The Last Ever After (The School For Good and Evil, #3)

Rating on Goodreads: 4/5 ★
Rating on Grace and Books: 3.5/5 ★




SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


In the epic next chapter of Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling series, The School for Good and Evil, everything old is new again as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their story.

As A World Without Princes closed, the end was written and former best friends Sophie and Agatha went their separate ways. Agatha was whisked back to Gavaldon with Tedros and Sophie stayed behind with the beautiful young School Master.

But as they settle into their new lives, their story begs to be re-written, and this time, theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the villains of the past have come back to change their tales and turn the world of Good and Evil upside down.

I cannot stress enough how much I love this book, despite its flaws. It's so much more intense than the first 2 books combined. In fact, I think this book is one of those that gets my 'To Be Re-read' seal of approval. Even if it can drag on a little too much at times. Ah, well. 

Basically the whole world has gone to hell right after Agatha and Tedros chose each other in Book 2. And now it's up to the two of them to stop Sophie and the School Master from destroying the fairy tale world. 

To be honest, I kind of expected such a situation to happen in the third book of every trilogy/at some point during a series, seeing how many fantasy/science fiction books I have read over many years. Such happenings are cliche, that I know, but it's how it is executed, that will make the story unique. 

This particular story has a lot of moments where I laughed, almost cried, or almost threw the book across my room. (I didn't do that, because that would be book abuse.) This (and the previous 2 books) is the definition of the antithesis of fairytales. First, we had role reversal, second, we had rebellion against gender stereotypes...

Now, it's all the themes from the first 2, and more, combined. That's what makes this book awesome in it's own way. But I'll leave that for later.

The world in which our crew now inhabit is very dark and cruel. Ruled by Voldemort-oops, I meant Rafal, the School is under yet another dictatorship, this time committed to the cause of Evil, and granting it, after all those years of losing, a happy ending. This happy ending can only be achieved with a true love by his side. And that special person in question is Sophie. How all this came to be, is the surprising part. 

But anyway, let's go back to the beginning. Right after Agatha and Tedros get back to Gavaldon, they have to live together in Callis' (Agatha's mom) house. Things don't run smoothly from then on. There's a lot of bickering and complaining. And keep in mind that Agatha and Tedros were 'destined' to be together. Normally, fairy tales always end with 'happily ever after,' and that's it. But the thing they don't do, is show the inside relationship between the prince and princess. Is there quarrelling? Fighting? We'll never know. 

Then again, we have this in the second chapter: Agatha and Tedros do engage in fights of their own, about normal life, Sophie, so on so forth. And sometimes, it nearly turns physical. 

Thanks Soman, for giving us a realistic portrayal of fairy tale romance. Actually, when reality sets in, there's no fairy tale left. Although it pained my heart to see them bicker like that, the whole drama is worth it, because they do get closer. The main reason why they fight, is that they don't know each other all that well. Their likes, their dislikes, pet peeves, faults, the list runs on. 

On the flip side however, Sophie is desperately clinging on to the School Master (you-know-who), even as the fairy tale world is about to be condemned to oblivion. 

There's a shit-ton of problems the characters have to deal with in this book. Like witch-hunting, zombie villains coming back from the grave, and basically the new School for Evil, which is the two schools united under one rule.

On the topic of witch-hunting, it is a spot-on plot device to feature in the book since the main time period of this series is Medieval, back when religious beliefs ran to the extreme and anything opposing it would have to be eliminated. It's clear the people of Gavaldon do have a religion, since there's a church. It breaks my heart to know that, after all this while, Agatha and Callis are still seen as witches by the villagers and Elders. (It just shows how far their herd mentality can go, given they blame Tedros too, for all the kidnappings that happen every 4 years.)

On zombie villains, Soman made this story kind of feel like The Walking Dead. Except there is no plague, and we know who is controlling said zombies. 

I found the mashup of pop culture and tradition (a k a the clash between Old and New, as mentioned in the book) a little...unfitting. It made the story funny and lighthearted and all for me... but doing this seemed to take away something from the overall atmosphere. Heck, I kind of cringed at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference. Also, at some points, I felt that some problems (which were present in the previous two books) were being reused simply to drive the story along. (Stuff like Sophie's boy/Agatha trials and tribulations) Which in turn, dragged the plot. To be honest, the book could've been shortened to, say, 400-500 pages for that right amount of tension, excitement, you name it. That way, the overall experience would be better. 

However, at least there is another factor that made the book enjoyable for me: the appearance of fairy tale characters, former students of the school. The way Soman writes them is meant to give us insight to what happened after they were out of their tales. 

The main cast and crew is just as awesome/evil as always, but as usual, they have their faults, too.

Agatha

Ahhh my precious. Too good for this world :')

Throughout the whole book she did all she could to ensure her friend's safety. Even gave up Tedros at one point for Sophie's chance at happiness, although her sacrificing her own happiness for others' wasn't actually saving the fairy tale world - rather, it was making the whole situation worse. (And she had her lingering self-doubts about being a queen and ruling over Camelot with Tedros. Tbh, I felt that that part of her was the selfish side taking over.) Thankfully, she manages to embrace her role right on time and win back Ted. *cue happy tears* All in all, I'm super proud of how far she has come in the series. I mean, to go from the town's 'weirdo' to ruling as a QUEEN?! 10/10 to my baby.

Sophie

Now I don't really know what exactly to feel for her. In the first book, I was amused by her vanity and hated her for her manipulation; in book two, I kind of pitied her for being betrayed.

But now? I don't have a concrete stand. 

