The Enchantress Returns

I bought The Enchantress Returns as a gift for my nephew, and he found it to be an exciting and magical adventure from start to finish. The story kept him fully engaged with its creative world and fast moving plot that always had something interesting happening. He enjoyed how the characters face challenges in a way that keeps the story fun and unpredictable. It is a satisfying read with interesting experiences and backstories, featuring surprising twists in every chapter and several mysteries and puzzles. The emotional moments add real depth while the character development continues beloved fairy tale characters in a meaningful way. There is also humor throughout that makes it both fun and heartfelt. It truly feels like a perfect sequel in the series and keeps kids wanting to turn the next page.

The Enchantress Returns was pure magic. It completely brought the kid out of me and reminded me why I fell in love with fantasy in the first place. The adventure is nonstop, the characters are unforgettable, and the story is both dark and heartwarming. I honestly hate that I didn’t buy the full series because now I need the rest immediately. Such a fun, enchanting read—highly recommend.

This book is one of the most thrilling and exciting books that I’ve read in a very long time. Alex and Conner’s second journey through The Land Of Stories is amazingly teaching and inspiring as we watch the twins go on outstanding adventures with love, hope, courage, strength, and wisdom. It has twists and turn that will leave your mouth agape, heart-pounding action, and emotion that makes you really relate with the characters. In the end, we learn that adventures are better when you are with those who you love and to always put your loved ones first. The Land Of Stories: The Enchantress Returns, by Chris Colfer, takes place partly in the real world (America) and the other half in a fairytale book (The Land Of Stories). 14 year old Alex and Conner have just returned from The Land Of Stories and are finally getting back into the swing of things, aside the fact that their grandmother has completely lost contact with them and is ignoring all of their attempts to reach her. This is concerning, but one day they come home to see flowers for their mother at home. They’re from one of her work “friends” and the twins don’t like it. With all the stress of the grandma M.I.A and Dr. Bob getting them a puppy and asking to propose to their mom and it seems like nothing could get worse, they come home to find their grandma saying that their mom has been kidnapped! After setting up guards around the twins’ house, their grandma leaves them to hunt for their mom. The twins object, wanting to come, but their grandma refuses to let them come and leaves a baby sitter: Mother Goose! While under the influence of “sparkling water”, Mother Goose lets it slip from her lips that Ezmia the Enchantress has kidnapped the twins’ mom. Both furious and eager, Alex sets out on her bike to her grandmother’s house to find a way to her granny’s house. Her brother soon follows her and they find themselves in yet another portal to the fairytale world. Will they be able to stop the enchantress and get their mom back? Read the book to find out! Since The Land Of Stories takes place partly in a fairytale world, it’s bound to have sickening twists and turns. Frequently I found myself just staring at the book with my eyes wide, not believing what I just read. One example is when the twins figure out that their mom has been kidnaped. Since she is such a beloved character, we feel bad for her and are equally as terrified as her. “‘Children, what I’m about to tell you is going to seem very frightening,’ she said. ‘But I need you to be strong and trust that many qualified people are handling the situation.’ The twins nodded impatiently. Any news was better than no news. ‘I believe your mother has been kidnapped,” their grandmother informed them. They were wrong; having no news was much better than knowing this,”(page 74). At this part I was so shocked like the twins and I felt really bad that their mom was missing. In all of his novels, Chris Colfer makes sure to put in heart pounding action to keep up the excitement for the readers, and this skill is especially shown in specifically this book. At many times I found myself reading the most exciting action that makes it incredibly hard to put down. One example of this is when the twins go to their grandma’s house to find a portal to the fairytale world and they ended up having a Narnia experience, meaning a painting flooded their house. “‘I was worried for a second that water was going to spill out the-’ CRASH! A tidal wave of water crashed through the windows by the front door. The twins screamed and ran to the back of the cottage. CRASH! Another tidal wave came rushing toward them from the back. CRASH! Water came gushing through every door and every window and flooding the cottage.[...]They felt like they were sinking-and sinking fast. They were already waist-deep in water.[...]He took a deep breath and dove underwater. Alex was quick to follow him. They swam across the cottage to the front door.[...]They pulled themselves past the front door and discovered the cottage was no longer in the mountains, but in a large, murky body of water. It sank below them and into the dark, watery depths,”(page 125-126). As you can see, this part is very exciting, and it made me feel really stressed. I didn’t want them to sink their grandma’s house, but I wanted them to find a way to the fairytale world. Last, the book has emotions that make you relate to the characters. Constantly I would find myself either having pity for one of the characters or being scared for them. One example of emotion in this book is when Ezmia, The Evil Enchantress, “kills” Alex and everyone in the fairytale world who cares about her witness it, including Conner. “The Enchantress pointed her finger at her, and with a bright violet flash, Alex was blasted out of the coliseum and into the sky. ‘ALLLEEEXXX!’ Conner screamed, as did everybody else, from on the wall. It happened so fast Alex wasn’t even sure what had happened. The last thing she heard was her brother’s scream; the last thing she saw was a bright flash and then the coliseum suddenly becoming smaller and smaller as she soared farther and farther into the air,”(page 465). At that part I was overcome with emotions. I was feeling sad and needing like Conner for Alex; while also feeling terrified for what to come for Alex. Throughout the book, Alex and Conner (and the rest of the characters) were frequently teaching me lessons about loyalty, love, courage, honesty, and trust. We learn to cherish moments with your loved ones and to always put friends and family first. Overall, I give The Land Of Stories: The Enchantress Returns a 5 out of 5 stars: a must have!

