Everyone knows fairytales are not real, which is why Taylan is angry when her mother decides to punish her for telling her younger sister exactly this while queuing to meet her favourite princess at the Happily Ever After amusement park. Livid at the unfair punishment, Taylan and her brother Colby set out to prove once and for all that everyone in the park is just a good actor.

But what they discover might be more than they bargained for, as they find themselves tangled in a secret battle between the good and the evil Ever Afters. As none of the familiar tales reflect the truth, Taylan and Colby will have to decide who among the Ever Afters can be trusted, defeat the Evil Queen before she takes over... and try to make it out of the park alive.

The Land of Fake Believe is a highly original and captivating take on the recent fairytale retellings trend, geared towards a middle-grade audience. The fast-moving plot is engaging, delivering a well-paced combination of action, reveals, and character development. There was never a dull moment and the slow unveiling of the workings of the park and different Ever Afters' true stories kept the story moving forward while providing a solid worldbuilding base. Quite a lot of this happened through dialogue and exposition, which occasionally resulted in a few info-dumps, but it didn't massively affect the flow and engagement.

The characters were well drawn, if not particularly rounded, which would probably not have worked as well for an older audience but is highly likely to not be an issue for the target audience. Taylan is the centre of it all and she was a lovely character to follow, as she struggles with the typical issues of a young girl her age while discovering a whole new world of magic and facing great evil. The sibling relationship was especially well crafted, and a fair bit of growing up was involved by the end of the book, which was great to see.

The Ever Afters were also fascinating characters, and it is clear that a good deal of creativity and detail went into crafting the amusement park setting, characters' backstories and their dynamics. It was a pleasure to discover all of this as it was slowly unveiled, even though at times certain characters came across as a bit lacking or incomplete.

Although the majority of the book was well-paced, the ending itself felt slightly rushed, which was a shame after having spent so long getting into the thick of things, but there seemed to be a suggestion of a second book to come so we may get to spend some more time with the characters after all.

Overall, this was an extremely pleasant read despite a few minor issues and would suit a younger audience as well as any grown-up who loves a good twist on fairytales and an amusement park setting.

This review was originally published on Reedsy Discovery. I received a digital review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

This was a cute book. I enjoyed reading it and would keep reading the series. I loved the concept of a fairytale amusement park and I read the story very quickly, despite being in the middle of a busy semester. It's a unique take on a magical world. I especially like that not all the normal fairytale stereotypes are followed. For example, not every fairytale bad guy is actually a villain, and not every fairytale good guy is actually good. Each character has their own unique personality the reader must discover. There were some things that threw me off a bit while reading. For example, the character development of the two main characters, the children, could be stronger. At the beginning, they are presented as very whiny kids. Not too far into the book, they are cursed with an object that makes them extra whiny. However, this behavior change wasn't very obvious. They were acting bratty and kept acting bratty. After the curse is discovered, the behavior improves and they become more likeable, but the initial impression was off-putting to me. As a reader, I want to like the main characters from the beginning, or at least have motivation to keep learning about them so I can understand them better. Overall, the story was well done but would benefit from a professional editor to polish it. It was a fun read and I hope the author keeps up the good work. ( )

I liked to story and creativity and, more importantly, my 8 and 9 year old daughters were riveted and really enjoyed it too. I waffled between giving this 4-stars or 5. Our family tries not to use the words like stupid or hate, and those occurred quite a bit. However, not all families care about that as much.

Update: I already bought #2 & 3 and we're halfway through #2 already. My girls are loving that one too. ( )

Such a great book, I won from the giveaway. My kids loved it! It was funny, witty and suspenseful at points. It was a very well written story for younger children. Thank you! ( )

Not bad, not great - for me. I could see a tween/teen really loving it. The kids are idiots - but they're appropriate idiots, they make the kind of bad decisions that a ten- and twelve-year-old would be likely to make (mostly things like not thinking things through, and trusting adults...and then distrusting the wrong people, later on). There's clearly a lot going on behind the scenes that never quite made sense to me - various spells, and solutions for same. And some very convenient overhearings. But still, mildly enjoyable. ( )