The Last Ever After (The School for Good and Evil, Book 3)

I will never look at a fairy tale the same way ever again! The Last Ever After is the third book in the wonderful The School For Good and Evil series. It's darker and a little more menacing than the first two books (this is a mild warning for younger readers) and I loved it.

At the end of book two, A World Without Princes, Agatha and Sophie went their separate ways, both thinking they would now, once and for all, find their Happy Ever After. How wrong were they!! The decision to turn their backs on each other has devastating consequences for the fairy tale world. The fairy tales we all know, love and have grown up with are being re-written, as the long-dead villains from these stories are coming back to life to hunt down their nemesis. The reader gets involved as Captain Hook attacks Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, the Wolf re-visits Red Riding Hood in the attempt to make her his dinner once again, and we empathise with Cinderella, who delves deeper into her fairy tale to reveal not all is what it seemed and did she really have her Happy Ever After?

Can you see why I like this series so much? The books are so engaging. As I mentioned, this book is darker and more sinister than the earlier titles. There are scenes of death, decay and violence throughout the book that are so well written you can imagine yourself fighting alongside with your favourite fairytale character to stop evil taking over the fairy tale world.

Without giving too much away, at the beginning of the story Agatha and Tedros are living in Galvadon with Agatha's mother, Callis. However, not all is good. Even though they are together, Callis has to hide them and they do not understand why, Tedros wants to leave and go to Camelot, and Agatha is worried about her friends back at the school. How can this be a Happy Ever After? Meanwhile, Sophie is being drawn in by the new reincarnation of the School Master; he is young and very beautiful, he makes her feel so special, needed and wanted. Is he Sophie's last chance to find true love, or does he have another plan for her? (you will have to read it to find out!).

The book is cleverly wrapped up with lots of magic, wizardry and the fantastic humour of the previous two books. I love the addition of Merlin in this part of the series, he's the best wizard of them all! I just loved the way he used his hat, I could do with one of those especially around meal times !! The book digs deeper into the true meaning of friendship, love, trust and what really makes you happy. It's got 655 well written magical pages that are suitable for the 11+ reader. It's also great for the older reluctant reader, as even though it has many pages, the story is very pacy and with loads of unexpected twists and turns, it will keep any reader engaged. These are great book for reading groups, as there is so much you can choose to discuss. I'm now looking forward to book four - The Quest for Glory.

655 pages / Reviewed by Linda Brown, school librarian."

Suggested Reading Age 11+