The Wishing Spell

"Very kid like, lots of cliche phrases, but cute story and interesting read."

"I bought this one on the airport for my daughter since it was cheap and looked like a light reading, unfortunately it was light enough to have 0 calories in it's content, sweetened with artificial sweetener. <br/><br/>Also somebody please tell this poor lad that novels and screenplays cannot be done the same way. Only after buying the book and adding it to the list of 'to read' did I found that this guy is actually an actor in a tv show and it is noticeable that their true intentions was exactly to eventually make a movie or a series of movies from these bunch of books so it is very depressing to read something that is so obviously half assed.<br/><br/>The concept is very common by today standards, a pair of kids fall into a book (conveniently called 'The Land of Stories') where all fairy tale stories are real. And that by itself could have a well developed story, the problem here is that this book is too shallow on every single aspect of it.<br/><br/>Sleeping Beauty rules the Kingdom of Sleeping Beauty. The Fairy Council lies at the Fairy Kingdom. All princes Charming are related by blood and their names all star with a 'C': Chase Charming, Chandler Charming, etc. situation that I find irritating at most because of it's dullness and lack of imagination. The kids are always 'at grave danger' for like a minute or two and then go back to their merry journey along the continent (which is not really that big, if they managed to cover the whole thing in less than two weeks). In the story they are supposedly running 'against the clock' trying to gather several items that the Evil Queen is also searching for but they all gather everything without even moving a muscle so there was never a feel of hurry. Heck, had I been the Evil Queen it would've been easier to just keep an eye on them and capture them as soon as they had gathered everything.<br/><br/>But what annoyed me the most was the constant use of stupid comercial movie cliches, an 'all A's' bookworm and her 'worst in class' brother, a hero and a thief deep in love that cannot see each other, a queen that is the fairy tale equivalent of a brainless Kardashian, a warrior girl that is a badass untill you put in front of her her boyfriend and suddenly is able to start a catfight for any stupid thing. By far the only decent story was the background of the Evil Queen and even that could have been worked a lot more.<br/><br/>In general, I would only recommend this for someone who has never actually read anything in their lives and need to see the name of a famous tv artist on the back of the book to actually even think of starting to read anything at all."

"it was cute"

"I had a hard time choosing between quotes and I ended up choosing- "The world will always choose convenience over reality, It's easier to hate, blame, and fear than it is to understand. No one wants the truth; they want entertainment." <br/>"The Wishing Spell" by Chris Colfer is a middle school age book that follows twins Alex and Connor Bailey as they discover the Fairytale land after they fall into their grandmother's book "The Land of Stories." <br/><br/>I would give "The Wishing Spell" by Chris Colfer a 5-star review because, 1; this one of my fav series 2; I love how the author integrates the modern world and the fairytale world 3; the story is highly entertaining 4; while reading I found so many great quotes that I loved 5; I like how this story gives a different view of fairytales and 6; I love the character of the Evil Queen in this story because; I love the fact that we get to hear a new story of how she became the villain known as the Evil Queen."

"Love, love, love. This book is an adventure filled fantasy middle grade that just makes you smile forever! I read bits of this book many times throughout my early years in school, but I never actually got to it. It’d been on my tbr for quite some time, so eventually I picked it up when I was feeling a bit down. Omg! This book did not disappoint. I loved it! #fantasy #comedy #kids #middlegrade #love "

"It was wonderful book and i love how he added the real fairytale that were originally written@"

