Sadly, like other reviewers, I wasn't able to get into this book fully. The writing was a little off for me. The plot was super interesting, but it wasn't a good fit for what I like. It took me a while to finish, and I never really got into it. Dorothy wasn't a strong enough character, like she should be, and I found the insta-love to be unnecessary. It's a definite pass for me.

The basic premise of this was super interesting but I was a little underwhelmed by the actual product, and I found myself too old to enjoy it properly. I really appreciated receiving a copy of this book but was unable to finish it as it was not what I was expecting, and is not the kind of thing I enjoy reading unfortunately.

Dorothy and Toto aren’t in Kansas anymore. They’re in a land of blood and death. After a tornado carries Dorothy and her dog to the land of Oz, she must find her way back to Kansas and her aunt and uncle. The catch? Oz has been overrun with Vampires, zombies and shifters, oh my. With her trusty trio of friends, a zombie looking for brains, an axe-man looking for a heart, and a werelion looking for some courage, and a pair of magical ass-kicking boots, Dorothy must fight her way to the great and terrifying wizard, and back home to Kansas.

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters was a wicked interesting take on the classic tale. I really enjoyed how Gevedon explained the magic of the world and built each country of Oz. The way the Emerald City was described made me wish I could book a vacation and a trip to the Emerald magic spa! The dynamics of the witches and the wizard was an interesting subplot and I’m looking forward to learning more of their stories in the rest of the series.

There were some pretty major issues that I had with the story. Although Dorothy was a typical teenage girl, turned bad-ass, the way that she talked and explained things about her realm to her new friends was completely unrealistic. I’m not sure if Gevedon just doesn’t know many 17 year old girls, or doesn’t speak with them very often, but her dialect was nothing like the conversations I’ve had with teenage women.

Another thing that irked me was how repetitive and whiney she was. I mean, the girl lost her parents, was living on a barren farm and had just been transported into a world full of vampires, zombies and evil creatures that all wanted to kill her, so some whining is to be expected, but the repetitiveness of the whine writing and the repetitiveness of her thoughts on what she deserved in her love life and what she would do and accomplish if she ever made it home, made it seem like the author was just trying to reach a word count goal. We get it. You want to travel and do good.

For anyone looking for a horror story featuring our lovely Dorothy and Oz, this might not be what you’re looking for. There was plenty of monsters and butt-kicking action, but it all seemed to take a back seat to the romance and crass humor. It was almost like the author was trying to see what they could get away with while still being considered a young adult story. There’s basically everything except actual sex, but even that is alluded to.

All in all, Dorothy in the Land of Monsters is getting 3 stars from me. Interesting story, but some of the subjects weren’t what I was expecting and the repetitiveness and way the dialect was written just wasn’t for me.

This book is an interesting take on the world of the Wizard of Oz and has some fun with the monsters of Oz. The execution does not match the idea though and it is slow to get started and the writing could be be better. I would still recommend to Zombie and Oz lovers though.

The cover of this book was what draw me in. It is just AMAZING and my fantasy soared away with all the possibilities this story had. Sadly it wasn’t what I expected, at all. I couldn’t find something appealing in Dorothy, she mostly was annoying me. And I really, really am not a fan of insta-love and this kind of “love” isn’t necessary if in a series.

DNF 32%
I am finally giving up on this book. I keep expecting it to get better and it just isn’t.

Things I Liked:
-Like the concept
-Love how badass and magical the shoes are. I would want a pair if they could come off.
-I love all the different types of creatures in this version of Oz.

Things Didn't like:
-I really didn’t like Nick from the beginning. He was a player who tried to take advantage of Dorothy. He never really got better either.
-I really didn’t like the Dorothy+Nick love angle they were going for. I feel like it would have been better if the attraction had been slowly building throughout the book instead of the instant attraction.
-The writing style. They are trying to copy the original writing of Baum and it isn't successful. It would be fine sometimes but others it was jarring and pulled you out of the story.
-There was a lot of teenage anguish and ‘woe is me’ going on with Dorothy. It was repetitive and quickly became annoying.

