Spelled by Betsy Schow

Spelled by Betsy Schow

Goodreads Synopsis
Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks—like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the brooding prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited about this one. It was a Wizard of Oz retelling and had the promise of an interesting take on a beloved story (of mine). Then I started reading it and it tied together the entirety of the fairytale world. Characters from every story were present and accounted for, which kept the plot fresh and fun ... until it wasn't anymore. This one fizzled and died for me about 35% of the way through.

The puns and the other fairytale characters were fun at first but they got to be overused. Then they got to be annoying. It was as if every other sentence was a blatant (but twisted to fit the story) pop culture reference and I was done with it. It is better to do things in moderation and a lot less of these would have been better in my opinion. I didn't like the "punny" curse words either. They were a little much in my books.

There was minimal world building, which was a waste in my opinion because with a fairytale retelling that includes every fairytale under the sun, you could have a lot of fun with the world building. But there wasn't much there and what was there was lacking because it was rushed and overlooked. 

Character development was also minimal and felt as if it was exclusively Dorthea who had it. She was extremely bratty in the beginning but we got to see her change throughout the course of the story. You know, after she created a magical disaster and realized Kato actually loved her. And the fact that she was self aware enough to realize she had been stuck up and didn't want to go back to it was nice but almost too nice. Obviously she should have realized she was stuck up and a brat, but she did a complete 180 in like a couple weeks. Which doesn't happen. People do change but not that quickly -- it takes time. It would have been more realistic and I would have liked her more had she not become "perfect".

It was a pretty predictable ending, but that was to be expected since it is a retelling of a story I already know. I do hope some of the world building gets fleshed out in the next one because that would make me really happy.

Overall: 3/5. I liked the fresh take and the puns started out fun, but I would have liked more world building. This one is released June 2nd, 2015!