The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, 1) by Chris Colfer (Epub)

Description

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 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.

User’s Reviews

Review #1 New York Times Bestseller”There’s more in Colfer’s magic kingdoms than Disney has dreamt of.”―USA Today”It will hit big with its combination of earnestness and playful poise.”―The New York Times Book Review”In The Land of Stories, Colfer showcases his talent for crafting fancifully imaginative plots and multidimensional characters.”―Los Angeles Times”Captivating.”―Teen Vogue”A magical debut.”―Family Circle”It’s hard not to love a book dedicated to the Glee star’s grandmother…Colfer gets off many good lines [and] the nifty ending ties the plot’s multiple strands up while leaving room for further fairy tale adventures.”―Publishers Weekly

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I felt like I had to speak up because most people comment on how their child could not put it down, but when they read the book themselves, it wasn’t great writing/ dialogue/ repetitive language, etc.My concern as a Mom of four? The moral judgements that I just don’t want my kids absorbing. The brother and sister mostly get along, which is nice, but to have a sibling show their love for another one by helping them cheat on a test? Uh, NO. Enabling isn’t love, folks. The book is sprinkled with morally dubious examples like that one. Skip. Next.“Fablehaven” or for older readers “The Hero and the Crown” or if you like moral twists that make you THINK- “The School for Good and Evil”. “Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow” for an amazing adaptation of a fairy tale.

⭐ Our family reads a lot of children’s literature aloud — we’ve churned through loads of books over the last 10 years. This book came recommended to us, so we thought we’d give it a try. But after reading it, I’m reminded once again that just becomes someone is a celebrity, doesn’t make them a good author.The overarching plot and world of this book are fine and creative. The book has a lot of potential. My kids (from age 5 to 11) all enjoyed it. But the writing quality is, frankly, terrible. A talented author could take this exact same plot, and make it suspenseful, make the character relatable, and add emotional depth. Instead, Colfer just sends the main characters through one adventure after another, without ever making you believe that anything in the story really has any depth. The dialog is painful and the characters are stiff. You never once believe that anyone is in danger, or that anyone has any real feelings, or any real choices to make. Things just happen.To put it succinctly: I really don’t think this book would have ever been noticed if the author wasn’t a celebrity.

⭐ I am a 4th grade teacher and I read this book to my class. Most of my students LOVED it and always begged me to read more. The story line is very engaging and quick-moving. It was a great way to review fairy tales. Even as an adult I was very entertained by the adventures of these two kids as they journey through the Land of Stories and meet all of the fairy-tale characters we grew up reading about.The reason I gave it 4 stars is because of the language. There is an occasional swear word which is just unnecessary. Obviously I didn’t read those words aloud, but a few kids following along know that they were there. I have a hard time recommending a book to kids that has language that I wouldn’t want them using.

⭐ I’ll start by saying I’m 31 and I know this is a children’s book but I love a variety of books for all ages. I enjoyed this book and the fast pace that it moved. I was surprised that for a book aimed at children there was some questionable language. Harlot and floozy for one shouldn’t be in a children’s book. Also, I’m not sure if it was intended to be so but, when the twins are in water and it’s cold Conner says to his sister that he thinks she got a sister, which I know a child most likely wouldn’t understand but as an adult I got the suggestion of what happens to males in cold water. Overall cute story and it did have a cute ending.

⭐ TLDR: I could barely stomach this nonsense, but lots of kids like it. Let them read more!Cookie-cutter twins-who-are-opposites Alex and Connor come from a family down on its luck since the mysterious death of their father. Whisked into a world of mixed-up fairy tales by…wait for it…a fairy tale book that their mysterious grandmother leaves to them before mysteriously disappearing again, they encounter a Hero’s Journey helper who happens to have just the…wait for it…book that they need to find their way home again. It will not surprise you that they have to visit many fairy tales. The progression of one step in the journey to the next is a world-class example of just one darn thing after another, not really leading anywhere, since after all they are just following the book, which they don’t seem to have read ahead of actually getting anywhere mentioned. “Here we are at X’s castle. Let’s see what the book says about it,” they repeat. Unexplained and irrational help comes from certain corners, and most of the fairy-tale characters are just annoying and shallow people with some strange obsessions and self-punishing character quirks. There’s a hint at deeper plot with the principal villain. Reading it, I kept hoping to encounter a character with as much subtlety as Draco Malfoy or Gollum. Suggestion for getting your book published (or becoming president): get on reality TV first, as this author did.The very advanced 2nd grade book club I led chose this book and enjoyed it well enough. The stories echoed familiar names and elements, and the pace suited them well, although the vocabulary would crush the ordinary 2nd grader. Other students I work with in upper elementary and middle school enjoyed the book. Generally these students have difficulty with more complex plots. Since I read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in grades 3-4, my expectations are different. If your reader likes the sample, they will probably enjoy the book and ask to read the sequel (which is actually written with simpler vocabulary, more suited to the fan base, I think). More independent reading for kids is good, even if the books are annoying to adult readers.

