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The Stolen Chapters
(Story Thieves #2)
by
Owen, Kiel, and Bethany confront secrets, stolen memories, and some very familiar faces in the follow-up to The Story Thieves—from the bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time trilogy.
Owen Conners would never jump into a mystery. There are too many hidden clues, twists that make no sense, and an ending you never see coming. Mysteries are just not Owen’s thing. So how exa ...more
Owen Conners would never jump into a mystery. There are too many hidden clues, twists that make no sense, and an ending you never see coming. Mysteries are just not Owen’s thing. So how exa ...more
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Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
January 19th 2016
by Aladdin
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Start your review of The Stolen Chapters (Story Thieves, #2)

Jan 10, 2021
Tina ➹ the girl who lives in Fandoms
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really liked it
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4 Golden Stars
Story thieves continues.
this Episode:
Mystery-themed!
brilliant!
isn't it sweet Owen assumed himself as a sidekick, but he's actually the clever planner MC? Our overjoyed bookworm comic relief Sad Panda! (haha, get it!?)
quick read
I liked book 1 better, but this one was also so good, surprising & engaging.
new cool characters, good old characters with development, same problem with Owen again (real life is boring)
"Not again! it can't be all my fault again!"
different. haha, you'll see!
Ow ...more
Story thieves continues.
this Episode:
Mystery-themed!
brilliant!
isn't it sweet Owen assumed himself as a sidekick, but he's actually the clever planner MC? Our overjoyed bookworm comic relief Sad Panda! (haha, get it!?)
quick read
I liked book 1 better, but this one was also so good, surprising & engaging.
new cool characters, good old characters with development, same problem with Owen again (real life is boring)
"Not again! it can't be all my fault again!"
different. haha, you'll see!
Ow ...more

I got this book super early for some reason because I pre-ordered it, and yet I am the last person to read it. I am such a disappointing fan. I always looked at my bookshelf and wished I could read, while I was looking down at my math homework. UGH! Anyway, after I read this book, I wanted to see how my review was for the first book in this series. It was the first book that I reviewed on Goodreads and it was SO BAD! All I said was the parts I liked about the book, so I think I might re-do that
...more

(4.5 stars)
This sequel to Story Thieves cleverly starts on chapter 11 because Owen and Kiel have just had their memories wiped and don't know what happened earlier in the book. Like the first one, it has books within books within books, with characters moving between worlds and stories. Bethany, Owen, and Kiel have had fun in a variety of worlds but are unsuccessful in their search for Bethany's father. In desperation and against her own rules, Bethany turns to Doyle Holmes, the many times great ...more
This sequel to Story Thieves cleverly starts on chapter 11 because Owen and Kiel have just had their memories wiped and don't know what happened earlier in the book. Like the first one, it has books within books within books, with characters moving between worlds and stories. Bethany, Owen, and Kiel have had fun in a variety of worlds but are unsuccessful in their search for Bethany's father. In desperation and against her own rules, Bethany turns to Doyle Holmes, the many times great ...more

These books are just SO fun.
There's twists, awesome characters, hilarious jokes...I am such a a Story Thieves fan. ...more
There's twists, awesome characters, hilarious jokes...I am such a a Story Thieves fan. ...more

Reading the Story Thieves books is like reading Six Characters in Search of an Author, or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but for kids. The books are mind-bendingly meta, and just so darn FUN! The first book introduces you to a character who has the power to jump into any book or story--and what reader hasn't at one point wanted to do THAT? The second book, The Stolen Chapters, takes the mind-bendiness one step further and suggests that perhaps the "real life" characters jumping into the
...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This one might be a bit more confusing for a kid to completely follow. But it was fun for me!

