Oh my goodness! When this little beauty popped up on NetGalley I slammed on the request button. I love this series and then died waiting to see if I would get it and like there was some kind of good fairy godmother, it landed in my inbox! Oh and the cover ... how pretty, pretty, pretty!

Wanted is a wee bit of a departure from Spelled's cast and crew, only in the sense that Wanted is told from Rexi Hood's perspective, but we still get to see and interact with the same characters (Kato, Dorthea, Verde, Hydra etc.) that we originally fell in love with in book one but we get to meet some new ones which only added more charm overall.

I'll have to admit, I didn't think things could get any more dark than what we saw a glimpse of in Spelled, but Wanted sure does. Poor Rexi. I loved this complex character and just felt so bad for her as she just couldn't seem to catch a break.

This world and alternate version of The Wizard of Oz is just so incredibly fun and lovable, but so clever that it certainly could be enjoyed by an older audience as well. The characters are diverse and rock solid. The world created is one that I don't want to leave once there and all I can do at this point is hope for less time in between books.

I get nervous when a retelling crops up from time to time, as the original is always the measuring stick, so to speak. But Ms. Schow pulls it off so seamlessly, that all I can do is pray for more, hope that she writes faster, and try not to go crazy wondering how it will all come together.

Don't be apprehensive with this series. Pick it up right now! Absolutely a golden series!

First of all, I LOVED Spelled. It was 100% a cover buy and I'm so glad that I did. The first book, Spelled, follows Princess Dorthea in Emerald with Rexi as her spunky sidekick.

This book is told from the perspective of Rexi. In Spelled, she was killed but brought back by Dorthea's powers. Rexi needs to find a way to break the curse that binds the two of them together. If she doesn't, then she will become a Forgotten. Meaning she'll be wiped from the pages of Story and reduced to a puddle of ink. Through all of their adventures, Rexi decides to steal the sword Excalibur and to use it's power to write her own story. However, a new Academy of Villains opens in Camelot, so danger is lurking.

In the same hilarious writing style as the first, Wanted includes all of the wonderful Fairytale Survival Rules, fairytale puns, and twists on our favorite characters from the original stories. I highly recommend this book to those that read and loved Spelled, and I highly recommend grabbing Spelled if you haven't already! I hope there's a storyteller's #3.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In 2015 Betsy Schow gave us Spelled and with it the Fairy Tale characters Dorothea, Kato, the Wicked Witch and the Land of Oz. I adored this book and wrote THIS REVIEW (add hyper link to May 18 Booksandwhatnot) I was elated to get my hands on Wanted, the next in this Storymakers series. This time Schow has changed our narrator to Rexi, the feisty, sarcastic and narcissistic daughter of Robin Hood. With the ending of Spelled we are left with the curse upon Dorothea and evil running amok. Now we discover Oz has more evil lurking in the Underworld which has become unleashed in the Death Curse, or something to that nature, which has been placed upon Rexi via Dorothea's Emerald curse linking the two ladies to one destiny: death.

Rexi does not want to be indebted to anyone, but has discovered this Curse has a nasty side effect: a dark shadow named Morte who is eagerly taking Rexi's memories for restored time on earth instead of keeping her in the Underworld. Although the cost of her life is at the expense of her memories Rexi feels a sense of invincibility. As with her multiple lives, Rexi is also catlike in her skills as an accomplished thief. She justifies her means to an end; her loyalty is to no one but herself. She hastily sacrifices herself to danger knowing Dorothea will never let her story end due to their link to one another.

Rexi finds herself defending Sherwood Forest when she realizes she cannot remember what it was prior to her arrival. It is a pivotal moment in her devious plot to escape her responsibilities when she realizes she is missing parts of her life. This madness must stop! She has decided to take her story-book ending into her own hands and not allow others to write it for her.

As if the twisted, demented, dead Fairy tale characters being resurrected do not offer enough intrigue, readers discover our 'Prince/Lion with Wings' Kato falling into a sick puppy love emotion towards both Dorothea and Rexi. Rexi does not want this offered romance as Kato is her friends boyfriend. A bit odd in its telling, but allows for readers to anticipate a third installment with the Point of View given to us by Kato. (Fingers crossed I am correct on this, but I merely review, I don't have any say so in this future endeavor...)

As with the last book, I thoroughly enjoyed the clips of Fairy Tale advice found at the beginning of every chapter. We have advice columns, recipes and snippets of humor from other Fairy Tales tangled in this story. Rexi is a quick witted young lady who finds herself even singing a song about 'letting it go.' I laughed. Of course we have our protagonist singing 'Let it Go!' Way to go Schow on incorporating modern day lingo into our fairy tale story.

I wanted to like this book because I thought the first one was pretty good even if I wasn't overly fond of the character Rexi from Spelled who is now the main focus in Wanted. A good chunk of the book is so slow I kept putting it down, grabbing some coffee to perk up, then hit it again because I was determined to see it through. Thankfully towards the end it finally got good enough it kept my attention but it would've been nice if a larger percentage of the book was that way. One of the biggest problems is Rexi herself who you just want to slap and tell her to get over herself already and stop being such a self-centered, spoiled, brat. But since Schow wrote her like that in order to create this story I guess we wouldn't have a book, or at least this one, if she didn't act like a toddler but that might've been a good thing.

The first book was so good it set the bar pretty high and this definitely fell short which is probably why it was harder to get through and more disappointing it wasn't better. Schow has already shown us what she's capable of writing so I know this could've been better especially since the promise of that greatness was right there at her fingertips. Everyone has an off day I guess...

I couldn't finish the book as it was badly formatted. I still intead to buy a copy and read it.

If you liked the first book, you'll be getting more in this one. Full of puns regarding all fairy tales and legends, Wanted actually improves on the story set up in Spelled. Rexi is a more complex main character than Dorthea. Beware of cliffhangers!