Book Review - 'Drink, Slay, Love' by Sarah Beth Durst

2021 EDIT: 'Drink, Slay, Love' is a funny YA vampire book. Its "subversive" content was refreshing for its time in 2011, when 'Twilight'-mania was only barely beginning to die out.

It's a shame I have to downgrade it from my original read and review, because I hate the male love interest, and because of problematic content surrounding gender and consent, which said love interest is linked to.

Evan actually slut-shames Pearl on pages 54-55, saying she's dressed like a hooker, with a too-short skirt for the whole world to see her legs. Err, fuck you, dude. She can dress however she damn well pleases. This is made worse by the fact that he knows far more than he is letting on at this point. He fucking knows. While he does apologise once and admits he was out of line, the books frames his comments as helpful, when Pearl is deciding what to wear for human high school; she doesn't want to look like a "hooker".

Evan is a grand scale manipulator, violator, and stalker who destroyed Pearl's entire life, but that's spoiler territory and I won't reveal too much. Just know that Evan is alpha-male scum, but it's ok because he's ridiculously, godlike hot, like all YA male love interests, and he's "right" about everything, in the way of the ends justifying the means. Because the female victim's life, thoughts, feelings and agency don't matter, right? She never knows what's best for herself, or how much better she can be unless a boy comes along to coerce and dictate her choices - her very being - for her. Effing gag me.

And if I ever see the words "luminous eyes" again...

Pearl is also far, far too forgiving of the two wannabe vampire hunter boys, Matt and Zeke, who try to kill her forty pages into the book. Like, they hit her with a car, kidnap her, and put her in a cage (where did they get one big enough to hold a teenage girl? Never explained, and I'm not sure I want to know the answer anyway) for the intent of letting her burn to death in the sun. Her newfound daywalking abilities are what save her. Not once does the usually badass and vengeful vampire Pearl think of retaliation against the human boys, bloody or otherwise. They are her natural prey, and they bested her without a fight! No, Matt and Zeke are relegated to comic relief à la Bulk and Skull, and are goofy friends with Pearl! As I was reading, all the while they were being funny and stupid, I kept thinking, "They tried to kill the female protagonist. That is how they were introduced." Not good.

I wonder if Pearl would be so lenient towards her would-be murderers if they were girls...

'Drink, Slay, Love' has serious girl-on-girl hate issues, and problematic mother-and-other-female-authority-figures in contrast to the "nicer" and "more reasonable" male figures, to top the archaic YA clichés. Most of the girls that Pearl knows, in her family and at school, are catty and shallow stereotypes who hate her, either out of jealousy or the belief that she's a "freak". Pearl talks of "power plays" within hierarchies, in both vampire families and in high school, and they usually involve female rivalries and frenemies. These "bitchy" and imbecilic girls often meet horrific fates.

Infringing on free will "for the greater good" is another issue the book barely justifies. Additionally, I can't recall a mention of a POC character or a queer character. No, wait, there's "coffee-colored"-skinned Sana, but she's a token minority and a sporty stereotype. Hardly positive representation. How did I ever think that 'Drink, Slay, Love' was clever and subversive?

At least the hint of a love triangle is downplayed to the point that it's not really registered.

'Drink, Slay, Love' is one of the better examples of YA vampire literature, especially for the early 2010s. The writing isn't bad, though there are padding and pacing issues (the book did not need to be nearly 400 pages long). Pearl can be genuinely funny and witty sometimes, too.

But I'm sorry, I've had enough. I've had enough of the paranormal genre, whether it's YA or older, with its heteronormality, whitewashing, girl-on-girl hate, manipulative alpha male hot love interests whom the "strong female protagonist" falls for anyway, and consent and boundaries being carelessly violated (just because it's fantasy and sci-fi it doesn't make it any less evil!), to last me a lifetime.

To conclude, I merely expect better now.

Final Score: 3/5





Original Review:



Quite possibly the best modern vampire novel I've read so far, period.

'Drink, Slay, Love' is a delightfully fun read, and being aware of its own genre, the humour hits the mark in a subversive sense. The comedy is also brilliant and well-placed throughout the story. 'Drink, Slay, Love' takes everything relative to 'Twilight' and flips it on its head - some of the twists are subtle (the girl being the bloodsucking monster integrating into the human world through school), while others are more obvious ('Twilight' movie memorabilia being used as decorations for a deliberately bad vampire party). It's like the author had a checklist of the major plot points and themes (or lack of) in the first few 'Twilight' books and found ways to subvert each of them.