4.5 So good!!!!!! Even better than the first one and so clever!!!! I love the his author. He’s just hilarious. From making his books humorously ironic, and referencing his own books IN HIS OWN BOOKS, to putting a fake thank you to J. K. Rowling in his acknowledgments saying “that’s legal right?” and telling in his “about the author” section that he uses an actor for his photos and didn’t actually exist before writing his first series. Seriously, I need to meet this guy (if he does exist at all..
...more

Another hilarious and original addition to the Story Thieves series!
This book was highly enjoyable to read, and kept me laughing the whole time. Definitely delivered on the twisty plot and hilarious voice that I love in all of the James Riley books. Especially the acknowledgements. Those were SO funny. (Yes, I'm one of the weird people who actually reads them) Even better than the ones in the LAST book, which I didn't think could be topped.
...more
This book was highly enjoyable to read, and kept me laughing the whole time. Definitely delivered on the twisty plot and hilarious voice that I love in all of the James Riley books. Especially the acknowledgements. Those were SO funny. (Yes, I'm one of the weird people who actually reads them) Even better than the ones in the LAST book, which I didn't think could be topped.
...more

Round up to 2.5 stars. I see what the author did, but I'm not a fan of authors writing themselves into a book. Also, I got annoyed with Owen quite a bit… Not one of my favorite kid heroes.
...more

This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.
What a contradiction Jame's Riley's writing is: so juvenile and plastic one minute, and so clever and heartwarming the next. I alternately think he's one of the most over-rated authors I've read, and one of the most under-rated. The Stolen Chapters provokes this unique frustration most of any of his books yet, and I am still struggling to come to grips with how I feel about it.
Because at first, I kind of hated The Stolen Chapters. It felt ...more
What a contradiction Jame's Riley's writing is: so juvenile and plastic one minute, and so clever and heartwarming the next. I alternately think he's one of the most over-rated authors I've read, and one of the most under-rated. The Stolen Chapters provokes this unique frustration most of any of his books yet, and I am still struggling to come to grips with how I feel about it.
Because at first, I kind of hated The Stolen Chapters. It felt ...more

WARNING! Excessive use of exclamation points ahead!
Title: The Stolen Chapters
Author: James Riley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Publication date: 2016
Page count: 354 (Hardback)
Owen, Kiel, and Bethany confront secrets, stolen memories, and some very familiar faces in the follow-up to The Story Thieves—which was called a “fast-paced, action-packed tale” by School Library Journal—from the bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time trilogy.
Owen Conners would never jump into a myster ...more
Title: The Stolen Chapters
Author: James Riley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Publication date: 2016
Page count: 354 (Hardback)
Owen, Kiel, and Bethany confront secrets, stolen memories, and some very familiar faces in the follow-up to The Story Thieves—which was called a “fast-paced, action-packed tale” by School Library Journal—from the bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time trilogy.
Owen Conners would never jump into a myster ...more

This book was... confusing. Maybe more so because I read it aloud with my kids over the course of a month, but it didn't help matters that the time line jumped back and forth almost with every chapter, and there were multiples of characters. And the characters themselves were a bit hard to get a handle on. Kiel was great for comic relief the first go around, but this time he seemed almost pointless; just along for the ride without adding anything to the story. Moira seemed like her only role was
...more

I really feel like this book should have three and a half stars, but that's not an option, unfortunately. The beginning was rather slow, especially compared to the last book. And the author did try to be a little too cute a few times when he was poking fun at himself (it was funny the first time, but then it got annoying). But the last ten chapters or so were amazing.
I did miss Charm quite a bit and hope she'll turn up again in the next book (even if it's only for a bit), but Moira was the perf ...more
I did miss Charm quite a bit and hope she'll turn up again in the next book (even if it's only for a bit), but Moira was the perf ...more

LPDL | Well, that sucked. I will never understand why some authors think it's cute to break the fourth wall by saying "isn't it awful when authors do this thing that the author of this book is doing right now?" and "when authors do this exact thing you're currently reading, it's just bad writing". Yes, it is awful, and yes, it is bad writing, and acknowledging those things doesn't change them. So don't do it.
...more

END, PLOT TWIST #3.
The Meta is wayyyyyy Meta in this book. Trippy little sucker. But I'm a sucker for breaking the fourth wall. ...more
The Meta is wayyyyyy Meta in this book. Trippy little sucker. But I'm a sucker for breaking the fourth wall. ...more

