Is love really enough? – review of the book “The Academy of Good and Evil. Beginning”

Keeping the balance between good and evil is not an easy task, but two loving brothers took it on. Meet Rafal and Rhian, whose stable life was shaken by the well-known boy with the lamp that grants wishes.

 

The Academy of Good and Evil has been present on our market for several years. The release of a prequel to it, i.e. Academy of Good and Evil. The beginning (Jaguar publishing house), even coincided with the film based on this series (available on Netflix). The Beginning is a book that allows us to look deeper into the story of two director brothers for whom love and balance were to be the most important elements of life.

Balance based on love

Rafal and Rhian are brothers who were assigned the task of managing an unusual school – an institution for good and bad heroes. Each of the superiors carefully takes care of their charges, supporting their qualities so that in the event of a confrontation with the opposing side they will cope with the trials imposed on them. The goal of their actions is to maintain a balance between the noble and law-abiding ones and the selfish ones from under the dark star. One day, however, an unexpected thing happens – a boy named Aladdin appears at the academy, whose destiny assigned to the Nevers (bad) and ended up in the Evershans (good). No one can explain it, and there is a greater disagreement between the directors than before. Resentments come to light, too many hurtful words are spoken, and eventually Rafal and Rhian embark on a path that will lead to the destruction not only of the entire school, but

White and black swan

Soman Chainani on the Polish market may be known to some not only from the series about the Evers and Nevers, but also an amazing book of stories based on classic fairy tales ( Beauty and the Beasts. Dangerous fairy tales published by Jaguar). At the Academy of Good and Evil. Beginningthe writer tells us the story with the help of an omniscient narrator, which all the time gives us the impression that we are reading one of the stories written by the magic pen in the possession of the directors, called the Storyteller. This is a procedure that perfectly emphasizes the character of this story and places us even more firmly in the realities of the world created by the author, because the task of the aforementioned magical item is to record the adventures of various heroes. In addition to the unusual climate of the whole story, the characters of the main characters are also noteworthy. Initially, everyone perfectly represents the role they have assumed, so that with subsequent events, step by step, they change and get lost in the decisions they make. It’s fascinating to watch the justification and transformation of loving brothers.

Of course, there are also other interesting people in the book who have a significant impact on the shaping of the distribution of power and the characters and behavior of directors. Everything begins with the aforementioned Aladdin and the story of a wish that was not fulfilled as the boy expected. The teenager, however, partially learns from it. Later, a vengeful and egotistical member of the Hak family, exploited by Rafal, enters the scene, which over time becomes extremely characterful. Chainani adds a fresh twist to the character we know and gives us the opportunity to look at her from a different angle, and even change our current opinion about her (I had that with Aladdin!).

 It was the beginning, please elaborate

The new Academy of Good and Evil novel is a complex story that combines an interesting idea, many well-drawn characters and a sad overtone. This book is very quick to read (it has 350 pages), because it engages us from the beginning and casts a kind of spell with the author’s style. Pleasant inserts are placed in the publication of graphics. Both young people and adults who like school life stories and references to famous fairy tales should be satisfied with reading.