Book Review: The Land Of Stories |Dreams That Glitter

This is a combined book review post about the first two books of The Land Of Stories series: The Wishing Spell and The Enchantress Returns, written by Chris Colfer, best known for his portrayal of the character Kurt Hummel in Glee.

The first book, The Land Of Stories: The Wishing Spell was published in July last year and it was Chris’s first book (of many, let’s hope). The success of the first book lead to a sequel which was published last week, already proving quite popular, currently no. 2 on the New York Times Best Sellers, while The Wishing Spell has climbed back up to no. 10.  Writing is something Chris has always loved and he has revealed that he has had The Land Of Stories planned out in his head since the age of 10, and that’s quite apparent as you read his books, the detail in which it is written is very well done, and each of the characters mentioned has a full back story, Chris said in his latest lifestream #CC360 – in which he also let loose that he definitely planned to write more books in The Land Of Stories series and had a set number in his mind of how many he wanted to do. When he was younger The Land Of Stories was Chris’s way of escaping the real world. Although the books are primarily aimed at children particularly in the 8-12 age range, there is something about them that can be enjoyed by all ages – so if you think you’re too old for fairytale books, think again and give these a read.

The Land Of Stories: The Wishing Spell 

The first novel begins in The Land Of Stories, where Queen Snow White is visiting her stepmother, the Evil Queen. On our planet, Alex and Conner Bailey are in school the first time we are introduced to them as 11 year old twins. They are in a class learning about fairytales and learn that true fairy tales have been warped by society to be far from their original plots and morals. It’s clear from the start that Alex is very enthusiastic about fairytales and is very fond of them, reading them from a young age she knows lots about them and is very alert during her classes about them, while her brother has less of an interest in the tales. You soon learn the twins haven’t had a great time recently and lost their father in a car accident almost a year before and life hasn’t been easy for them, living alone with their mother with occasional visits from their grandmother. Their lives soon take a turn in tune when their grandmother gives them a book titled The Land Of Stories. Alex is of course over the moon, and is curious about the book, until she falls into the book, quickly followed by her brother. They find themselves trapped inside of The Land Of Stories. They have to overcome a lot of obstacles in trying to get out of the book, along the way discovering lots more about their family and who they are, Alex’s knowledge of fairytales helps them a lot through their journey and trying to get back home. There are lots of interesting and unexpected twists and turns throughout the book which is overall very well written in an exciting and appealing manner.

The Land Of Stories: The Enchantress Returns – needless to say I was slightly excited about the arrival of this one

In this book the Bailey twins return to The Land Of Stories, but not in the way they hoped. The Land Of Stories is in trouble because the Enchantress has returned and planning to take over the world and the Otherworld. The Enchantress captures and kidnaps the twins’ mother, mistaking her for Alex, so the twins are desperate to go back to their fairytale land and save her and the world from the evil Enchantress and her menacing plans. Again they are faced with even more troubling problems and are forced to work together and use what they know to work away around them in order to save their precious world.

The thing I like most about these books is that not everything is predictable and things happen that you don’t expect are coming! The books are gaining more and more popularity as time goes on, and Chris said in his livestream that people that went to his first book signing tour all knew him from Glee and supported him from that, but now on his second book signing, he’s gained lots more fans purely from his writing, which I think is great, as Glee isn’t for everyone, especially children who are too young to watch Glee but love the books. It also shows how he’s getting more famous and gaining much more recognition around the world from a variety of people and age groups.

I’d also like to add that I love the work of Brandon Dorman, the illustrator of the book, the drawings on the cover and in each chapter are wonderful.