her unique ability to sense gold, Kora is the only one who can track the thief down. As she sails off on her quest, Kora learns that not everything is what it seems—not thieves, not pirates, and not even curses. She quickly discovers that gold—and the power it brings—is more dangerous than she’d ever believed.

Midas learned his lesson at a price. What will Kora’s journey cost?

My Review
I can never resist an unusual myth or fairytale retelling, so when A Touch of Gold caught my eye, I knew I needed to get ahold of a copy. I found it to be a cool reimagining of a familiar tale.

Right at the beginning, I wasn’t too sure about the book, though. The prologue is long and kind of confusing. It kind of sets up the story by recounting the story of Midas and introducing Kora, but I think a lot of that information could have been included in the early chapters instead. That would have made the opening read more smoothly for me.

Once I got into the story, though, I liked it a lot more. I wasn’t sure about Hettie, Kora’s lady-in-waiting, who at first seems super selfish and complains about EVERYTHING. Eventually she finds some things to be happy about and even stops seeming quite so selfish, which was great. She definitely grew on me as the story progressed.

I worried a little bit as I passed the halfway point, that A Touch of Gold was going to be a straightforward, boring story where it came to the romance. And then, boom! PLOT TWIST! Everything changed. It wasn’t an unpredictable move, but it was a really satisfying one. I loved the story even more after that point.

All in all, I’m glad I read this one. A Touch of Gold proved to be a quick read and an entertaining one at that. If you’re like me, and you can’t resist a retelling that’s a little more unusual, then resist no more – get you a copy of this book.
You might also be interested in A Touch of Gold if you liked Whisper of the Tide by Sarah Tolcser or Goddess Tithe by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Kora’s mother was Sunisan. (I’m not sure what ethnicity this maps to, but I didn’t look much beyond a quick Google search. The original story about King Midas would have taken place in Asia in what’s now Turkey.)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between a young man and young woman.

Spiritual Content
Dionysus cursed Kora’s father so that everything he touched turned to gold. He was told he could reverse the curse by washing everything he’d turned in a river. He only partially completed this task and bears some consequences.
Violent Content
A ruthless pirate called Captain Skulls collects human skulls on his ship. A couple scenes show beheaded bodies. Kora and her friends start a brawl in a tavern to distract their enemies.
Pirates battle Kora’s companions. Some brief descriptions of peril, fighting, and injuries.

Drug Content
Kora and her friends go into a seedy tavern.