A review by rjsetserauthor
The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The Wishing Spell is a fresh yet familiar story. Alex and Connor jump into The Land of Stories and encounter the fairytales we've all grown up reading. Each fairytale has a new twist and Alex & Connor's adventure is packed with surprises, funny moments, and bittersweet emotion.

I loved Alex and Connor's twin dynamic. They complimented each other so well and brought an entertaining balance to the story. Connor's humor had me laughing out loud at times and Alex was so relatable in wanting to explore every inch of her favorite stories brought to life. 

The only reason I'm giving it 4.5 stars instead of 5 stars is because this book is aimed at the target age of 12, and there were a few things (included below in the "spoiler" text) that I noted that might turn some parents/guardians/teachers away from recommending it to their young readers. However, I found the story to be heartwarming, entertaining, and appropriate for the general majority of middle-grade readers.

Also, the audiobook is wonderful. There are additional sound effects used during the narration, so it's extremely engaging! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Slavery

(please note, I only mention these for awareness and for whomever is reading this review to make a personal judgment for themselves or their child)

Humans are enslaved by trolls & goblins, and the children witness humans being whipped by the trolls & goblins in one scene which causes fear and crying. There is a decent amount of romance included considering this is a middle-grade book. There are several scenes in which adult characters are described as "passionately kissing" and "wanting to touch each other" and Connor typically makes comments such as "let's go before more happens" or "glad they can't get any closer" (and on the topic of Connor's comments, he and Alex are in a cold lake at one point and he says "Let's get out of here because I'm pretty sure we're twin sisters now", which admittedly, I laughed pretty hard at. But I recognize that some parents may not deem that "appropriate humor" for 12-year-olds); again, these are just mostly just comments and mild descriptions, but I was surprised by how much the theme of romance was included in a middle-grade book. There's also a humorous scene in which Connor must kiss a troll girl in exchange for his and Alex's escape. Another scene describing fairies lists all the types of clothing that they wear and a small phrase was slipped in that made my eyebrows raise: "some wore nothing at all". Nothing else is mentioned on the topic, thankfully. There is no cursing, however, there was one use of "son of a witch" during the height of the final battle. And the last thing I'll mention is the justification of a slap from one character to another when she said "I deserved that". I really don't like books that illustrate hitting or slapping as "deserved" to children audiences. That's all the content that I made note of, so hopefully, it helps you!