Fairest of All (Whatever After #1)

Fairest of All (Whatever After #1)

By Sarah Mlynowski

175 ratings 234 reviews 153 followers
Book 1 of 10 in the  Whatever After Series
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 1 - 3n/a2.827448
The first installment of Sarah Mylowski's New York Times bestselling series!

Mirror, mirror, on the basement wall . . .

Once upon a time my brother and I were normal kids. The next minute? The mirror in our basement slurped us up and magically transported us inside Snow White's fairy tale.

I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.

But hey -- we're heroes! We stopped Snow White from eating the poisoned apple. Hooray! Or not. If Snow White doesn't die, she won't get to meet her prince. And then she won't get her happy ending. Oops.

Now it's up to us to:
- Avoid getting poisoned
- Sneak into a castle
- Fix Snow White's story

And then, fingers crossed, find our way home.
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN-13: 9780545485715
ISBN-10: 0545485711
Published on 4/1/2013
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 176

Book Reviews (226)

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Whatever After is about a girl named Abby and her younger brother Jonah. They have a magical mirror that transports them to a different farirytale. The first time they get transported to Snow White's fairytale. They stop her from eating the apple, but now they can't get home. This book has an awesome twist on Snow White and so do all the other books in the series.

I really enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I'm in the 5th grade and think that other kids in about that age range would also like this book. This is a very fun book to read because it is a story that most kids know, but is has some exiting twists and turns. I would definitely recommend this book.

This is an amazing story. Abby and Jonah are some of the coolest kids ever! If you like a story about a princess.... then this is for you!!!!

This was a really sweet book. It was very entertaining, a twist on a classic story. The plot was entertaining an unique. However, I think this was geared for younger kids, 8-12. I think that since there have been many stories that are a twist on a fairy tale, that sometimes we get tired of reading the "same story". It was entertaining, but nothing that I would call a "legendary" story. This story was about 2 siblings, Abby and Jonah, who are exploring the basement of their new house. Next thing they know they fall in a mirror and are in Snow White's kingdom. It is a dream come true when they save Snow White from the poisoned apple. But now Snow never met her prince! Will Snow have a happy ending? And will Abby and Jonah ever get back home?

Whatever After #1: Fairest of All is about an girl who get sucked into a fantasy fairy tale world. Because this book is in a series this is the first one and she only goes to one princess world- snow white's. Throughout the book she is trying to save snow white and change the story and let her live happily ever after.I think this book is great if you like when characters go into different worlds and story's.

Whatever After is about a girl who gets sucked into a mirror and gets transferred to a world full of Fairy Tales with her brother. Along the way, she encounters Snow White and tries to save her from biting the apple. She is suddenly put to the task to fix Snow White's story and turn it all around so that she can live happily ever after once and for all!

"Mirror, Mirror, on the basement wall.." I've got to admit, I wasn't that excited about this book, because this was a crossbreed of fairy-tales and tween stories. Just from glancing at the cover, I could tell. These two genres which normally wouldn't go together very well... but I decided to flip it open and try it - it instantly hooked me open with the first passage. This author can really relate to teen and tween girls, even to skeptical or reluctant readers, and it makes it that much more enjoyable. Enjoy this fresh, new twist on the fairy-tale genre! It kind of sounds like the book review should end here, but this book is full of surprises and I couldn't help adding a bit more. Meet Abby, who is a little cranky about everything - especially moving to Smithville, her new town, where she has to go to a new school and live in a brand-new house. According to Abby, everything is wrong with the place - especially the creepy mirror in the basement of her new house. But Abby has one thing to take comfort in - books, especially fairy-tales. She knows most of them by heart because of hearing them over and over again from her Nana. One day where everything seems wrong, Abby reluctantly decides to supervise Jonah (because she is the responsible older sister) while he is playing Flying Crocodiles in the creepy basement. But Jonah, who is adventurous, brave, and extremely nosy (exactly the opposite of Abby) decides to knock on the creepy mirror three times. Before they can react, they are sucked up by a hissing, purple, evil mirror and are transported to a forest in the middle of nowhere. They are very far from Smithville, and very far away from their home, and surrounded by a bunch of creatures that can attack and eat them in seconds. Then they run as fast as they can until they are following a evil-looking old lady carrying a basket with delicious looking apples (they had no choice!) The evil-looking lady tries to tempt a really beautiful teenager with snow-white skin, red lips and black hair to eat one of the apples. Wait – backtrack.. Abby knows she’s seen her somewhere.. Then it hits her. “Snow White!” After stopping Snow from eating the apples, Abby and Jonah think they’re heroes! Or not. If Snow doesn’t get poisoned, her Prince won’t see her in the coffin and kiss her. She won’t have her happy ending! Oh no oh no oh no oh no. I mean, Snow can’t live with dwarves forever (did you know some of them were girls?) If they started this, Abby and Jonah are determined to end this (well mostly Abby, Jonah just came along for the food XD) But the Evil Queen is a very formidable enemy and she has more than a few tricks up her sleeve.. I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say that there is a poisoned pillow, poisoned cookies, and a hammer involved.. But Abby isn’t giving up yet – there are many failed attempts. Snow, Abby and everyone is basically ready to give up, but there is one more problem – how are they going to get home? Apparently there’s a matching evil mirror in the Evil Queen’s room, so if they can sneak into the Castle, sneak into the Evil Queen’s room, and convince the mirror to send them home, it’ll all be over. Their fairy-tale experience will be over. But what is the prince doing in the Evil Queen’s dungeon? Uh oh. It turns out they need to free the prince, get Snow her happy ending, dethrone the Evil Queen (her real name is Evelyn), also free the Huntsman that helped Snow, escape the Castle without being seen by any of the guards, and escape a mama crocodile and a baby crocodile? Who else has the feeling this is not going to end in happily ever after? Oh, and they need to get home (plus get Tara and Jon together, but that’s a different story altogether) via Magic Mirror.. What, in the name of Snow’s disgusting porridge, are they going to do? Will someone turn up to save the day? Or will Abby, Jonah, Snow, the dwarves, and all the good guys be doomed to Happily NEVER After? Read to find out the ending :D This book is fun, sweet, and totally hilarious. The characters’ personalities are unique, and extremely realistic. I’m sure that teen girls could relate to Abby’s pain of having an annoying little brother, but loving him all the same. I love the author’s style – fun, quirky, with humor mixed in. Just one thing – I know this book isn’t supposed to be sad, but really, I didn’t feel a lot of emotions at all. I just laughed a lot during some of the funnier parts, but I think books are supposed to make the reader feel raw, pure emotions, like sorrow or doubt, even in funny books. Still, this is a really memorable book with its style, its characters, its unique setting and genre, and many more! (Also the villain is kind of weak, it doesn’t sound like the Evil Queen until at the end.) This will probably be a book girls and boys (don’t let the cover throw you off – I’ll promise you’ll like Jonah, boys!) will enjoy and keep on their bookshelves for a long time. Have fun! ~FelicisOwl

