The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) - Chris Colfer
July 3, 2018
Once again, this was a book I'd heard great things about. I'd seen that there were so many books in the series, and it seemed to be quite popular. I hesitated because I'm always wary of 'celebrity' authors, and if I'm being petty, I didn't like Colfer's character in Glee.
I don't know how many times I have to say this, but I wish I'd trusted my gut! Having said that, I think the child-version of me would have enjoyed this more.
Rating: I certainly can't say I completed hated this. I gave it a 3 stars out of 5. The main thing that irked me was the writing - the figurative language really threw me. Colfer tries to be 'original' with his metaphors and similes and instead they are jarring and take you out of the story.
Age suggestion: 9+ but see content notes...
Ability range: 9+. The writing is certainly not complex, but also, see below...
Content notes: There's certainly the odd comment made by Connor (I had to check out Goodreads to remember his name... that says a lot) that will go over lots of kids heads but otherwise are pretty 'teenage boy' silly/ sexually inappropriate. It's hard to know how much younger students would understand, but as an adult, I definitely noticed the several comments as we went through. Young and innocent minds will completely miss them! (Although always be prepared for interesting questions!)
There were so many elements of this book that I enjoyed - and yet there are a few moments that also rubbed me the wrong way. I listened to this on audio and I didn't feel like the author's voice suited the story, so I'm not sure if that affected my opinion. I haven't decided yet if I'll continue on with the series.
Have you read any of Chris Colfer's books? What did you think?
Check out the first book here
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