Skip to main content

The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) 
When the twins’ grandmother gives them a treasured fairy tale book, they have no idea they’re about to enter a land beyond all imagining: the Land of Stories, where fairy tales are real.

But as Alex and Conner soon discover, the stories they know so well haven’t ended in this magical land—Goldilocks is a wanted fugitive, Red Riding Hood has her own kingdom, and Queen Cinderella is about to become a mother!

The twins want to get back home. But with the legendary Evil Queen hot on their trail, will they ever find the way?

Why I chose this book - I'm a sucker for fairy tales and I enjoy modern retellings and spin-offs. 

My personal opinion (the review)
This is a typical "two kids find out they have magical blood and get sucked into the magical land" mixed with the "quest to find the magical items to complete the spell to get home" books. It's very Narnia/Harry Potter-esc. What I really like is how the author weaves the characters together. Alex and Conner are very believable pre-teens and the fairy tale characters each have their own distinct personalities.  

Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.) 
None.

Movie rating equivalent 
PG

Protagonist description 
Alex is a straight A student and Conner is anything but a good student, but they work well together. Alex is quiet and bookish, but is a great leader when it comes down to it. Conner is the risk taker and is able to get himself and his sister out of sticky situations. 


Point of view of story 

Third Person

 Book length 
About a week

 Story flow 
The story starts out a bit slow, but picks up once the twins enter into The Land Of Stories. 

Grammar and spelling issues 
None

Character connection (no spoilers) 
I like that you come to know traditional fairy tale story characters and what has happened to them after their own "happily ever after." A few of these characters include Goldilocks, Queen Sleeping Beauty, Queen Snow White, Queen Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, and The Evil Queen.

For series:
Independent or integral (stand-alone or back story dependent) 
Independent as the first in the series. 

 Series review as a whole
I have really enjoyed this series. You get to know what happens to your favorite princes and princesses after their individual stories have ended. Some of it is a bit far fetched, but a do feel the author has done a good job weaving the characters together. Both the modern day kids and the storybook characters are quite believable.  

 If you only have time for one, read: (which one) 
The Land of Stories - because it's the first one and gives all the background and introductory information, but as far as the story goes I like The Enchantress Returns best. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happily Ever After Kiera Cass

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Short novellas and after stories from the perspective of other main characters from The Selection Series. Includes: -The Prince (with the two bonus chapters), Maxon’s novella -The Guard, Aspen’s novella -The Queen, Amberly’s novella -The Favorite, Marlee’s novella -Three scenes from Celeste’s POV -Lucy’s scene (bonus scene from The One) -The bonus epilogue -Where are they now? Category: YA Why I chose this book: Selection of novellas filling in gaps in The Selection series.  My personal opinion (the review): Of the entire series this was by far and away my favorite. I loved getting to hear parts of the stories from other perspectives. There was also additional details not found in the original story. All my questions or things I wondered about where answered through these stories.  Warnings Language: None  Violence: None "Adult" situations: As with the other novels, a few scenes with more description than I would have liked. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Game by Terry Schott

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) What if this life is just a simulation? What if our bodies are in another world, plugged into a virtual reality game, and our entire life is just one play in that game? What would our real life be like, if we could experience several full simulated lifespans, in our teen years, and then enter adulthood? That is the premise of this story. Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book It was either free or discounted on Amazon, and sounded interesting My personal opinion (the review) Too many inconsistencies. For example: The real world is able to view the players in the game in "real time", but time in the game is sped up, so that a week in real life is worth a decade in the virtual world. How do real world people have enough time to experience the virtual world, in real time, while still being accelerated? Danielle enters the game 3 days behind Trew, but she only ends up being 1 year younger. If a week is a decade in the game, then 3 days should have be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

By
Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...
Post a Comment
Read more