User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
[3/15/2020] - I JUST FINISHED MY RE-READ AND IT WAS JUST AS GOOD AS IT WAS THE FIRST TIME AHHHHHHHHH
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[10/09/2019] - AHHHHHHHHHHHH! THAT WAS SO SURPRISINGLY GOOD!! WILL I EVER STOP YELLING? PROBABLY NOT
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[10/03/19] - THE TALE BEGINS NOW!!
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HOLY FREAKING SHIRTBALLS!!!!!!! ANOTHER SERIES!!!! THAT COVER!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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Rating: really liked it
i don’t care if this is middle grade and i’m a junior in high school, IM GOING TO READ THIS. and that cover,,, 😍
Rating: really liked it
Receiving a strong recommendation to try this book, I set about reading it with Neo during the early stages of our COVID-19 isolation (where I spun it to be part of his language arts curriculum as I called it ‘creating reading’). While were were both enthralled with it, I can only read so much at a time, so we were advancing at a pace more suited to the attention span and sit down abilities of an eight-year-old. With Neo’s permission, I took the leap to listen to the audiobook on my own, which has Chris Colfer narrating his own piece. What an adventure it has turned out to be! Brystal Evergreen is a precocious girl who does not like the severity of the laws in the Southern Kingdom. As a young woman, she is not allowed to do anything but learn how to be a good wife to her future husband, which includes no reading whatsoever. Pushing the limits, she acquires a job as an evening maid in the town library, where she can read to her heart’s content when no one is around. She discovers a secret collection of books and begins reading them, though they have all been banned. When she comes upon one all about magic, she is intrigued and begins reading aloud, only to discover that she triggers something upon uttering an incantation for testing faeries. Unsure what to do with this knowledge, Brystal tries it again one night, but is caught and hauled off to jail, where she is sent through the legal system in quick order. When someone shows her a crumb of mercy, she is shipped off to a work camp rather than be executed for her crimes. Misery has a new name and Brystal soon discovers it in the form of her new residence. She is sure to die in this place with nothing and no one around her, save one sweet young girl. One morning, Madame Celeste Weatherberry comes to the work camp with an order from King Champion XIV to have Brystal released into her care. Madame Weatherberry takes Brystal with her and explains that magic is by no means the evil thing that she has been told. Madame Weatherberry has plans to create an academy where young people can hone their skills. As Brystal helps Madame Weatherberry find other new recruits who will bring a number of unique skills to the academy, news of a problem comes from the north, forcing Brystal to hold down the fort. What evil awaits in the Northern Kingdom and how will Brystal and her new friends conquer it with their new-found powers? The reader is pushed into the middle of quite the adventure, with all the creatures that make fantasy worth the read (and this coming from a guy who steers clear of this genre most of the time). A great story for young adult fans who enjoy something with a bit more fantasy to it. Recommended to those readers, as well as the young at heart.
I was surprised when I made the connection that Chris Colfer was an actor whose work I used to enjoy. However, what astonished me even more was the quality of the book which is said to be for young adults, as well as its ‘fantasy’ genre. I could not get enough of the story, whose plots were so well developed with a narrative that made me want to know more. Neo was fully committed as well, asking me when we could “read more magic”, which goes to show that Colfer has a knack for writing. Brystal Evergreen is surely the central character in this piece, but there are many others who bring their own flavouring to the story and keep the reader hooked. Each character has their own backstory, which serves as a piece of the larger puzzle. Just scanning all that I learned here, there is lots to develop in the coming novels of this series. Colfer keeps things in the realm of fantasy, but does not push things into the silly. There will be ogres and trolls, dwarves, and faeries, but it does not get hokey, even to the adult population, which is something that usually keeps me away from these types of stories. Colfer fills his writing with themes the reader can enjoy and morals that prove useful and relatable by the modern teen reader. I look forward to seeing where things will go, especially with some of the revelations in the latter portion of the book. I purposely kept the above summary vague, so as not to spill too much and force the curious reader to dive in. Trust me, it is worth it and hints of the next book make me wish I had the magic to speed up time.
Kudos, Mr Colfer, for an intriguing piece that left me hungering for more. Perhaps I will dabble into some of your earlier work while I wait.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Rating: really liked it
When your paycheck hits...and you have the weakest of weak wills....and there goes my paycheck...just goes right to books...
Rating: really liked it
I have a lot of thoughts on this book and am frankly disappointed. I enjoyed the Land of Stories books to a certain extent and this story had good potential. But there were several aspects of this book that I cannot forgive. So be prepared for a rant.
