See fairytales through new eyes!
If the name “Chris Colfer” rings a bell, chances are you’ve watched Glee, and (if you are anything like me) chances are, you hated it. But don’t let the fact that The Land Of Stories (TLOS) was written by a ‘Glee kid’ stop you from reading it, because- take my word on this- it’s GREAT!
I stumbled upon TLOS while I was on a ‘hating sitcoms’ phase, and decided to read it just so that I can hate on it, but wow did it exceed my expectations. Before I write anything else, I’d like to repeat something: read TLOS; it has a good plotline, fun characters and it brings a whole new view to the forgotten world of fairy tales.
Now, you may ask- What is TLOS even about?
Well, don’t fret- I’m here to tell you! In short, it is about fairy tales.
Fairy tales- while they’ve been altered through time, their basic plotline remains. For example, Little Red Riding Hood was a girl whose grandmother nearly got eaten by a wolf before a kind gentleman appeared to rescue her… But what if that wasn’t the end of it? What if, after what Little Red Riding Hood went through, she was elected as the queen of a kingdom, what if she started a relationship with Jack (from Jack and the beanstalk), and what if she was in rivalry with Goldilocks (from Goldilocks and the 3 bears)? In TLOS, this is exactly what happens.
Twins Alex and Conner Bailey had been gifted a Fairytale Treasury from their grandmother. At first, they thought it was only a normal book- yes, it had a place in their family history, but it was nothing too significant- that is until something peculiar happens that introduces them to a family secret and a whole new world they’d never thought they could be part of. At first, it seems like their perfect ‘happily ever after’, but soon they start to question if finding out this secret was a blessing or a curse…
[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!]
I personally loved TLOS and would recommend it to everyone, but I did find something in it that I think could have been better.
In the last book (Worlds Collide) Conner finds out that Alex was cursed by a witch since the second book (The Enchantress Returns), and due to the lack of booksellers that sell TLOS, I actually read the second book after the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, so when I first finished the book series (without having read the second), Alex being cursed seemed like a great plot twist. After all, there was enough evidence to support it altered how you viewed the story. However, when I finally read the second book, I was immensely disappointed that it wasn’t actually a plot twist.
Alas, the disappointment didn’t last because The Enchantress Returns is one of the best TLOS books, and would probably be my favourite. (Don’t tell the other 5 books!)
[SPOILERS OVER]
Some people said TLOS was badly written and was probably published only because Chris Colfer appeared on TV, but I couldn’t disagree more. TLOS may have had a few minor mistakes but it’s a great book overall, and everyone should definitely read it.
The overall score for TLOS: 99.999/100
