Review: The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

Title: The Land of Stories

Author:  Chris Colfer

Publisher:  Atom Books

Published: July 2012

ISBN: 978 1907411762

Rating: 3.5/5

I like the cover on this one, full of adventure and varied colours – I think my reasons for liking this also – sadly- put my 10 year old son off reading this, as he hasn’t got over judging a book by its cover yet.

The prologue sets the scene for Snow Whites step mums story.  From the start I felt a kinship with Alex..I’m sure most book bloggers will feel the same.  The contrasts between Conner & Alex are very amusing at times and evident from the beginning of the book. 

I was a bit surprised by the quick turn around at one point where it focuses on fairy tales and the next has a small amount of swearing/bad language in, which jarred on me a bit.  I could also see a few moments in this that had my 10 year old gotten over the cover he would have been running for cover with the gushiness of descriptions (not that they bothered me!)

One of my favourite characters from this is Red Riding Hood, who is conceited and totally oblivious to everyone’s feelings, including the love triangle.  As an adult I found the outline of the story very transparent, but I liked the chalk and cheese elements from Alex and Conner.  I’m sure Chris Colfer draws from his own experiences within show business with some of the story, this one stood out when I read it “The world will always choose convenience over reality…it’s easier to hate, blame and fear, than to understand.  No one wants the truth, they want entertainment.”  I think that is also true of life in many respects.

All in all I found this a fairly uplifting book which has plenty of sparkle and Glee type moments - and yes, I may be an adult, but I do love Glee, it’s a great day brightener :)

Book synopsis:

Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change...Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, twins Alex and Connor leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about. But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

Source – Many thanks to the publisher, a copy was received in return for an honest review.