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momwithareadingproblem 's review for:
Wanted
by Betsy Schow
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 [b:Spelled|24380140|Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)|Betsy Schow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420756368s/24380140.jpg|43962998] 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 [b:Spelled|24380140|Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)|Betsy Schow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420756368s/24380140.jpg|43962998]. 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.
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 [b:Spelled|24380140|Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)|Betsy Schow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420756368s/24380140.jpg|43962998]. 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.