Whatever After- Dream on: The story of how a sleepwalking friend almost destroys a fairy tale
I know what you're thinking. "What happened to the third and first book in the series" For those of you wondering, I've reviewed the second book and this is the fourth book, but the first and third are missing. It's mostly because when I review books, I have the book right next to me, so I can flip through it for any scenes or quotes. And I returned those books last week. Don't worry though, I'll try to get them back and put out the review as soon as I can. For now, enjoy this review and everything else on my blog.
Summary: "Robin stop!" Abby and Jonah are watching Abby's friend Robin sleepwalk down the stairs into the basement after a long night at their sleepover. Bump. Bump. Bump. Robin, unknowingly, has just set off the mirror with it's "3-knock activation" and is suddenly warped into a fairy tale. Needing to save Robin, Abby and Jonah hop in. Robin, awake from her trance and confused, suddenly races up a nearby tower with Jonah, because all kids like to explore things. After an exhausting run up hundreds of stairs Robin, tired, pricks herself and falls under the sleep-for-a-hundred-years-if-you-ever-prick-yourself curse. What's worse is that Brianna 'Bri', the new princess, is looking for a spindle to get pricked, because once she is woken up from her 100 year sleep, she'll be in the future, where instead of hundreds of stairs, there are elevators. But now that Robin has stolen the curse, the princess is stuck in the present and will never meet her prince. Now, Abby and Jonah not only need to fix yet another fairy tale, but will also need to wake Robin and get all three of them home before their parents find out. Crocodiles that can do Karate, 'Wifticals', and puppies are all thrown into another great and exciting novel.
What I liked: Sarah always seems to make each book different. In every book, it's not just change the story back to the way it was before they ruined it. She always added something that made the heroes, Abby and Jonah, always want to make the fairy tale change so in the end, the princess is truly living happily ever after. The addition of Robin added another layer of tension of suspense, which I liked, and making the secondary characters a bit different than you think they'd be (for example- Bri's parents are garage sale enthusiasts and buy loads of cheap furniture and household items every day) makes the story unique than the other billion spin-offs of fairy tales.
What I didn't like: One of the few things I didn't appreciate was the fact that Jonah is still thought of as a pest. I mean, in this book, he probably did more work trying to get Robin back to Smithville and getting Bri her happy ending than Abby did. To me, Jonah seems to have all the brilliant ideas, while Abby just happens to be in the right place at the right time and she comes out to be the better person. Things would most likely go a lot smoother if Abby had been "Jonah, you're so smart. Let's do what you think". His ideas seem crazy but they work most of the time Abby accepts one of them.
Final thoughts: Get past the girly book cover my family has been making fun of me about and you'll be rewarded with a fun, totally non girly awesome, exciting novel.
Rating: 8.7 out of ten.
Why? Mostly because this is probably more or less directed to the lower end of the Middle Grade spectrum, around 9 and ten year olds. It's a little lighter on the vocab and the action isn't as intense. As I've said before, if I was 9, ten out of ten easy, but with the upper end of the MG spectrum filled with so much greatness, it's hard to compete.
Related: Whatever After series by Sarah Mlynowski- Any books about fairy tales with a twist.
Summary: "Robin stop!" Abby and Jonah are watching Abby's friend Robin sleepwalk down the stairs into the basement after a long night at their sleepover. Bump. Bump. Bump. Robin, unknowingly, has just set off the mirror with it's "3-knock activation" and is suddenly warped into a fairy tale. Needing to save Robin, Abby and Jonah hop in. Robin, awake from her trance and confused, suddenly races up a nearby tower with Jonah, because all kids like to explore things. After an exhausting run up hundreds of stairs Robin, tired, pricks herself and falls under the sleep-for-a-hundred-years-if-you-ever-prick-yourself curse. What's worse is that Brianna 'Bri', the new princess, is looking for a spindle to get pricked, because once she is woken up from her 100 year sleep, she'll be in the future, where instead of hundreds of stairs, there are elevators. But now that Robin has stolen the curse, the princess is stuck in the present and will never meet her prince. Now, Abby and Jonah not only need to fix yet another fairy tale, but will also need to wake Robin and get all three of them home before their parents find out. Crocodiles that can do Karate, 'Wifticals', and puppies are all thrown into another great and exciting novel.
What I liked: Sarah always seems to make each book different. In every book, it's not just change the story back to the way it was before they ruined it. She always added something that made the heroes, Abby and Jonah, always want to make the fairy tale change so in the end, the princess is truly living happily ever after. The addition of Robin added another layer of tension of suspense, which I liked, and making the secondary characters a bit different than you think they'd be (for example- Bri's parents are garage sale enthusiasts and buy loads of cheap furniture and household items every day) makes the story unique than the other billion spin-offs of fairy tales.
What I didn't like: One of the few things I didn't appreciate was the fact that Jonah is still thought of as a pest. I mean, in this book, he probably did more work trying to get Robin back to Smithville and getting Bri her happy ending than Abby did. To me, Jonah seems to have all the brilliant ideas, while Abby just happens to be in the right place at the right time and she comes out to be the better person. Things would most likely go a lot smoother if Abby had been "Jonah, you're so smart. Let's do what you think". His ideas seem crazy but they work most of the time Abby accepts one of them.
Final thoughts: Get past the girly book cover my family has been making fun of me about and you'll be rewarded with a fun, totally non girly awesome, exciting novel.
Rating: 8.7 out of ten.
Why? Mostly because this is probably more or less directed to the lower end of the Middle Grade spectrum, around 9 and ten year olds. It's a little lighter on the vocab and the action isn't as intense. As I've said before, if I was 9, ten out of ten easy, but with the upper end of the MG spectrum filled with so much greatness, it's hard to compete.
Related: Whatever After series by Sarah Mlynowski- Any books about fairy tales with a twist.
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