The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani and Iacopo Bruno (School for Good and Evil, Book 1)

Sophie knows that this is the year. The School Master will come and take her away to her destiny. She will become the princess she was always meant to be. Of course, her best friend Agatha will be taken too, and she will become a witch. The two of them will enter the School for Good and Evil together, and live forever in a fairy tale. It's a dream come true! Anything is better than living her days out in this miserable town. Anything is better than being ordinary...

When the School Master comes, however, he makes a huge mistake. He puts Agatha in Good (Evers), and Sophie in Evil (Nevers)! This has to be a joke, right? Both girls are miserable, and no one will let them near the School Master's tower. Agatha wants nothing more than to go home, but Sophie wants her storybook ending. Sophie keeps accidentally winning challenges causing the Nevers to start to think maybe she's not as bad as they thought. Agatha, on the other hand, is in danger of failing if she loses any more challenges!

The school itself is full of mysterious history. The other students all come from storybook families. They call Agatha and Sophie "Readers," and mock their lack of knowledge. Each story is written by the Storian, a magic pen. Each student will be assigned a role in a larger tale when they graduate: hero, princess, villain, witch, henchman, or mogrif. A mogrif could be anything from a cat to a tree to a gargoyle...and neither want to end up as a piece of scenery.

How are they ever going to survive such a strange place! When Sophie sees Tedros, she knows she has found her prince. This is the answer to her Happily Ever After... but how will she ever convince him her Never status is undeserved? And how will she tell Agatha that she wants to stay?

"'You belong here with us,' Hester said, as she, Anadil, and Dot crowded around Agatha, whose head swung nervously between this villainous threesome. Did they really want to be her friend? Was Sophie right? Could being a villain make her...happy?
   Agatha's stomach churned. She didn't want to be Evil! Not when Sophie was Good! They had to get out of this place before it tore them apart!
   'I'm not leaving you!' she cried to Sophie, breaking away.
   'No one's asking you to leave me, Agatha,' Sophie said tightly. 'We're just asking you to leave your clothes,'" (Chainani, 2014).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
The School for Good and Evil #2: A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani
Storybound by Marissa Burt
Doll Bones by Holly Black

Chainani, Soman, & Bruno, Iacopo. (2013). The School for Good and Evil. New York, NY : Harper.