Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

… Evil Genius starts out with a delightfully mischievous sense of humor as we watch Cadel studying traffic patterns and bus schedules so he can play clever tricks on his classmates and teachers. The first part of the novel is fascinating and amusing and this lasts for about 100 pages before Cadel goes off to Dr. Darkkon’s school. However, as soon as Cadel gets to the school, the tone of the novel shifts abruptly and becomes incredibly dark and disturbing… based on the cover art and the first 100 pages, I had assumed that this would be a rather light treatment of such an institution. Wrong!… Catherine Jinks set out to do something original and unexpected in Evil Genius, and she accomplished that. Most of my experience with Evil Genius was unpleasant, but that’s due to my personal taste, not to Ms. Jinks’ skills. Read the rest.