First and foremost, this book might have gotten a 2 or possibly a 3-star rating for me had it not been for one unforgivable sin, plagiarism. Some of it was so blatant that I am in actual shock that no one else seems to have noticed or cared. Is it because Colfer is a celebrity author and preaching a message of tolerance that everyone else is just willing to ignore the fact that he stole ideas from other authors? Well I’m calling BS! Let’s talk about the most egregious incident first because it’s the one that tipped me off to all of the others.
Our main protagonist, Brystal, is given a wand to help her with her “magiclexia” (more on that later). Something amazing happens when she receives her wand and she asks what it means. “It means we can expect great things from you, Miss Evergreen.” This is a direct ripoff of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone when Harry receives his wand and Olivander tells him that we can expect great things from you... I can’t be the only one who noticed this, right? After that I kept seeing reminders of stories I had read or movies I had seen. And there are a lot of details lifted from HP. Like a school dining hall’s ceiling enchanted to look like the night sky. Or the headmistress’ ulterior motives in training Brystal to defeat the Snow Queen. But HP isn’t the only victim here. I’m fairly confident the scene where all of the students pile into Brystal’s bed for story time is from A Little Princess (at least the movie version from the 90s). Bootstrap Academy feels an awful lot like a combination of Oliver Twist and the school in Jane Eyre. And though I can’t remember where, I am confident I’ve seen the scene where we take a long text filled with negative messages and destroy portions to form a new positive message in a movie before.
I wish I could end there, but I can’t. We also have to talk about the atrocious writing that went on in this book. Authors should show us what is going on, not tell us. So instead of saying “character was embarrassed by the others’ comments,” you should write “character blushed, dropped her eyes and was quiet for the remainder of the evening.” Colfer just kept TELLING what was happening! It was like a nervous tic. Some of it I blame on his editor. After all, he occasionally went on to do the showing, but it had been spoiled by the telling. Some examples:
“The girls were surprised by Brystal’s recognition. They pretended to be annoyed by the opportunity, but deep down, Brystal could tell the were eager for the attention.”
“Clearly the housekeeper thought her suspicion was a brand-new discovery.”
I could hardly go three pages without him telling me how people felt or worse telling me what they were going to do before they did it. And not just spoilers, he also summarizes content over and over again. We just read Xanthos’ story two chapters ago, are you really going to recite it again for Lucy? The beginning of chapter thirteen is literally a summary of what Brystal just learnered at the end of chapter twelve.
Colfer’s messages were also confusing. I thought the message about witches v fairies was going to be about actions. As in magic is a neutral, innate ability that can be used for good or evil. And it’s the way magic is used (good v evil) that determines whether someone is a “fairy” or a “witch.” But then it got muddled with the Sorceress swinging both ways. Now witchcraft is a “preference” and there’s no such thing as right or wrong. Except there are still evils in the book, so I can’t figure out what the heck his point is.
Also, the end is really bad. The whole book keeps preaching about changing people’s opinions through kindness and compassion, but in the end our heroes force the magical community’s acceptance by issuing ultimatums and manipulation. Brystal decries those who edit history to meet their own ends, but does exactly that by suppressing the truth about the Snow Queen’s identity. Why is it ok for Brystal to do this, but not the justices? I would applaud Colfer if he meant to provoke these types of discussions, but that’s clearly not his point. Brystal is the ultimate good in this story. Yes, the Snow Queen comes back in the later series, but Brystal is never confronted about her deception in the matter. Brystal is motivated by compassion and is seeking to end prejudice and discrimination, so editing history, manipulating the facts for her own group’s benefit is cool.
Colfer’s preaching is also obnoxious. We all get it, magic=homosexuality. And people cannot help having “magic,” they’re born that way and they simply cannot stop themselves from expressing it. But Colfer pushes the message so hard that some things stop making sense within the series. Fairy names that were cute and make sense when they’re the product of fairy families giving their children cutesy fairy names are bizarre. You’re telling me magic-hating families named their children “Tangerina” or “Skylene” or “Emerelda?” And how many times can one character or another preach the same message over and over again. Once again, quit telling me nothing is wrong about “magic” and that such natural impulses should not be discriminated against and SHOW ME! Combined with his statement that in the prologue that repetition is necessary for slow learners, I can only assume Colfer thinks his readers are idiots with the number of times he thinks it’s necessary to repeat the same mantra.