Such as, say, vampires and werewolves? How about vampires and unicorns? How about giving an immortal vampire a legitimate reason for attending a human high school? How about making the school setting and the students major key players in a vampire takeover plot? Edward and Jacob? How about Evan and Jadrien to inspire girls to make teams out of over a war for a lead girl's affections? First-person narration? Overdone. Sucks. Let's do third-person from the lead girl's perspective for a change.

Most of all, unlike 'Twilight', 'Drink, Slay, Love' is totally bizarre but knows it. It revels in craziness but doesn't lose its heart, intellect and purpose for existing along the way. It's immensely entertaining (mostly), clever and warm.

Sixteen-year-old Pearl Sange - a precious, valuable and useful stone in the eyes of her Family - is just your average, heartless vampire. She's a predator and sees humans as nothing more than food to be chowed on whenever she needs to. And she's happy this way.

Until a unicorn materializes out of nowhere and stabs her in the heart. Most inconvenient.

But even more so when she suddenly finds she can walk in the daylight, and starts seeing her own faint reflection on glass.

Instead of staking her for being an abomination, Pearl's assertive Family sees an advantage in her new abilities and enrol her for Greenbridge High. The plan is for Pearl to gather up a feast of young humans for the king of New England (no name given) who will be arriving soon for a coming-of-age Fealty Ceremony for Pearl and other young vampires. Failing the king's satisfactions means certain death, so Pearl cannot fail her mission.

But what happens when she goes too far undercover, and gets to know her prey a lot more intimately than she ever did before? Humans in the daytime interest her, they make her feel things. They're nice and friendly, and she likes that! While she's always seen herself as superior to mortals - and she has a talent for spotting social and hierarchy dynamics in groups - what happens when Pearl starts to feel sickening guilt over her victims' fates? Her bloodlust fades, and she starts to develop a conscience for the first time in her young vampiric life.

A dilemma is born, and the solution is a matter of life and death for either the vampires or the humans.

Being close to 400 pages long, some scenes in 'Drink, Slay, Love' do require the reader's patience for things to really get going, although there're plenty of meaningful action-packed moments (such as the practice fights between Pearl and her vampire boyfriend Jadrien). Not every chapter is laugh-out-loud hilarious, but some of Pearl's witticisms and observations of human culture are side-splitting and ring so much truth.

I like the high school parts better than the parts with Pearl's vampire Family, because, ironically, the human teens - Bethany, Ashlyn, Zeke, Matt, Tara and Sana - are much more interesting than the dark, solemn and mysterious vampires. I don't know if this is intentional. Zeke and Matt are Tweedledee and Tweedledork: wannabe vampire hunters, and this is played for laughs. Pretty much all the high school elements in this book are played for laughs, but not to an extent where the drama and high stakes (pun intended) are undermined. I really grew to care for these teenagers.

I love the humour, the characters, and the development Pearl goes through. She falls in love with the sun and the light at first sight, before she falls for a boy. The two scenes where she admires the rays coming in through the school library's stein glass windows are beautifully written. The dawn and sunset change her in more ways than one, however they add to her feeling of loneliness in a family of nocturnal vampires. She may yet realize she has more friends among the sun-loving humans than she thought she had...

Among other relationships, Pearl also learns about families. Families other than her own who might be more accepting of her than the vampires are. She learns about the prism spectrum that is the bonds of love, and how and why human compassion is formed.

'Drink, Slay, Love' is at all once colourful, lovely, slating, suspenseful and macabre.

I don't usually mention a book's cover in my reviews, but I feel I have to talk about the one for 'Drink, Slay, Love'. It is the most ingenious and fitting I have ever seen. The girl's head is cut over her smiling lips so you only see her sucking on a glass bottle of blood through a straw. This is done possibly to give an impression to an outsider that the book's reader, while holding it up to his or her face, is the one drinking the blood! The glass bottle itself also looks a little like a unicorn's horn. Nice touch. The cover is delicious (in a dark and twisted way) and reflects the tone of the novel within its pages perfectly.