So as you can see the concept of this book is quite fascinating, especially if you are a fan of the Oz series, but, unfortunately, it was poorly written and repetitive. I am not going to force myself to keep reading this book when I am not enjoying it. This book wasn’t for me but I see others have enjoyed it. I will stick to the original series.

*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such an awesome retelling of The Wizard of Oz. It is so fun to read one of my favorite stories with the addition of vampires, zombies, and werewolves. This book really felt like coming home, there was a familiarity to it but with a quirky twist. If you want a book that is dripping in originality, then this isn’t your book. It is a very close retelling but with a twist.

My main complaints for this story would be that it was a bit repetitive. I felt Dorothy was super whiny. But my favorite part was that the book premises was super amazing. I do feel like it could have been executed better.

I felt the mention of the color grey was way overly repetitive. It reminded you constantly that the world was without color. I did love the direction the author took the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion. I’ve always loved those characters in the original story, so seeing them so wonderfully mastered here made me adore them even more.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to review this book.

I found this book way too long, Dorothy was incredibly annoying, the insta-love was too much, and a lot of the jokes were too crude. I was drawn in by the cover but sadly this was a miss.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

UGH, I really wanted to like this. Heck the title and cover alone made it seem like it was going to be a bad ass version of Dorothy.. and yet, I was bored out of my mind!!! I don't think I've ever despised a retelling of the Wizard of Oz.. or any retelling in general. YET, it happened and I'm still in shock about it.

In this book, you will meet Dorothy. Nothing really special about her but her super powers seems to be annoying people to death. Mostly because I was annoyed from the second we met her. With her constant whining, I was just hoping that a zombie, vampire, or a werebeast would just kill her. It might've brought me joy because then the book would've ended. Yet, I got nothing.

Overall, I am definitely disappointed in this book. I thought we were going to have a great adventure/relationship but I got the opposite. Ugh.

Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Because this cover is AMAZING!
The book...not so much.
I expected a high octane version of The Wizard of Oz with epic fight scenes and creative world building.
What I got was a highly repetitive, angst riddle, pity party featuring a girl named Dorothy.
I received my copy for NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours.

*thank you to Netgalley and Garten Gevedon for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*


1 star.

Ohh boy oh boy. I finally made it! This was one challenging read due to the size of this book and the uninterest I felt. It was actually a forced read. I wanted to DNF SO many times but I pushed myself just incase things turned around and it was actually a good read. Unfortunately that never happened. The beginning was probably the best part but the amount of times the word 'Grey' had been used was way over the top thatbitngot rather annoying.

I LOVE Wizard of Oz retellings and vampires, zombies (when I'm in the mood) and the like, so this should have been a great mash up. But this was such a let down. I wasn't gripped by it. I wasn't excited to read it. I just wasn't interested. Based on the sypnosis had so much potential. I hope there are people who enjoy this and I know authors put a lot of work into their books but this was a miss from me.

If you liked Pride and Prejudice and zombies you will like this. I was presently surprised that it was based off the book and not the movie.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book about 100 pages in. I really wanted to love this book. Wizard of Oz the book and the movie are my faves of all time. And I love retellings so this seemed like a perfect fit for me. But I couldn’t handle the writing style. On one hand this book seemed like it should be marketed as children’s or YA and then on the other it was like it was trying to be overly sophisticated and unnecessarily descriptive. I love reading a scene where I can really picture everything around me but this left me bored with how long it took to describe the most basic things. If you’re a Friends fan and know the scene where Joey writes a recommendation letter for chandler and Monica and uses a thesaurus to for every word in the letter, that’s how this felt. I think this book would have benefited from being told in graphic novel form. It would have been fun to see the pictures in it and hopefully the wording would have been changed.

DNF - 18%
I was so hoping all the negative reviews for this book had it all wrong*. I think that old saying 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all' perfectly describes the way I feel about this book. I'm really trying but I just can't think of anything nice. I'm sure there's an audience for this book, but unfortunately I'm not a part of it.