I would also like to talk about Colfer’s treatment of the justices and others who discriminate against the magical community. As an author, Colfer typically spends a lot of time making his villains sympathetic. They have backstories that explain how past hurt led to the current evil conduct. But that’s not true of characters like the justices or the Edgars. They’re not even true believers in their cause, they’re simply greedy and mean. There’s no backstory about how the magical community hurt the non-magical community or how these characters were personally treated poorly and so now act out of their hurt. Nope, they’re just mean, greedy and power-hungry. In fact, any perceived hurt by the magical community was simply manufactured to fit the justices evil ends.
Another bad message is about always the importance of happiness. Don’t get me wrong happiness is nice, but there are times when other things are more important than any individual’s happiness. As a mother, I know that sometimes my children’s well-being must come before my happiness or even their own. Sometimes what will make you happy now will lead you to misery in the end. So sometimes we must forfeit our happiness.
Colfer’s understanding of history and taboos are equally flawed. He presents a simplistic view of the origin of persecution that is frankly insulting. No, there was never a council of elders that sat down and asked “how can we best oppress this group of people?” “Or how can we exploit the weak and downtrodden for our own gain?” The Bible was not rewritten so the straight community could oppress the gay community. Good or bad, motivations are rarely that simplistic. And treating them as such ignores the actual root causes of prejudice. If we ignore the economic crisis that pre-Nazi Germany was facing we can never truly understand the rise of Nazism or the final solution to exterminate the Jews. We must acknowledge that taboos against homosexuality have an origin outside of basic ignorance and prejudice (e.g. the procreation of our species). How can we ever truly address it otherwise? It’s easy to paint those who hurt us or those we disagree with about fundamentally as being ignorant and motivated by bad things like greed and a thirst for power. But you’ve done nothing for your cause of acceptance and tolerance.
I also don’t think he’s ever actually experienced any of the forms of persecution or discrimination he described in the book other than a disapproving father. Frankly his depiction of oppressed women is insulting. This is not how women are or were oppressed historically. I mean how oppressed could Brystal be, she managed to do all her housework, go to school, clean an entire library by herself and read a whole floor’s worth of books in a month.
Brystal is also an insufferable heroine. She has no faults, unless you include an easily cured disorder. She is the best, most powerful fairy ever, but she’s also perfectly kind, loves to read, treats others with compassion and recognizes oppression while living in ignorance. She is patient and capable and when she occasionally over-reacts it’s only because others expect too much from her. She also has the perfect canned response for literally everyone and every situation. Who can relate to a character like that?
And now for the nitpicking. Magiclexia, sigh. I know that it’s supposed to be a reference to dyslexia, but he picked the wrong half of the word. “Lexia” refers to words, whereas “dys” refers to poor or inadequate. So magiclexia is “magic words?” Dysmagica would make more sense a dysfunctional sense of magic. But God forbid we actually understand words before we use them!
And while we’re at it, the anachronisms and modern nonsense was constantly eye-roll worthy. They made sense in his other series where the events were taking place at the same time as our modern history and involved characters who moved back and forth between worlds, thus explaining the influence. Bu this predates the interactions and takes place in a era similar to our own medieval or possibly renaissance period. Yet we have stupid comments like Brystal made a cake “from scratch.” Do they have box cake mixes? Lucy has a bottle cap necklace. They have bottle caps? Characters comment about creepy fonts, do they have word processing?
Rating: really liked it
OMG! This book was so amazing. I have so many feels. I just want to devour it again and again. And wow, what a mother fucking plot twist! I wasn't expecting that at all. I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a book about magic, unbreakable friendship, and boundless compassion.
Rating: really liked it
"Ignorance is a choice. Hatred is a choice. Violence is a choice. But someone's existence is never a choice, or a fault, and it's certainly not a crime."
Forget Hogwarts, I am going to Madame Berryweather's! I loved every page of this! (After getting over the disappointment of this not continuing where
The Land od Stories ended.) I ended up loving this one even more. It's set completetly in the Land of Stories. Chris Colfer began a wonderful series with this book and he threw so many valueable life lessons in there - gender equality (I was so angry when I read about how Brystal grew up) and the LGBTQ community... I loved this so much, I cannot even put it into words.
Rating: really liked it
A Tale of Magic is the 1st book in a new series written by Chris Colfer. Even though it’s a prequel to his award winning Land of Stories series, readers do not need to be familiar with the characters in the first series.
