Terror keep by Edgar Wallace

It was nice, not bad, there was a bit of adventure and mystery, I liked it enough, but it’s not a favourite. In this book the police doesn’t do much, nor the villain, in fact. It’s mostly just watching things unfolding, and guessing on our part. In this book JG Reeder is quite plain, honestly. He appears to know some things like Sherlock Holmes does, which means that he just knows. 

A bit of plot  :)

(I write the names as I remember them, I hope they’re right but I wouldn’t swear on it)

Margaret Belman, I think she was Reeder’s secretary, or something. She’s about to take another job and is very annoyed that he appears happy about it. In fact, he’s relieved, because a very dangerous criminal has just escaped from the Broadmoor asylum. john Flack is very intelligent, rather crazy, and with unknown allies that helped him escape.

J.G. Reeder is a target, and indeed Flack leaves some trap to kill him, but Reeder finds it.

Margaret works at a hotel, a peculiar one. The owner Daver only accepts who he wants, and now he only has three guests.

Among the many accomplices Flack has had in his career, George Ravini is the only one that ever betrayed him, and now that Flack is free, Ravini is soon a dead man.

Flack and his men kill without giving it much thought, they’re thieves and Flack especially likes gold.

After Ravini’s death, they learn that he wanted to pursue his infatuation with Margaret, whom he met at the train station. Ravini took a room at Daver’s hotel, and from there he disappeared a few days later.

After learning this, Reeder immediately moves and goes to stay at this hotel, to continue the investigation, yes, but also to be sure that Margaret is safe.

What he finds out: the two men guests are Flack accomplices. The sad woman working there is Flack’s wife, though there’s no love there anymore. The third guest, the young woman, is Flack’s daughter Olga, and she’s married to Daver, who once worked for Flack. No love there as well, not sure realy why he insisted on marrying her. 

Daver will die when Flack learns of the marriage. 

Reeder wants to send Margaret away, to safety, but she’ll never reach Scotland Yard in London. She was taken away in another car. Flack wanted to use her against Reeder. Windows and doors could not be opened, but she managed to pull apart a bit of the capote and she jumped out. From there, it was a big adventure for her, a great escape really. 

When Reeder learns she’s not safely in London, he almost loses his mind, becomes frenetic, active, aggressive, because he’s in love with her.

In the end, Reeder will find her quite by chance and good luck, there was a secrer passage inside the big safe in the hotel connecting it to the caves. I’m not sure if Flack is captured or dead; Olga is saved and rather relieved ot be free of them all. 

Reeder is supposed to be this cool detective, oh so smart and ingenius, but tell me what’s smart about telling the men at the hotel that he knows who they are, and then leaving the matter be for the moment. Of course they run away! 

The book ends with Reeder’s awkward attempt to declare his feelings and propose, but it’s just a long series of “uhm” and Margaret has to help him doing most of the talking. he’s 47 or something, and he’s never been kissed. Now they do kiss and he quite likes it! :-p

I don’t really like how it goes - reading it now, in 2025 - but in 1927 it was different, hell when I was little it was diffferent, it was like another world, and these things maybe were funny, like: you want to marry me but since you’re older you’’re afraid you’ll ruin my young life? Well, then ruin it! And kiss kiss…

ITA il castello del terrore

The fellowship of the Frog by Edgar Wallace

 This was a good book, full of adventure and mystery. The ending alone was a bit disappointing, just because of the way it was written: at the end, a guy enters where the mysterious villain is and shoots him dead, and then he tells his story, in one long monologue. That’s it. For such a book sull of adventure, this was the most boring part of it all.

Also I did not understand the bit about Maitland and the baby, and how Dick got to the truth. I’ll explain at the end.

This is set in England, mostly in London. Dick Gordon is a policeman, and he works with Elk to solve the mystry of the Frogs, a group that started out quiet and sort of innocuous, but that lately was getting really serious. They’re  called that way because the boss calls himself the Frog, and nobody knowshim, he’s always masked when someone sees him. 

Elk and Gordon work together the whole book. Elk is not secluded away in the Records office, he is actively on the field.

Dick meets by chance Ella Bennett and falls in love. She has a brother, Ray, who dreams of big money, and a father, John, who goes often away, has a mysterious job that he hates, and takes pictures as a hobby, hoping to make money out of it. Moving pictures too.