⭐ Exciting and magical!If you are looking for an excellent and edge of your seat book from the series of The Land of Stories then The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell is for you! This book will transport you right away into the world of magic, fairies, and goblins. Chris Colfer does an extraordinarily good job at making the characters extremely realistic and leaving you on the edge of her seat. From the two main characters Alex and Conner Bailey we learn that perseverance is key to success and not trying is not an option. In this book Alex and Conner Bailey are normally 6th grade twins. They only live with their mom because their dad died in a car crash. One day they find out that their grandmother is actually the fairy godmother of the fairy tale world.They find this out because for their birthday their grandmother gives them an old fairy tale treasury and the twins fell into the book landing in the fairytale world. The twins are trying to find a way out of the book but a dark force is trying to stop them. Will they make it home or will they be stuck in the fairy tale world forever?In The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell the book has great description that clearly paints a picture in you mind at all times. At this part in the book they are describing a jail cell, “The dungeon was a miserable place. Light was scarce and flickered from the torched bolted to the stone walls. Foul-smelling water dripped inside from the moat circling the palace above. Large rats chased each other across the floor searching for food. This was no place for a queen,”(pg.1). During this part you can clearly picture this dungeon that a queen is locked up in, with water dripping from the walls and very little light. And off the bat it already gets you wondering about why a queen would be locked up in a dungeon. Another piece of evidence that shows description is “Mrs.Peters was a tall, thin woman who always wore a dress that resembled old, patterned sofas. Her hair was dark and curly and sat perfectly on top of her head like a hat (and her students often though it was). Through a pair of thick glasses hee eyes were permanently squinted from all the judgmental looks she has given her classes over the years,”(pg. 12). This can clearly show you what Alex and Connor’s teacher Mrs.Peters looks like with her squinted eyes and perfect hair. It gives you an image so vivid it could be in a movie. And that is why in The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell the book has great description that clearly paints a picture in you mind at all times.The book also has characters that have real emotions and that are easy to relate to. One piece from the book is when Alex and Conner are in class and its relatable, “Alex Bailey eagerly sat straight up in her seat.She really enjoyed her teachers lessons.(…) Connor Bailey jumped back to life, almost knocking his desk over. He had dozed off again,” (pg 16). This is relatable on both sides of the bialy twins school day. Some people may be into school and love learning about new and interesting things, and others may be into school but maybe it’s boring to them sometimes so they doze off. In that specific part of the story it’s when the kids just went to class and their teacher was giving them a lesson about fairy tales . Another piece of evidence that shows that the characters are relatable is,”Look,’ Alex said, and pointed to a for sale sign next to the oak tree. A bright red stripe with the word sold had been recently added to it, Alex’s eyes welled up with tears,” (pg 30). This shows very human like emotions because in this part in the book Alex and Connor’s childhood house just sold and now they can’t live there anymore. And all of this evidence clearly shows the characters in the book have very human like emotions which makes them easy to relate to. And in the book it has cliffhangers at every moment. One piece of evidence that supports this is, “Alex leaned further forward the book and fell in. ‘Alex NO’ Conner yelled as he saw he fall into the book,” (pg 78). This is a huge cliffhanger because Alex found out that a fairy tale book was a porthole to the fairytale world and she fell into it, and connor was watching her fall in and there is almost no way out. Another Piece of evidence is,”It was impossible for the kids to stop staring. They both stood in front of her as if she was a rabid t rex. The witch was skinny with lots of burn marks, they started to step away then the witch lunged at Connor and grabbed his arm,” (pg 112). This part is a cliffhanger because they just found the witch in the gingerbread house from the book Hansel and Gretel and the witch was trying to invite them into her house then she grabbed Connor and you get concerned about what might happen to them.This shows the book it has cliffhangers at every moment.All in all the book The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell By Chris Colfer is an exciting, fun book about kids in a fairy tale world.Its is a total cliffhanger and there are goblins and trolls at every corner.It shows you that perseverance is key to success and not trying is not an option. But also we learn from the Connor and Alex Bailey is,whenever they have a task to complete they are normally uncomfortable in that situation,but they always complete the task. So we learn from them that stepping outside your comfort zone can make you stronger.

⭐ Great book. My 8 year old loves it. But it has some surprise curse words and phrases that have shocked me a bit. Even some insinuations that I could have lived without.

⭐ I bought this to read with my son but ended up reading it myself. It was simple and beautiful and oh so much fun to read. A quote from the book keeps coming back to me as I read the sometimes awful news feeds. “Does such a place exist where someone can’t be unexpectedly helped or hurt?” I may not have the quote exactly as written but the thought comes every time I read an upsetting bit of what passes for news these days. The bloggers, the entertainment “news” make it seem this place is relentlessly cruel. It can be but it can also be suprisingly beautiful and kind.

⭐ This book is not for kids. I started reading it with my daughter and found my self skipping words the sentences then whole paragraphs to protect her from the adult themes and language. Maybe teens. Not kids. I don’t get past page 2 or 3 before figuring out it was a mistake for an elementary age child.

⭐ I started reading this series to my daughters, aged 6 and 8, a few months back. WE were immediately hooked! If you or your kids enjoy fairy tales, magic and surprises then you will not be disappointed. Chris Colfer wrote this book beautifully, it is so engaging. Every night we would read a chapter before bed and every night my kids begged to read more! We are on book 3 now and have already purchased the rest of the series so we have them when we need them. 🙂

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