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bookworm_0924's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
(SPOILER ALERT)
"Bells ring throughout Lohr, beckoning all who can hear their chime to converge in the arena where the Bloodred Queen fell. This time not to witness the end of her tyranny, but to commemorate a new beginning for our world.
To rejoice in the rebuilding of this place we call home."
Definitely my favorite series, thank you for calling me to the wonderful adventure through these pages, with Gwen, Pete, Alisa, Maddox, and Gail. Praise for Everland, Umberland, and Ozland.
"Bells ring throughout Lohr, beckoning all who can hear their chime to converge in the arena where the Bloodred Queen fell. This time not to witness the end of her tyranny, but to commemorate a new beginning for our world.
To rejoice in the rebuilding of this place we call home."
Definitely my favorite series, thank you for calling me to the wonderful adventure through these pages, with Gwen, Pete, Alisa, Maddox, and Gail. Praise for Everland, Umberland, and Ozland.
palmkd's review
3.0
This was as really fun series with a reasonable ending and I'm a little torn between 3 stars and 4 stars, Ultimately I went with 3 as I feel some things could have been done better and while I was content with what happened in the ending, it felt a bit rushed.
Overall the series was a really fun read and it's very possible I may revisit this world in the future. I love the blend of fairy tales and the mixing of the worlds/characters.
While reading this one I found myself resonating most with Doc, but also really annoyed at several characters. Perhaps the teenage angst just felt a bit too strong for me.
I listened to it via audio and it was a decent listen over a 2 day period.
One complaint about the layout/setup, is there are no chapter numbers which does make it a little tricky when switching between audio/physical book.
Overall the series was a really fun read and it's very possible I may revisit this world in the future. I love the blend of fairy tales and the mixing of the worlds/characters.
While reading this one I found myself resonating most with Doc, but also really annoyed at several characters. Perhaps the teenage angst just felt a bit too strong for me.
I listened to it via audio and it was a decent listen over a 2 day period.
One complaint about the layout/setup, is there are no chapter numbers which does make it a little tricky when switching between audio/physical book.
libby1990's review
2.0
I did not like this book. Where was the retelling of Oz in this book because I did not see it at all.. The ending was rushed for me and the book dragged in some places.. She also kept killing off the characters so don't get attached to them when you read this book. They do not last long at all.. But I loved the first 2 books in this series so much so I don't know what happened to this book.
gracebrom11's review
2.0
I loved the first two books in the series (Everland and Umberland) so I had high hopes going into this one. However, they were met with disappointment. I could not get into some of the new characters and the old characters I had liked were all killed off. I felt like there were times when the author wanted to make it more dramatic or dark (hence killing people, throwing them into tough circumstances), but it happened so often that the high-charged action moments got to be boring. As for the character deaths, I found that it felt more like the author didn't want to write those characters anymore and thought killing them off was the best way to deal with it. In fact, some of the biggest character deaths did not even happen during the book (or the books before) and were just briefly mentioned that they had died earlier. I ended up just skimming the last few chapters to find out how the book ended so I could just know how the series ended. Like I said, I love Everland and Umberland and would definitely suggest them. Ozland had so much potential that it just didn't live up to and was disappointing to me because of it.
wordsareweapons's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the action at the end. I thought the ending was pretty good for the series. Overall though this one just didn't hold my attention like the others did.
caitlinwhetten's review
3.0
I think I'm pretty meh about this whole series. I was hoping that Ozland would be the best one, but all three books are a flat 3-star read for me. Not terrible, but not great for me either. And like the other three, there's a lot of telling, not showing, especially in the first half.
I love that we got Doc's perspective in this since he's one of the characters that I've enjoyed over the series and I'm like, "Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die."
But it feels weird that we spend a whole book developing a female character (Gwen, Alyssa) and then both are barely mentioned in the next one. Gwen is unconscious and off-stage in this one and Alyssa has maybe five lines. I really liked these characters in their books and I'm sad that they're just tossed aside.
However, I did like Gail and Ginger and their relationship throughout the novel. I went into this book hoping that it wasn't going to be Dorothy joining the Scarecrow character on a journey and falling in love with him like the last two, so I'm glad Spinale mixed it up in this one with two platonic girlfriends rescuing King Osbourne.
Ozland still keeps some of that dark, weird stuff from Umberland that I liked. Extraneous Lost Boys are horrifically killed off, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion are now video game level bosses that are dispatched with arrows to the throat and hatchets to the eyes, and I'm pretty sure the Red Queen is like, part alligator. Like Umberland, I found it really fun in its bizarreness.
But that ending.
Warning: Rant Ahead.
What?! Why would you have your heroine accidentally and almost fatally shoot your hero in the final battle? I really thought Pete was a goner and then I didn't know how to feel about Gail after that. Like, Dorothy killed Peter Pan. Do you want me to hate your main character because now I hate the main character! And then in the epilogue, the book is like, "Oh, Pete got better and forgave Gail."