Great chapter book! This has become one of my daughter's favorite. I'm glad she found a good series that keeps her wanting to read.

This is the second book in the Land Of Stories series. An engaging and fun story for the middle childhood/pre teen reader. I've been reading it to my 9 year old daughter at bedtime and we've both enjoyed it. There are two main characters - brother and sister twins. Coffer has an easy to read style that explores the continuation of popular fairy tale characters - Red Riding Hood is a narcissistic but well intentioned queen, Goldilocks and Jack (and the Beanstalk) are outlaws, Mother Goose a bumbling eccentric. Coffer also does a great job of encouraging empathy for the evil characters like Cinderella's step mother and the Evil Queen of Snow White fame. There is enough intrigue and a bit of darkness to appeal to the older readers too while still allowing for good to triumph. Highly recommended.

I had been utterly bewitched by the first installment, so I was eager to dive into the second book of Alex’s and Connor’s magical adventures. The author once again revisited the story of some famous fairytale characters, offering a fascinating new narrative. The book focuses on a high-profile villain better known as Maleficient in our regular versions of the Sleeping Beauty tale. The background story the author has concocted for the Enchantress is riveting and compelling. Once more, the reader is given some valid life lessons about love, friendship and compassion. For children and adults alike, the Land of Stories series is a beautifully written storyline that you won’t be able to put down until you reach the end. The Enchantress Returns is a gripping, captivating and touching fairytale. Highly recommended! Bring on Book 3!!

Llego muy rápido y mi hija está encantada leyéndolo

If you like magical fairytale's this book would be a great read!! I absolutely love it.

Quick delivery and a good read

I just finished reading “The Land Of Stories: The Enchantress Returns” and I still have a smile on my face! I really, really loved this book, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Following I’ll share my thoughts with you – there are a few *very* minor spoilers in this review, but nothing I would consider to be especially plot-relevant! About the story: It’s been a year since twins Alex and Conner Bailey were magically transported into the Land Of Stories and went on a quest to put together the Wishing Spell to find a way back to their own world. A year since they found out that they are children of both worlds, and that their grandmother is the one and only Fairy Godmother. But adventure awaits the Bailey twins again when their mother is kidnapped and taken to the fairytale world by an evil enchantress who wants to rule over all the kingdoms – and more. Together they travel back to the Land Of Stories, where they soon find out that another quest is in order. Only this time, they’re not alone! They are joined by an unlikely quartet, and together this group must find a number of hard-to-collect items in hopes of putting together the Wand of Wonderment – the one thing that might help them defeat the enchantress and save the world! ____________________________________________________________________________________ Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed the first book in the series, “The Wishing Spell”, and thought it was good – but I also felt that it still left room for improvement (as is often the case with books by first time authors). Naturally I was excited for the sequel, “The Enchantress Returns”, and the book did not disappoint! In fact, I have to admit I actually liked this one better than the first one … :o) Chris Colfer has really taken leaps and bounds as an author. I mean, he was a good writer and storyteller to begin with, but I feel that his writing has still improved quite a bit since his first book (“The Enchantress Returns” is actually his third one, with the YA novel “Struck by Lightning: The Carson Philips Journal” – based on his own screenplay – being the second). The story is more well-rounded, the pacing and plotting tighter, the writing itself smoother, there’s more depth to both story and characters, and he manages to effortlessly interweave various subplots and tie them all up neatly in the end. While I felt that the story was a bit slow in the beginning, it soon picked up pace and once Alex and Conner were back in the Land Of Stories there was not a dull moment to be found. Chris Colfer’s vivid imagination and knack for drawing readers into his stories continues to amaze me! His writing is incredibly descriptive and imaginative, and just like with the first book, this one too felt like I was watching a movie in my head (and on that note I have to say that both TLOS books would make really awesome movies!). He is good at writing scenes for Alex and Conner, but where he is really at his best is when writing his fairytale characters, and especially when creating their back stories. He takes these stories and characters we all know and adds a whole bunch of new layers (and a lot more depth) to them. And more than that – he makes them feel so real they seem to leap off the pages! There is plenty of humor and witty banter in this book! Mother Goose – or should I say “Mother Booze”? – is hilarious, and I have to say I love Chris for basically forcing Red and Goldilocks to spend the majority of the story in close quarters – their constant open animosity makes for some of the book’s most funniest moments! In fact, those two might just be my favorite characters in the series … :o) It is really good to see Chris continuously improve as a writer, and honestly? If the three novels he has published so far are any indication then we can expect some really big things from him in the future! To sum this up, “The Enchantress Returns” is a wonderful and well-written book not just for children – or adults – who love fairytales and fantastical stories, but for anyone who enjoys reading about adventures full of magic, wit and humor. I really hope that there will be more books in the series because I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye to Alex, Conner, and all the fairytale characters yet! About the audio book: I read the hardcover book first and then listened to it after that. I’m not generally a fan of audio books but Chris Colfer always narrates them himself – and that is an absolute treat! He always manages to give every character a unique voice of their own, and I found his narration to be funny, engaging and often endearing!