On one hand, I understand her need to not end up alone: be it with Agatha in book 2, or with Rafal... or with Tedros... 

On the other hand though, it's pretty clear she is dooming the fairy tale world all because she wants LOVE. In the first part, she knows The End (and not a good one) is coming, yet she staunchly refuses to give up Rafal. Then in the second part, she doesn't want to destroy the ring Rafal gave her, unless Tedros kisses her and seals their ending. I did feel some pity for her in the first part of the book, because it felt as if she was being intimidated by Rafal to become his queen. 

Fortunately, she gets a redemption arc in the last two chapters. I'm just glad she didn't succumb to unadulterated, chaotic evil and kill her father. By the end of the book, she becomes the successor to Lady Lesso as Evil's Dean, after she dies during the war between Good and Evil-staying true to her former pink-loving, diva-ish self, all while learning how to accept her true ending after all that happened to her. 

So what does that leave me with? A love-hate relationship? I guess that's it.

While we're on the topic of Sophie and Agatha... 

the biggest plot twist was pulled in the end ;)

And here it is... 

*SPOILERS AHEAD. TURN BACK IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK UNLESS YOU DON'T MIND HAVING THE FUN RUINED FOR YOU.*

Sophie and Agatha are sisters. But, as the book says, "not by blood." (Though the twist was cool and all, I thought it quite unnecessary.)

I loved the back story that involved Callis, Vanessa, Stefan, and Honora. (Sophie's stepmom in book 2) Seriously, Soman should write a novella from the perspectives of the adults. After all, they were the ones who made Aggie and Sophie's story happen.

Speaking of Callis, why did she have to be KILLED?! She's one of the greatest mothers in the series. (Hell, Vanessa dumped Agatha just because she wasn't pretty enough. Like, WTF?)
Callis freaking adopted and raised Agatha since birth. Agatha is the only one who matters to her, probably the only person who can keep Callis' memories as a teacher at the School for Evil away. AND AGATHA WAS CALLIS' HAPPILY EVER AFTER. WHY SOMAN? WHY?!
You know what? I'm salty AF.

Moving on...

Tedros

This dude has come far too. He developed from a typical snobby (and even whiny!) prince to a soon-to-be king who finally knows what true love is and means. And dear god, his moments with Agatha in this book were some of the most heartbreaking/warming scenes, of all their moments in the previous books. I remember how in the first book, I hoped Tedros would SOMEHOW be eliminated from the story arc because he and his clique could only be a dick to Aggie for so long, but after reading through book 2 and 3, I ditched that thought. Sure, he was still kind of a dick to Callis and Aggie in the beginning parts of the book, but for different reasons, the primary one being getting back to Camelot to become king, so that the kingdom won't collapse any further. I could see he still loved Aggie even though they fought a lot, and they still came back to each other in the end. My personal favourite was the scene that concludes 'part two', where Agatha and Tedros were reunited. And made out!!!! OK I have to stop now before the feels come flowing back-

I think that Tedros, as a character, gives closure to the original Arthurian legend. I know he isn't part of the ORIGINAL canon, but it's nice to see a spiritual reinvention/sequel of the story. 

As for the other characters in the Arthurian legend (Merlin, Lancelot, and Guinevere), I was actually glad to see them getting their time in the spotlight and gaining their ending: going to live with Tedros and Agatha in Camelot to accompany the two new successors. Sometimes, I feel as if this entire series is basically leading up to the second half or the untold ending to King Arthur's story. And I'm not complaining! 

Rafal

Through it all, I hated that bastard with a fiery passion. He manipulated Sophie into thinking she was always meant to be the villain, forced her into accepting his ring, never really gave her true freedom even after she attained queenly status. And besides, we all know he's an old ass man underneath that young mask. When Sophie destroyed his ring, I was all like: "gO GET THAT DEMON BACK TO WHERE HE BELONGS!"

The rest of the cast

I was glad to see more involvement from them, especially since this book is thick AF. 

• The three witches, it turns out, are not committed to Rafal's version of Evil. They join Good's side to defeat Rafal, because like Lady Lesso, they believe that Good has to co-exist with Evil for balance in the Woods. That's why they have officially become one of my top few favourite secondary characters in a series. 

• Hort got the biggest transformation of all time in this book series. Just kidding - it's not his character as a whole! He simply became hot. *winks* He's still very devoted to Sophie, which I doubt she will reciprocate in any way - but if she does, I'll root for this ship!
Edit: After some serious consideration, I feel that Sophie needs to learn a hundred things more about relationships before she can even start one. So if Hort gets with someone else, good on him!

• Aric died. *sprays confetti into the air*

• LADY LESSO. LADY LEONORA FRIGGIN LESSO. HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE THE WORLD LIKE THAT. She was a character I rooted for most of the time, because she's badass, Evil... but at the same time, she possesses MATURITY. But the one thing I needed was for her to redeem the ultimate sin she committed: leaving Aric in the Woods alone to fend for himself. He was abandoned by her for the sake of Evil's rules. 

Honestly, Aric holding a grudge against Lesso for doing this is a little inderstandable. Even if it goes over the top, to the extent that he wants to murder her. (which he did.)

All in all, this series is a good one. It has its shortcomings, but the ending of the saga, love it or hate it, puts the lid on the box nicely. 

wait what..?

THERE'S A BOOK 4?! 

Oh man. I take back my word about the ending. Yup, there's a fourth book called Quests For Glory, which is a sequel trilogy to the original set of books. I'm quite excited to see where our King + Queen, Dean, and everyone else go in their lives.


(Goodreads doesn't have this option sadly... so I had to round it up to 4)