The Land Of Stories( The Wishing Spell) by Chris Colfer

The Land Of Stories( The Wishing Spell ) by Chris Colfer.

 

I had seen this book doing the rounds on various youtube vids and in the book community generally and it's cover was what intrigued me about the book before I knew what it was about. Whoever picked this cover WELL DONE!!!
For those who are fans of Glee ( American TV show) you may be familiar with Chris Colfer but I don't really watch the show, but I have seen Chris in it, and I thought his character was charming, and sweet. I was really surprised when I learned that he was the author , but also very excited.
So after stalking the postman until my lovely book arrived I was even more impressed by it when I had it in my hands. It is so pretty, and magical looking .. Even by just looking at the cover you get the impression that great adventures are to be had by opening it's pages.

So, open them I did. The story begins , and we are introduced to our two main characters twin siblings Alex and Conner, and we learn early on that their father has died recently, and that their family (themselves and their mum) are struggling with money since their father died.
Both children were close to their father and they are still mourning their loss. Their mother is trying to hold it all together and they are trying to keep up at school.

On the twins birthday they get a surprise of their grandmother coming for a visit. This is their father's mother. They love their grandmother and hate when it comes  time for her to leave. She leaves them with her favourite old story book in the hope that when they miss her or their dad that they can take this down and read it and hopefullly get some comfort from it.

I am not going to give anymore away from the plot as things really begin to liven up after that.
This is a diff kind of fairy tale re-telling, and one that was great fun to read. We are introduced to all the characters from fairy tales that most of us would have grown up reading about ,but this time we get to see some of their personality and Chris's backstory for them.. Chris did a wonderful job of making me now as an adult care still for the characters,some of which I had forgotten about from when I was a child.
 In the magical kingdom that Chris has made there are diff areas that our main characters Alex and Conner are going to be travelling through. There is Red Riding Hood's Kingdom,The charming Kingdom,The Northern Kingdom,The Dwarf forests,The Corner Kingdom,The Elf Empire,A Hidden Place,The Sleeping Kingdom,The Troll and Goblin territory,The Fairy Kingdom , and Mermaids Bay..Even the names of the various areas in this magical worls are intriguing..

There was a few surprises towards the end that I was not expecting and I really enjoyed that. All in all a great book for children and the young at heart or for anyone who likes adventures . I love books with smart kids who are up for some adventure while being very brave, I got all that in this story.

Well done Chris Colfer on a wonderful first book , looking forward to future books !!!