Review: Spelled

Title: Spelled

Author: Betsy Schow

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Published: June 2, 2015

Format: E-ARC

Pages: 352

Dates Read: June 6-8

Source: Recieved via Netgalley

in exchange for an honest review

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My Rating: 3 Stars

Snippet That Stuck With Me: N/A 

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.

Melissa's Musings

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. I was browsing Netgalley, and came across Spelled, saw the cover and thought "Hmm, that looks interesting."

I'm not all that big on retellings and don't read them all that often, but when I read the sysnopsis for this, it seemed like it would be fun.

And it is.

 From the very beginning the story is full of curiosity, action and adventure. Dorothea is looking for a way to escape her boring palace life, where she is literally trapped by a curse. Fire is banished from the palace and she isn't even allowed outside beyond the courtyard, not even for a little while.

Little does she know that one tiny wish can have a huge impact on her life and the lives of those around her. 

The first thing that I liked, as I read were all the interesting plays on words and puns. There are a ton of them so I'll only give one example, UPS = United Pegasus Service. This one actually made me laugh out loud just because it was the slightest bit out there and Dorothea was so annoyed at the time, so the juxtaposition of the two made me giggle. There are also cute little plays on words like some of the substitute swear words, ie "pixed" and "glammed."

Plus, there are guidelines and quotes from other famous fairytale characters at the beginning of each chapter. These are a fun way to modernize the fairy tales.

There are also countless references to every possible fairy tale you can imagine. It's like a serious mashup of every fairy tale ever written interspersed within this story. And while these references, and the language and quotes are a lot of fun at first, I do have to say I did eventually grow bored of these, about halfway through. They just started to get tired, and eventually lost their sparkle.

As for the characters, I'd have to say my least favorite is probably a toss up between Rexi and Dorothea. Rexi lives up to her description and by the other characters and is rude and has a charred exterior. Dorothea fits the spoiled princess role a little too well. I was disappointed not to see more growth from her throughout the story. And while most of the time the main character is what keeps you reading, for me it was all the other characters that kept me going. I felt like they were more interesting.

Especially Hydra. With her large collection of ever changing heads and constant personality switches to go along with them , I feel like she brings a lot of life and fun to the story.

There is a lot of action and adventure. Plus there's the emphasis on fashion, beauty and just the idea of being a princess, so it makes the story equally relatable to both guys and girls. The ending is left open for a sequel, so I imagine there will be one. 

And I'm definitely willing to read it. As much as the quotes, quips and references do get a bit old  they've left me curious to see what will happen to this cast of crazy characters. I just hope that in the next part of the story Dorthea really starts to grow into her own a lot more and mature as a character.

Have you read Spelled? Did you enjoy it? Are there any other versions of retellings you'd recommend that I read?

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Title: Between the Lines

Author:  Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Publisher:  Simon Pulse

Published: June 26, 2012

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 358 pages

Source: Library

Read: October 22-26, 2012

In  A Few Words: Sweet, creative story

My Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads: Add this book to your TBR shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

Melissa's Musings:

As some of you may know, I'm a big Jodi Picoult fan. I have read several of her books. This one was a lot different than her usual fare, and we have her daughter to thank for that. 

Instead of court battles and medical and family dramas, we're presented with a modern day fairy tale of sorts. Delilah and Oliver are both kids who've grown up without their dads, and that's part of the reason why she's so drawn to this fairy tale. She feels that she can relate to Oliver through that shared fact.

That's what we all look for in books, I think. We're constantly looking for ways to relate to the characters. There are certain characters that we like over others, because we feel a sort of kinship with them through shared experiences. You know how people are always talking about having book boyfriends/girlfriends? I think the opposite is true here. It's almost like Oliver has fallen in love with Delilah, so he has a  "reader girlfriend"

It's very sweet to see how much he cares for her, and all the different lengths that he's willing to go through to be with her. At one point in the story, Oliver writes Delilah into his world. While she does enjoy being with him, she learns an important lesson when she realizes just how much she misses her mom: You never know what you've got til it's gone. 

