If you open the book—you become the hero.
Milo is a shy gamer harboring a secret crush. Eliza is an outgoing athlete who managed to catch the eye of the hottest guy in school. They live entirely different yet completely normal lives. At least, they were normal… until they both stumble through a book portal.They aren’t just similar to the main characters, they’ve become them. Sucked into the … they’ve become them. Sucked into the land of the written word, they’re forced to battle blood-thirsty dragons and murderous creatures that shouldn’t exist.
Their only hope of survival rests within the fable of the Red Ribbon Tree. With so many worlds at their fingertips, the pair must find a way to reach the completion of their intertwined story and return home before the words “The End” take on a deadly meaning.
When the sword and the pen are one in the same, every action leads toward triumph or tragedy.
If you love fish out of water adventures, portal fantasies, dragons, multiple POV romances that are suitable for any age, then one-click today and fall into this magical new series that’s Inkheart meets Jumanji!
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Just a couple of ordinary kids suddenly finding themselves in an extraordinary situation. Modern kids thrown into a dream fantasy world – with a bit of a dark side. Lots of adventure, plenty of humor, and a little bit of romance. In keeping the the target audience, there isn’t too much gore and the romance stays clean. It has a very classic middle grade fantasy feel and I think would appeal to anyone who likes books in that genre. It can be predictable in parts if you have read a lot of these books, but managed to mix it up and keep it fresh and entertaining.
If you have read any of Chenelle’s other books, this one is younger, lighter, more straightforward but still written in her engaging style. It was a fast read I didn’t want to put down. This is a standalone in a very richly imagined universe. You can tell there was a lot of thought that went into this book and plenty of teasers about a bigger story this fits into. Much enjoyed and surprising read!
this book is fabulous!! great imagination and beautifully written
Honestly I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book. However I was pleasantly surprised with how it engrossed me from beginning to end. Brittni Chenelle was a new author to me and I’m glad I found her. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who loves Sex and darker themes. Overall I really enjoyed reading this.
Fast-paced and exciting!
**Presented with an ARC by the author via BookFunnel in exchange for an honest review.**
This book may be written for middle school readers, but true to Brittni Chenelle, it has a little bit of everything for anyone who would pick it up. Eliza Brooks is a hell of a point forward (for those of you unfamiliar with the term, look up Scottie Pipen), and then we’ve got Milo Hawkins who is an avid gamer and visual artist with a preferred medium of charcoal.
Before I get into the story at large, I want to say how much I appreciate a story where the basketball and video game action scenes feel natural, as if they’ve been written by someone who has personal and intimate experience with both. It’s quite a treat.
A magic in the real world meets fantasy, where it is a book that guides you into the world and lures you deeper. Readers who’ve enjoyed Jumanji, Harry Potter, and those is us who remember the original Ghost Writer tv show from the early to mid 90s will certainly love this book. Brittni writes with such fluid grace that you forget you’re reading a book.
For the young adult and adult readers: fans of Brittni Chenelle’s other works, as well as, A.D. Winter, Mary Dan, and Stephanie Rowe will love this book.
For the middle school readers: If you’ve read R.L. Stein, Marguerite Henry, Nancy Drew, or The Babysitter’s Club, you will enjoy this book. (It’s been a while since I’ve been to a scholastic fair, you’ll have to forgive me if the references I made are a touch out of date.)
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Brittni Chenelle for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
Now, this is technically my second story from Brittni Chenelle, but this also happens to be one of the first stories written by Chenelle. In addition, she also mentioned that this is for her youngest audience, so I will treat it as such.
The premise of this story was very cute, and I enjoyed that we got to see how going into a fantasy world could affect two very different people in very different ways. We have Eliza Brooks, who is on the basketball team at school and is a pretty stellar athlete but also seems to be a little shy off the court. On the other hand, we have Milo Hawkins, supposed “goth” but also really great at video games. In fact, I feel like his prowess in video games may have been the tipping point on the outcome of this journey.
Somehow, both Eliza and Milo were sucked into a book called “Involutia”, which brought them into the world also called Involutia, where they run into a… let’s call him a nutty professor. From there, they spend what seems like a long period of time trying to find their way home, but also having some side adventures along the way. While Milo learns how to be a warrior in one world, Eliza somehow meets a group of Elves that try to teach her how to be an archer.
For an earlier novel of Chenelle’s, I believe that it was a great early novel. While there were some pacing issues that I had with the novel myself, I don’t think it took away from the story as a whole. A lot of the main action took place towards the ending of the novel, and I think I was more intrigued with that part of the story than the other parts. However, I do think that seeing Eliza and Milo on their own for a time was interesting because we were able to see how they would fare on their own in a dangerous world. Even though they weren’t alone in Involutia itself, they still had to learn how to battle, protect others and themselves in a strange land.
For the amount of time that we do get to see Milo and Eliza on their own, I feel like they were able to grow a bit on their own. Eliza was able to see how the effects of the events of Involutia hundreds of years ago left an impression on others like elves and their mistrust of humans. Milo was able to bond with other young men like him and come together to protect their land – even if it wasn’t his to begin with. When they came back together on their journey, they were able to learn how to read each other and trust each other more than they ever did before. Even with the professor as a wildcard factor throughout the entire journey, with a lost memory and seemingly sporadic mood swings, the story came together in the end.
I would say that one of my main issues with the book – and this is more for me personally – is how much Milo would focus on Eliza’s physical appearance. Legs, cleavage, legs, cleavage. I understand that he is somewhat young, and yes I’m sure that Eliza has a beautiful body especially since she’s athletic, but it also made me wonder whether or not it really was love that he had for Eliza for as long as he believed, or if he was just infatuated by her beauty. While it may have started off as a physical reaction, I believe that Chenelle was able to show the growth and development of what real budding love could be.
I’ve heard such great things about the audiobook from other reviews, and I’m curious to listen to it! Again, this is another Chenelle book that I enjoyed and I believe that others will enjoy it as well.