Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After!

Dork Diaries #8

by Rachel Renée Russell

Er was eens… is het grappige verhaal van Nikki in de succesvolle serie Dagboek van een muts van Rachel Renée Russell.
Tijdens gym krijgt Nikki een bal tegen haar hoofd – van wie anders dan MacKenzie – en dan wordt alles zwart. Als ze bijkomt, is Nikki in een sprookjeswereld beland. Haar irritante zusje Brianna is plotseling veranderd in een goede fee en Brandon in een ware SPROOKJESPRINS! <3 Maar natuurlijk is er ook een heks: MacKenzie! En zo verandert Nikki’s droom al snel in een NACHTMERRIE. Zal dit sprookje ooit goed aflopen?

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Graphic Novels, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Fantasy

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Rachel Renee Russell is the #1 New York Times Best Selling author of the book series, DORK DIARIES, and the upcoming, THE MISADVENTURES OF MAX CRUMBLY to be released on June 7, 2016.

For more about Nikki's world visit www.DorkDiaries.com

For more about Max's world visit www.MaxCrumbly.com

Reviews

[Shai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely the best book I've read in this series. I can't stop laughing on how Brianna a.k.a. the Fairy Godmother keeps on committing mistakes in fulfilling Nikki's requests. I will definitely read this again in the future.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicci has to write a fairy-tale retelling for her creative writing class (I love those kind of classes in high school, such a pity I didn't attend any while at school - nothing like that existed :( ). While she thinks that she can write nothing like that, a terrible mackenzie-caused accidents happens during a basketball game. Nicci had the ball landed on her head and she falls down. When she opens her eyes she is transfered to the Wonder-of-Oz Land and she is dressed in a blue dress, being either Dorothy from Oz or Alice. All her friends and classmates are transformed in characters from both fairy tales (obviously Brandon is the Prince-charming and Mackenzie the Evil Queen!!!)

It was such a cute and clever story, written in the unique way Nicci is narrating her high school sufferings adventures!!!

[tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun twist compared to other dork diaries books

[xuntung · Rating 5 out of 5]

my childhood 🥹

[๋࣭ ⭑⚝MAHAAA.ᐟ.ᐟ.ᐟ༘⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bro who gets hit with a ball and goes into a whole new ass world?

[bookgirl13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just completed the book "Dork Diaries 8: Tales from a Not-So-Happily-Ever-After" by Rachel Renée Russell. It was a very quirky and hilarious story to read. The story is taken place in a middle school and told by 8th grader Nikki Maxwell as she deals with everyday school drama. Between dealing with the popular fashion diva, Mackenzie or putting up with her annoying sister, Brianna, Nikki is always on the edge of losing it with them. Nikki enjoys talking out with her best friends Chloe and Zoey and hanging out with her crush, Brandon. But then in gym class, Mackenzie rudely hits Nikki in the head with a ball during a game of dodgeball, causing Nikki to have a wild dream about her, her friends, and classmates all playing as characters in common fairy tales. As you read the story, you experience find a laughable journey as Nikki travels through Fairy Tale Land meeting all the Regals, Renegades, and Rouges. I really liked this book and am looking forward to reading the next book of the series, if there is one hopefully.

[Elizabeth (Elzburg) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hooray this is my 200th book review! It is actually pretty tragic that this book, out of any book I've read, had to be my 200th review. When did I even read the previous book in this series? Like last year? What impeccable timing.

This eighth book in the Dork Diaries series is different in that rather than spanning a month (or however long they usually span) this book takes place during a single day. This is because Nikki gets lambasted in the face by balls and ends up in a hallucinatory state and plays fairy tale for a while, then she wakes up and it ends. It is quite clear that either Ms. Rachel Russell (see what I did there) or her publisher was feelin’ the need to rake in some of that $ fairy $ tale $ retelling $ money $ but with as little effort as possible, and out came this book. From which of Ms. Russel’s orifices it came out of, I will let you decide for yourself.

I’m purposely ragging on this book, but truth be told I think this is probably just staying true with the usual quality of these books. These are books for little kids so I suppose the lack of personality traits for any character in the series, or the completely overdone story line wouldn’t really bother the actual target audience for these books. I myself am reading these because once-upon-a-time I USED to be in the target audience, but I guess I grew up while these books didn’t. Also I read these because Nikki freaking out at her eighth grade first world problems is hilarious.


All of my Dork Diaries Reviews:
Book 6
Book 7
Book 8

[Mya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and daring so you know, of course, that I'm waiting on the next one.