Dick visits Ray at work, he’s a clerk at Maitland’s company. Ray introduces him to his friend and fellow clerk Philo Johnson. 

Elk meets Joshua Broad, who is selling stuff by the road. He is suspicious, and right enough it turns out that this man, this American, is actually a rich man who s interested in finding the Frog. He follows all their investigation, but also conducts his own.

He was the most interesting character, until the boring ending.

Ray meets Lola and her husband Brady, only Ray thinks she’s single, and that Brady is a friend or associate of some kind. When Ella speaks of some well-paying job, he doesn’t ask too many questions. He doesn’t know he’s a frog until much much later. Still, as Ella mentions once, would it really be better if he was really giving information to a foreign country?

Ray loves money though, and he starts spending it. He has a nice flat, nice clothes, and spends a lot of time with Lola at a club, and he drinks a lot. He even punches his father while drunk. He only writes to his sister from time to time. 

When Gordon comes to tell him about his being a Frog, he doesn’t believe him. It will be Lola herself, later, to make him understand who he works for. Still, he stays, and follows directions. The Frog sent orders for him and Brady. They grow a beard and dress like tramps, then go wherever he told them to go, they did whatever they were told, with this result: Ray was drugged and couldn’t remember much of the niht. Brady was killed, and thgun put in Ray’s hand. Since they were pretending to be two different people, our cops were not alerted, nobody really cared. Ray doesn’t defend himself because he doesn’t remember, but he knows that for a moment he hated Brady and wanted to kill him (Brady was ordered to tell him that he’s Lola’s husband), so he thinks he’s guilty and it’s better if nobody knows his real name, for his sister and father. He is given the death penalty.

Johnson is 50, Gordon is 31, that’s probably part of the reason why Ella chose Dick… well, Gordon was also the only one really trying. They both liked her, but Gordon went further, and eventually asked her to promise to marry him, whatever might happen. She agreed. Who knows if this promise had any weight in her decision afterwards: the Frog came to her house, to tell her that she must marry him, because he’s the only one that can save his brother, now in prison. She doesn’t really believe it, she tells him no, but then she’s so afraid that she goes immediately to Gordon, to ask about it. neither Gordon or Elk know about it, but Elk investigates further, and realises that the man they thought was Carter, the tramp who killed another tramp, was actually Ray Bennett, and at this point they don’t know what to do, and choose not to tell Ella, but then Lola comes revealing it all, feeling quite guilty for her part in Ray’s fate, so Ella learns all. Now comes the first bit of good luck, because that’s the most important thing, in life as in stories: that night, there was a man nearby. John Bennett ought to take pictures of animals, but he fell asleep. Somehow his camera kept going, or he activated it by mistake, whatever it was, the point is that Gordon and Elk could see that a third man killed Brady, that Ray is innocent. 

Of course Gordon now starts a big race against time: it’s only a day before the execution, and he goes back and forth trying to find someone that can sign a reprieve to stop the execution. He manages that, but of course the Frog thought of everything, and all lines are down towards the prison. They tried calling, but nothing. No phone calls, no telegrams. So Gordon goes there perssonally, but some Frogs stop him on the way, and capture him. They can’t take the document because Gordon made a copy and hid the original. 

Gordon manages to free himself and reach the prison in a car, and for a moment he thinks he was too late, but of course he wasn’t. Well, he would have been had everything gone according to plan, but there was something nobody expected: John Bennett was the executioner, that was the job he loathed so much, and when he realised who it was, of course he couldn’t do it, he stopped the whole thing and locked himself somewheere with Ray, giving Gordon a bit of much needed time.

The Frog doesn’t give up, though, and kidnaps Ella from her home, takes her away. It’s : “you’ll marry me or we’ll both die tonight”, which seems a bit too much, all of a sudden. Ella knows that he’s serious, he’s killed lots of people, sometimes directly and other times through his men. He put together a really big group, made primarily of tramps, but not only them. He also got a club manager, Hagn, who was a smart man, and most importantly he got Balder, who was one of Elk’s policemen. Actually, that’s how Elk caught him, because he wanted to show him a bit of kindness. He put his name up for promotion, and upon hearing that he got it, Elk looked up his address to go to his house and inform him in front of his wife and children…only to discover that the address he gave is just a front, he has a luxrious secret life. Balder was the great secret on how the Frogs could get everywhere, learn everything, get at anyone.  

