I'm such a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and HEART OF OZ did *not* disappoint!

It's dark, it's gripping, it's really well-written. I loved the themes of light and dark, and the magic system was brilliantly described.

There were a few typos in my ARC -- hence the lost star! -- but hopefully that'll be changed in the finished copy, and it didn't interfere with my enjoyment at all!!

If you're a fan of THE WIZARD OF OZ or WICKED, and would like to know what Oz was like before the Wizard's reign, this title is for you!

Heart of Oz by Isra Sravenheart is the first book in the Origins of Darkness. This book was supposed to be beginning of Oz. This book had an interesting concept and I will give it two stars for that. Beyond that I could not recommend this book. The author tried to be very descriptive and it fell short. There were some jarring phrases. I was really put off with the phrase "didn't have the balls". That phrase did not fit into world that was supposed to be painted. I skimmed a lot of this. And my over all thoughts were the "good guys" were egotistical jerks. There was no depth to them and I really could not recommend this book. Two stars for a different concept.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the free copy. This is an honest review.

This book a re-imagining prequel of this classic fantasy for teens and young adults.is an interesting read if you enjoy the Wizard of Oz books and the characters. It is a friendship story and creative idea or extension of the world. Readers are visiting Oz before the story we know in a time when the land is in darkness and not in peace as it once was even before we know it. It does leave me wanting more and there is a book 2, but I can understand some readers not connecting to the story or characters. This is a book that readers might take or leave especially if they are not already Wizard of Oz fans. We meet Oz before Dorothy or even the wizard. Will the friends we meet, one the first Oz guardian, continue as friends by the end of the story? A friend may become part of darkness and stay part of that world. While it was a good story if you are a fan of the original story you’ll see some story elements that don’t fit. Yet overlooking these or taking this for a story on it’s own it is enjoyable. Though I expected more quality writing from a best selling author. As I read I felt the writing began well, but as the story continued the quality lessened, yet it was still interesting. While it is not the original it is nice to have something else from the Oz world. The organization and writing could have been better then I think readers could better connect with this story. Since it is a quick read it helps increase the joy for many readers. I was not disappointed as I entered this new idea in the Oz world, but the writing overall made it difficult to read.

This excellent story is like a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, even before Wicked, where we find out how the land of Oz was shaped into the way it appears in the story we all know and love. Whilst it's an excellent story, and I'd definitely be interested in reading more of the series based on the storyline, there are a lot of errors in the story, which I found especially distracting, and this was the reason it lost a star. I can only hope the author has better proofreading in future stories!

Heart of Oz snagged my attention immediately. An Origin story for any character in Oz would be fantastic -- or so I thought. I really struggled with this novel, and unfortunately ended up DNF @ about 60%. The writing started out strong but declined heavily as the book progressed, taking things that should have been incorporated into the story, and just dumping it in an 'info dump', before we even meet some of them! The plot was scattered, if even existing within the story. I really wanted to love this, but i just couldn't stomach finishing it.

This caught my eye right away. The title. The cover. Plus I love origin tales and I love Oz. What could go wrong?



The story follows Genevieve and Elvira before the Oz as we know it is created. Things happen and Genevieve is lured to the dark side and Oz will never be the same. No one is safe.



This was a fun take on the origin story of Oz. Unique for sure and I was intrigued by how everything was changed when one girl went bad. Always sad, but you can't fully blame them for going to the dark side. And I get why Elvira did what she did. It is all a mess. I feel bad for everyone.



The story was a quick read so that is a bonus. If you need something quick and easy this is a good one. I was able to get it done after 2 sittings (darn sleep getting in the way). But I do wish it was a touch longer. It left with a cliffhanger and I am curious to see what happens next, but I do feel like we could've had more.



I did have an issue connecting with our characters. Sure I did feel bad for them and understand WHY they did the things they did, but I didn't connect. I felt very disconnected with them and the story. I still enjoyed the journey. But I won't be broken-hearted if I can't get my hands on book 2. Not sure if it was a me thing or not. I do want to read for curiosity-sake, but we shall see.



This has a lot of promise for an epic book 2. A very unique story and interesting characters.



And that cover! Love it! So cheesy but beautiful at the same time. How is that possible?



Overall, I did enjoy the journey and it was a quick read. I wish I didn't feel so disconnected though. Not sure what the issue is because I am curious about what will happen next, but like I said...won't have my heart-broken if I can't get my hands on the next one. This has a lot of potential so we shall see what is next. I'll stamp this with 3 stars. The cover is cute. I WANT A UNICORN!!

I generally love retelling of classic tales, but this one wasn't the one for me. Oz isn't one of my favorites to begin with, but it was okay. Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I hate faerie books. I shouldn’t have read this. Maybe it’s not fair to rate it because I hate faeries but it is not good.

I hate to give this a bad review, as I really wanted to like it. But the writing was all over the place, and the head-hopping grew confusing after a while. It was disappointing.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley through BooksGoSocial.

Book: Heart of Oz
Author: Isra Sravenhart
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, BooksGoSocial, for providing me with this ARC. Please, don’t think too unkindly of me.

I went into this one knowing nothing. I did figure that it would be some kind of retelling of the Wizard of Oz. We kind of got this origin story-I think. I’m not really sure what it was. I’m just flat out going to be honest: this was a very difficult book to follow and it shouldn’t have been. The writing was a challenge and the point of views would change without any warning. Now, I do read a lot of complex fantasy, but even they are a lot easier to follow than this.

Isra’s writing, I thought, started out very strong, making me question all of the negative reviews surrounding this book. However, as I kept reading, it really did feel like the writing fell apart. We went from actually seeing what was going on to being told. It also annoyed that we were kind of told certain character’s backstories before we actually got to see the characters. I really like it whenever these backstories are worked into the story.

There was also a lot of awkward wording. I know this is small press and all, so authors may not have all of the resources as larger companies. I do expect books not to be prefect, but I do expect authors to at least use words that fit the sentence. Isra put in a lot of long words that really just messed with the flor of the book. You don’t have to use these words. Plus, some of them were not even used correctly. My university professors always said it was best to use smaller words and use them correctly than use long words and incorrectly. You really do need to stick with what works best for you.

I did like the Fae aspect of the book. I am really getting into Fae fantasy and get really excited every time I come across one of them. I do love the traditional elements of fantasy-so don’t judge me.

I also loved how the bonds of friendship were explored here and how you do have to make that choice between good and evil. It is one of my favourite things to see in books. I just wish that the writing had been a bit more organized so we could get a better picture of what was going on.

So, The Heart of Oz is out now-I believe. If you want to check this out for yourself, go ahead.

I love this book. I have the entire original oz books collection. I love every one of them. This just tell me more of how that wonderful world came to be .

I received a copy of Heart of Oz from BooksGoSocial through Netgalley.

I feel bad giving bad reviews because I know how much work goes into the creation of a tale, but this one was a stinker.
The writing plodded, the pov seemed to randomly change and it never really seemed to go anywhere.
Things happened because a character needed to be evil and that's...pretty much it.

It was a good book about 2 girls, one was a far and the other a sorceress. One was light magic and the other was black magic.
Great book Thanks

I love reading re-tellings and I definitely loved reading this one. It's a very interesting re-imagining of Wizard of Oz.
Writing is engaging, very smooth and beautiful. The plot is definitely a page turner and the pace is perfect.
I loved the characters, the atmosphere. A good one I recommend if you're into retellings.
Thanks a lot to the publisher and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.