'Drink, Slay, Love' has the fundamental ingredients for an excellent high school vampire parody that takes jabs at 'Twilight' and its popularity. However it never forgets about plot and the need for urgency and action in a story. Humour is not its only worthwhile feature - there is a beating heart within the book's spine and the narrative blood flows out within the pages with the help of the protagonist Pearl's wonderful third-person perspective.

But the one character in 'Drink, Slay, Love', who I'm not sure about, is Evan Karkadann. He has a hero complex (easily crossing towards stalker tendencies) which is played for laughs, and this trait might become his downfall. But his relationship with Pearl could have been written more believably, I think. It seems that even authors of subversive supernatural romance find it difficult to write a romance that doesn't revolve around one's looks and beauty. Evan is handsome, helpful, a poet, and a sweet-talker. Translation: a walking cliché. His face is even once described as being perfect (aaarrrgggg!!! That tells me absolutely nothing about him!!!). Granted, his "perfection" and ridiculous knight-in-shining-armour persona is twisted and explained three-quarters of the way in, but Pearl still could have been more self-aware and resistant to his charms.

And by Grandma's pumpkin pie, does Pearl need to keep mentioning his big, luminous eyes? Love interests having unusual eyes is mentioned in every romance novel ever written, I'm convinced. I find it annoying; for I'm positive that even a vampire couldn't see the extent (meaning: goodness and beauty) of a whole person just by looking into his eyes! Windows of the soul, yes, but a means of deceit and manipulation. Ever heard of Hypnotic Eyes?

I'm relieved that Pearl is smart enough to lampshade this, and she acknowledges that pretty eyes and acts of chivalry do not make Evan an instantly good person on the inside. She calls him an idiot several times. But it doesn't change the fact that he is described as ridiculously handsome.

Why can't we have a supernatural romance where the love interest isn't drop-dead gorgeous? Can he be conventionally unattractive? That would have been a really remarkable subversion that kicks other books of its kind in the fangs.

But on the plus side, 'Drink, Slay, Love' doesn't really have a love triangle. Pearl's boyfriend Jadrien is shown clearly to be a reckless and thoughtless idiot after Pearl's transformation into a vampire with a soul. He flirts with another vampire girl called Laurie, an object for a disturbing girl-on-girl hate match. Oh dear. Pearl fights Jadrien and wins multiple times, and she is not interested in him anymore when her feelings for Evan grow. She thinks Evan is tasty, so she has to suppress her fangs whenever she's near him. This is actually a clever gender-swapping element taken from 'Twilight' - where the vampire boy has to resist the urge to bite his human female love interest. In a way Pearl has already broken up with Jadrien before getting to know Evan, so the romantic elements are not at all convoluted to extremes or take over the plot which is much more interesting anyway. Jadrien doesn't appear much during the middle of the book, in fact. It makes me want to say, "That's my girl (Pearl)!".

The ending of 'Drink, Slay, Love' is a bit anticlimactic as well, like there's a sequel in the making. But there are good points to it that make up for the shortcomings. Without spoiling anything, the themes of friendship, family, making your own choices in life, and sticking to your new heart's resolutions are not forgotten about.

And what happened to Pearl's school guidance counsellor? A wrap-up to that plot thread would have been nice. Oh well.

Slick, clever, dangerous, outrageous, funny, and when it's good it's brilliant. Imperfect, but I don't really care. I enjoyed 'Drink, Slay, Love' and I probably would have loved it unconditionally if I'd read it as a teenager amidst the 'Twilight' craze.

Sweet stuff.

Final Score: 4/5

Book Review - 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest' by Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland (Translator)

2023 EDIT: Part of my 2023 clear-up, of books I no longer like, or am no longer interested in, or remember well as standing out, or find as special anymore, or I otherwise will not miss.

[In this case it's books that no longer fit my personal tastes, and are of such monstrous sizes and density I cannot see myself rereading them.]

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original (embarrassing and naïve and oh-goddess-it's-been-years) Review:



Well that's it. I've finally finished this series.

The review of the ending will be more emotional than intellectual, even though these books deserve to be the subject of great, in-depth discussions and debates.

The reason for this is that 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest' - despite being close to 750 pages long - has very little action in it and I can't really say what I've already said in my 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' review. This doesn't make 'Hornets' Nest' bad - nor does it mean the book lacks plot progression and character development. Far from it. It does however showcase Stieg Larsson's weaknesses as a writer of fiction. Weaknesses such as overly-describing everything a character is doing, detailing histories not relevant to the overall plot, lacking subtlety with themes by having characters outright come out and say what they are, introducing truckloads of people to keep track of (there are more new characters in the final book, and I didn't think that was even possible), and sometimes too much focus went into the journalism aspect of the series instead of the actual crime and murders that have happened (Mr Larsson was a journalist and it shows).