Anyway.

They all go crazy searching for her, but Broad is the first on the scene, having followed the Frog’s car with a bike. 

From this moment on it’s all so silly. He confronts the Frog by knocking on his door (uisng Frog’s secret/not so secret anymore special knock…) and when Frog asks who it is, he says he’s Hagn, and hurry, open the door… and Frog does, he opens the door…  And then Broad shoots him dead. 

Gordon and the others arrive now, (really, they were a lot behind and now they’re just a few minutes after Broad? … ). 

All that remains is to explain who is who and why Broad did it. 

He was named Saul Morris, and he was a thief, not out of necessity but out of passion, he liked it. A plan got out of hand, he got hte money but got stuck in England, he couldn’t spend the French money, and the cops were looking for him, so he went to a man he had heard about, someone that could help. Harry Lyne agreed to help him, to send him half of the money once he was safely away. Harry decided to keep all that money to himself. 

Broad had not seen his face well, but he could remember his tattoo perfectly, a frog on his left wrist. Knowing that Broad would look for him, Saul put a group together giving everyone that tattoo.

Then things got further, there were a lot of men that needed paying, so he started that big organization, he was the real boss at the Maitland firm, and got any opposition out of the way, so to speak.

Now it’s over, and Broad/Morris can go away. Gordon and Elk won’t look too closely at what happened to Frog’s money that was in the room… 

 

——————————————————————————

They say that Maitland was a poor, illiterate guy. He himself had told Ella that he had been in prison. Ok. So, he was illiterate, so all the books were for him, there was no child learning to write. Did he learn then? Or did he simply like to have children books? I thought they meant that he had children stuff because being illiterate he wanted/needed to learn at least something, like to read. And yet they say that even now he could not read anything, they showed him a simple line, “you are a fake” and he did not understand it. They told him it was an address and he believed it, so he couldn’t read even the easiest words, like You Are. So, why the children stuff?They planted the clothes and the toys, to confuse the cops, but Maitland was supposed to  learn to write… you’re telling me that he learn to write but not to read???

Also, why did Maitland go to Ella? What could she do for him? Talk to  Gordon, yes, maybe, but he never told her anything that she understood, and yet he kept coming… mah.

The book of All-Power by Edgar Wallace

Well, this is not for me, but it is a interesting and captivating adventure. It’s just that revolutions and wars are not my fav subject.  So I will not read it again, even if it was an enjoyable read.

It starts in England. Malcolm Hay just got the job of going to Russia to manage some English mines or something, oil factories, whatever, and he’s told that he should first meet Israel kenski, an important man.

This is how he gets involved into the whole thing. What happens at this time, while in England, is that he sees and falls victim of the Grand Duchess’ charm, Irene Yaroslav. Prince Serganoff plans to arrest her or marry her, to her the choice, to get her father’s power and position. Sophia Kenski, Israel’s daughter, is against him and against any royalty, she is jealous of the duchess and working with the revolutionaries. The duchess is a great friend of Israel Kenski since she was a child, and he saved her life. The anarchists are in revolt against the Bolsheviks. Cherry Bim is an American gun-man approached by the rebels to murder the Grand Duke, but he refuses, and it will be him that will help the duchess against Serganoff.

Boolba was the man leading the meeting and wanting to hire Bim.

One year later, in 1914, Hay is in Russia, and he meets again the Grand Duchess when she steps forth to save the life of Israel Kenski. The peasants want to kill him because he is a jew, and because he is a millionaire usurer, and because Sophia revealed what he had told her, that he has a Book of All-Power with him, and they think it has powerful magic that will make anyone powerful. At this time, no one would dare harm her, but Hay is worried anyway, and helps her. 

Boolba is the Yaroslav’s servant, butler. While trying to steal the Book, he is blinded by Israel Kenski.

Five years later, spring of 1919, the revolutionaries win, Boolba is a powerful man. Hay should go back home, and on his way he meets general Malinkoff, but it’s not easy to leave Russia now. When Boolba sees them, he has them put in a cell. Sophia Kenski is at Boolba’s side, and Irene is there sweeping and working for them. This is what Sophia said she promised herself back in England, but now she doesn’t seem to enjoy it all that much. 

