Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms by Chris Colfer

3 reviews

kim_lommaert's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, and Kidnapping

amissabellator's review

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Ableism, Racism, and War

In this installment, the book is further building on the upcoming major conflict (

the twins' uncle starting a major war in the fairytale world for global domination

) and, as such, war and hatred are commonly challenged. However, something that goes somewhat unchallenged is the use of "old-fashioned" language in classic works of western literature (for example:

the Native American depictions in "Peter Pan," while not interacted with, are still called "Indians" at times and the depiction of "Munchkin Land" still stands in the "Wizard of Oz"

). A major character is also pregnant and acts in stereotypically "hormonal" ways at times, and another befriends a group of children and calls them her "temporary children." Another element of the story involves (non-violent and done off-screen) kidnapping, but later the children are found in bad condition (

they are having the life drained out of them slowly, which ages them until they pass away. After, their bodies are discarded and it is described in-text how

). A major character is also coerced into being kidnapped and imprisoned, but this is non-violent. The main characters, two teenagers, still deal with their grief and emotions during hard times.

janneke2302's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book a lot, especially towards the end. I thought the middle/the going into different stories felt a bit rushed at times and wish they'd either visited each story longer and just made the book longer or they'd visited less stories so they could focus on them more. I did really like the beginning and the end though.

The ending shocked me though. So far every Land of Stories book felt like it wrapped up its main story within the book and that is definitely not the case here. There are so many cliffhangers/loose ends in the last few chapters. I'm very curious how to story will continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence and War