I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishing through NetGalley.
Sequel to Saving Fable.
After her first story wraps, Indira is back for a vacation in Fable. However, she learns it won't simply be a relaxing visit. She is being sent for training to improve her skills and work on her weakness - solving it all herself rather than working with her team. She, Phoenix, Gadget and Squalls are sent to Ordinary to begin an adventure and develop their individual skills. When an author gets in and takes over their world, they must band together to save Ordinary. Together with some new characters, they set forth on this quest. Each character grows and learns more about themselves and working together. Readers will love the new adventures and the continued revelations about the characters. Reintgen has created further lands in his story world and offers enough danger and humor to draw readers in to be part of the action.
Looking forward to the next in this series.

The characters from Saving Fable return in Escaping Ordinary. It’s not more of the same, but a creative, new problem. I think authors sometimes fall sort in sequels when they forget to allow their character to grow, but that’s the whole point of Indira’s quest. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. 5 ★

I thought this book had a fun and interesting plot to it. Indira, our hero, learns that she's a little too good at relying on herself and is sent to training to learn how to rely on the assests of her team instead of charging into battle head first. When going through the training in the land of Plot, she and her team encounter something they've never seen before and discover that an Author has somehow ended up in their world. Together, they have to figure out a way to kick him out or else he will destroy everything.

I thought this plot of learning how to work with a team was interesting, but I don't really think it came through for me. I thought Indira was basically relying on her instincts the whole time until she has a conversation with someone that caused her to do a 180 and rely on her team for their last plan. It didn't feel gradual or natural to me, but rather sudden.

Other than that, this was a quick and fun read. I love the characters and how they grew throughout the story. I really liked the dynamic between Phoenix and Allen Squalls because while Allen was incredibly anxious and nervous about everything that was around him, Phoenix did his best to lift his friend up. And then, when it really came to the time when Phoenix needed him, while he was still scared, he went against that instinct and decided to stay for him. I liked his character development a lot.

Indira and three companions go on an adventure to learn about the Hero's Journey (a popular plot structure in creative writing) but become caught up in another adventure when a mysterious and powerful new antagonist appears. This would be a fun read for young writers, though for those writers interested in the Hero's Journey plot structure, I do wish there had been more discussion of the later steps.

Escaping Ordinary is the sequel to Saving Fable, and I would definitely recommend reading Saving Fable first.

This book was amazing. Very well written and grabbed my attention. I loved book one and fell in love all over again with book two. Wonderful job!

I was blown away by this book! I loved every minute that I purposely made it last longer and put off finishing it because I didn’t want it to end. It was an explanation of the Heroes Journey explaining Joseph Campbells idea in a way that is approachable for a fourth grader and wrapping it within a story that brought in the idea of video games and how they have a story too. Wow just wow! I loved this book! 6 stars even though this app will only let me give it 5 this book gets 6!

this really was an enjoyable young adult novel, I loved the characters and the whole world that was built. I'm glad that I had read the other books in the series.