In the cell, Hay and Malinkoff meet Cherry Bim, who was stealing with a friend but when they got caught his friend died (something like that). Now he is the one that manages to help them all, by deceiving Boolba who still wants the Book, and acquiring some weapons he helps the other men escape. 

Boolba sets Sophia aside, calls her a traitor and she’s arrested. 

Hay and Malinkoff escape on a car, thanks to Cherry Bim who goes with him.

They drive to the place that Irene had told them about, in the off chance they could escape, so they reach Petroff’ house. Here they learn that Boolba is going to marry Irene that very night, and indeed this is what happens. He gives her a red dress with all red garments, while he wears his butler’s attire, and they get married, but that night she moves away from him, and she’s afraid but then Israel kenski appears at the window just like he did five years before, to knock him down and save her. He di not have the physical strength to kill him.

Kenski takes Irene to Petroff and the others. He gives his Book to Hay, telling him that he wishes Irene to have it. He doesn’t seem to care at all for his daughter’s fate, for she betrayed her religion and her father. He cares for Irene, as he always did.

Following Kenski, guards arrive at the house so they must escape. Kenski is injured and dies.

The others move on. They are afraid the car will be seen, and once they are stopped by guards, and once again it’s Cherry Bim who helps them. 

Moving on, they arrive at a monastery. They stop to ask for food but the priest says he has nothing for them, and adds that his guests have taken everything, and that there is a great prince there. Hay is hopeful, some aristocratic might help them, but he will soon learn that it was Boolba. 

Of course Boolba wants them arrested and Irene returned to him. They all manage to escape. Although this time Cherry Bim is alone, they still manage to save themselves, enough to reach a train. 

Cherry, who only knows four words of Russian, finds the Book and thinks of burning a few pages to send a signal to stop the train, and he does rip them out of the bindings, but after one loo he puts it all away, and one might wonder why, and he’ll get his answers later  :)

Boolba goes after them but this time he gets killed, and it’s the end of him. Good Cherry.

They finally get to Poland. Their plan now is for Irene to marry Hay, and live only on his salary, because she has nothing now, everything her father had was seized by the revolutionaries.

Cherry gives them the book. She opens it, and instead of spells or other such things, she finds that “every page was a Bank of England note worth a thousand pounds”.

Israel kenski died in poverty because all he had was taken away, but he managed to conceal a great deal through his love of binding books, and even if he was a thief and a gun-man, and even after he saw what the book contained, Cherry Bim still gave her the Book.

Mr Malcolm’s list - 2022

Very nice, it was everything I was expecting it to be. Very Austen-like, all pretty and romantic, and all the actors were alright in their roles, and I enjoyed it very much. 

Not really original, maybe, other than the fact that there was an actual, written list. Other than that, it’s quite the usual story, the dresses, the girls searching for a husband, the gossip, the rich men choosing… and yet this doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable, it is well done and likeable, and I liked it. 

I’m not sure of the beginning, where were the girls? I thought they were orphans at first, but no, Julia goes to live with her mom and Selina has both parents… so yes, this scene was not clear to me, only that they were in this room together, like a school I guess, and best friends, and promise to write each other very often. And they do, even if they live very different lives. (Unless they were adopted? I don’t know)

Julia is rich and lives in town, while Selina has to work for a living. Last she was a companion to an old lady, until her passing. 

Now Julia has set her eyes on rich Mr Malcolm, who already has a reputation for being quite selective. He escorts her to the opera once, and is bored by her vain conversation, and writes her off as unsuitable. When he does not call her again, and then a drawing appears in the paper, a caricature of him with her at the opera and the word Next underneath, she feels humiliated. She asks her cousin Lord Cassidy to find out what she did that was not agreeable to Mr Malcolm, and Cassidy finds out that the man has a list to find the perfect wife: it’s a written list with things like -suitable relatives -artistic talent -good conversationalist, and more.

When he tells Julia all this, she’s enraged. 

After thinking about it, she decides she wants vengeance, and she calls her friend Selina to come visit. Selina is not sure, at first, but Julia explains how arrogant and conceited Malcolm is, and how much he hurt her, by paying her attention and then discarding her as nothing. To convince her, Julia has to call on their friendship, and Selina agrees. Reluctantly, but she agrees.