[Jordan Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dork Diaries was a very good book, and surprisingly held my attention the entire time I was reading it. Throughout the book, Nikki Maxwell is having an awful day. Her new sweater gets ruined, she wakes up late, and gets knocked into a whole other world! Her enemy, Mackenzie Hollister, slams a dodgeball in poor Nikki’s face, causing her to go unconscious and visit a whole new world called Fantasy Land. In Fantasy Land, everyone Nikki knows is made into a fairy tale creature. For instance, Nikki’s two best friends, Chloe and Zoey, are Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks. Nikki’s worst enemy, Mackenzie, is the Wicked Witch of the West. During her time in the Fantasy Land, Nikki tells many of the fairy tale creatures to go against the rules of the people and follow their dreams of becoming adventurers, princesses, and much more. She goes through much trouble to find the Wizard of Odd so that he can help send her home. Alas, Nikki is framed for being a bad person, so the Queen of Hearts was going to execute her. Finally, Prince Brandon swoops in and saves the day along with many of Nikki’s other friends she met along the way.
I personally really enjoyed this book. It was fun and relatable, but it was also very interesting at the same time to see the modern-day twist the author put on the people in the story. I didn’t like how the author used acronyms a lot! She incessantly used “OMG” and it began to get annoying to be honest.
I think people who enjoy fantasy books or like the show Once Upon A Time would love this book! It’s so similar to Once Upon A Time it’s weird.

[BookCupid · Rating 3 out of 5]

How far can a hit on the head take you?

Nikki travels to fairy tale land after getting hit by a dodgeball. Sadly, The only way to return home is to find the Wizard of Odd, a man who looks like her principal. If only it were so simple. Perhaps if she can get through Goldilocks, Alice in Wonderland, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and many other stories, Nikki will accomplish her goal unscathed.

Although, the book had its quirky moments, most of the warmhearted feelings the series tends to evoke in the reader seemed absent. There were just too many things going on. To push the story forward, Nikki couldn't attach herself to any of the characters and so one fairy tale after another kept popping up. It soon became like a race to see how many stories the author could jam in.

Not my favorite.

[Charlotte]

i love the way that the author wrote it because she goes in order and makes the book , fun to read , and it makes sense!!!I liked that Nikki has alot of feelings and she can open up her mind, and shes kinda like me .THE fairy godmother AKA (her sister Brianna) is really funny and even though she's annoying, she can be really sweet and helpful!!!!!!!!My favorite part of the book is when Nikki meets alot of characters from fairy tale books. She meets GoldieLocks and Red riding hood, and prince charming!!!!!!:) WELL, I LOVED THE BOOK AND NOW IT'S MY FAVORITE, SO I DON'T NOT LIKE ANY PART OF THE BOOK!!!!!!You should know that your going to fall inlove with this book!!!!!!!

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for Parent Daughter Book Club. I wonder what the kids love about this series. Personally, I cannot stand the overuse of OMG, SQUEEE, and EEEE, let alone the :)!!! and :(!!!!, as well capital letters that SHOUT at the readers. It might be that as I started reading on book eight, I haven't had the chance to fall in love with the characters, but I have a feeling it wouldn't have made a difference.

Amusing plot idea, though I would have prefered an actual dimension hopping tale rather than a dodgeball-inflicted delusion. I did like the final end moral, at least , where she appreciates her family, home, and sister, in particular. Her relationship with Mckenzie still seemed forced, but the grudge might've built up throughout the previous books. Think this book might have been stronger had it been written in prose rather than diary format, especially if it does discuss about the difficulty of fitting in and being called names. The drawings were quite cute, if a bit overblown for a diary.

[Jennifer Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it tells a story about a girl who tries to find someone to help her get back home. Along the way she meets a few people in fairy tale land that looked familiar. The people help her and in the end she was back home, where she belong. This was a great book that I recommend this book to Ambar and Ashly because they like adventures and I think they might like it.

[Vehka Kurjenmiekka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tried to understand why this book has 4,27 rating in Goodreads. After reading the first one hundred pages, I thought that maybe I'll get some kind of revelation soon. NOTHING happened!! :( So I read a bit more, because of course I had missed something, RIGHT?!

I got to the end waiting some kind of twist, something to justify the rating, and... (to quote this book)

...Absolutely NOTHING happened! :(!!

However, this was a wild, wild ride, and perhaps the high rating is a conspiracy, and I'd hate to admit that I didn't catch all the secret clues, so...

...here are my five cents (I mean stars).

[ChasxSabri&#x1f497;&#x1fae7; · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will ever forget the hold this book had on me in middle school

[EvaN · Rating 5 out of 5]

5*
Maybe the best one in the series so far!
Well-written, smart story for teenage girls with beautiful illustrations.

