Brief Thoughts: Story's End

Story's End

by Marissa Burt
Book 2 (final) of Storybound duology

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

Enter the magical land of Story in this sequel to Storybound, perfect for fans of Inkheart, The School for Good and Evil, and classic fantasy tales like Ella Enchanted and The Neverending Story. Kids who love fairy tales, dragons, magic, and more will be enchanted by Una Fairchild's unforgettable adventure in Story's End.

Story is a land of dashing Heroes, dastardly Villains, and epic quests—and once upon a time, a noble King. But the King vanished so long ago that even the memory of him is lost. Now a cruel Enemy plots to rewrite Story's future, and an ordinary girl named Una Fairchild may be the only one who can stop him. As Una and her friends Peter and Indy race to defeat the Enemy, their quest will take them deep into the secrets of Story's past . . . and Una's own mysterious ties to this fairy-tale kingdom and its long-forgotten King.

Discover the richly imagined world, spirited cast of storybook characters, and timeless appeal of Story's End, which closes the book on Una's adventure "with an all-out bang."

I really don't do this book any justice by not remembering much about the first book, Storybound (I read it sometime back in 2012). I DO recall, however, mentioning it to a friend once and saying something like: "It wasn't a bad book, but it felt really flat and unexciting."

In a way, Story's End also felt the same way. There were no Feels. And while there was a really decent progression and great writing and narration, the entire thing just felt detached. And even kind of rushed. The build-up to the climactic ending battle didn't draw me in. None of it really drew me in.

But the characters were great, even if only on paper because they didn't feel alive either. I had trouble relating with the characters, and while I've never been one to love too much angst, the main character, Una Fairchild's secret back history and subsequent discovery of her secret birth would have merited at least a little bit of angst. But that didn't happen and we merrily breeze our way through the book as we roll closer to the ending.

Also, I don't remember who the character Snow is, but she ended up getting quite tiresome and annoying. Otherwise, the other characters were okay, I guess.

Nonetheless, Story's End makes a fairly good conclusion to a well-thought-out duology, and if I knew how to appreciate it better, then maybe I could have liked it a bit more.


***

This book is a pre-chosen participant in the following Reading Challenge(s):

• 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge hosted by Because Reading and Fantasy is More Fun

---

This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in October 2015.

---