Parents' Guide to Fall of the School for Good and Evil: Rise, Book 2

Book Soman Chainani Fantasy 2023
Computer illustration of a young man with white hair and blue eyes staring intently in front of another young man with red curly hair and green eyes looking suspicious.

Common Sense Media Review

Andrea Beach By Andrea Beach , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 10+

Lots of adventure and excitement in magical series prequel.

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What's the Story?

FALL OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL sees tension rising between twin school masters Rhian and Rafal. Their bonds of loyalty are tested again and again, and always seem to come up short, at least for Rafal, who starts to wonder if he and his brother are in the right place. They decide to bring a non-magical Reader to the school for a chance to foster a loyal follower from the ground up, little imagining the chaos this Reader is capable of bringing. Meanwhile, the treacherous dictator Peter Pan senses the time may have come for him to seize control of the School for Good and Evil. Can Hook, Aladdin, and Kyma stop him before it's too late?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

Fantasy and fractured fairy tale fans will enjoy this action-packed and exciting installment in the popular good-and-evil series. Fall of the School for Good and Evil is especially strong when it comes to describing action in ways that are easy to imagine, often funny, and always exciting. Familiar characters are back, along with some intriguing newcomers. Chapters with cliffhanger endings that then switch to follow another set of characters keep up the suspense and keep the pages turning, right up to the intriguing setup to the first book in the original series.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Fall of the School for Good and Evil portrays good and evil. Are people either one or the other, or are they a little of both? How can you tell which is which?

  • The story also asks whether it's possible to do something bad for a good reason, or for the greater good. Does that make the bad thing actually a good thing? Or should you find another way to do whatever good you're trying to achieve?

  • What about the violence? Is it too much? Too scary? Is reading violent stories different from seeing them in TV, movies, games, etc.?

Book Details

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Computer illustration of a young man with white hair and blue eyes staring intently in front of another young man with red curly hair and green eyes looking suspicious.

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