This was a case where the book starts are strong and so charming, but ends up being an okay read. After reading that synopsis, I was so excited to give this one a read. I love retellings and this sounded like fun. After only a few sentences in, I immediately liked it. There were a lot of fairy tale references, with some flair, and I loved the language that Schow's characters used. Everything was cute and entertaining. Then, as the story progressed and the plot became more complicated, everything kind of fell flat for me. I couldn't really connect to the characters and the romance didn't affect me like I was hoping. I still loved all the creatures and Schow's twists on all the fairy tales, so it gets points for those aspects, but the story itself wasn't as entertaining as I was hoping for. 
 Dorthea is a princess who has been trapped in her castle her whole life because of a curse on her family. She's always wanted to break free and explore the world. She's also pretty spoiled and self-centered, but in a comical way, so I didn't mind. She's truly a product of her up-bringing. I actually liked her for the most part. She has issues with her mother, the all-important Queen who never has time for her and never really listens to her. She loves shopping and doesn't have any friends. You'd think I wouldn't like her, but she has a good heart and once things are underway and her ragtag gang starts their journey to right her wrongs, you can see how caring she is. 
 There are other characters that are significant to the story as well: Rexi, a kitchen girl who travels with Dorthea. I did not like her at all. She was always complaining and very negative. Kato, the prince, was okay. It bugged me that Kato and Dorthea went from insta-hate to insta-love without any preamble, that I could pinpoint at least. I preferred him in chimera form, actually. You also get plenty of witches, woodland creatures, and of course, the Tinman and Scarecrow make appearances in very unique ways. 
 Overall, Spelled is pretty funny and delightful. It definitely had its entertaining moments and like I said, I loved the language that the characters used. It was pixing hilarious! With that said, the story itself and the romance was what made me not like this as much as I had hoped. It was still a decent, and quick, read so if you like retellings, it's worth a try.