by Jen P
Apparently, I’m attracted to shoes right now. Between Spelled, by Betsy Schow, and Cinder, by Marissa Meyer (read my Cinder review here), I keep picking up books with beautiful shoes on the cover. And so far, the pretty shoes haven’t let me down.
Spelled follows young Princess Dorthea Gale Emerald, a spoiled brat who’s only cares revolve around Hans Christian Louboutin shoes and avoiding the princes her parents keep trying to set her up with. Dorthea can never go outside due to a curse on an unnamed Emerald princess:
Girl of Emerald, no man can tame. Burn down the world, consumed by flames.
But when the king and queen arrange a marriage to the rough and tumble Prince Kato without Dorthea’s consent, she has had it. He won’t even let her boss him around! Whaaa! One wish on a cursed star later, and all of Storybook land is thrust into chaos. Mom and Dad disappear to a land called Kansas, Kato turns into a cute little dog-creature, and her Nanny, the good witch, Verte, is presumed killed by the evil witch, Queen Griz. Now, forced to traverse the land with two reluctant companions– Kato and a servant girl named Rexi– in her totally impractical shoes, the rotten princess must learn the value of selflessness and friendship if she ever hopes to right the kingdom and save her parents.
What I liked:
This book was funny, punny, ridiculous fairy-tale goodness from start to finish. It’s a lighthearted coming-of-age romp with a cute love story between two reluctant kids. And you know me, I’m all about the romance.
What I disliked:
The odd language took some getting used to, but after the first two or three pages of it, I caught on and it became fun to look for the pop-culture references and fairy-tale slang.
For example, the princess often says things like, “What the spell?” and, “Pix that!”
Quite creative cursing, in my opinion.
In conclusion:
I’d recommend this book specifically to fans of the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony, or fans of unique YA (as unique as you can get using characters we’re moderately familiar with, anyway).
I give it 4 Shields!
What do you think? Have you read Spelled? Will you? Let us know in the comments.
Later, Geeks!
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