These are far more apparent this time round. There were not quite enough enjoyable events and thrilling twists to keep me as invested as when I read the previous two books in the 'Millennium' trilogy. It took me two weeks to finish 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest' (not as action-packed or scary as it perhaps sounds).

However, the weaker elements to the story are only present in the middle. The beginning and end are fantastic - from where the mystery and conspiracy plot threads take off, to where at last they're resolved and an action scene with Lisbeth Salander finally happens. The whole conspiracy plot is rather complicated - with so many players dating back to the 1960s. It does require the reader to have a high attention span to get through it all. I was looking forward to the character growth scenes. There are still clever moments here and there that move the plot forward, consisting of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth using the magic of computers and 21st century technology to help those in need.

Though the real person in need in 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest' - her final adventure, as it turns out - is Lisbeth herself. The strange-but-lovable hacker spends the majority of the novel hospitalised from a bullet to the brain, and she is awaiting trial for a whole assortment of crimes, despite being acquitted of three counts of murder. Blomkvist and his friends at Millennium magazine and in other, much higher places do what they can to try to prove her innocence. This means succeeding in convincing all of Sweden that a conspiracy within a security police force, Sapo, has been going on since the 60s. A "Section" exists to cover up certain crimes, and to condemn an innocent girl to a life of hell.

Corruption lurks everywhere. The system will be hard to crack. And this will be Blomkvist's biggest news story ever. And his last chance to save a friend who has decided she wants nothing more to do with him.

Lisbeth doesn't want to just sit around and let other people work to prove her own innocence. But not by using fists: by obtaining a simple computer and access to the internet. She is a hacker and a genius, and a computer is her only weapon in 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest' (except for the other weapons she uses in the epilogue, but that's hundreds of pages away).

In this installment, Lisbeth's development stems from finding friends where she wouldn't expect them. She's been the victim for so long; forced to be independent and solitary all her life thanks to the Section. So to find that there are good people in the world who are willing to help her and expect nothing in return... it must be a damn breakthrough in her dark and miserable existence. But no matter what happens to her, she is as smart and snarky as ever, still untangling her trust issues.

Mikael Blomkvist is much the same as he's always been - determined, brave, fatherly, and a ladies man to the core. He gets around an awful lot in 'Hornets' Nest', despite the high stakes involving a conspiracy to murder and an investigation which must expose it before Lisbeth's trial. This side of his character is deconstructed, however, with the women in his life talking about who he is and what drives him to do what he does - both personally and professionally.

Annika Giannini, Blomkvist's lawyer sister, has a remarkably prominent role. She really has developed a lot from the first book. She has to represent Lisbeth for the trial which determines the hacker's fate. Larsson shows how great women can truly work under pressure. Even better than the evil men who wish to bring her down, in fact. Annika is determined to save her client's life and clear her name, and she will rock the nation's socks off doing it.

Erika Berger has her own subplot where she leaves Millennium magazine for a huge opportunity as editor-in-chief at Sweden's biggest newspaper, Svenska Morgan-Posten. But being one of the few women in a position of being in charge in a male-dominated industry has its unfortunate setbacks. As well as discovering from Blomkvist a career-destroying-but-needs-to-be-published story about her new boss, the most important of Berger's male colleagues are patronising and condescending towards her (not all of them are, thankfully, but it doesn't help her situation). She starts receiving misogynistic emails and rape threats via email. Someone even starts stalking her and breaking into her house.

Sadly these events are far from fictional and over-the-top. It reminds me of the disgusting shit real women of opinion and power have or had to put up with constantly. We are not as progressive as we might think. Major corporal industries are still being run by a patriarchal society which consists of older men refusing to adapt. They are much more comfortable sticking to the days when working women did nothing more than factory labour and serve tea and biscuits. Outspoken women with brains still scare a lot of the male population for ridiculous and unfounded reasons (we are not deliberately trying to take your jobs or ruin your chances of a simple sex life! Respect, man, respect!).