There are also more interesting methods of integration of life lessons into the story. For example, Socks, Olivers' trusty steed in the fairy tale seems to have body image issues, always thinking that he's fat or talking about low hay carb diets. It was a very unique way of incorporating real life issues into a story.

One thing I didn't really care for was that some of the details were very exaggerated, like the fact that in the beginning of the story Oliver claims to have spent his days learning 17 languages. A few languages, I would have believed, but 17 is just too many, even for a fairy tale character.

I enjoyed all the little details put into this book like the small drawings on the pages, and the different color fonts to differentiate between characters in the story. I haven't read any stories written by multiple authors in a while, so it was nice to read this story. In the introduction it's noted that they took turns writing lines, but I wonder just how much of Van Leer's contributions were polished by Picoult and/or editors.

Overall, I would recommend this story to anyone who's looking for a nice read, and of course to all Jodi Picoult fans.

Beautiful Wild Rose Girl by B. Magnolia Review and Giveaway

Title: Beautiful Wild Rose Girl

Author: B. Magnolia

Illustrator: Jamila Keba

Publisher: Mystic World Press

Published: April 23 2012

Format: Paperback

Pages: 34

Source: Received from Publisher

in exchange for an honest review

Read: December 4, 2012

In A Few Words: Sweet, well illustrated

My Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads: Add This To Your TBR Shelf

Amazon Book Synopsis:

This illustrated original fairy tale, appropriate for ages 7 and up, has been awarded a Gold Medal as part of the 2012 Children's Literary Classics International Book Awards. Excerpt form review: "'Beautiful Wild Rose Girl' is a touching story with an important message of love and acceptance of one's self. There is a lovely melancholy feeling to this story which is told in a style reminiscent of the old fairy tale classics. Little girls will find many questions, and even more answers within the pages of this heart-warming book which has an enchanting, happily-ever-after ending." Summary: If everyone in the village calls her Beautiful Wild Rose Girl, why does this poor, sad girl live in a Swamp? And why, when she goes to bed every night, does she hear Bullfrogs singing to her: Trooonk! Trooonk! Trooonk! What A Stupid Ugly girl! This is a story about learning to see yourself as the beautiful person you really are. And how sometimes, to break a terrible spell, you need love, the understanding of a pure-hearted shepherd, and the help of a Very Mysterious Moth.

Melissa's Musings:

This story is sweet the overall message is excellent for children. It teaches you that you should love and accept yourself for who you are. The poor sad girl feels like she is ugly since she lives in the swamp and imagines that the frogs who live there are croaking at her telling her that she's ugly. It's only when she stops and listens to the shepherd when he tells her that everyone in town thinks she's beautiful because she lives among the roses, that she comes to realize that the frogs were actually saying that she was beautiful all along. And the roses tell her too, by letting her pass through their fields and allowing her to pick them to sell at the market, she just doesn't see it.

This is a lesson that we all can learn from, young or old. People often put themselves down, or see themselves in a negative light and are worried that others see them negatively when really, that isn't true at all.  The poor sad girl is also a strong role model for little girls as she's an example that she can support herself. It's a bit of a reversal in gender roles as she moves into town and is able to take care of the shepherd with all the money that she's earned from selling roses.

The illustrations are simple, but well done. I'm curious to see what they are like in color, but the work well in black and white. I also liked the variety of fonts throughout the pages and the additions of some smaller drawings at the bottoms of certain pages.

Giveaway Time!

When sending my review copy, the publisher was also kind enough to send two additional hand bound in addition to the paperback print I reviewed. With the publisher's permission I am going to give away one of the handmade copies for a reader of this blog!.

The handmade copies are really beautiful and unique in this day and age of modern printing. I don't think I have ever had a hand bound book before. It will be a wonderful addition to the winner's book collection.

Here is a picture of the cover and binding for the copy the winner will recive:

Giveaway Rules:

The giveaway will be limited to US ONLY as I'm sending the book myself.

You do NOT have to be a follower of this blog to enter. Anyone who chooses to follow is appreciated

This giveaway will follow the guidelines outlined in my Review Policy located at the top of the blog.
This giveaway will run from December 13 2012 to December 30 2012 at 12:00 am Pacific Time
There are NO Mandatory entries, do as many as you like

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