Blog Tour Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway: Spelled by Betsy Schow

Welcome to my tour stop for Spelled by Betsy Schow!
You can check out all the info, my review, an excerpt, and the giveaway below...

Spelled

(Spelled #1)
by Betsy Schow

YA Fantasy
Paperback, 352 Pages
June 2nd 2015 by Sourcebooks Fire

Summary

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.

   

   

My Review

I've always loved the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (or more accurately the movie adaptation, The Wizard of Oz) in all it's craziness. It's truly a fabulously told story about friendship, love, and pure desires. I also love mashed up, or fractured as they're called, fairy tales. Spelled was a combination of both, with plenty of nods to them in crazy, radical, and magical ways.

The characters were definitely unique. Nothing and no one was exactly what it/he/she seemed. There was magic in play and running a muck on the land, which included several different kingdoms. Dorthea took a little time to grow on me, as did the prince Kato. There were other companions as well and plenty of villains to create lots of deception and danger.                                                                                                                                 
The whole story was basically a grand quest to fix what Dorthea had broken, with adventures, danger, friendship, betrayal, unexpected allies, and love. The characters came into their own as the story progressed and grew closer together. The question was that in the end could everything really be fixed?

This was my favorite rule:

"Rule #1: Every fairy tale comes equipped with a happy ending. You just have to find it."

— Definitive Fairy Tale Survival Guide, Volume 1

(Location 2859, Kindle ARC) 

If you enjoy fractured fairy tale stories and The Wizard of Oz, or crazy, magical, coming-of-age tales, then I'd recommend Spelled. I must also state that I really like the cover and it fits the story fabulously.

Content: Clean (There were faux curse words that were rather ridiculous and fit the story and some slightly, but this was still clean.)
Source: I would like to thanks Sourcebooks for my complimentary ARC through NetGalley, which did not affect my review in any way.

About the Author

BETSY SCHOW is the TODAY Show featured author of the non-fiction book, Finished Being Fat; however she’s been mixing up real life and fantasy for as long as she can remember. If someone were to ask about her rundown truck, she’s 100% positive that mechanical gremlins muck up her engine. And the only reason her house is dirty is because the dust bunnies have gone on strike. She lives in Utah with her own knight in geeky armor and their two princesses (that can totally shapeshift into little beasts). When not writing, she acts as the Tournament Director for Odyssey of the Mind and helps teach kids creative thinking (or how to turn their toasters into robots).

Her debut novel, Spelled, comes out June 2015 from Sourcebooks. She is represented by Michelle Witte, Mansion Street Literary Agency.

Website - Goodreads - Twitter

Read the First Chapter!

(Direct link here.)

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The giveaway starts on May 25th and ends on June 5th. 

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