Rexi is the main character in this sequel to Spelled. She still has big sidekick energy, but she’s learning how to make it on her own as she’s separated from the group from the first novel. Rexi runs into more fairy tale characters: Robin Hood, the Lady of the Lake, and Captain Hook to name some. While the concept and the plot are unique fairytale retellings, the execution is lackluster. Spelled was bad; the puns and spins on contemporary concepts into fairy tale terms were overused and desperately seeking attention. This book’s writing is worse with some added sexism and ableism thrown in. There’s so much mention of body image and Rexi looking like a boy that it’s uncomfortable and mostly unnecessary to the convoluted plot. Whether readers loved the first book in this series or not, this sequel can absolutely be skipped.

I sadly couldn't get through Wanted; there was too much being thrown at the reader with the crossing of stories. Not for me.

Rating: 4

Plot: This book picks up where Spelled left off and follows Rexi Hood and Dorthea on a quest to ensure that Rexi is not forgotten. Rexi’s plan is to steal Excalibur so that she can rewrite her story and hopefully be remembered.

Pros: This book was very fun and engaging. The plot moves at a reasonable place, while still setting the scene nicely. Rexi and Dorthea show some character development from the previous installment and it lends to a good character arc.

Cons: While the character development is improved from the first book, sometimes in the story Rexi and Dorthea tend to go backwards and revert to their old ways. It made the characters seem more immature than the first book at those times.

Overall: This book was yet another fun installment in The Storymakers trilogy. The way this book entwines cute fairytale rules with the chapters is amazing and once again the story is compelling. The story kept my interest the whole way through and left enough of a cliff hanger at the end of the book to interest me in picking up the final book in the series!

Spelled could have been wrapped up in one book, but for that pesky epilogue which opens a whole can of worms in this book. Wanted starts off a little further into the timeline from Spelled, and is from Rexi’s POV – which is why in the starting I was like ‘huh, where did these characters come from?’ If I hadn’t just finished Spelled I would have been so confused. Actually, I was still confused; a lot of the book was me just walking around dazed like Alice in Wonderland, but we’ll get to that later on in this review.

So, when this book starts, the squad is dealing with repercussions from Dot saving Rexi’s life at the last minute, binding her to her life, and connecting them closely in their minds. Kato transforms every time he kisses Dorthea, and they all are now outlaws (from who? there is no ‘ruler’ or ‘leader’ or a form of government to convict them!) and on the run from the Blanca who escaped and brought down Kato’s mountain abode (we get this explanation a little further into the book) but thankfully they still have Hydra – wonder head hunter right? Wrong, because she picks the wrong head, gets trapped in Gwenevere’s personality and unleashes more trouble on the plot.

Now, there are a lot of things going on here, just like Spelled. Rexi is revealed to be Robin Hood’s daughter (who is a terrible father, btw), Camelot is taking centerstage (who was ruling all this time again?) and we are told that Stories and Legends are two separate territories in Libraria. My head was spinning because it is an amalgamation of so many different stories, but not in a way that was sufficiently coherent or with adequate motive to do so. Characters were just popping in and out according to plot convenience. Why did Gwen even want a Villain academy? Why did the Evil Queen even want to help Morte? Also, what did Morte even want in this world when reality would have been much easier to conquer? Also, does he only exist as an afterlife for fairytale characters? Why the sudden love triangle?

This sequel was just messy, and with the same problems as the first one – not enough attention to characters themselves, which is why we get Dot suddenly jealous of Rexi, and the weird triangle thing going on. Overall, I was just glad when it was over because it was exhausting to keep track of things that didn’t make sense till the very ending.

Not as good as the first, but get to be able to follow along for the third.

This was quite an amusing mashup of legend and folktale. Well worth the read!

This review is hard to write because while I really enjoyed Wanted by Betsy Schow, I was also really lost through the first half or longer of the book. Wanted picks up not long after the end of Spelled and is told entirely from Rexi’s perspective which is part of the reason I was thrown. To be honest this wasn’t my first attempt at reading it. I tried to read the book prior to it’s release last year, but was so lost I gave up. This year I bought the audio and listened and I’m so glad that I did!

Rexi is not an easy character to like. Her betrayal of Dorthea in the first book, her resentment towards her situation, and her woe-is-me attitude really grated my nerves. Not only that, but it seems as if she hasn’t learned her lesson. She is willing to do whatever it takes to be free of the fire opal that is tied to her life spark. I find it interesting that despite everything that has happened to her up to this point, she still doesn’t trust her new friends, which leads her to betraying them yet again.