Both Dorothy and Nick are unbearable. All the crude jokes, sex talk and the final nail in the coffin was the insta-sex (or close enough), I was cringing the entire time. I really wanted to continue reading just so I could follow Ardie and his merciful voice of reason, but even he wasn't worth having to suffer the presence of the other two.

Gorgeous cover!!

Wizard of Oz retelling? Yes please!
Imagine if Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland married Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, but invited Kate Beckinsale’s Underworld character to the party…. I know right?! How does one get invited to such a shindig?

I will spare you explaining the plot of The Wizard of Oz, I mean we all know what happens in the end. If you have never heard Judy Garland singing, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, then my friend, we have some pop culture catching up to do.

This book very much follows through with the original plot of The Wizard of Oz. Starting with the Tornado, landing on the witch, inheriting her shoes, but this Dorothy will end up being your very personable and relatable heroine. She will soon realize she is not in Kansas anymore and there are horrible monsters ruling and running amok in the Land of Oz. She has to quickly adapt and cope with this sudden change. As well as making some spooky friends along the way.

The way Gevedon re-wrote the Scarecrow needing a brain, the Tin Man needing a heart, and the Lion needing courage was such a fantastical and fun twist. I admired them throughout the story. They had really funny moments which helped them all grow closer as the story developed. I had many many moments where I literally laughed out loud at their banter. Their togetherness was well done but I could have used more dialogue between them. Even with that being said, the author did well to always keep the group close together during the challenges on the way to Oz.

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon is a cool, macabre, dark, and kick-ass take on your typical Oz story. If you are into that sort of adventurous (can get a little violent) kind of stories I highly recommend it. But lest we forget those that like a little romance sprinkled on top, it’s there for you too. I too sometimes crave a little attraction here and a little longing there. In which I don’t want to spoil it for you, but alas, you get a “lil something something” for that story requirement.

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters is a debut novel for Garten Gevedon.
I found her plot overall enticing and creative. I will be ready for book two when it does make its appearance.

3.5

The description of this book is definitely what drew me in. It starts out a little slow and dragging but once you get into the story you find that while it does stick to the lines of the original they give it it's own pizzazz to make it it's own.
From zombies, shifters and good looking murders. We follow Dorothy on her bloody quest to get home with a little romance in there which gives us a whole new ending.

I've dnfed this book at 26 %.

I love retellings of Wizard of the Oz and I was really looking forward to reading this one. Starting it with no knowledge of its lenght, I was still hopeful. By all matters it's not a bad book and I believe it might be compelling to some readers. It just didn't meet my expectations and eventhough I wanted to finish it, 500+ pages just made me not to.

This book sticks very closely to its original so if you're looking for something fresh and new, I'd rather try other rettelings. Characters and the country is just reversed to the "monster theme" going around, otherwise it stays the same. It's also very slow paced which I don't particularly like in my books. Another aspect I was not expecting at all was a lot of focus on the romance / sexy times. I don't mind at all but in this particular book, almost half of what I've read was just Dorothy being horny with Tin Man..

So, if you like Oz rettelings, don't mind slow pace and some sexy times, try this book.

This book was strange but unique. A truly intriguing read that had me turning page after page and finding myself sucked further and further in. Gevedon has a wildly twisted imagination and this book truly reflects a human with an insanely talented and creative imagination.

This book had promise but it could use another run through with an editor. The dialogue needs tightened up as does the storyline. Also, at times it’s wordy when it’s not needed.

I hate giving a book one star, but this one just didn't do it for me. I had to DNF about 100 or so pages in. Before anything else, I want to say that this book absolutely has potential. A dark and morbid retelling of the Wizard of Oz is everything I could dream of.

Like a lot of reviewers have mentioned, the writing style is quite bad. Adjectives are great. Describing every detail of a place is not necessary. The color "gray" is used way more than it should be. Many sentences are full of awkward wording. The dialogue feels forced and uncomfortable.

With a lot of editing, this really could be a hit.