Chris’s books are written with middle grade readers in mind; however, I think “children” of all ages will enjoy them and immediately feel love for the characters. I adored the protagonist Brystal; she’s spunky and determined to not take the path her parents have deemed necessary for girls. The other characters were tons of fun too. Readers will get to know a group of delightful fairies: Madame Weatherberry, Tangerina, Skylene, Xanthous, Emerelda, Lucy, and Mrs. Vee. You’ll also meet the evil monarchs and the Snow Queen witch. Their main goal is to stop magic from being practiced in the kingdoms.
Chris skillfully weaves in the need for acceptance and equality into his story. I recognized immediately some of the situations we face in today’s world, such as discrimination, division, patriarchy, oppression, and much more. Together the fairies attempt to rid the kingdoms of the evil mentioned above.
This fifty-something reader found herself laughing out loud at the situations the fairies and witches found themselves in during the story. All ages will love it! Thank you Chris, and Little, Brown, and Company for the ARC of this magical book.
Rating: really liked it
Once I went on on of those vacations where the hotel was paid for, I just had to sit through a time share sales pitch. And the sales person started out by asking me what I wanted out of a vacation and what I was willing to pay and that kind of stuff. After a while I realized that what annoyed me so much about it was that they were trying to get me to do their job for them by telling them what they had to tell me or what cost they had to come in just under. Between that and a window buying experience, I've developed a distaste for salespeople in general. But, I digress.
That's what annoyed me about this book. There was an obvious moral to the story from the get go but the book just kept layering it on with out actually saying it.
And it was layered on thick. The whole book was dripping with how wonderful the protagonists are and how evil the opposition was. And every time they try something new, they're immediately perfect at it the first time they try. They just need to believe in themselves! (sarcasm)
And they never struggle for more than a sentence. But one pep talk later and they can pull whatever incredible magic they need out of the hat. i.e. (view spoiler)
[At the final battle, the six twelve year olds are able to defeat the big bad's entire army and four more experienced witches when a whole army wasn't able to (hide spoiler)] just to show how wonderful the kids are. And the whole book is like that. Threat/difficult pops up, kids have a pep talk, kids do something random, threat is gone.
I know this is a children's book but that's not an excuse for being bad.
Rating: really liked it
The problem I have with most middle-grade books is most of the time the synopsis sounds amazing and I can't wait to read it but it's not long before i'm thinking "I'm too old for this shit"!!! With that said, that is never the case with Chris Colfer his stories draw me in and captivate me and I curse every single time I need to put them down. A Tale of Magic was such an exciting story with great characters and fun and touching moments a truly delightful read can't wait for the next!
Rating: really liked it
I feel so dumb for not seeing this coming earlier. I only realized when Xanthous was mentioned because you know, it's not exactly a common name. I'm also dying right now because I have to wait a month to get the next book. :(
Rating: really liked it
This book was super - interesting and full of magic and friendship. It is a very describing author who wrote this wonderful book. I would reccommand this for 10+.
Rating: really liked it
Review by Torah 10 years old -
This is a book by Chris Colfer a star of Glee
It is the first in the tale of magic series.
This book was well written and interesting and had me wanting to turn the pages to find out what was happening.
The only thing I didnt like was it is a very big book 481 pages !!
If you like books with fantasy in it you will love any of his books.
Adults can even read these books.
The ending was fantastic.
Rating: really liked it
Loved this book!
Many years ago a friend introduced me to The Land of Stories, and I was immediately hooked!
When the same friend told me about this book a few months ago, I immediately put it on my to-read list. However, I was unable to get the book until a couple days ago.
But when I got this from the library, I was worried I wouldn't find the sequel to The Land of Stories as interesting, since it had been years since I had read The Land of Stories.
Thank goodness I was wrong! I deeply enjoyed this book.
The book encouraged equality in a deep and moving story. Mad plot twists, great character growth, and a very creative world was created by the author.
And I loved the ending, it was so satisfying.
Excited to read the next book, A Tale of Witchcraft.
Thank you, friend. You know who you are. :)
Rating: really liked it
I was up until 2 A.M. finishing reading this. I love this author and his stories. Most of all I love how he weaves ethics and morality into them unobtrusively. By not coming out and saying it, he makes a point and maybe more people will get the message that way.
Not that this is a dry or religious book. It is a fantasy/fairy tale about--fairies. And witches, and kings, and politicians. There are unicorns and gryphons, magic carriages, castles, dwarves, ogres, elves, goblins and trolls. Beautiful jacket and illustrations, and even the hardback is beautiful.
If you've never read any of Chris Colfer books, what are you waiting for?
