Title: The Wishing Spell
Author: Chris Colfer
Series: The Land of Stories
Format: Hardcover, 438 pages
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fairy Tales
Publication Date: July 17, 2012
Published By: Little Brown Young Readers
Rating: 4/5









Goodreads Synopsis:
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 fairytales.

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.


My Thoughts:
I am usually a little hesitant when it comes to reading book put out by celebrities, especially fiction. But I am a sucker for anything that has to do with Fairy Tales and Chris Colfer came up with an interesting take on the beloved tales we know so well.

Because this book is geared toward the middle grade age group, some of my critiques have to do with the writing style. Although the story itself was fantastic and original, i found that, at times, the writing was repetitive, and stating the obvious. In Middle Grade fiction many think it is okay to state the obvious because the readers might be able to read between the lines,  but I have to say that that is not true. Many young readers are better at interpreting books than most adults. The writing style is my only complaint for this book, and i know that because this is Chris' first novel, he will only get better with time. All authors do.

The two main characters, the twins Alex and Connor were great characters. They might have been a bit stereotypical when it comes to attitudes and personality, but that is what made it so much more enjoyable. Connor was the one that cracked all the jokes and Alex was the one that read into everything and tried to think logically. They fed off each other very well throughout the book and cause many hilarious scenes as well.

My favorite part of the entire book was probably the concept itself. We get to see what happened after the Happily Ever After's that we all read about when we were kids. This story is like a continuation of the stories we know so well, and I have to say that I loved getting to see what happened after the stories ended. Great Middle Grade read!