Whew! Finally! My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending is the third and last installment of the My Very Unfairy Tale Life series which means another sad goodbye again. The series may not be perfect but I enjoyed it…a lot.  The main problem with this series is the fact that each book is very short so I practically finished all three books in one day while waiting for Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda to landfall. Yeah, whenever I’m extremely stressed about something, I usually cope up through reading or whatever activity that takes my mind to somewhere else. So while my mother and relatives are busy praying for Yolanda to vanish or to be merciful at least, I was also busy reading the My Very Unfairy Tale Life Series.

My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending immediately picked up where it left off in the second book.  But this time, Jennifer must go to Fairyland not only to save her missing parents but the Land of Tales as well.  Armed only with her cheesy but funny sayings, Jennifer, Anthony and Dr. Bradley hurry to Fairyland to hamper the plans of the mad, Cinderella-wannabe Fairy Queen.

Similar to the previous two books, My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending had me laughing. Jenny never lost her spunk although she’s gotten more serious as compared with the previous two books.  In this third book, she becomes more mature and in authority. Sighs, sometimes I hate my favourite characters growing up.

Being in a new land, Jenny and the gang have to deal with a fresh bunch of characters including leprechauns, alien-like fairies, Cyclops-looking trolls and golden rats.  The new characters were really quirky but I was kind of frustrated since they weren’t fully fleshed out.  Even the villain’s potential got wasted. And it was such a shame because she’s the evil version of Cinderella. Imagine that? It’s a treat for all of us fairy tale fans but sadly Anna didn’t take the necessary time to explore how bad can Cinderella go.

My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending’s narrative was sort of meh.  I don’t know but I usually have high standards for last books because ahm… well, I believe in the adage that says “save the best for last.” Whenever I am reading a last book, my mind and heart automatically program themselves into the highest setting possible.  They will automatically expect for their owner to be gutted and mindblown.  Apparently, My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending did neither of those.  If truth be told, the plot was horribly predictable. It’s okay if it happened once (i.e. with book 2) but if it happens with the icing of the cake, it’s not cool anymore.  Even the supposedlu epic battle between the Fairy Queen and the revolutionaries was sort of pathetic. It doesn’t have the force that I’ve anticipated. What I’m only thankful is that the plot maintained its consistency and never veered off from the path.

The world building was the same with the two books.  I really thought that Ana would give WB department a massive overhaul on this last sequel but…sighs.  Fairyland was once a theme park and converted to a kingdom. While that was cool and all, I was still unhappy to find myself on Earth despite my efforts to be transported.  As a matter of fact, I had more fun imagining Disneyland and HP Theme Park rather than Fairy land.

In a nutshell, My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending was a fun read.  However, it really could have done a better job with the plot, characters and world building. Anna has already set the stage but she keeps on postponing the ceremony never taking the time to push the limits.  The humor was already in place, the MC perfect but the flaws that I’ve mentioned sucked all the firepower to blast me into outer space.

Note: I received a free ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I immediately jumped into My Epic Fairy Tale Fail after I finished My Very Unfairy Tale Life. I was really excited to accompany Jenny again to one of her adventures. In this second book, Jenny was assigned to go to the Land of Tales to help stop a nasty witch from draining all the magic of the land.

Just like the first book, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail offers another humorous and refreshing story. In the Land of Tales, Jenny were introduced to a new set of characters who are already familiar to us like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, Nessie the Lochness Monster, Sleeping Beauty and the Hansel and Gretel witch. What’s good is that Anna gave a new take to these characters which brought things to a whole new level of fun. Add the fact that there’s a significant development to Jenny’s character. She became sort of mature but still retained her spunk. But what really made me happy is that her friends, Trish, Melissa and Anthony the Gnome really joined on in the fun. Thumbs up to Anna for remembering these characters in this second book. They were really left out in the first book.

I also appreciated the fact that the villain of this book is a female. And the good thing is, she’s not the stereotype old hag witch. Anna really made a lot of effort to ensure that the overall series does not join the trope of fairy tales that saturated the market today.

Aside from the characters, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail has a lot of improvement when it comes to the plot. Compared to the first book, this one has a lot of story to tell particularly that it involved Jenny discovering a secret that could be the answer to her ultimate desire and trying to outlast a wicked witch. Though predictable, it was still interesting to read with its fast paced action sprinkled with fun moments and of course, lessons in life.

The world building also saw a significant development but I must say that it was still lacking. I expect more like maps and a bigger world instead of giving me this impression that the Land of Tales is just a subdivision where everything is a 15-20 minute walk.

Overall, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail is a perfect sequel to My Very Unfairy Tale Life. It wrapped up some of the loose ends of the first book and brought something new to the series whilst maintaining the main theme of the story. It’s definitely an innovator instead of a maintainer. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend My Epic Fairy Tale Fail to all Middle Grade book lovers.

After the fiasco concerning Journey to Rainbow Island, I almost ditched this book. But I was glad that I didn’t. The smile that My Very Unfairy Tale Life brought on my lips really surprised me. If truth be told, I actually went into it expecting another Journey to Rainbow Island and bracing myself for the worst. My Very Unfairy Tale Life is everything that I hoped for in a light, fairy tale Middle Grade book. It’s spunky, straightforward and hilarious.

My Very Unfairy Tale Life narrates the story of ordinary school girl, Jennifer. What makes her life extraordinary is the fact that the Committee assigned her as a fairy tale adventurer. Instead of discovering new jungles, Jennifer is sent to the world of fairy tales to help fairy tale citizens with their concerns. Apparently, fairy tale characters aren’t as perfect as they’re depicted in our usual fairy tale stories. Even with magic, they still need the help of an eleven year old non-magic girl.

My Very Unfairy Tale Life is a refreshing take on fairy tale stories wherein the heroine is far from your usual damsel in distress. Instead of waiting for princes to slay dragons for her, Jennifer rushes ahead and solve her problems the best way she can even if most of the time, she has to use a lot of cheesy sayings. I must say that the most unforgettable thing about this book is the MC. Jennifer has the right amount of boldness and humour that surely had me impressed. I also adored how Anna portrayed her as an eleven year old. Her flaws, her doubts, her impulsiveness and time to time selfishness were very believable for her age.

Even the secondary characters of My Very Unfairy Tale Life, though slightly lacking in development, still managed to make me laugh. In a way, they reminded of Roald Dahl’s characters… nothing too serious but you still enjoy them because they’ve got that rare appeal.

While the characters were really cool, I can’t say the same thing for the plot. Don’t get me wrong, My Very Unfairy Tale Life’s storyline was solid and interesting but it was too simplistic for my taste. Of course, it was understandable given the shortness of the book but still, Anna could have chosen to tell more. I would certainly appreciate reading about how Jenny was recruited as an adventurer and how did the fairy tale worlds exist.

The world building of My Very Unfairy Tale Life did nothing to ease my frustration. Anna is already there but it’s like the stage is already set and all yet the actual ceremony was postponed. Sure, I managed to paint a picture of the Land of Speak in my head but it wasn’t enough as the half portion of my body is still on Earth.

Nevertheless, I am still giving My Very Unfairy Tale Life a four star rating for being one of the best Middle grade books I’ve read this year. There were disappointments but the humor and the adorable MC certainly compensated for those. xD