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The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning by Chris Colfer

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Brief synopsis: Conner returns to the Land of Stories. Alex is in Fairy Godmother training. War breaks out in the Land of Stories.

Why I chose this book – It is the third in a series of fairy tale character/fairy tale world books. See other reviews from the same series.   

My personal opinion (the review) – Classic story of everyone coming together (overcoming many and varied obstacles) to fight the villain. Also a coming of age story. Young love. 

While I liked the characters and the set up of this story it was a bit more of a letdown than the previous two. I could tell the author had run out of his “original story” material and was kind of searching for a direction to take the story. It also left lots of loose ends (again, more than the previous two) so that it could lead into the next book, but too many loose ends frustrate me as a reader.

With all of that said, the way that Colfer weaves so many characters together is ingenious.

Warnings
None. 

Movie rating equivalent
PG

Point of view of story
There is a bit of switching between Alex and Conner at the beginning, but once both characters are in the Land of Stories the point of view is condensed to third person.  

Book length/Story Flow 
This one felt a little longer than the first two books. It almost lost my interest a few times, but I was interested enough in the story as a whole to finish it. 

Grammar and spelling issues
None.

Character connection (no spoilers) 
You get to know a big cast of characters in this series. In this book you particularly come to know Mother Goose better. The Masked Man is introduced and promises to be a key player in future stories. 

For series:
Independent or integral
Back story dependent.

Series review as a whole –
Conner and Alex find out they have magical blood and have part in the fairy tale land called The Land of Stories.  However, I do really like that the fairy tale Kings and Queens and peoples are given more personality. Everything doesn’t end with “happily ever after” and we see how these classic story characters deal with their situations after their fairy tale has ended.   

If you only have time for one, read: 
The Land of Stories sets up all the background, but as far as story The Enchantress Returns has been my favorite. 


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