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Title | Half Upon a Time | |
Author | James Riley | |
# of Pages | 432 | |
Best for Ages | 9-12 | |
# of Clovers | | |
# of Times Read |  | |
Setting:
This book takes place in a fairy tale world, where things like Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk all exist. The main character of this book is Jack, a teenage boy who is a descendant of Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. The genres of this book are adventure and fantasy, and it is told in third person. This book takes place around medieval times, and is the first book in the "Half Upon a Time" series.
Plot:
Jack lives a small town in the fairytale world, in a cottage with his grandfather. Instead going to school like a normal kid, and trains to rescue princess. One day, after Jack is walking home after failing one of his princess-saving exams, a girl falls from a flaming blue portal in the sky, right on top of Jack. She wears a t-shirt with the words "Punk Princess", leading Jack to think she is royalty. However, when the girl wakes up, she denies she is royalty, and says her name is May. Jack pulls out his grandfather's magical Story Book, and asks her to tell him how she got here. (A magical Story Book records a persons story in its' pages, and gives pictures to the words.) May said she was living with her grandmother, when she was kidnapped by some creatures and thrown through a portal. The Story Book shows a picture of May's grandmother who was also kidnapped. Jack realizes that May's grandmother is Snow White, and she was kidnapped but the Wicked Queen. Jack decides to help May rescue her grandmother, and the pair set off. They get captured by a witch who lives in a candy house, and but they escape on the witch's broomstick. May figures out how to fly it, but she goes to fast, and Jack falls off. Jack falls near a giant, who eats him. Inside the giant, Jack meets one of the Wicked Queen's Eyes in the mouth of the giant, who gives him one of their swords. (An Eye is like a knight for the Wicked Queen, and they have magical swords.) Jack escapes froma the giant, where he finds May with a boy named Philip. Philip is a prince, and he slays the giant. May and Jack get into a fight, and Jack leaves Philip and May to continue the quest. However, Jack goes back to find May and Philip. They are stuck in an evil forest, so Jack must rescue them. However, Jack first meets the Wolf King, who agrees to help him rescue May and Philip. (The Wolf King is wolf that can take human form.) The Wolf King rescues May and Philip, and then Jack, May, Philip, and the Wolf King head for Little Red Riding Hood's cottage. Her cottage contains the Magic Mirror, which is one of the Wicked Queen's most powerful magical objects. When the questers arrive, they sneak into her house, but Little Red Riding Hood spots them. However, the questers are ambushed by the Huntsman. The questers begin to fight, but the Magic Mirror is broken during the fight. This releases the evil genie inside. However, all hope is not gone. Merriweather, a fairy queen, shows up and traps the gene back in the Mirror, along with herself. Jack, Philip and May decide to go to the evil fairy queen Malevolent for help. However, Jack, May, and Philip are captured, and Jack and May are sent to the dungeon. The two escape with the help of a mischievous imp, and they rescue Philip and subdue Malevolent. Malevolent takes them to the palace of the Wicked Queen, where Snow White is being held. However, when a shocking truth is revealed, will Jack, May and Philip still be able to carry out their original plan?
Recommendation:
This book was okay, but not one of my favorites. I liked how James Riley incorporated all of the different fairy tales to form one cohesive story. This book had a good plot twist at the end, that completely changed the course of the next couple books. The characters were very well described and all contributed well to the story. Overall, this was a decent book, but the other books in this series get better and better. So, if you are looking for a new series, here is one for you.