The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1)

ISBN13: 9780316201575

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers

Publication date: July 17, 2012

Pages: 438

Genres: Fantasy | Children’s Literature

Buy from: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository

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.

More like 2.5 stars.

At first, I didn’t buy this book because of Chris Colfer (who also plays Kurt on Glee) but my little sister. She asked me if we could buy it because of the fairytale blurb and the very nice cover. Yeah, it has a nice cover, that’s true. So, I decided to buy it for her and I asked if I could read it too, she said yes. Yay, fairytales! I thought for the first time. Honestly, I was a little nervous when I started reading it because he’s an actor and I didn’t know what to expect from an actor who writes. It was my first ever experience, but I was eager to give it a shot since I also watched Glee.

“Courage is one thing that no one can ever take away from you.”

Alex and Connor…

So the protagonists are Alex and Connor Bailey. The twins who have a hard time since their father died in a car accident. Their father used to tell them tales like it was real. Now, they find it hard to believe in magic. Until their grandmother gives her a book that causes some strange things, and one day the twins accidentally fall through the portal of the book to a fairytale world. But the world is different from those stories they read from children books; Red Riding Hood is now a queen and Cinderella is pregnant! They need to find a way back to real life and figure out their grandmother’s secrets.

Horrible writing

I personally think this book is like not ready to be published yet. The writing is awful, some of the descriptions are nonexistent and illogical. I know English is my second language and I’m only 15 but Colfer’s writing are just way too basic and awkward, I didn’t mean to say I could do better, but you know, he’s a New York Times bestselling author.

“Mrs. Peters was staring at her as if she had just witnessed a gruesome rural animal give birth.”

Okay, can you explain what kind of gruesome rural animal he’s trying to describe here? A horse, or a cow maybe? Oh, come on. And sadly, the others are just worse.

Bad reading experience

I don’t regret buying this book because I think my sister enjoys it. (And she was kind of angry when she knew I gave this one a 3-star rating.) The plot was okay, some things were exciting to read (even though they were most likely illogical but I always appreciate imagination), maybe I would’ve enjoyed it better if I was younger. This could be your worst reading experience if you are a very critical person, and adults seem to hate this book because it irritates them enough.

Then I heard the fourth book will be released this year. Oh no. It means I need to spend money to buy more anti-Disney fairytale stories because my sister wouldn’t want to have incomplete series. I want this to end soon, honestly. I feel bad for not liking it but I swear I don’t hate Colfer. Still not a better read than Dork Diaries series.