I think my biggest issue with the book is how little I remember from Spelled. I could have really benefitted from a little recap. I was so lost at the beginning and it didn’t help that the narrator was the mean girl from the first book. Then throw in a different setting such as the Sherwood Forest and Camelot instead of Oz and I was really lost. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the Camelot mythology being included in the story, but it didn’t mesh with Dorthea’s Emerald Kingdom at all.

So at the end of the first book, Blanc is released from her prison, but still has her bindings in place so she cannot access all her magic. And we know that Rexi is being haunted by Morte, basically he’s the Grimm Reaper. Rexi died six times in the first book, every time Dorothea brought her back. I thought it was odd and couldn’t have imagined how she felt. Then this book opens with her dying again and we get to see it from her POV. I was a little horrified that each time she died Morte forced her to cut away a piece of her life line, losing a memory and in the process getting more of Dorothea’s memories and feelings. You can guess how bad that will end.

Overall I powered through Wanted listening to it in one sitting and I’m glad I did. While I was confused at the beginning, I found myself falling back into the story and remembering the characters and some of their hi-jinx from the previous book. However, I didn’t love Rexi, at least not at first. I will admit that by the end I enjoyed her character more than I ever did Dorthea. I would recommend to those that enjoyed the first book to give this book a chance and stick with it til the half way mark. If you can make it past that the story picks up and feels more familiar. Plus that ending!!! I immediately went and started reading the next book because I needed to know what happened. And let me tell you it’s worth the confusion of this book.

I love love love these books! I love the retelling aspects and I love the covers. They remind me of those Disney shoe ornaments that cost so much money but are so gorgeous. I plan on doing a big post once the newest book comes out.

The cover of the book is great, which was part of the reason why I had wanted to read the book.
This book is about a girl named Rexi Hood who is the daughter of Robin Hood.
The book had me confused quite a bit so i found it very hard for me to focus and understand what was going on.
So the book just wasnt for me.

Not for me, I wanted to enjoy the second as much as the first but it couldn't get into it like I was hoping. I am sure others will love it.

This is the second book to Spelled. When I read Spelled I thought it was quirky and entertaining to read. I really enjoyed the twists and turns in the retelling. Since I read Spelled in 2015 and Wanted in 2017 it had been awhile between stories and I think that affected how I responded to the book. When I picked up Wanted I was expecting to laugh and continue on with the story, but unfortunately I wasn`t able to finish the book. What I liked about the first book I didn`t like about the second book. I no longer liked any of the characters, I found them annoying and immature. I tried to read it, but I would sit there and read the same paragraph multiple times. Wanted is told from Rexis point of view. While I find her story intriguing I just couldn`t connect with the story.
I do want to give Wanted another try in the future, but I would read Spelled again before trying to drive into Wanted. If you really enjoyed Spelled I would say to give this book a read. I didn`t work for me, but that doesn`t mean it is a bad book and other people won`t love it.

Another fairy tale fail. I haven't read many spins on fairy tales recently that I actually enjoyed which is unfortunate since I love fairy tales so much. 

Wanted was a bit of a mess. It reminded me a lot of the show Once Upon a Time (which I stopped watching after a few seasons because it was also a mess). There are at least four different tales brought together in this book, each with its own twist. 

The problem with this book was that it was simply all over the place. The scenes didn't flow at all, as though they were written separately and pieced together. It left me more confused than intrigued which is never a good sign. 

I was interested in one of the new characters, Rexi Hood, but she ended up being more of a plot device, designated to sidekick land where she got to die and come back several times over (this isn't Supernatural, she's not a Winchester, we don't need this). 

What worked for this book is the creativity of the world. Like I said, I used to watch ONCE and I was initially interested in it because it did bring all the different fairy tales into one world where they influenced and interacted with each other. I saw that same idea here in Wanted but the execution left something to be desired. 

It wasn't a terribly bad book, exactly, but I doubt I'll be reading on in the series.

A fun, entertaining book that plays well on familiar stories while creating something new and fresh.

I think that this one might have been better than the first one. So glad that I got to experience this book after enjoying the first one so very much.