Julia’s plan is to present him with the perfect wife, since she now knows what’s written on that list, thanks to Cassidy, and then when he proposes, present him with her own list. Simple.

But the night Julia plans to introduce her, Selina and Malcolm meet by themselves, without knowing the other’s identity, and kinda hit it off. 

When Cassidy then makes introductions, he asks to see her again, and while watching some paintings, they hear women gossiping about him. Selina comments on his reputation, and the way he treated Julia, but when he explains that he only took her out once and never promised her anything, she wonders if she made too big a deal out of it. Still, Julia is hurt, and the plan goes on.

Selina also meets Captain Ossory, the nephew of the old woman she worked for. He starts to court her too, because this was his aunt’s last wish in a letter, but the more they all know each other, and the more he is captivated by Julia.

For the most part, Selina is just herself. They only have to lie a couple of times, because Selina has a very loud relative, the widow of a cousin or something, and because she has no artistic talent, so they pretend that she can play the piano while it’s Cassidy instead.

Things go on so well, that he sends invitation for a big ball at his mother’s house, inviting her parents too. His mother likes Selina very much, and he is so smitten now that says it doesn’t matter when he learns that Mrs Covington is actually related to her.

Still, Julia hasn’t forgotten, and urges Selina to do it now, but she doesn’t want to, she likes him. So Julia does it herself. She has her maid lock Selina in a room, and then she hands him her own list after he proposes, while she’s dressed as Selina.

The lie doesn’t last long, because Selina freed herself, and they all meet each other by the stairs. Julia now cries, tells him, and the all, how hurt she was, how humiliated, and tells about their plan, and this Jeremy Malcolm doesn’t want to hear anything more, the fact that Selina started out with her plan is enough for him.

Julia then apologises to Selina. Once things have calmed down, I guess it’s the next day, Julia explains how sorry she is, because if at first she had been hurt by his cold dismissal, later she had been jealous that she ‘succeeded where she had failed’.  The two girls make peace, but with Malcolm it’s not so easy. 

When they both receive notes to meet in the garden, as he sees her he accuses her of trying to trap him in a marriage, and is quite unpleasant, so she gets angry and storms out. 

When selina packs to go back home, his mother tells him that it was her, she sent those notes, because she is sure that Selina’s feelings were true, and sh tells him that he wrote that list as a sort of shield, because everyone wanted to marry him for his money and position, and that list enabled him to keep his distance or something. 

Finally he runs out after her, to stop her going away. She’s already going, so he rides a horse until he stops her, and apologises, and proposes, and she accepts. The end.

The ending credits are also quite nice, with here and there some drawings/caricatures of what will happen, like “Mr Malcolm finally finds his bride, Miss Selina Dalton from the country”, and then Julia accepting Henry, and “tensions with France as Louis XVIII decrees Uncivil Merriment”, and their double wedding in Sussex, and the two girls pregnant, and Mrs Covington marrying again, while Lord Cassidy wins “equine beauty contest” on a horse, he who was afraid of them…

Julia’s footman also gets married, and is gifted a house. 

Julia Thistlewaite - Zawe Ashton

Mr Malcolm - Sopé Dirisu

Selina Dalton - Freida Pinto

Lord Cassidy - Oliver Jackson-Cohen

Captain Henry Ossory - Theo James

The school for good and evil - 2022

I haven’t read the books, I only learned of their existence after watching this film and wondering where it came from.

The idea is nice, the outfits and special effects are really cool, but the overall film is not. As it often happens, I don’t think they took it seriously, because fantasy stories are never taken seriously, which is maddening. It’s a story! Take it seriously, people! Honestly, they only showed some respect for the Tolkien  stories, and maybe just because they didn’t want to be lynched by mistreating such legendary books. Even Harry Potter was taken more seriously than this: sure, the first movie was rather childish, but the characters were eleven! All considered, it was taken seriously enough. (It could have been better, but oh well…)

I’m not sure which audience is their target. Is it for children? With that blood magic, and blood flooding the library, and  the girl being stabbed to death, and the hero basically killing his classmate, even if he didn’t know it? Or is it for teenagers/young adults, with those Never girls doing childish faces, with that guy acting like a child, with Sophie walking like a swinging pendulum as her own idea of confidence? Who did they think would see and appreciate this film? 