Little late in my review for this story, but I couldn't be lazy and only give it stars without an explination. :)
This series is a fun read. And I loved how this one was able to be so completely different from the first book. I've read sequels before that were basically the same plot line as the book before and therefore kinda boring. THIS ONE however was not. Like not at all.
The first book has a fantasy setting the characters are jumping back and forth between, this one? MYSTERY.
I have to poi ...more
This series is a fun read. And I loved how this one was able to be so completely different from the first book. I've read sequels before that were basically the same plot line as the book before and therefore kinda boring. THIS ONE however was not. Like not at all.
The first book has a fantasy setting the characters are jumping back and forth between, this one? MYSTERY.
I have to poi ...more

The first nine chapters of this book were hilariously entertaining--about 97% of those chapters were redacted, which was amusing, and it took like 1 minute to read all of them. The rest of the book was spent with the characters trying to piece together the details of what happened in those chapters. I don't think I enjoyed this installment as much as the first one, but it wasn't bad, and with how it ends I am definitely intrigued to see how the series will continue from here.
...more

Stolen Chapters book two of the Story Thieves series. The ending dragged on a bit more than necessary and became slightly convoluted but otherwise still a fun addition. Hopefully book three will clear things up. Book one took us into a Sci-fi/Fantasy, book two a Mystery and book three is going into a Graphic Novel/Comic Book.

OH MY SWEET JESUS.
alright pietra calm down and breathe a little bit ok? ok
so let me start off by saying that when i saw how short this book was compared to the first one i got quite disappointed. but of course james riley THE OH SO WONDERFUL JAMES RILEY MELTED MY BRAIN (in the best way possible).
just like in the first book, SO MUCH happened in the story and even with the multiple povs, the narrative was never boring, on the contrary IT WAS EVEN BETTER! i quickly understood why the book couldn' ...more
alright pietra calm down and breathe a little bit ok? ok
so let me start off by saying that when i saw how short this book was compared to the first one i got quite disappointed. but of course james riley THE OH SO WONDERFUL JAMES RILEY MELTED MY BRAIN (in the best way possible).
just like in the first book, SO MUCH happened in the story and even with the multiple povs, the narrative was never boring, on the contrary IT WAS EVEN BETTER! i quickly understood why the book couldn' ...more

May 17, 2020
Amy
rated it
it was amazing
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Story thieves By James Riley is a great book. It starts off with Owen in a dream and the. he wakes up in his mothers library not knowing how he got there. Kiel is with him and someone named Doyle homes is staring that them. Doyle has taken out their memory of how they got there, Doyle locked away their friend Bethany in a place where she will die. Will Owen and Kiel be able to save Bethany in only 2 hours?
In my opinion this book was very good I liked it a lot. I was on the edge of my seat the w ...more
In my opinion this book was very good I liked it a lot. I was on the edge of my seat the w ...more

When Owen and Kiel wake up, they are in the library with no memory of how they got there or even what happened in the last couple of weeks. Then someone in a mask shows up to announce that their friend Bethany is in danger, and if they don’t rescue her in the next couple of hours, they will never see her again. Then he sets the library on fire and calls the police on them. Can Owen and Kiel find Bethany, figure out who the villain is, and stop him?
This is the second in a series, and you don’t wa ...more
This is the second in a series, and you don’t wa ...more

James Riley is incredibly clever and fantastic.
Some say this book is confusing, but that's intentional. When you get to the end it all comes together in a very clever way. I was on the edge of my seat and got really into it. He's a genius. It's a great mystery story mixed with book-hopping fantasy elements.
That said, the reason I only gave this lovely four stars was because it was a bit lacking compared to his other works. Owen had some de-characterization (some back-tracking), although I think ...more
Some say this book is confusing, but that's intentional. When you get to the end it all comes together in a very clever way. I was on the edge of my seat and got really into it. He's a genius. It's a great mystery story mixed with book-hopping fantasy elements.
That said, the reason I only gave this lovely four stars was because it was a bit lacking compared to his other works. Owen had some de-characterization (some back-tracking), although I think ...more
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