Berger's story really spoke to me in regards to this, even if its entire point was to further highlight the "Men who hate women" theme of the 'Millennium' series and doesn't achieve a great deal plot-wise.

And it is here where we come to Inspector Faste. Even though he doesn't appear much in 'Hornets' Nest' nor does he really get a resolution to his character, I still have stuff to say about him.

Faste is a corrupt cop, and a misogynist. The way I see him, he is nothing more than a stupid kid who's too quick to jump to conclusions without proof.

Here's a line from the book told from his third-person perspective:

'He [Faste] reminded himself that she [Lisbeth] was a lesbian and consequently not a real woman.' - page 521 of my copy.

Consequently? CONSEQUENTLY!!?? You little sh-!

Okay, so a woman's sex life determines her status as a "woman"; meaning, whether or not men have had their way with her yet. If she doesn't want to have sex with men - or gives the impression she doesn't want to - then she is unattainable and therefore not a "real woman". This translates to: not a real human being. "Real Women" don't demand that difficult thing called respect. Gotcha.

Or her sex life is nobody's business but her own. And it doesn't determine her worth as a person.

This is why I kind of wish that Faste had received comeuppance for his messed-up views on women, and then he would see why he's so terrible at his job. But maybe not having more time spent with such an ignorant waste of space is for the best. There are far more important and engaging characters to sort through and develop.

New characters include Anders Jonasson (Lisbeth's trusted doctor), Inspector Monica Figuerola (another awesome female character), Gullberg and a boatload of other Sapo and Section members, and Susanne Linder from Milton Security (another strong female who protects other women and does it with an iron fist). Returning characters include Sonya Modig (who sadly doesn't do much here), Jan Bublanski, Amansky, Palmgren (hooray!), and Dr Teleborian (oooh!!!).

Lisbeth Salander - for the little she actual does physically in the final installment of a series in which she is the heart of - is still determined not to be a victim. Blomkvist might end up saving her from an injustice that has been repressing her since childhood, but she will seek poetic justice in her own way.

Because it is her right not just as a woman, but a living, breathing, thinking and strong human being.

Plus she's earned it. I mean, she practically rose from the dead in the previous book!

Series Verdict: The 'Millennium' trilogy is a thrilling, intriguing, clever, suspenseful and brilliant crime saga that I can almost believe is real; populated by real people. It is set in the mainstream world controlled by journalism, the media, security ops, and other authoritative figures such as the police. What corruption goes on behind closed doors will likely shock and open the eyes of some readers. The books are abundant with a cast of likeable and memorable characters, and with plot threads that, while some may not be as relevant as others to the story, are interesting nonetheless. The first book will always be my favourite. I do think the series gets weaker and more complicated as the story and themes draw nearer to the conclusion, however I am still glad I'd decided to give it a go ('The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' was recommended to me by my book-loving aunt back in 2012. Thanks again, Auntie!)

Final Score for 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest': 4/5

Book Review - 'A School for Good and Evil: A World Without Princes' by Soman Chainani

2019 EDIT: I am not going to let this hang over me any longer. 

The first 'The School for Good and Evil' book remains one of my favourites. It's subversive, clever, touching and beautiful. It should have remained a standalone. The rest of the series completely undoes the subversiveness and becomes a typical, conservative fairy tale story, with minimal parody stuff thrown in. This book in particular is anti-feminist to the core, and any hope of a powerful and groundbreaking female friendship between the two leads, Sophie and Agatha, possibly leading to something more for a children's book, is dead and gone. It is heartbreaking. 

By the time 'The Last Ever After' comes along, it gets fucking ridiculous and insulting. That fucking plot twist at the end isn't even worth elaborating on. It is the final Fuck-you nail in the coffin to anyone who loved the first book. It is nine-year-old fanfiction writer level of WTF-ery. Kill it with fire. 

I could go on all day about everything wrong with the boring, non-chemistry, non-buildup, dysfunctional, rape culture vibes, hetero "romance" between Agatha and Dipshit--I mean Tedros, as well. Because sure, that's what subversive fairy tales in the 21st century aimed at children should be about: abusive romances. Not unique female friendships. Not female friendships that could be read as queer. So was the LBGTQ element of the first book just queerbaiting? A giant fucking tease? I'm leaving this topic before I say something I might regret.

Just... fuck queerbaiting.

