A few months ago I reviewed the Millie Marotta Animal Kingdom Adult Colouring Book and recently I received an email from Lauren at Plexus Books asking me if I wanted the opportunity to review a new Adult Colouring Book. I absolutely LOVE my Millie Marotta book so jumped at the opportunity to give another one a go and I received the book My Mystical Wonderland in the post this week. At first glance, it’s everything you want in an adult colouring book: it’s colourful, the images are exciting and interesting and more importantly, with the exception of a few, the drawings inside aren’t TOO fiddly, which I found with the Millie Marotta. This book was created by the creator of the “My Magical Oasis” colouring book and promises “a perfect antidote to the stresses and strains of everyday life.”
Sounds good to me!
The drawings are, generally speaking, pretty realistic (with the exception of the fantastical, imaginative drawings which correlate marvellously with the concept of “mysticalness.” The book is made up of 101 beautiful exotic images- I’ve spied a unicorn and a dragon amongst all the birds, flowers and butterflies, for example- which makes a change and also makes things a bit more interesting as you can really experiment with colour. There is definitely something for everyone, no matter what your taste, which makes the entire book varied and interesting. The vast majority of the illustrations are drawn using quite thick lines, which again I think is an advantage as the more intricate drawings in the Millie Marotta were far too fiddly for me after a while and I got pretty frustrated after a few hours of colouring (although putting it down for a few days definitely gets rid of the frustration!) However, this doesn’t limit the intricacy of the designs as there are multiple sections which require a steady hand, so perfect for someone who wants a bit of a challenge. The quality of this book is excellent- the sheets of paper are thick which almost certainly won’t limit what type of pens and paints you can use to colour in the images- the last thing you want is bleed through when you’re spending £10 on a colouring book, after all! The only flaw I can think of as far as the book is concerned is the fact that the pages are double sided and aren’t perforated - this makes things a little bit more difficult as because of the design of the spine, it’s difficult to lay the book flat against a table without it springing back closed. Because of this, I think I’ll detach a few pages from the book when I have a go and see how acrylic paint works with the designs. I’ll definitely do a tester at some point though as you can never be too sure how paint and ink is going to work on a page. I haven't had a chance to actually get any colouring done yet but I’m particularly looking forward to giving the unicorn and the little phoenix a go when I have a little bit of spare time, or to just have a break from work. The unicorn in particular is absolutely adorable, I think the intricacy of its wings make the picture that bit more interesting but aren’t overpowering or too much to deal with.
You can purchase the book from all the usual outlets (amazon, for example) and directly from Plexus books. RRP is £9.99. I’d argue that it definitely weighs up in terms of quality when you compare it to other adult colouring books and can definitely compete in an already competitive market.
*This product was provided for review. All opinions are my own.
