Received a copy from netgalley (thank you!)

First of all, this is a Wizard of Oz retelling. Nowhere before reading did I see that information, but it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly. While the plot is still a bit different (I mean, obviously, it's a galactic quest), once you know it's the wizard of oz, it loses a lot of its appeal, or at least it did for me. It became predictable and boring. My favorite parts were the beginning and end that didn't have direct wizard of oz relevance.
The beginning and end felt like one story, then the wizard of oz was mashed in the middle and I don't feel that it made the book better. I would have been more interested in the plot if it had legs on its own.

That being said, this is a YA book and it shows, so take all that with a grain of salt. The romance is sapphic (yay!) though I didn't pick up on much sparks between the characters. Hopefully there will be more in later books. Definitely some interesting twists, but they were all revealed in the last two chapters which makes me more interested in the following book in the series than this one.

All in all, if you're a teenager reading this, it's probably fairly enjoyable. If your an adult who enjoys reading YA fiction, this may not be the best for you. If you like Cinder by Marissa Meyer, you'll probably enjoy this book. The science fiction is palatable and easy to understand, ideal for younger audiences.

3.1 out of 5 ⭐

Thank you NetGally for the arc, in exchange for an honest review! 📚

This is a sapphic, sci-fi, retelling of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.

Dora is a clone of the Princess. She is not meant to be alive, so her family has hidden her away. She dreams of escaping and getting to have a real life until, one fateful day, she gets stuck in a spaceship that takes her to a foreign planet.

Now all she wants is to find her way back home. Dora and her rag-tag team of her, a girl named Crow, a droid and an ocugry all work together to find the technowizard. He knows all and will help each of them achieve their goal.

I love the Wizard Of Oz so I was very keen to read this!! The story idea was very intriguing. There's a bit of action, a LOT of technology and a small sprinkle of romance.

This book kept at a fast past the entire time, and the world that the author set it in really draws you in.

HOWEVER, there were a couple of things that could have been better.

The writing felt a bit underdeveloped in places, and this book is NOT a debut.

I would have liked a longer prologue; I wanted more of Dora's character and past experiences. Speaking of Dora, she definitely had a strong *tomboy main character who is super science smart* energy going on. It would have been better if there had been some more depth to her character, and if she had more emotion on display.

The ending was also a bit abrupt. There was a massive reveal, all the secrets of the story were explained, there were some shocking truths.. and immediately every is happy and the book ends. There needed to be a bit more of a resolution before the happy ending.

The main issue is that both the characters and story needed to be fleshed out more than they were. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a fun, easy, and enjoyable read.

I do think this author has some great potential for a future 5 star book with all of the creativity in the story of this novel.

All in all, it was an entertaining read. I love a good sci-fi novel.

When I was in elementary school, The Wizard of Oz, and all the many sequel books, were my favorites. When I first started reading YA, I started with Cinder by Marissa Meyer and I fell in love with that world too.

Over the Moon is both of those swirled into a delightful, unique sci-fi adventure. At first I wasn't sure where the story was going, but then I started see references to The Wizard of Oz, and I liked putting the pieces together, finding parts of the original in this great retelling that kept me wondering what would happen next.

I recommend Over to Moon to Marisa Meyer fans, retelling fans, and anyone who wants just a bit of that Oz magic. It was a really good book

Gay people and robots I’m in very much borderland vibes it’s like video games in a book plus gay rep

Dora is a super fun take on Dorothy and anyone who doesn't adore Tau is just a terrible human, all dogs are amazing especially robot ones! This fits right in with a lot of other retellings right now and is perfect for someone who loves Marissa Meyer.

Inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , but in a space-opera setting. Rewrites of classic stories are hit or miss for me; this one mostly hit, with decent character work and a plot that doesn't rely too closely on its original.

The Dorothy character, Dora, has been raised on a corn-farming moon a long way from anywhere, told by her Aunt Emery and Uncle Wae that she is an illegal clone of the princess of the settled galaxy. She escapes danger in a ship that, flying automatically, crashes on and kills a technowitch, the daughter of the great mage, and must travel to see the mage in order to take him his daughter's locket and hopefully obtain a way to return home (where her family may be in danger).

