Tilly and the Lost Fairytales

TILLY AND THE LOST FAIRYTALES (Pages and Co. #2)

Written by Anna James

Published by Harper Collins, September 19th, 2019

My star rating – 3.5 stars

THE SYNOPSIS:

Tilly Pages is a bookwanderer; she can travel inside books, and even talk to the characters she meets there. But Tilly’s powers are put to the test when fairytales start leaking book magic and causing havoc . . . 

On a wintery visit to Paris, Tilly and her best friend Oskar bravely bookwander into the land of fairytales to find that characters are getting lost, stories are all mixed-up, and mysterious plot holes are opening without warning. Can Tilly work out who, or what, is behind the chaos so everyone gets their happily-ever-after? Find it on Goodreads

MY REVIEW:

I don’t read middle grade all that often but this is a series that i’ve really enjoyed so far! The first book was such an enjoyable experience! There’s a girl, who lives with her grandparents at a book store, that finds out she wan “wander” into books. Any book. She can meet her favourite characters and be a part of their lives. Could you imagine?? I would give anything to meet characters in books! Some might try to kill me even though the only reason i’m running after them is to give them a hug…….. but it would be worth it lol! I’m going to be mentioning a few things that will spoil the first book so if you plan to read that, come back to this post after!!!

This book takes place after it’s revealed that Mr. Chalk had trapped Tilly’s mother. Her mom is now back home with the family, Mr. Chalk in on the run, and the library is looking for a new person to run the show. It was far darker and more political than the first book – not that I minded though!! The politics were related to the new rules put into place at the library about bookwandering, and the dark tones came from the fairytales falling apart and no one knowing why. There was also the mystery of where Mr. Chalk went and if he was still a threat. There was mystery, themes of loyalty, deceptions, and plot twists. I did kind of miss the magical and whimsical atmosphere of the first book. Traveling into well loved books and meeting well loved characters. I also missed the atmosphere of the book store.

I love that we explored more of the grandparents past. We knew that her both her grandparents worked for the library but nothing else about them really. It was all a bit of a secret that they told her they would reveal with time. This one we meet people they worked with, friends, and people they haven’t been in contact with for a long time. It was nice that they were explaining their lives instead of trying to keep everything from her. Why parents and grandparents hide things from kids because they think they can’t handle it drives me insane!

One relationship and backstory that wasn’t explored all that well – Tilly and her mother. That failed miserably. Her mother went missing when Tilly was just a baby and now, her mother is back, and Tilly is suddenly almost a teenager. That had to be a shock for her mother to handle! Missing her child’s whole life up to this point would be awful. There was a whole lot of awkwardness, which is understandable, but there was little to do with them in the beginning of the book. We get a little more effort from them towards the end but, it was too little too late for me. I hope there is more in the next book.

This one wasn’t quite as good as the first book but I still look forward to continuing the series!

Until next time, happy reading!