All I have left to say is: Tedros needs to burn in hell. I hate that entitled, chauvinistic prick with the violent negativity of a thousand Patchs' from 'Hush, Hush'.

I am going to pretend that 'The School for Good and Evil' is a standalone from now on. Sophie and Agatha deserve so much better than the sequels.





The sequel to a book I really didn't believe needed one. It turned out to be much better than I thought it could be.

First, a brief mention of 'The School for Good and Evil', the predecessor. It is one of the most unique takes on the Disney-fied fairy tale genre I have ever had the fortune to come across in my lifetime. It is a subversion of the usual cliches, such as finding true love with someone you don't really know, beauty equals good and ugly equals evil, the negative connotations of female relationships, and how Happily Ever AfterTM is not always happily ever after because real life isn't that simple. Before Disney did something to a similar effect with its 2013 winter hit 'Frozen', Soman Chainani's 'The School for Good and Evil' worked these subversive elements and reached a heartbreaking, beautiful and stunning denouement.

It's dramatic, violent, bizarre, scary, and it asks its readers to think about what fairy tales are really telling us and how they shape our lives. Back in May 2013, in terms of narrative it was something new to behold; something we had never seen before. And it's a book supposedly for middle schoolers.

So after a thrilling twist to its climax that signifies its messages perfectly, what else is there to tell? Shouldn't the storybook have ended? What else could possibly be told about Sophie and Agatha, when their adventure and well-deserved happy ending is done and they now have what they had both needed all along? I was indeed skeptical about 'The School for Good and Evil' becoming a series; I'd thought the first book was great as a stand alone and so there was no need to potentially ruin what it set out to be by having sequels that drag it out for no reason other than modern children's and YA consumerism.

I was inevitably cautious when I picked up 'A World Without Princes'. But as it turned out, I'd vastly underestimated Soman Chainani as a writer. Because holy heaven can he write. Along with a great first novel he also managed to create a worthy sequel that doesn't feel like a cash-grab.

It begins with Sophie and Agatha. They were the kidnapped Readers who are now back in their hometown of Gavaldon after their Happily Ever After kiss ended their fairy tale in the horrific world of the School for Good and Evil. About nine months have passed. Sophie is unhappy about not getting attention from townspeople or her family. Her father Stefan is marrying her late mother's best friend Honora. These may seem like the typical selfish character traits seen in the Sophie from the previous book (she even has a statue of her made, WTF). But since more focus is given to her relationship with her dead mother Vanessa this time round, upon reflection Sophie definitely earns her share of sympathy points. She's just lonely, is all. And it's not like she hasn't learned anything from last time. On the contrary she spends the whole book trying to convince everyone she is not a witch or an Evil person. The only thing she is happy about in Gavaldon is her faith in her best friend Agatha, who will always be by her side. For neither girl needs a boy to make her life worth living.

However, Agatha - the true princess of this fairy tale - finds herself longing for a prince. Specifically, the prince from her previous adventure, Tedros, son of the doomed King Arthur. Even after everything that's happened, even though she had initially despised the pompous and chauvinistic prince back in 'The School for Good and Evil', she is missing him. Agatha is still happy with having a best friend - something the graveyard dweller needed from the start - but is that enough for her?

Could she be possibly - subconsciously - wishing for a different Happily Ever After? Even one without Sophie?

Poor, poor Sophie.

Both girls end up making their own wishes. And from those wishes leads them to another adventure in the School for Good and Evil. That's right, they return to where they've sworn never to cross the threshold of again. But it is not the same as before. It has turned into the School for Boys and Girls, and a war is brewing. Since Sophie and Agatha's kiss of friendship in the previous book, girls have become fiercely independent and banished boys and princes from their fairy tales; hence the sequel's title, 'A World Without Princes' (kinda catchy, I'd say).

The fairy tale world is out of balance, with disastrous results. Once dashing and heroic princes have become savages from feeling useless, and they want Sophie and Agatha dead because of this. The girls couldn't be happier though; no more passivity and worrying about their looks and beauty. One girl even shaves her head. But not everything is as it seems.

A mysterious dean by the name of Evelyn Sader - with her blue butterflies - is pulling the strings of each of the characters. The authoritative female teachers from the first book - the ones who haven't vanished - are frightened of her. Sader wants the girls and boys to remain separated, and for the girls to become free and independent heroes in their own story (basically the dean runs the place exactly how you'd imagine a Hollywood Straw Feminist would: the lessons are about how Evil men are and why they all deserve to die). But are the girls free, really? Does Sader wish that for Sophie and Agatha? Why is this cryptic, snake-like, Dolores Umbridge-type tyrant so interested in the two Readers?