Accompanying her are a woman with no memory who's been used by one of the other technowitches as a scarecrow while still in cryonic suspension; an apparently conscious AI; and a genetically engineered, lion-like super-soldier. Also Tau, Dora's pet mini AI, which she's constructed with her self-taught engineering skills, filling the Toto role.

There are plenty of antagonists along the way, which the group struggle against with courage and resourcefulness. The pacing, for me, was fine. There are several twists to the plot, too, which raise the stakes for Dora and end up setting up for a sequel.

There were occasional challenges to my suspension of disbelief. Not just the usual space-opera nonsense (easier to leave earth than fix it, lost the way back, wormholes AND cryonic suspension, single-biome planets, technology that's advanced in some areas (humanlike AI) but old-fashioned even by today's standards in others (printed books), technologically advanced genius engineers working almost alone in a location remote from the centre of things); at one point the super-soldier, carrying the rest of the group, climbs up a space elevator without a spacesuit in a time period that seems to be measured in, at most, tens of minutes, rather than the weeks that climbing any realistic space elevator would take, if that was even possible. (It's not made clear what the gravity is or the size of the bodies concerned, but synchronous orbit, which is where a space elevator needs to be anchored, is typically tens of thousands of kilometers high.) I guess when you're rewriting a children's fantasy that's more than a century old as space opera, a bit of unlikeliness is expected, but I did feel like the space elevator climb pushed it too far.

I read a pre-release version via Netgalley, and it contained a number of typos that spellcheck would not catch, because they were valid words, but not the words the author meant; these are particularly challenging for an editor to find, and I expect that some of them will make it into the published version. That, along with the sometimes unlikely details, drags it down to the Bronze tier of my Best of the Year for 2022, but that's still a recommendation, based on the strength of the storytelling.

This isn't just a retelling, it's truly it's own story and voice. There are similarities to the OG tale, but more often incredibly unique takes on the setups and payoffs, and twists on the characters and story. This is Sci-Fi, but done in a way that is easy to understand, and not intimidating for those who may struggle with that genre. I would recommend giving it a try. If you've ever loved the fantasy adventure quest plotlines in your reading!

Dora is an illegal batch clone of a Princess. She's been hidden away on a farming moon, forced to hide her face, and have no interaction outside of her Aunt and Uncle, and cousins. She's an engineering Wiz, smart with machines and robotics, but dreams of a life of her own, outside her little farm, over the moons, and out in the universe.

I won't reveal too much, plotwise, except to say Dora's flight of fancy, sets off some perilous enemies, which leads Dora on the run to a strange planet on the OZ - Outer Zone. There are techno-witches who are like engineering mages, who are the daughters of the big kahuna Techno-Mage, A Wizard if you will, who can hopefully help Dora out. If she can get to him in one piece, with one of the wicked techno-witches hot on her tail! Plus the entire universe knowing her face! The technology is really fascinating, but doesn't get too bogged down, or hard to understand, either.

Along the way Dora meets her rag-tag group of helpers, in true Oz fashion. Each has endearing backstories and personalities, and each could benefit from the Wizard Mage's expertise, if they can ever get in to see him! But are also all about helping dear Dora, and her situation.

There's a slight Sapphic romance, just starting in this installment. Quite a bit of push/pull, and discovery for the young women, trying to find their way, their own selves in the universe and all the mysteries surrounding them and the politics in play.

The action really ramps up toward the end, and leaves us wrapped up with good information, but with so much more to discover, in continuing installments. I'm not sure how many there will be, but I am truly looking forward to them. I think this is a solid series for lovers of Sci-Fi Fantasy and Young Adult stories. I hope others will give it a go and will enjoy it much like I did!

I loved the idea of the Wizard of Oz in Space, I was invested in the fact that Dora is the illegal clone of the murdered galactic princess. It worked so well in the Wizard of Oz retelling. The plot does a great job in being something unique and still be a great retelling. The characters were what I was hoping for and enjyoed getting to know them. S.E. Anderson has a great writing style that I enjoyed and can't wait to read more from them.

“Let us not accuse Dora of things she cannot control,” says Nemo, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “She wants to see the Mage as much as any of us. More, even. We'll get to him; I know we will.”