In The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer, Alex and Conner are two siblings living with their mom. Still struggling with the death of their father, Alex finds her refuge in her books, and Conner is struggling in school.
One day, on the twin's twelfth birthday, their grandmother gives them the collection of fairy tales she used to read to them when they were young. But they soon discover it to be no ordinary storybook! After Conner deems it to be garbage, the book begins to glow and sucks the twins in, transporting them to the magical Land of Stories, a world where fairy tales are real!
After discovering their whereabouts, Alex and Conner soon discover they are trapped there, their only ally Froggy, a polite man with the curse of resembling a frog placed over him.
Soon when the twins obtain a notebook from Froggy, they learn of the Wishing Spell, a special spell that when all the ingredients are collected, it grants the spellcaster one wish of anything they desire.
Seeing as they could cast the spell and wish to go back home, Alex and Conner go on a quest to collect the parts of the Wishing Spell. But the Land of Stories is more dangerous as one would think, and the twins must race against other characters of the Land of Stories to cast the spell first, as the spell can only be cast one more time.
My Thoughts
At my old school, there was a group of girls that would not stop talking about this series. They would fangirl when a new novel came out for days on end, and compare how long they had liked the series with each other like it was some sort of competition. Do I disagree with these girls? No. Not fully.
The Land of Stories is a wonderful series, emphasis on wonder. Chris Colfer's adaptation of the fairy tale world is in-depth and immersive. My copy of the Wishing Spell has a full color fold-out map at the beginning, and I am a sucker for maps in books. I really think the map adds another layer of personality to the atmosphere of the story.
My only real complaint about the Wishing Spell is how dry the beginning of the book is. I know it was necessary to introduce the main characters and how the death of their father affected them, but it takes up a good chunk of the book which is far too much. If it was a little less long, the book would be perfect. Otherwise, the Wishing Spell is a awesome first book in awesome series. Go check it out for sure!