The Enchantress Returns (Land of Stories 2)
By: Chris Colfer
Published Year: 2013
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 517
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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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.
First Impressions
After reading and enjoying the first one, I had some high expectations for this book. I was excited to read more about the Land of Stories, the fairy tale characters, and of course Alex and Connor. The cover is appealing, but I wouldn’t look too much at it and the details. I found that some of the smaller details almost spoiled a bit of the story for me.
What I thought
This yet another solid book in this series. I loved the characters as much in this story as I did in the first one. It did move a little slower than the first, but it picked up in the end and I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series.
This book picks up about a year after the first one ended. Connor and Alex have not been back to the Land of Stories since and haven’t heard from their grandmother. In the Land of Stories, you find out that The Enchantress, the one who cursed Sleeping Beauty, is back and up to no good. Alex and Connor’s mother then disappears and no one will tell them what happened to her or where she is. When they find out that she’s been taken to the fairy tale world, they find their own way back to try to save them. The story follows Alex and Connor as they try to save both their mother and the fairy tale word.
There are a bunch of new characters in this book that are each more wonderful than the last. Mother Goose was my personal favorite and I hope to see more of her in the future. The beginning of the book moved quickly, until Alex and Connor found themselves back in the fairy tale world. Once they began their quest, it all moved a little slow for my tastes. I think that’s partly because it seems like it’s step after step in the quest with nothing in between. I would’ve preferred if it had been broken up more with more from the Enchantress. There was one part from the perspective of the Enchantress and that was it. I would’ve enjoyed more from her point of view.