I love reading retellings. I liked the first book but I really couldn't get into the second book as much as I did with the first one. I felt like there was too much back and forth that left a lot of holes. I didn't want to post this on my blog because of the review I'm giving it. I felt like the author rushed to write this book. The characters were structured well and while some were okay, others were not likable. I felt it was messy. Too messy. I wish it was a little bit cleaner and more clearer. It had so much potential to be a great book. Maybe the 3rd book could be better and knock draw me back in.

I like that it switched to a different character for the second book. It gave the story more depth since we could now understand the minds of two different characters. I'm loving all the references in this series too.

Wanted was amazing just like Spelled, it makes me laugh at everything these characters do. I love how it takes a twist on Wizard of Oz and some of the other fairy tales and puts them all into one story.

Wanted is the second book in Betsy Schow’s Storymakers series, but whereas the first book, Spelled, was charming and fun, Wanted is merely chaotic and confusing.


Spelled is a semi-retelling of The Wizard of Oz with some Baba Yaga and other fairy tales thrown in. It had its issues, but on the whole it was a cute story with good character progression and relationship developments. Wanted, however, seems to take all of the things that annoyed me in the first book and expand on them, and what comes out is just a mess.

The main character in Wanted is Rexi, the sidekick from the first book. After the events of Spelled, Rexi’s life force is tied to Dorothea, which basically makes her immortal – in the same way that Jack Harkness is. Rexi can die, but Dorothea is able to bring her back. The problem is, every time Rexi dies, she goes to the underworld – Nome Ore – and is forced to sacrifice a link from her chain, aka a memory, in order to return. It’s a little dark and disturbing for an otherwise campy story. Also, Rexi’s link to Dorothea means that she gets her memories and her emotions, which results in a weird, completely unnecessary love triangle that doesn’t make any sense.

There was just too much going on in this book. In the first one, it was mainly just The Wizard of Oz, so it wasn’t too bad. In this book, we deal with Robin Hood and Camelot and a whole host of other myths and stories. At one point, Rexi goes to a villains’ school or something and meets the kind of villains you would expect to see in a fairy tale world – Captain Hook, etc. – but she also meets Hannibal Lecter (…not what I was expecting, but okay) and Rasputin, who has no business being in a fairy tale world because he was actually a real person.

Props for the Monty Python reference, though.

Wanted actually starts off okay – a little dark, but what can you do – and introduces some interesting ideas on how we view certain stories and legends. For example, the way this book tells it, King Arthur was the bad guy, and Mordred was simply trying to save the kingdom. But the closer it gets to the end of the book, the more it goes off the rails. It comes across like Schow had a page limit she was trying not to go over, and she ended up having to cram a whole lot of stuff into the end in order to presumably set up a third book. All that means is that things go crazy, end kind of abruptly, and when it was over all I could think was, “…What?”

I genuinely enjoyed Spelled, but it was a slog to finish Wanted. It just didn’t have the same charm.

Somewhat confusing in the beginning. I enjoyed the story. Very interesting ending. Can't wait to see where this goes.

I read the first book a little over a year and a half ago, and I don't really remember it all that much. Which after reading this book, I probably should have reread beforehand. I was a little lost in the beginning, but once Schow moved away from it and more into Rexi's story I started to really enjoy the book.

Probably for half the book I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Rexi and all the situations she was put through. Half of the time it wasn't even her fault, but Rexi was the one who had to deal with the fall outs. For instance, in the first book Rexi sacrificed herself for Dorthea and then Dorthea brought her back to life. The catch was that Rexi's life is now attached to Dorthea's. In this book, Rexi seems to be dying a lot. At least 10-15 times, and each time she has to give up a memory to the Grim Reaper and eventually she started to become more and more like Dorthea. This unfortunately created a love triangle between Dorthea, Rexi, and Kato. Although, I am not really sure how Kato was developing feelings for her since he is "in love" with Dorthea. The whole situation didn't make much sense (except from Rexi's point of view) and Dorthea's jealousy was just uncalled for.

One aspect that I didn't like about this book was the fact that it seemed to jump around a lot from situation to situation. It seemed a little chaotic and not flushed out completely. At some points it even got a little confusing. Especially since I was reading an eArc copy, in the beginning of each new chapter the first letter of the word would be somewhere else in the sentence. This book definitely suffered from the middle book syndrome. All it really did was set up for the final book in the trilogy without really advancing that much plot-wise.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I liked that Schow incorporated different legends instead of just fairy tales into this story. She also created some very interesting curve ball situations that was very creative. I hope in the third book Rexi gets to be involved with the love interest I want her to be with. ::crosses fingers::