Book Review: Spelled by Betsy Schow

Author: Betsy Schow

Series: Yes - Book #1 in The Storymakers series.
Cover: I love how cute the cover is. I would totally wear those shoes if I had the chance!

Rating: 4/5 I thought this book was going to be just mediocre, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. It gave me a good chuckle here and there.

Review: So, like the last review, I finished this book a month ago!!! So, some details of this book may be a tad spotty. Like always, first half will be spoiler free. Spelled deserves a 4/5 rating because it was a simple book with a Disney princess ending. This is a great filler book to read in between cliffhanger books. It has a nice simple plot with a neat ending.

Spelled is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz with its own twist. In the world of Dorthea, think of all the stories you've ever heard being mashed up in one world. That is this book. I am such a HUGE Disney fan. Although the book doesn't have Cinderella or Aladdin kicking butt, it was still nice to know they exist in the world somewhere. Basically, Spelled is this:

Spoiled Princess: ✔

 Dark Handsome Prince: ✔

Curse: ✔

Princess Saves the Day: ✔

Happily Ever After: ✔

It is LITERALLY a Disney plot line. Honestly, I wished there were more interactions with all of the other stories. I just really want to know how every princess would act around each other (kinda like in Ralph Breaks the Internet). I would say that this book is really easy to follow and finish. Although I love books with deep mystery or multiple layers of problems, it is nice to just have something simple. 

You know what was the biggest shocker to me? How much I liked Dorthea. Usually I LOATHE spoiled princesses, but that was different this time. I think it is mostly because the other characters in this book call her out on her mistakes. There's a difference of being spoiled and pretending you're not vs being spoiled and receiving a smack down for it. Hopefully what I just wrote made sense LOL.

Let's see... What else... Oh! I love the Fairy Tale Survival Guide tips that were on every chapter. I thought that was neat. This book also made me laugh a lot more than I thought I would. Everything was very cute and sweet!

One problem I do have with Spelled is that Dot is kinda useless. I mean she gets into a lot of problems. I understand that she is supposed to be the aloof, spoiled, and clumsy princess, but she does some of the dumbest things in the book. She does redeem herself by the end of the book! Hopefully Dot can tone down the whining in the future. Now, I love her personality and sass, but I wouldn't want to be with her during an apocalypse.

Overall, would I recommend this book? Yes, if you love retelling stories, you should check this book out. I'm not a huge Wizard of Oz fan, but I enjoyed this book a lot. Do not read this book if you're looking for some bad ass princess running around chopping heads off of dragons. Although I loved this book, my sister did not. We both love YA and usually agree with each other about the books we read. It was interesting to see how we were different in terms of his book.

!!!!!!!!!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD !!!!!!!!!!

So, I've always complained about how I hate spoiled characters. So, I'm going to be doing a comparison between TWO spoiled princesses, Eadlyn from The Selection series and Dot. The reason why I despise Eadlyn was because she was a spoiled girl that never learned. Not only did she barely learned anything, she didn't grow as a character. Literally, her section in the series is The Bachelorette. Her entire kingdom was not ready for her to be a queen and to be fair she is too YOUNG to be a queen & a mother at the same time. She had many many chances to see what her people needed but turned the other way. Throughout the entire book, Eadlyn got what she wanted. She cried, begged, and had other people do the work until she got her happily ever after. She didn't do anything.

Now, Dot is JUST AS SPOILED as Eadlyn. The difference between Eadlyn and Dot is that Eadlyn has always had the opportunity to go out and change the world, but she doesn't. Dot on the other hand, wants to leave her kingdom, but she cannot. Shoot, she can't even leave her castle. She's under castle arrest!! When she is FORCED to save her world, she leaves all of the princess life behind. Now, she didn't do it gracefully. Dot was told by everyone how spoiled and thoughtless she was. She took time to reflect on the life she had before the curse and how she needed to change. Dot still loves the fancy dresses & shoes, but she understands that if she needs to do dirty work, she leaves the dresses and heels behind (although enchanted heels are great tools!). Also, Dot turned into a literal Charmander LOL 

Okay, the spoiled princess rant is over. Now, onto Kato. I personally liked him more as a fluffball. He's all macho and stuff as a human, but he would have been an amazing dog. Silly I know, but puppies!!

Rexi was annoying. I know Dot was made to be the annoying character and Rexi was supposed to be someone that sheds the light onto Dot, but Rexi just shut up. Like I get it, no one noticed you as a kitchen girl, but you're a kitchen girl. I'm sure the Queen Elizabeth doesn't know every single person that works in her home. Also, YOU BETRAYED THE Dot & Co. C'mon now girl. You lost Elle points for that. 

Now, the TRUE queen of this book, Hydra. Schow... why didn't you introduce Hydra to us SOONER. Oh my lord I love her. I love her multiple heads & personalities. I need her to narrate my life and everyone's life. She made me smile and laugh the most hands down. 

Audiobook Rating:

Arielle DeLisle was AMAZING!! I give her performance a 5/5 easily. First, I thought her performance was alright, a good 3.5 out of 5, but when Hydra appeared, she blew me away. I can't believe all of the different voices she was able to perform. She deserves a raise. Someone give it to her!!

Top 3 Favorite Characters:

Hydra - This character stole the show. Hands down. If anything, if you're struggling to read this book, at least read until you meet Hydra. You will instantly raise the rating one full star. I pinky promise you.

Dorthea - I love the growth that we get from her throughout the book. She also has a great sense of humor. She is definitely a character where you hate at first, but the more time you spend with her, the more you like her. Just don't touch her shoes. 

Kato - He is a default top three for me. He knows what needs to be done and he accomplishes it. I think the ending for him was really cheesy. I mean, I LOVE cheesy stuff, but what he did made me laugh. It was one of those "bad cheese romance that is so bad it's good."

Man, I am so bad at this blogging thing LOL. Sorry for being MIA for the last month. I finished this book in like a week, but I just procrastinated so much in writing a review. My sister pointed out that if I like a book, I take even a longer time to write my reviews compared to books I hate. Whoopsies!! Okay, the next book I'll be reading is The Last to Let Go by Amber Smith. It'll be nice to take a break from Fantasy. Anyways, let me know your thoughts about anything in this post!! Until next time~