Rate: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I found this book on the sale table at my local Barnes and Noble. I remember vaguely hearing about “the guy from Glee” writing a fantasy series but I never followed up on it. That was definitely a mistake on my part. I’m partial to fantasy books anyway just because they allow me to be in a world where I can get away from whatever is going on currently in my life. And this book definitely allowed me to do that.
The story starts with a hooded figure going thru the underground tunnels we eventually learn that it is Snow White and she is there to question her step mother to learn why she hated her so much. The Evil Queen begins to tell her the story but we don’t learn about it until later on in the book. Soon we meet the twins Alex and Conner Bailey. Who couldn’t be more different in personality. Alex is the bookworm who lives her life in books of all kinds and Conner…well he is NOT a bookworm.
The opening chapter where we are introduced to the twins tells us that they have recently suffered a tragedy. They have lost their father due to a car accident the year before. We learn that the twins have a grandmother that read them both the fairy tale stories that we have all grown up with from a special book aptly titled The Land of Stories that she has. Their family would visit their grandmother and she and their father would tell them the best stories. But by start of story they had not been to visit their grandmother in quite awhile.
For the twins’ twelfth birthday their grandmother comes to visit them and she gives Alex The Land of Stories book. That night a strange glow and humming sound comes from the book and Alex has no idea what is going on. Within a few days Alex starts acting a little differently mostly like her brother Conner. Even he starts to notice. There is a disturbance in class and Alex goes to the bathroom where Conner follows her. Its there that she shows her brother want she has been seeing all week. The book glowing and making things disappear when you drop them into the book.
Needless to say this is the beginning of an awesome adventure that I cannot tell you about just because it would ruin the book and I don’t want to do that. But all the fairy tales that we have grown up with are present and accounted for in the land of stories. We even get to learn some things that weren’t included in the fairy tales from back stories to what happened after they all received their happily ever afters. These are not your Disney versions either meaning every character did not get that happily ever after.
All in all I give the book 4 stars. Its a good read and I will be checking out the second book The Enchantress Returns pretty soon. But in the meantime if you haven’t already start this series as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!!!!
Nikki 🐛
Nikki the Bookworm 