I’m an adult, and if I had a child I would not recommend this film for the reasons above mentioned, meaning the blood. On the other hand, as an adult I found the Never girls, but also the boys, to be really over the top, caricatures, childish in their movements and expressions, really too much.

I would have liked to see more of the school, learn the kids names… I don’t think this should be a movie at all, it should be done at least in two parts. And it should show why they are doing what they’re doing: I mean, the romance bit made no sense at all, when did Agatha start liking Tedros? When did that happen? 

Well, I would also like no mention of existing fairy-tale characters, but I learned that the books mention them, so I guess this is what it is…

I also didn’t like the way Sophie acted when in school, was that way of walking her idea of being confident? Sexy? Losing her balance? 

Also, I didn’t like the end of the battle, it was kinda stupid.

I liked the idea that for all those years they thought that the Good brother had won, because every year the school for Good always won, but it wasn’t. The Evil one had won, and he had worked behind the scenes ever since, changing the school and changing the Good Ones as well, rewarding them for the wrong things, so that nowadays the school for Good is full of vain girls who only think of themselves and vain boys who think they’re God’s gift and oh so brave and oh so handsome, but not one of them ever stops to think.

The beginning I liked well enough, Sophie in her poor house, dreaming of being a princess loved by everyone, and Agatha with her mother who plays witch but isn’t really good at it. The village kids mocking them and yelling at Agatha that she should be burned as a witch, one guy even approaching her with bad intentions and Sophie hitting him on the head to save her… it was ok.

They both like to read, and they see a box of books just arrived, and in there they learn of the School for Good and Evil, and that years ago a girl was taken away and never heard of ever again.

Sophie is fascinated by this school, and wishes to go there, and leaves a letter at the tree of wishes, despite having promised Agatha that she wouldn’t.

Agatha professes to be her best friend, and yet she’s a bit selfish in her insistence that Sophie stays there, with her. When Sophie is taken, Agatha grabs her hoping to keep her here, not caring that Sophie actually wants to go.

They are both taken away, but Sophie is taken to the School for Evil, and called a Never, while Agatha is taken to the School for Good, and called Ever. Agatha cares nothing for it, doesn’t like those girls wearing pink dresses, and the classes that teach you to smile and be pretty, she only wants to get Sophie and go back home. 

Sophie doesn’t want to go home, what she wants is to be in the other school, she says she’s good, she wanted to be a princess, and she insists on this. Her dormitory is dark and her classmates are against her, she herself doesn’t like any of it, any of them, she thinks she’s better because she’s good, and she sets her eyes on the most popular kid, King Arthur’s son Tedros.

Agatha and Sophie go to the Grand Master to talk, to say that there’s been a mistake, and he tells them that  there’s a way to prove that she should be in the school for Good, and it’s True Love’s Kiss. 

Agatha starts listing all the school kids, but Sophie wants Tedros, and asks her help to get him.

When Sophie is attacked in class by another girl, she doesn’t know what to do, until a swarm of wasps arrives to defend her. 

Her teacher Lesso tires of her rebellious attitude, always saying she doesn’t belong with them, that she’s Good, and so she cuts Sophie’s hair, as if to show her that she’s not a princess. Sophie feels really down, but Rafal talks to her, he wants to mold her at his liking. 

She starts acting different, integrating herself in her school, becoming the leader of the Never girls, she wears black, and stockings, and makes a big entrance in the Hall walking/swinging like she owns the school.

Their magic has been activated (by piercing their finger).

Tedros and Sophie start seeing each other, while behind the scenes Agata helps them with her magic.

Everybody hates seeing them together, the school has always been divided, one side against the other. When they insist that they want to be together, the Grand Master suggests a Trial: to enter the woods at night, beat all the tasks in there and come out together, and they accept. Agata secretly follows them. Nobody should helpl, but she secretly goes, ‘to help Sophie’.

Sophie is not good at defending herself against any of it, she keeps calling for Tedros to come and save her, because it’s the hero that has to save the princess right? And then they meet, and while Tedros fights a sort of scarecrow with a scythe, Sophie hides. Tedros pleads for help, since he lost his sword, and Agatha urges her to take the sword to him, but Sophie doesn’t move, and eventually it’s Agata that does it. Tedros accuses Sophie of cheating because of Agata’s help, but he’s also disappointed that she didn’t help him, so he gives up the trial. 

