Fairy Tales. Everyone knows the stories, from the evil villains, to thee ’Happily ever after’. One thing about Fairy Tales is that there so predictable. Now, I’m not saying I don’t like them, in fact I love them. My favorites are the Grimm brothers, when there not changed for kids because there to morbid or scary.
The name of the book I’m reviewing this week is The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. obviously you can see from the name and the little paragraph up there that this book is about fairy Tales. But not how I described them, this book was amazing and had all my favorite characters and they had a few from nursery rhymes.
One thing I only noticed after I bought the book, was the author. Chris Colfer. At first his name didn’t ring any bells, but then I went to the last page and it showed a picture of the author. You probably know who it is by the name, but if you don’t know, like me, It is the boy from glee that goes by the name of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee. I was really shocked. It’s actually his first novel, I really hope he writes more because he’s quite good at it.
Alex and Conner Bailey’s world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales.
“The Land of Stories” tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.
But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.
My favorite thing about this book was that it wasn’t set during the fairy tales, it’s set after them. When Alex and Conner soon discover, the stories they know so well haven’t ended in this magical land- Goldilocks is now a wanted fugitive, Red Riding Hood has her own kingdom, and Queen Cinderella is about to become a mother.
“Woo! It’s so cold, I think we may be twin sisters now,” he said through rattling teeth.”
“Even in the worst of situations-even when it seems no one in the world appreciates you-as long as you have hope, everything can get better.”
“ We've lost count.” Lampton said. “There are three currently. King Chester had four sons: Chance Charming, Chase Charming, Chandler Charming, and Charlie Charming.”
“Maybe there are so many paintings of her because she’s the first monarch the kingdom has ever had. It doesn't have the history the Charming Kingdom has,” Alex said.
“Or she’s just a self-obsessed twit,” Conner said.
There were some funny bits in the book, like the posters or signs like:
Sir Humpty Dumpty’s wall, you were a good egg and shall be missed by more than just the king’s horses and men. Rest in pieces.
In memory of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, you were a liar, but you were loved.
WANTED. DEAD OR ALIVE. GOLDILOCKS. FOR BURGLARY, THIEVERY, AND RUNNING FROM THE LAW.
Okay, although I did enjoy this book especially thee characters, there was a few things that I didn't like very much. The twins escaped dangerous situations far too easily, again, the plot lacking imagination. The sentences were far to simplistic, even for a children’s book for example he uses “Conner said” or “Alex said” every single time they speak.
I would recommend this book to children from the age of eight and up. I did enjoy bits and parts of it, it was a very good read. I hope if he decides to write any more books he will be able to improve some weak parts of the plot.
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