The Enchantress Returns | Book review

Title: The Enchantress Returns (The Land of Stories #2)

Author: Chris Colfer

Published: August 6th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Goodreads summary: After decades of hiding, the evil Enchantress who cursed Sleeping Beauty is back with a vengeance.

Alex and Conner Bailey have not been back to the magical Land of Stories since their adventures in The Wishing Spell ended. But one night, they learn the famed Enchantress has kidnapped their mother! Against the will of their grandmother, the twins must find their own way into the Land of Stories to rescue their mother and save the fairy tale world from the greatest threat it's ever faced.

REVIEW

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Wishing Spell, when I read it last year, but unfortunately, this book wasn't as good as the first one. I had issue with the pacing and there was too many characters at some point.

We go back into the Bailey twins life a year after the Wishing Spell. They're now thirteen, obsessed with the fact they're young adults (teenagers, yes, young adults NO), they haven't been able to go back to the Land of Stories and haven't heard of their grandmother. They have to live the drama of every teenager, like their mom having a boyfriend who wants to marry her. But everything changes when their mom is taken and that their grandmother is back, afraid for their sakes because the Enchantress has returns (dum dum dum). 

I really liked that the prologue was set in the Eastern kingdom (aka Sleeping kingdom) and that Sleeping Beauty was on the run, it put me right back into the story, it was fast-paced and everything. Alas, it wasn't like that for the rest of the novel. For the first third of the novel, the children are confined in their home and then tries to go back to the Land of Stories. Excuse me, but it was too long. Chris Colfer wrote a 517 pages book and it took a third of the story for the characters to go back into the world we're interested in. Did I mention it's supposed to be middle-grade? If I was one, I would have dnfed. 

I really enjoyed to be in this world again, because of course, fairy tales! But there were so many characters. I couldn't even remember who Froggy was and he's really important! I understand that secondary characters are needed and I loved some like Goldilocks, but when there are too many... You get lost! Some of them weren't all that necessary, like Mother Goose, who appeared at the beginning of the novel and then in the last chapters. I really enjoyed her characters, but I'm questionning her usefulness here.

It was a big book but there wasn't that much content, I feel like most of the time, it was just traveling. At some point in the story, the characters have a quest, but sadly, it was one item per chapter, so it was done really fast. Moreover, defeating the Enchantress was a little bit easy, because it's one of those cases where the character had it in him since the beginning. Nevertheless, the ending left me teary-eyed, but I'm not really sure I'm motivated to keep with this series. It doesn't really end on a cliff-hanger, I don't think I'm missing to much by passing this one out.

Have you read this series? Do you think I should keep up with it?

The Copper Gauntlet | Book review

Title: The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium #2)

Author: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Published: September 1st 2015 by Scholastic Press

Goodreads summary: Callum Hunt’s summer break isn’t like other kids’. His closest companion is a Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc. His father suspects him of being secretly evil. And, of course, most kids aren’t heading back to the magical world of the Magisterium in the fall.

It’s not easy for Call . . . and it gets even harder after he checks out his basement and discovers that his dad might be trying to destroy both him and Havoc.

Call escapes to the Magisterium -- but things only intensify there. The Alkahest -- a copper gauntlet capable of separating certain magicians from their magic -- has been stolen. And in their search to discover the culprit, Call and his friends Aaron and Tamara awaken the attention of some very dangerous foes -- and get closer to an even more dangerous truth.

As the mysteries of the Magisterium deepen and widen, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare take readers on an extraordinary journey through one boy’s conflict -- and a whole world’s fate.

REVIEW

"Well, I'm no library expert, but A for Alkahest seems like a safe bet," said Tamara, skipping ahead. She was obviously thrilled to be back.

The Copper Gauntlet was better than the first book in the series, The Iron Trial. It is definitely a fast read, but I'm pretty sure I felt that because it is middle grade, so for a younger audience, I read it in a few hours. I loved the beginning and the ending, but had a harder time with the middle.

I liked that because of what was revealed in the first book, Callum was thinking a lot about his actions and the balance between good and evil, which is a very good thing for a middle grade book. The characters were well developed and I was able to understand them a little more, mostly because of the party we saw at Tamara's. Jasper was a pleasant surprise in this book, I came to respect him. I think he'll be a lot more with Tamara, Aaron and Callum, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I think the romance aspect was a little rushed, even if it was expected, because the characters are only thirteen and wouldn't act this way. However, we only see one side of the barrier, so I'm looking forward to see how the other character will react.

There was a point in the story, to find the Alkhahest, a copper gauntlet that can withdraw chaos magic (I think?). It was well executed, I liked that the apprentices weren't able to find it because they were the best and so on, but because they had been manipulated to do so.  However, I'm a little disappointed we didn't see much of the Magisterium.

"Call," said Tamara. "Is there someone in the bathtub with you?"

Call sighed. He hadn't expected his truth telling to bite him back so quickly. "Havoc," he admitted.
"Call!" Tamara said. "That is so disgusting." 

  

It was a fun read, especially with the Assembly, I'm still laughing when I'm imagining their faces. This book was also a little creepy because of the tomb and everything in it, so in my opinion, it's good for Halloween.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, even it still feels a little too familiar to Harry Potter. I think that if I was younger, I would love it so much more, even if I would still feel the similarities.

Did you read the previous book? Are you excited for this one?