Who is the real villain in this fairy tale?

Will Agatha - a smart girl with a good relationship with her mother and with other female characters - continue to choose her best friend over her prince? (For what works in her story, both choices could be equally destructive.) From all her trying and hard work, will Sophie - who does not want to end up betrayed, alone and unloved like her mother - truly be Good, despite her destined role as a manipulative witch? And will Tedros get over his serious issues with women and discover what he truly wants and needs?

The answers may shock you. They certainly did me, at least in the final chapter.

Oh why couldn't the fairy tale have ended in 'The School for Good and Evil' 1?

But 'A World Without Princes' further deconstructs themes of friendship and love. Like its previous installment, it also revolves around whether human beings can be free from the traditions and restraints of their own story; in this case told through a mixture of a magic pen and past quarrels. The relationship between Sophie and Agatha does indeed have potential for more insight and development. Trust, courage and finding your true self are major factors in the book. The writing is as great and dramatic as the last time: the narrative brutally shows the reader how selfishness, lying and betrayal are bad and lead to devastating consequences.

There is also the theme of deconstructing gender stereotypes, and how "niceness" and friendship should apply to both girls and boys. I can't say anything more due to huge plot twists which are too good to spoil, but suffice to say 'The World Without Princes', like 'The School for Good and Evil' 1, knows what it's talking about in regards to this theme.

In this particularly sensitive and indecisive twisty-turny fairy tale, friendship and romance are not to be taken lightly. The fate of innocent people may depend on the choice between wanting male or female companionship. Which is the right choice? I for one am rooting for a fairy tale which focuses on friendship over princes (sadly, there is no lesbian subtext in this installment). It's different and interesting; a positive message for modern young girls - it's what made 'The School for Good and Evil' what it is. However, the theory is put to the test in its continuation, 'A World Without Princes'.

Is there a right choice? Is where Sophie and Agatha "rightly belong" meant to be? Can they say "Fuck the prophecy"? Can friendship conquer all, or will it all have been in vain?

It's not all tragedy and doom and gloom, however. There are outrageously funny scenes in 'A World Without Princes', especially concerning Sophie and her obliviousness and Agatha literally banging her head on walls because of this. And Agatha is most certainly not just thinking about Tedros throughout the book (thank Goodness) - her growing friendship with the witches Hester, Anadil and Dot (the only girls who are unhappy with the new school regime and with Sader's control) is a significant addition to the message about positive female relationships in 'The School for Good and Evil' series. It's dynamic, and an excellent balance to Agatha's otherwise rocky and doubt-filled friendship with Sophie.

The fairy tale world of the School has creative and complex mythology as well. In the narrative it is the "Once Upon a Time" and "The End" of the series' theme of what is good and evil, and serves as a backdrop to the villains' origins and motivations.

Although as exciting and twisty and turny 'A World Without Princes' is, I still have a few problems with it, mostly with it being a sequel to a book I love with dedicated passion. It came dangerously close to discarding the friendship-over-a-boy message of that book, making it pretty pointless. Romance might be in all fairy tales, but surely it doesn't have to be essential. While 'A World Without Princes' didn't end up breaking my heart - due to its great writing and suspense - it still bothered me that Agatha would even think about putting Sophie aside for bloody Tedros. Even when she thought she was saving her friend's life, she still should have considered the possibility that she's being manipulated. Just because she's a princess in a fairy tale doesn't mean she has to be dependent on a prince and drop several IQ points along the way.

Well, at least this is lampshaded where appropriate.

Sophie herself has her faults too, of course, but they are more understandable. You sympathise with her reasons for doing what she does. She is trying not to be selfish when in fact her actions might say otherwise. But again, this is understandable. Unbeknownst to her, she could be Evil, but she is merely lonely. Sophie's grief for her mother is one of the most beautiful and poignant aspects of the book.

What isn't so understandable is the romance. I don't believe for one second that Agatha and Tedros are truly in love. There is no solid reason for them to love each other besides their good looks, which is very superficial; Agatha thinks about the prince's handsomeness quite frequently. They barely know each other. There are barely enough scenes where they're together, much less where they actually talk to each other.

