It’s a bit spoilery for the first two books, so you might want to skip over it.

This review is actually going to be more of a series recommendation, but here’s the description for ONCE UPON THE END. It helps that I didn’t start the series until the third book came out :). But that’s how I felt about the HALF UPON A TIME series. It’s been a while since I read a book and just had to read the next, and the next right away. So, I usually wouldn’t review two books by the same author in the same series so close together, but I can’t help myself. Mason & filed under Middle Grade Review, Reviews. There's heart, humor, and a warehouse full of kitchen sinks in the random plot developments also swordplay, curses, battle wounds, magical coercion, and the overhanging theme that things have been very, very strange ever since that giant perished in pursuit of Jack and cosmic conflict ensued.Posted Jby Michelle I. But the story of 12-year-old giant Lena, who's struggling for acceptance as a giant despite being human size, and Jinn, a self-absorbed young genie enslaved by King Midas, is fast-moving, wacky, and typical of Riley's reinvented fairy tales. As a snarkily kibitzing character points out frequently, you may be a bit lost here and there in this book if you're not familiar with the original series (helpfully mentioned by name). Parents need to know that Once Upon Another Time is the first book in a planned trilogy set in the world James Riley ( Story Thieves) created for his Half Upon a Time series, which is a zany reinvention of the 'Jack in the Beanstalk' tale. There's plenty of cartoonish violence and peril, both physical harm (punching, kicking, swords, slashing, stabbing, threats to devour people) and magical mayhem (curses with unpredictable results, magic flame ditto, spooky faceless armies, King Midas turning everyone and everything that crosses him into gold).ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

The villain controls the genie by remote magic violence, including strangling, and fear of worse fates.

Looming in the background, and causing mortal enmity between giants and humans, is the story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and the death of the giant, whose brother, the current king, seeks revenge.

Once upon the end by james riley