I enjoyed the first book, but this one was slower and I had a harder time getting through it. I was kind of confused with Hydra/Gwen, and the Lady of the Lake and Blanc. And Rexie was back and forth whether she wanted to help Dot and Kato or herself. The plot just seemed a bit all over the place and made it hard to follow. I didn't like Rex falling in love with Kato, it was too much and you knew that couldn't work out. He loved Dot, that was the whole point of the first book. I did like seeing some of the evil characters in the school and Mordred was interesting. Maybe it would've been better if I read the book instead of listening? ( )

Although I mostly enjoyed the story and characters, the prose itself has a case of trying-too-hard and its "cleverness" is merely annoying. ( )

I absolutely loved "Spelled", which was the first book in this series but "Wanted" definitely fell short of my expectations. Side-kick turned MC, Rexi Hood was an interesting and likable character whose constant internal struggle with good vs. evil was entertaining to watch, and this story has some of the same witty banter and humor as the first book but the plot is just all over the place.

There is just too much going on in this story. This book is a mashup of at least three different stories - combining Robin Hood, The Wizard of Oz, and Camelot. Woven into these tales are Rexi battles with a dark lord of the underground, the countless times she dies and is resurrected, her shared life thread and feelings with Dorthea, and all of the people vying to take charge of her soul. As if that isn't enough to sort out, every time she dies and comes back to life she is thrown into a completely different scene leaving her and the reader trying to figure out what is happening.

The plot was complicated and hard to follow but I liked the characters and the writer's creativity. I'll read the final book to see how Rexi and Ms. Schow decide to pull this all together. ( )

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... ( )

This novel is a follow-up to Spelled. I had to review the first book to remember all the craziness that happened!

Rexi, Dot’s side-kick--so to speak--in Spelled, has her own story with this novel, which is ironic. For the entire novel, Rexi is trying to not be erased from all the stories. She repeatedly dies, but Dorothea is able to bring her back despite the king of the dead wanting her as well. Every time she dies, Morte clips more of her storyline, making her forget her stories/life. In this novel, they are bridging the gap between fairy tales and legends. For example, Rexi is the daughter of Robin Hood, which would mean that she should be really good at stealing. Alas, it always goes awry.

In this novel, Rexi is trying to get Excaliber, Arthur’s sword so that it stays out of Blanc’s hands. If she gets it, she’ll have too much power. Many characters from the second novel reappear, but their personalities change and they have a shorter time on the pages. To be honest, I didn’t like this novel as well as the first. We hardly saw the characters we were interested in from the first book; it truly focuses on Rexi who isn’t that interesting. The novel seems chaotic and hard to follow as Dorothea is going crazy because of her powers; Kato shows up occasionally to give Rexi a faux love interest; and, Oz has the role of storymaker with no story telling ability. I could never get interested because the story just ran around--something happens, she dies, something happens, she dies, old character shows up, something happens, she dies.

Perhaps I wasn’t “in the mood,” but this novel just didn’t do it for me. You definitely need a background in the Arthur and Robin Hood legends--just a little, not full knowledge. Give it a try if you read the first book. Otherwise, I can show you some more captivating novels for your reading pleasure. ( )