The Storybook of Legends (Ever After High book 1) - Shannon Hale - 4 stars

I chose this book for the WHINRTB 3.0. This is a challenge I try to do every year where I choose books off of my shelves that have been overlooked for a year or more.I was not sure what to expect from this book when I chose this one to read. It is a middle grade and it does read middle grade, but it was very fun and quite funny.
Synopsis
At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens...whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End-both for a story and for a life.

As the daughter of the Evil Queen, Raven Queen's destiny is to follow in her mother's wicked footsteps, but evil is so not Raven's style. She's starting to wonder, what if she rewrote her own story? The royal Apple White, daughter of the Fairest of Them All, has a happy ever after planned for herself, but it depends upon Raven feeding her a poison apple in their future.

What if Raven doesn't sign the Storybook of Legends? It could mean a happily never after for them both.

The plot of this story is very captivating even though it is middle grade, It is full of a lot of great quips and quotes. I laughed a lot while reading this and it just made me happy. So very fluid and easy going. Everyone in their places and so fun revisiting all these old fairy tales that I grew up with. So it was also a little nostalgic.

The characters were very fun. Each of them with their rightful places. I did really enjoy Raven Queen, who was the daughter of the Evil Queen in the Snow White fairytale. I like who she was and who she ultimately became by the end of this story. For being a young girl she was pretty strong and could also be somewhat bull headed as well.

I recommend this to anyone who loves upbeat stories and fairy tales even if you don't normally read middle grade. This would be a great series to share with your kids as well. I look forward to the rest of this trilogy and plan on reading them soon.