The Wishing Spell

This is a young adult book, the first in a series called The Land of Stories. I picked it up for my grandchildren, but I ended up reading book one, then book two, and now I'm on book three. These are great stories about a pre-teen boy and girl who pop through a storybook their grandmother gave them.
There are plenty of fairy tale characters, all of whom do things totally differently than you've read about in Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson stories. The plot takes you along briskly, and I found myself wondering what was going to happen next,… show more.

The first in Chris Colfer's incredible series, the book centers on twins who find themselves in a fairy tale world.

Amidst the magic and fantasy, the brother and sister deal with real-world sibling dynamics and disagreements. These were so entertaining and clever–my daughter and I zoomed through the whole series together, getting a kick at what Colfer did with the classic fairy tale characters.

Oh, this book. Alex, one of the main characters, wishes to find herself among the fairy tales that have been her best friends, and then she does. And I wanted to be her so badly.

This book made me believe in magic, even though I already believed in magic. I wanted to visit this world. I wanted to frolic through this world and meet all the characters who’d also been my best friends growing up.

Colfer puts such unique and interesting twists on some of my favorite tales, yet somehow, they still feel like the worlds of magic I expect… show more.

This novel is the first of a 5-book series that served as the primary inspiration for my own, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. If the idea of reading about fairy tales that aren’t quite like the ones you heard when younger sounds intriguing, then this book will serve as an excellent introduction.

What’s more, The Wishing Spell has excellent artwork and a very detailed map, something rather rare in all but the most traditional of fantasy books. Having these to consult while reading truly made the story come alive!

I bought this because I love Kurt from Glee. He's genuinely a good writer. Did you know he wrote an episode in season 6 of Glee? Arguably it's one of the best episodes of the season. His snarky sense of humour comes through in this fairy tale classic, as he spins everything we know about the princesses and even acknowledges the tropes often used in fantasy stories. A really easy and fun read.