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lawbooks600's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Score: Five out of ten.
Well that was another disappointment.
I haven't read from Chris Colfer in months but I picked A Grimm Warning up to pass the time, hoping it would be better than the previous two instalments (A Wishing Spell and The Enchantress Returns.) It wasn't. I headed in with lowered expectations, but it was still underwhelming when I closed the last page.
It starts (more like continues) with Alex and Conner Bailey picking up after the events of the preceding book, but this time there's a twist, but it only makes the central storyline more disjointed. Conner lives on Earth, otherwise known as the Otherworld, but I'll use the first name (the last makes me cringe.) Alex lives in The Land of Stories, which includes fairies, the Fairy Godmother, fictional figures and mythical beasts, of course. The multiple 3rd person POV is an intriguing choice as it allows Colfer to tell two stories. The pacing is slow, though, with a length of more than 450 pages, but it could've been shorter if the filler pages weren't there. The protagonists don't develop. Rather, they remain the same throughout A Grimm Warning, adding to my disengagement.
I discovered The Enchantress Returns to lack diversity in my review, so I thought Colfer solved that issue, at least in A Grimm Warning, when he included a Black character, Lindy, and an Asian, Wendy, but they were gone soon enough, much to my dismay. There were so many side characters it felt like character soup and it was difficult to keep track, like Breanne 'Bree' Campbell, Rook, Mindy, Cindy and Emmerich. Not to mention the group of fairies. Even when Conner and Bree land in The Land of Stories, it felt repetitive as this is the third time this happened. Can I go somewhere else, at least? The concluding 100 pages are action-packed (where the fairy tale characters fight a French army from the 1800s) with a heartstopping finish, which is the only enjoyable section, but other than that it was tedious to read. The big reveal happens when the Masked Man is the twins' biological father, but I don't think the following three continuations would be an improvement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Full trigger warnings: Death of a grandmother, blood, grief and loss depiction, military violence and war themes, fire, explosions, physical assault and injury, near-death experiences from falls, sexism, sexist slurjanneke2302's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I love these books so much. I have absolutely no words for the place they hold in my heart. This book was no exception. I loved the book and am very curious to explore the things this book brought into the story further. I predicted some of the major elements, but I actually like that! I like that there are clues to pick up on and that my mind was spinning with theories while I was reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Slavery
snazzysie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Great addition to The Land of Stories series!
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Pregnancy, and War
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