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A review by caitlinwhetten
Ozland (Everland, Book 3), Volume 3 by Wendy Spinale
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.