Thanks so much to Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for letting me have the chance to read, review and bask in the delightfulness of this story. Scott Reintgen has fast become one of my favorite authors with all his amazing books and I love this story!
I enjoyed and loved the previous book about Indira and her friends in Saving Fable so I was SO excited when I saw this sequel show up. This didn't disappoint, it was another great story in the land of Fable with Indira and her friends on another new adventure where we meet and get to know new characters as well as becoming more acquainted with some of the previous characters.
I love that Phoenix was back with Indira along with her brother, Dave, and others. It was a great transition, next chapter, next story in the adventures of Indira and friends in Fable. It talked about the plot method of The Hero's Journey in this one, which this is another thing I adore about these books is that Scott is using this method of storytelling to help teach about writing, characters, plots, backstories and different plot methods like The Hero's Journey so this book is great for everyone, children and adults alike. I love that this helps kids learn these things about writing and it can also be helpful to others who are learning about writing too.
Also while it's helping educate about writing and these things, it's wildly entertaining. The land of Fable, the story, and the characters are so easy to fall in love with and to become invested in these characters and stories with all that goes on too. I want to go meet Indira and visit the land of Fable myself because it sounds so amazing.
So, in this sequel to Saving Fable, it's the next year after Indira had to save Fable and was the lead character in a story of her own so now she's hoping and thinking that she'll get to have a break and go on a vacation. Of course, as one can guess, she doesn't get that break she was hoping for and is instead assigned to go through the tutorial for The Hero's Journey to prepare her for her story's sequel. One of the main things she's meant to focus on and learn during this tutorial is how to be a team player and she is joined by some previously known characters and also new ones as mentioned above.
This time around as she and her group of friends are going through the tutorial for The Hero's Journey, things begin to go wrong and they have to figure out what to do and how to fix it. In the town of Ordinary, where they are going through the tutorial, they find that there's an intruder who's taking over and trying to change the town into a giant video game. Indira and her friends have to figure out how to outplay and outsmart the intruder to protect the town of Ordinary and the land of Fable and they have to learn how to work together to do it so they don't lose any of the beloved stories or characters.
It's an exciting adventure full of great storytelling, learning experiences, and examples of how to work together as a team, learn about writing, stories, and everything else. It was another hit for me and I can't wait and hope to read more of Indira and her friends.
If you haven't read these, I would recommend starting with Saving Fable then reading this one, but it is possible to read this without having read the other. I just think it's that much better if you read Saving Fable first because why would you want to miss out on Indira, her friends, and the beginning. I hope you make sure to keep track of this, preorder it and get ready to read and enjoy one of the best books!

The sequel to Scott Reintgen—Talespinners—was everything I wanted. Indira is back! And this time she is entered into the Hero’s Journey tutorial, which teaches her how to be a team player. Great character arc. Plot kept me involved. All around a 5 ⭐️ read.

Indira is thrown into another adventure with some familiar farces and also some new friends. After finishing her first story, she is encouraged to practice and hone some areas she is lacking in before she begins work on her upcoming story. This occurs through a scenario/tutorial of sorts that her and her friends are to navigate through. Half way through their scenario, things go awry and they are tasked with saving the land of Imagination.

This was a very fun sequel! It was nice to see the relationship between Indira and Phoenix grow and evolve a little. I really enjoyed the scenario and watching the characters get points based on their reactions and decisions to events happening in the scenario. One of the characters mentions that it feels like a video game and not only do I agree, I think that’s why I liked it so much. We get to see an author in a new way that really brought the story to life and broke walls that the world has previously built. I hope Indira will have more stories in the future!

Good follow up to book one of the series. Book one seemed to be heavy on explaining the different types of characters, which served to drag the pace at times. In book two, with the detailing of the plot steps in the Hero's Journey, I felt the story moving at a much faster pace. Looking forward to the next one.

The book Escaping the Ordinary is a fun filled adventure. It starts with what happens after a story is finished being written. The protagonist Indira is hopeful that the story she is involved in will be a hit with readers little does she know her next book is about to begin. She is going to embark on an epic hero’s journey, that teaches her the valuable lesson of teamwork and valuing others differences. The book is also filled with memorable characters, one of my favorites is Gadget, she loves to figure out how things work and is always looking to learn something new. This book overall is filled with lots of adventure, laughs, character growth and an outlook of appreciating those that are on your team.

The title of this book is Escaping Ordinary, but this story is anything but ordinary. Middle grade readers are going to LOVE this story. There are so many elements of this story that are completely out of the normal middle grade story. I absolutely adored the characters. Indira is back, and even though she seemed perfect in saving Fable in the first book in the series, her Brainstorm still has some suggestions for how she can improve on her second story. So many of our perfectionists will relate to Indira's quest to constantly be perfect. Phoenix also plays a role again and is just as endearing as the first book.

Filled with quips also about the writing process and adventure, excitement, and video games, this book will be a sure-fire bet for any reader who claims "I do not like to read. It's boring!"