[Julianna Germono · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, Tales from a Not- So- Happily Ever After, by Rachel Renee Russel, is about a girl name Nikki Maxwell who has the craziest dream after being knocked out from getting a ball to the head from Mackenzie Hollister during dodgeball. To start off her dream, Nikki travels to a fairy-tale world where she is mistaken as Alice from Wonderland. The only way out of this fairy tale world is to find the Wizard of Odd who is being played by her school principal. Throughout Nikki's journey, she finds her 2 best friends, Chloe and Zoe, who were Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood. The three all set out to find the Wizard of Odd and meet many other common fairy tale characters being played as many of their classmates and Nikki's crush, Brandon. How will Nikki escape this wild dream? This story was actually really funny and quirky with all the fairy tales included. Out of all the Dork Diaries I have read, this is not exactly my favorite, but it's still a pretty good book.

[Sarah L · Rating 4 out of 5]

8th book of the Dork Diaries written by Rachel Renée Russell

Nikki has once again started school and had just gone to a dance with her crush Brandon after a Mackenzie "incident" we're Mackenzie "accidentally" takes Brandon's phone. Anyways Nikki has just been given a story book from her teacher called A Journey Through Fairy Tales. Later that day in gym class Nikki, Chloe, and Zoe are playing the dreaded game... Dodgeball. During this time Mackenzie once again "accidentally" (what is up with her) threw a dodgeball as hard as she could at Nikki's face while screaming "HEY, MAXWELL! EAT THIS!" which does not make any sense because how could someone do something like that on accident. Anyways after the ball hit Nikki in the face she some sort of concussion and fell over. When she wakes up... well if you want to find out read the book.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the best dork diaries I have ever read and I have read most of the dork diaries books. What I like about it is that it has a really sweet ending like it was a real fairy tale because it was a happy ending and the bad guy (Or Girl) gets there punishment and Nikki got the boy just like a princess. I would recommend this book to people who technically like fairy tails it has got five different fairy tales in it . 🙆🙆🙆🙆🙆🙆🙆 I will not recommend it to any boys unless the like stuff like girly fancies.😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

[Samantha Cornejo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it was a lot different than I thought it would be, but it still was a good book, and I loved how when Nikki was in Fairy Tale Land she walked in as the same character into every single story every single time, and I love the idea of the fairy tale settings all being at the same place. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much and it was different from the other books as well, so because of the difference between the other books I would probably read this book again.

[sara *☆~ (semi-hia) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember loving this at the age of 8

[meilyn *ೃ༄ · Rating 3 out of 5]

.ᐟ ₊˚⊹ i didn’t really like this one as much, if i’m being honest (๑-_-๑)

it felt like a filler book , the only cute thing was seeing nikki’s development in regards to her baby sister

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think this is my fav so far. love the fairytale stories and it’s a nice change from the rest of the books.

[Elesie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl that is called Nikki Maxwell and she is considered a "dork". She has a enemy that is called "Mackenzie". She is a popular student that always bully Nikki. The story starts at school but then she goes on adventure to Fairy tale land. In fairy tale land she meets all different types of fairy tales and the weirdest part is that she recognizes the characters of the fairy tales as her friends.

I picked up this book because my cousin gave me the first book and I read it. I liked it so I continued to read the series.

I finished this book because Nikki is stuck in Fairy tale land and I want to find out how she escapes.

I would recommend this book to Bianca Tu because she just watched Cinderella and I think she would like to read about another version of fairy tales.

[Pooja Banga · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid for girls in this hilarious novel!


After a bump on the head in gym class on April Fool’s Day, Nikki has a wild dream in which she, her BFFs Chloe and Zoey, her crush Brandon, and mean girl Mackenzie all end up playing the roles of some familiar classic fairy tale characters. Of course, the stories don’t go quite as expected—because they each have a very special Dork Diaries spin!

[Kailee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book, and I know there are more books in the series but I'm getting older so this was my last book of this series. if they made this book much older and more mature, it would be really interesting

[Aryanamarin]

I love these books they are so interesting i will always love Dork Diaries and I will keep reading Dork Diaries. Best books ever!!

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better diaries x) liked the concept with this one

[Lily Weed · Rating 5 out of 5]

guuuurl this was one of my favorite ones
the drama
the romance
slay
jasmine- read this series to poppy

[Ayeley &#x1065a; ·˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭑ ⭑ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒
2.0 stars


♰ Yeah no.

After being impressed by the seventh book I hastily went to read this book and I was reminded about how mediocre the writing became after the first three books