"<b>3.7 stars (but not really worthy of 4 stars, so I didn't round up)!</b><br/><br/> This is pretty good for a first novel! I absolutely love fairy tale retellings, so I needed to read this.<br/> The story was pretty good. It does kind of go all over the place from time to time, but you always know what's going on. The object is very clear, and the adventure they go on to reach their goal was fun to watch!<br/> The characters were lovable and I really enjoyed seeing all the fairytale characters pop up. Colfer puts a fun spin on a lot of them. And it works beautifully.<br/> If you have not read this, I suggest you do so. It was an enjoyable experience and I don't wanna ruin anything for you by giving everything away. Alright, now let's get into it!<br/><br/><spoiler>CHARACTERS:<br/><br/><b>Alex-</b><br/>She’s supposed to be the smart one, but I feel like Conner figures out as much stuff, if not more than her. Alex is busy being amazed by everything (and don't get me wrong; I'd be amazed too. I'd just want to get home ASAP. Like Conner. Not that I think she doesn't wanna go home. She just seemed kind of oblivious sometimes.) And Conner is getting stuff done! Like the fairy tear! <br/>Alex points out the blatant obvious too much. Of course the baby in the Evil Queen’s story is her! She literally just said "This is my story". This is how I picture Alex sometimes:<br/><br/><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7abKGM3Xa70I7jCU/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="description"/> <br/><br/>And was figuring out the wishing spell items so hard to do? Aren't you two fairytale experts? They had to talk about them for a super long time, meanwhile I figured out most of them as soon as I read the list.<br/>I like Alex, don't get me wrong. But just telling us she's the best student and mentioning how she is the only one raising her hand doesn't mean she's a genius. We need to see some of that from her outside of school! That's where it was important in this story.<br/><br/><b>Conner-</b><br/>He was my favorite. He had a lot of funny moments ("I'm not answering a riddle just to cross a stupid bridge. If I get it wrong, I die. I'm walking through the water! Forget trolls!") and I could relate to him. The way he reacted to the LoS seamed very real. As I said, he seemed to be getting most of the Wishing Spell items. He was always focused on their goal: getting back home.<br/><br/><b>The fairytale characters-</b><br/>They are a big part of this. All the princesses seemed great. I liked how we learned a bit about how Cinderella is coping with her newfound fame. I loved the story behind the Evil Queen and her relationship with Snow White. Red Riding Hood was annoying, but can't do nothing about that! I did really really like Goldilocks and Jack's story. New OTP! <br/><br/><img src="http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/images/stories/blogarticles/2014/March2014/tumblr_m5h2pxyHOl1qg9f9k.gif" width="" height="" alt="description"/> <br/><br/>And Froggy was fantastic. I knew from the moment we saw that portrait of the lost Charming brother that he was Froggy! And his relationship with Red was also predictable, like many things in this book, but it didn't make it less interesting.<br/><br/>STORY:<br/><br/>Another predictable thing was their father being the author of the journal. But their grandmother being the Fairy Godmother was a cool surprise. I was (and am) a bit worried that they were going to somehow bring their dad back. Or maybe have them talk to his spirit or something, to move on. I don't really like it when stories do that. Because I don't think that happens in real life! People don't come back, and their loved ones should be able to live on without them (*cough* Once Upon a Time *cough*). I don't think that will happen anymore, but it's still possible. I don't know! <br/>Some scenes move by really quick. Some are supposed to be super nerve wracking, and there's potential there, but they happen too fast. I end up not noticing them or caring as much. If they were more drawn out, it would be better. For example, when Alex almost drowned in Snow White's castle's moat. That scene would have been so much better if it lasted longer, if we got more details about Conner having to save her. They move on really quickly from a lot of things and it doesn't flow perfectly all the time. It feels like the whole layout of the story was just like: this will happen in this chapter, then we have to meet this person in the next chapter, then this, this, and finally all this. Not a lot of transition. Kinda awkward.<br/>I started to really like it near the end. All of the different characters were coming together and interacting. We weren’t just in one kingdom per chapter. It felt like these events actually followed each other, they weren’t just separate adventures to get specific Wishing Spell items. It felt more exciting toward the end. From chapter 18 or 19 and on, the story flowed better. That part of the book is what convinced me to pick up book #2. I think there will be some improvement.<br/>It's hard to tell what the timeline of this book is. How long were they in the Land of Stories? It doesn't feel like that long, but I think it was a while...?<br/>Not that the descriptions are boring - they're really cool, actually. I like seeing what he envisions the LoS to look like but I find myself glossing over them a little. They go on for a really long time. There's usually a whole page or two of just describing our surroundings, and I lose interest.<br/><br/>THE COVER: <br/><br/><img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/86/45/ab/8645ab80ea206753c5d9b16bcd87534a.jpg" width="" height="" alt="description"/> <br/><br/>I normally don't like having people (even drawn people) on a book cover. I like imagining what they look like myself. But this cover is really cool. I like how the title looks, how there are multiple things we visit in the story in the background, and I even like how the twins look! We see Rapunzel's castle, Jack's bean stalk, one of the members in the Big Bad Wolf Pack, Cinderella's slipper being held up by two fairies, Snow and Sleeping Beauty on the sides! There is just so much happening on this cover, and I think it works! It looks pretty, and even though the things we see on the cover are not as close as they appear to be, it just feels like the story would have a cover like this (if that makes sense). The cover feels like the book. There's a lot going on. Things happen right after each other, the twins don't have time to recover from meeting a frog person because they're gonna almost get eaten by a witch and then Goldie is gonna save them from wolves! I love the cover.<br/><br/>OTHER THOUGHTS:<br/><br/>The stories of the Walking Fish or the Curvy Tree were absolutely adorable. <br/><br/>The Charming brothers all having names that start with C was kinda stupid, but in a way I liked it.<br/><br/>The writing style had a fairy tale kind of feel. The way it was written made it seem like an actual fairy tale, one that you could read to your kids as a bedtime story. That was nice.<br/><br/>And those were my thoughts on Book 1 of LoS. Thanks for reading!</spoiler><br/>"

"Part of what drew me to this book was Chris Colfer. I enjoy him on "Glee," and have enjoyed seeing his tweets from his book tours. I didn't really know much about this series going in, except the basic premise: Kids from today get sent to fairy tale land.<br/><br/>I thought the story was predictable, but since I am an adult and it's meant for children, I can't really say that's a fault. Kids might guess what will happen, and I think that could be a great opportunity to talk about predictions and foreshadowing (but maybe that's just the teacher in my talking). I thought it was fun to get a different perspective on all the fairy tale characters we know and love. It reminded me of "Once Upon A Time" for kiddos. <br/><br/>The only thing I can think of that might count as a "criticism" from me would be Colfer's over-explanations of the setting. I feel like it was a little overboard. It was a little distracting to have every minute detail explained in one sentence when Alex and Conner arrived in a new place. If it had been spread throughout the narration in the scene, it might have been better. <br/><br/>But really, I thought this was a cute story, and fun for young readers. I enjoyed it as an adult, and look forward to the other books in this series."