i loved the authors spoken words and how they made you feel inside

"My whole body tenses. I do not like hissing. Especially hissing mirrors." There are a lot of other things Abby doesn't like - dangerous things like rock climbing, freeze tag, and smushing bananas on peanut butter sandwiches. But most of all, she doesn't like Smithville - she just wishes she could move back to her old town, Chicago, with her nana. Worst of all, there's a frightening mirror in the basement that is EXTREMELY weird, suspicious, and most of all, creepy. Late at night her little brother Jonah decides to play Flying Crocodiles in the basement, and of course, Abby has to take care and supervise her little brother because she is the responsible, older sister. Even if it is in the basement - with the creepy mirror. Her brother notices the mirror right away, of course, because he has an eye for adventure, and knocks on it. Once, twice, and then three times because three times is the charm, isn't it? NOT - the creepy mirror sucks up both Abby and Jonah and land them in a creepy forest, apparently, very far away from Smithville. Abby and Jonah decide to follow a mysterious, creepy, evil-looking old lady carrying a basket so that they can ask for directions, but the lady seems strangely preoccupied and ignores them. She arrives at this cottage and offers an apple to a girl that's older than Abby with pale, snow-white skin, black ivory hair, and blood-red lips. Wait just a second - snow-white skin, black ivory hair, and blood-red lips? It's Snow White? Okay, Abby and Jonah are another dimension away from home. Since they've figured at least THAT out, they decide to save the story (because they already know the lady's trying to poison Snow White) by jumping in the way and ruining the evil plan. The lady screams and cries vengeance, and stomps away. Hurray! They've saved the story - oh no. If Snow White isn't poisoned, she won't be in a coffin. If Snow White isn't in a coffin, the prince won't ride by and think she's dead and kiss her to wake her. She won't get her happy ending! Oops. Now since they started this whole mess, they have to end it. This is very very bad - especially since the Evil Queen (aka Evil Evelyn, because Evelyn's her real name and obviously she is very evil) is now trying to poison Snow White plus Abby and Jonah too (since they foiled her plan earlier, she is out for revenge.) There are other methods the Evil Queen uses, like poisoned cookies and a hammer - I'll leave it at that. Now they try a different approach - just get the Prince to kiss Snow White and all will be solved! Abby and Jonah tried to get Snow to lie in the coffin so that when the Prince came by on his horse on his way to the Evil Queen's castle (they sent a fake letter from the Evil Queen, saying to come to her castle) he would see her, fall in love, and then kiss her! Yay! It turns out that Snow is pretty much a little afraid of everything and was afraid of the Prince kissing her, so she jumped out of the coffin, ruining her chance at a happy ending. Well, Abby and Jonah aren't done yet. Their final attempt is to sneak into Evil Evelyn's castle and do many things - (1) she has a magic mirror that can send Abby and Jonah home (2) They find out the prince is being held hostage there, so they need to rescue him (3) After the prince is freed, overthrow Evil Evelyn and get the prince to kiss Snow. I guess you know that it doesn't go exactly to plan. Instead a whirlwind of misfortune happens - ending with an arrow shot by Evil Evelyn, aimed at Snow White. Is this their final ending? Did Abby and Jonah change Snow White instead of the worse for the better? Will Snow die or will a final sacrifice be made? Read this book to find out! This book is complicated to explain.. There are so many modern fairy-tale versions out there, and this one didn't stand out that much to me at first. But then I got hooked by the author's style of writing, which definitely was extremely quirky and very fun to read. I started loving the characters, particularly Abby, who seemed like my doppelganger, and Jonah, who was adorable - and way cuter than my younger brother :P The characters seemed to really, pop out of the pages with their sibling-y dialogue. The opening paragraph pretty much would hook any young teen reader in, it made me giggle XD The characters (some) are good role models.. It is a nice twist on the fairy tale genre. It kind of reminded me of the Princess Diaries from Meg Cabot (in a good way :P) Overall, this is a charming, sweet, quaint, but wacky and totally adorable book! I recommend it to third grade to sixth grade. I don't really do stars but I rated it 4 stars because well, some parts were just too immature and it was a really short read. I would have liked more development with the story but hey, this probably wasn't written for critical reviewers like me XD Have fun with this book, because it's probably one young girls will keep on their bookshelf for many years :D

It looks good.Reading and learning from abbey and her brother boosted my intrest in reading these books.You all should read book one through four like Im trying to do.

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