What?! Pete just forgave her for almost killing him? Pete? The guy who's consistently punched, yelled at and given the stank eye to his best friend throughout the whole series because he couldn't save his sister from dying? And he just is like, "Oh, it's okay that you shot me. Don't worry about it." To me, Pete doesn't really seem like the type of guy to just let things go in this book. He's a very grudge-holding type.
What does this accomplish, character- or plot-wise if you're just going to resolve it in two sentences in the epilogue?
It made no sense and I hated the book after that. I almost gave this a two-star just for that ending because it was so dumb and unfaithful to characters. But I didn't think it was entirely fair either, so this is a low, LOW three star rating for me.
Overall, I still feel like this series didn't quite work for me as an adult, but if I were 13 or 14, I would have loved it so I still recommend it for that age range. If you really liked the other two, you'll probably like this one.
I love that we got Doc's perspective in this since he's one of the characters that I've enjoyed over the series and I'm like, "Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die."
But it feels weird that we spend a whole book developing a female character (Gwen, Alyssa) and then both are barely mentioned in the next one. Gwen is unconscious and off-stage in this one and Alyssa has maybe five lines. I really liked these characters in their books and I'm sad that they're just tossed aside.
However, I did like Gail and Ginger and their relationship throughout the novel. I went into this book hoping that it wasn't going to be Dorothy joining the Scarecrow character on a journey and falling in love with him like the last two, so I'm glad Spinale mixed it up in this one with two platonic girlfriends rescuing King Osbourne.
Ozland still keeps some of that dark, weird stuff from Umberland that I liked. Extraneous Lost Boys are horrifically killed off, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion are now video game level bosses that are dispatched with arrows to the throat and hatchets to the eyes, and I'm pretty sure the Red Queen is like, part alligator. Like Umberland, I found it really fun in its bizarreness.
But that ending.
Warning: Rant Ahead.
Spoiler
We've spent most of the novel with Gail and while she's another young female who's nearly indistinguishable from Gwen and Alyssa, she's not obnoxious either. I like her and she's done what she's set out to do in a competent manner. She and Ginger have survived because they both know what they're doing. However, in the end, she ends up accidentally shooting Pete in the chest with an arrow.What?! Why would you have your heroine accidentally and almost fatally shoot your hero in the final battle? I really thought Pete was a goner and then I didn't know how to feel about Gail after that. Like, Dorothy killed Peter Pan. Do you want me to hate your main character because now I hate the main character! And then in the epilogue, the book is like, "Oh, Pete got better and forgave Gail."
What?! Pete just forgave her for almost killing him? Pete? The guy who's consistently punched, yelled at and given the stank eye to his best friend throughout the whole series because he couldn't save his sister from dying? And he just is like, "Oh, it's okay that you shot me. Don't worry about it." To me, Pete doesn't really seem like the type of guy to just let things go in this book. He's a very grudge-holding type.
What does this accomplish, character- or plot-wise if you're just going to resolve it in two sentences in the epilogue?
It made no sense and I hated the book after that. I almost gave this a two-star just for that ending because it was so dumb and unfaithful to characters. But I didn't think it was entirely fair either, so this is a low, LOW three star rating for me.
Overall, I still feel like this series didn't quite work for me as an adult, but if I were 13 or 14, I would have loved it so I still recommend it for that age range. If you really liked the other two, you'll probably like this one.
carliececele's review
3.0
Again probably a 3.5...the first book is still my favorite. I still found this book as clunky as the other two and the ending was so incredibly abrupt. Still I enjoyed it, I like retellings and I enjoyed the concept. I just feel like it could’ve been done a little better, which sounds terrible, but it felt like a lot of the plot points came too quick or too easily. I’m not sure how else to describe it. Regardless it was not a boring read and I did like reading this series. I simply had a few technical issues with it. If you like retellings and fairytales, certainly give this series a go.
booksandpops4000's review
4.0
* I got this book for review for the publisher for my honest thoughts*
I thought this was such a solid conclusion to this series. I love how Wendy crafts these worlds and this once took the characters to OZ. I just really enjoyed how the turned the myth on it head. This story also pay off all the precious characters arcs and it was such a fast pace read. This book we get to finally get inside Doc head and I loved that so much! I wanted more information on some of the deaths that occurred off screen but it was such a good back and can't wait to see what this author writes next!
I thought this was such a solid conclusion to this series. I love how Wendy crafts these worlds and this once took the characters to OZ. I just really enjoyed how the turned the myth on it head. This story also pay off all the precious characters arcs and it was such a fast pace read. This book we get to finally get inside Doc head and I loved that so much! I wanted more information on some of the deaths that occurred off screen but it was such a good back and can't wait to see what this author writes next!
fictionaladventures's review
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
This is definitely one of those series where each book gets a little worse than the one before. I really enjoyed the first one, but the second didn’t quite live up to it. The addition of Alice in Wonderland characters didn’t entirely work for me. And in this third book, I cared about none of the POV characters, and the addition of Wizard of Oz characters just kind of made it a mess. It was okay, but unsatisfying. I liked the idea of the series adding more fairytales to it as it went on, but I now think it would have been better as a standalone and only a Peter Pan retelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Torture