Tedros is responsible for most of the warmongering and harm in the book; without giving too much away he has become (more so) the very opposite of what a prince should be after the end of 'The School for Good and Evil'. The way I interpret it, he is convinced that his manhood was taken away from him by the two Readers. He feels emasculated, and thus he becomes deeply insecure, possessive, needy and sociopathic (again, more so than he was before). Freud would call him the king of closet misogynists. For a big chunk of the book he even wishes both Sophie and Agatha dead. By his own hands. What a charmer!

Tedros does get some development in 'A World Without Princes' though. We see him suffer from the harmful stereotyping which comes with being a boy - in that he has to be aggressive and hide his real feelings all the time, with no friend to talk to about his problems. He faces serious consequences for his actions. And his backstory involving his parents is further explored and highlights the reason behind his bitterness towards girls.

But to me this isn't enough to redeem him, or make me say with honesty that Agatha has good reason to suddenly love him and want to live with him and no-one else. She and Tedros are in love because the plot says so.

Could this be intentional, I wonder...

Plus there's a new character, Yara the bird girl, who doesn't appear often or serve much of a purpose until the very end. But there's another new character, Aric, who I really like. He's a badass hunter with a malicious streak, the very reflection of what decent boys shouldn't be. He could corrupt and lead Tedros even further down the wrong path...

Well, that's about it for this review. In spite of my previous reservations of the existence of the sequel, I really enjoyed it. I can believe it to be canon with 'The School for Good and Evil,' and as already stated Mr Chainani's writing is as strong as ever.

Dramatic, heartbreaking, gut-punching, ravishingly poignant and exceedingly cruel, I can't wait for the final book in the (apparent) trilogy. I knew that ending had to be a cliffhanger.

What is Happily Ever AfterTM anyway? Where and when can we find it? In ourselves and not in anyone or anything else?

For Happily Ever AfterTM and The End are two entirely different things...

Final Score: 4/5

P.S. I think I've figured out the significance of Evelyn Sader's magical blue butterflies (or at least in part). They are a symbol of maturity, transformation and growing up. They start off as innocent caterpillars, soon to transform gradually into adult butterflies and fly away, leaving childhood fancies behind. This is fitting to the story of 'A World Without Princes', and in keeping with the series' themes. Although friendship is important, no matter what age you are. 

Graphic Novel Review - 'Vader's Little Princess' by Jeffrey Brown

2023 EDIT: Part of my 2023 clear-up, of books I no longer like, or am no longer interested in, or remember well as standing out, or find as special anymore, or I otherwise will not miss.

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original Review:



I saw this on display in the shop where I bought this year's Father's Day card, and I couldn't resist. Sure, I'd seen it in shops all over the place before, but on that special day when I wanted to show my dad how much I love him and how grateful I am for everything he's done for me, I knew that this little "joke" book would make us both laugh.

I think maybe it also made him feel nostalgic in a lot of ways.

'Vader's Little Princess' is a cute book of comic strips that offers its readers a humorous twist on what would've happened if Darth Vader had raised Leia (and Luke, too) as a single parent on top of being the Galactic master of the Dark Side.

The Illustrations are colourful and very cartooney. Filling with nostalgia, the book contains events and lines lifted from the original 'Star Wars' films which are twisted around to focus on the relationship between the insidious Sith Lord and his growing daughter.

Here, everyone's favourite helmet-wearing Sith Lord is both lovably daddish and lovably evil. Parent and child relationships can be funny, adorable, complicated, painful, hard to watch, and above all complex as the child gets older. 'Vader's Little Princess' is hysterical all the way, though: from showing Vader demanding a search for his missing keys (little Leia had given them to R2-D2), to his reaction to Leia's slave bikini for going out to clubs ("You are not going out dressed like that!"). You can be sure that her date, Han Solo, isn't safe from his wrath either.

And Darth Vader practically nearly dying from watching Jar-Jar Binks's ballet performance? Priceless. The things fathers really do for their little girls!

Nice for girls and boys, daughters and fathers, children and older 'Star Wars' fans, 'Vader's Little Princess' is a short but enjoyable treat.

Final Score: 4/5

How many books can you think of where the heroine is jealous that the male love interest can lift one eyebrow? And how many where the MLI is shown to be much better than the heroine, perhaps unintentionally, eyebrows or no?