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jaimiestarshine's review against another edition
4.0
May 4-15th 2020: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 4 stars
abomine's review
4.0
Perfect Musical Pairing for this whole series: To A Faraway Land by Joe Hisaishi (from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:4.5 Stars: This book is a beloved classic for a reason. By turns whimsical and creepy, simple and profound, full of imaginative concepts and memorable characters, and written in clean down-to-earth prose, this is a book that EVERYONE should read at least once.
The Marvelous Land of Oz:4.5 Stars: An amazing follow-up to the first novel, featuring a whole new array of wonderful characters (a new favorite of mine being Jack Pumpkinhead), a completely fantastic plot twist, and one of the most unique and complex discussions of feminism I've ever read in a children's book.
Ozma of Oz:4 Stars: While not as good as the first two (seriously, I don't think Baum could have ever topped that plot twist in the last book), it's still loads of fun and deliciously dark. Read this, and you'll see a lot of the concepts that were used in Return to Oz (there were a few from the previous book as well, but not as many as in this one). And also, Billina is the most badass chicken ever.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz:2 Stars: Oh man, is this a disappointment. Incredibly boring, filled with new characters that I couldn't give a shit about, completely retcons Ozma's backstory, renders Dorothy totally useless, and there's just a mean-spirited, dreary atmosphere to this book overall. The only aspects that saved this from a one-star rating were the awesomely creepy Mangaboos and their psychedelic glass city.
The Road to Oz:3 Stars: Certainly better than the previous book, but still not as good as the first three. I just can't get behind the premise of a little girl like Dorothy giving directions to and walking down the road with a hairy stranger who claims to keep a 'Love Magnet' in his pocket. Little Red Ridinghood once gave directions to and walked down the road with a hairy stranger...and look how great THAT turned out.
Overall, I enjoyed this and will be continuing on with the series (I'm really looking forward to meeting Scraps the Patchwork Girl, whom I've heard so many amazing things about). I definitely recommend the first three books, but I only recommend the fourth and fifth if you're going in for the long haul, because there are FIFTEEN BOOKS in this first series alone.
---------------
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:4.5 Stars: This book is a beloved classic for a reason. By turns whimsical and creepy, simple and profound, full of imaginative concepts and memorable characters, and written in clean down-to-earth prose, this is a book that EVERYONE should read at least once.
The Marvelous Land of Oz:4.5 Stars: An amazing follow-up to the first novel, featuring a whole new array of wonderful characters (a new favorite of mine being Jack Pumpkinhead), a completely fantastic plot twist, and one of the most unique and complex discussions of feminism I've ever read in a children's book.
Ozma of Oz:4 Stars: While not as good as the first two (seriously, I don't think Baum could have ever topped that plot twist in the last book), it's still loads of fun and deliciously dark. Read this, and you'll see a lot of the concepts that were used in Return to Oz (there were a few from the previous book as well, but not as many as in this one). And also, Billina is the most badass chicken ever.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz:2 Stars: Oh man, is this a disappointment. Incredibly boring, filled with new characters that I couldn't give a shit about, completely retcons Ozma's backstory, renders Dorothy totally useless, and there's just a mean-spirited, dreary atmosphere to this book overall. The only aspects that saved this from a one-star rating were the awesomely creepy Mangaboos and their psychedelic glass city.
The Road to Oz:3 Stars: Certainly better than the previous book, but still not as good as the first three. I just can't get behind the premise of a little girl like Dorothy giving directions to and walking down the road with a hairy stranger who claims to keep a 'Love Magnet' in his pocket. Little Red Ridinghood once gave directions to and walked down the road with a hairy stranger...and look how great THAT turned out.
Overall, I enjoyed this and will be continuing on with the series (I'm really looking forward to meeting Scraps the Patchwork Girl, whom I've heard so many amazing things about). I definitely recommend the first three books, but I only recommend the fourth and fifth if you're going in for the long haul, because there are FIFTEEN BOOKS in this first series alone.
athousandmyths's review
4.0
Despite having known and watched the movie since I was a kid, I never read any of the stories- and didn't know it was based on stories until a while after I had first seen the movie- so I was excited to read it. It was a fun read, and I liked the characters, and I liked Dorothy even more than I thought I would. I remember being scared of the flying monkeys as a kid when I watched the movie, and was surprised by how they actually were in the story.
twixester's review
4.0
it was good to finally read the whole story and not to remember just bits and pieces here and there! wonderful read!
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