Sophie is angry and blames Agata for it.

Now Rafal speaks to her again, making her think that Agata is against her, and that she can have everything she wants if she accepts his help, and Sophie does. Rafal ‘gifts her’ with his blood magic, the forbidden magic that his brother said should never be used because it’s evil and addictive…

She crashes the Evers Ball, makes some threats I think, and then they see that she had transformed all the ‘adults’ in the school into little dolls. Tedros takes charge of the guys, and like mindless paladins they ignore Agata’s warnings and attack the other school. 

This was exacty what Sophie wanted, because there was a rule: Evil attacks, Good defends. Now Tedros and his guys were the attackers, Sophie and her school the attacked, so they magically change outfits, the good become evil and the evil become good… on the outside, otherwise they are the same people.

A big battle starts. 

While they all fight, Sophie wants her revenge on the Grand Master, and goes to him alone. There she learns that he’s actually Rafal, he’s the surviving brother, who pretended to be Rhian to manipulate Good as he wanted, making it what it has now become. He tells Sophie that he has waited a long time for her, that she’s his true love, and they can rule together, and she accepts and they kiss… and apparently the Evil Kiss should give him more power, or something. 

After they kiss, both schools start breaking and crashing down, and Sophie is shocked at this, she never wanted to destroy it all or to kill them all, she thought they would have ruled over them or something. 

Agata comes in, and Rafal tries to kill her using that big quill that was writing the Story, the Storian. Sophie takes Agata’s place, and is killed in her place. 

Tedros comes in to fight Rafal, in his mind he’s always the knight that has to save the princess. Rafal is winning, though, and would have without the girls help, and this is alright. What makes no sense is that Agata gets up and approaches him unarmed, and the dying Sophie uses her magic to send the sword to her… why didn’t Agata take the sword before approaching? Simple and practical, better than waiting on the action of a dying girl that didn’t do it before and might or might not do it now. Absurd. Anyway, she uses the sword against Rafal and wins. Not sure if any sword would have been enough, this sword was excalibur though.

Here is a long long scene of Agata crying with Sophie in her arms, and then finally when it seems Sophie has died Agata kisses her on the lips… which I found rather annoying and a bit disturbing, because they are friends. if it was romantic love it would change all the meaning, the whole point was to show that their friendship is more true than anything else… and anyway Agata likes Tedros too. 

It’s been done already in other stories, true love’s kiss doesn’t have to be on the lips if it’s not romantic love (and anyway it shouldn’t have been on the lips in the fairy tales either, the idea that a guy can kiss a girl without consent is not right, even if he thinks she’s sleeping, or creepily enough: dead.)

Anyway, all this proves that they can love and break whatever spell Rafal had in motion, and the schools repair themselves. Sophie is ok now, of course, and the kids are all mingling together now, so the teachers decide to join the two schools into one.

Sophie and Agata can go home, there’s a portal to Gavaldon for them, and Sophie tells her friend that if she wants to stay here with Tedros, she’ll understand… Agata goes back to kiss Tedros, but tells him that she can not leave her friend alone, and the two girls go home. They still have their magic, though.

Really, stay behind with Tedros? Since when were they in love? He may have been interested in her after she helped in the woods and told him new concepts his mind had never conceived before, but Love? And since when she loves him? When did that happen?

Bah.

P.s.

The girls tell Agata that if you fail three classes, you’re not sent home, you are transformed into something else, and that’s what happens to poor Gregory, the clumsy boy who wanted to open a grocery shop, or something, and also what happened to others before him.

During a lesson about wishes, the girls think only of the boy they like, only Agata wishes for whoever is in the lake to be free, so many years and she’s the only one that asked for that, it was a girl that now vanishes. (Meaning what? Dead and her soul free? Or alive and free to go back to wherever she came from? After so many years, would she have a home to go back to? I think she died and her soul got finally freed, which makes me wonder, what happened to Gregory, will he stay there as a beast or something else, will he ever be free?)

That is one of the reason why Agata is told that she’s the first real princess in who knows how many years, because she feels empathy.

Question: is the school outside of time or what? If everybody knows the fairy tales, how come this are just the sons and daughters? And nobody ever gets annoyed if their children never return home? Simply because they weren’t good in school?