...Blogmas

 

Day 17

 

Welcome to Blogmas!

Every day from December the first until Christmas Eve I will accompany with one Christmas related post, giving you gift ideas, tips, recipes, etc. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy Coming up with posts and writing them. 

Review

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell

by Chris Colfer

First sentences:

The dungeon was a miserable place.

Summary:

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 the 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.

source: Goodreads

 

My opinion:

Through all my bookish Twitter friends I was able to second hand experience this year’s Book Expo America (BEA) that took place in New York City at the beginning of June. Via Live-Stream I saw a panel with Chris Colfer in it and I was really puzzled. Why was an actor I knew from Glee on a book panel? So I watched it and discovered that he wrote a book called The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.

In October I saw it on the shelf in my local bookstore and bought it. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was willing to give it a try. I flew through the book (438 pages) in just one and a half days where I did nothing besides reading and studying for an exam and I have to say that it was a light entertaining read.

The book deals with a totally new take on fairy tales, fairy tale characters and the land all of them live in. Connor and Alex fall into the Land of Stories via their father’s old fairy tale book and to get home again they have to collect items for a wishing spell. During their treasure hunt they encounter many fairy tale characters and adventures.

The characters are really lovely and all the different fairy tale characters are hilarious. Red Riding Hood, for example, is queen of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom and she is the only elected queen in the whole country. Unfortunately she behaves like such a spoilt and arrogant brat that no other fairy tale princess wants to invite her to their meetings.

The story itself is entertaining and you always want to know who it continues. I had a hard time stopping and had to force myself sometimes to put the book down to go study. The illustrations by Brandon Dorman are so beautiful and reminded me a lot of those typical fairy tale books.

I would categorize it as a middle grade book but definitely suitable for all ages. If you are looking for a quick and entertaining book filled with a wonderful story than I can recommend it.