I have no idea what’s happening to me. When a tornado dropped my car in a land of short, wild people, I was shocked. With no way to get home, no idea where I was and no clue how to communicate with the muchkins, I was completely out of luck. Then I found out that my car had landed on someone and killed them. Supposedly she was the Wicked Witch of the East. If that wasn’t bad enough, now her ruby … now her ruby slippers magically appear on my feet, and slowly, I’m becoming her.
Now I need to get to Emerald City and see the Wizard if I want to stop the transformation and return home. But the yellow brick road is no cake-walk, and I don’t know what I’ll find at the end of this journey. Luckily, I have three brothers I meet along the way to help me on my journey. Each of them is vying for my affection, as if it doesn’t matter that my skin is turning green.
Wicked Origins is a modern YA Fantasy Retelling of L. Frank Baum’s original Oz tales.
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The Wizard of Oz is my favorite. I collect everything I can find in relation to it, so when I saw these books, I jumped at the chance to read them. Origins is a wild re-telling that sticks to a similar storyline but many things are different. Including the reverse-harem romance aspect, which admittedly, I haven’t read much of.
Paula Black’s world building is fantastic. It’s familiar to a Wizard of Oz fan, but vastly different! Dorothy and Toto are definitely not in Kansas any more with cannibal munchkins, witches, and the ruby red slippers that are causing all sorts of chaos. She meets her three companions and sets off down the yellow brick road.
There is some very deep themes about a young girl who is finally moving on and learning to open up. I love that. I loved the adventure and the crazy magic. This was just such a unique twist on the original story. Ending on a major cliff hanger, I was very happy to have the other books on hand to start right away.
I recommend checking this one out. It is an entertaining read with some unique twists!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Promotional Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*
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Wicked Origins is a reverse harem story that takes the bones of the Wizard Of Oz and turns it all around making it a more awesome story. In this version Dorothy is in her car with Toto when a tornado lifts her up and drops her in Oz. We have her landing on the witch in the town of cannibal munchins. Here she meets her three shifter companions and inherits the ruby slippers. It is from here they start there adventure on the yellow brick road. This is truly a unique retelling that I found captivating which kept me reading to the end. This ends on quite a cliff hanger and I am anxious for the net book in series. I highly recommend this book & know you will not be sorry if you like an exceptional retelling. Received a copy and this is my voluntary and honest review.
I just loved how this took the bones of the original Oz and gave them a great new and updated twist! Dorothy isn’t a cute teenage girl, but a girl who is defensive and doesn’t let people in due to her abusive past, her partners Chimmy, Gin and Joon in her adventure are a fantastic spin of the cowardly lion, the tin man and Scarecrow which I absolutely loved. Be ready for shifters, cannibalistic Munch’kans , scary shadows, poppies to die for and of course a yellow brick road that may or may not guide them to salvation. This isn’t just a book of adventures in a bizarre and magical world but a teenage girl finally starting to move on and learn how it is to open up to people and feel again , the fact that she has 3 good looking guys doesn’t hurt either! 😉
Great retelling of the Wizard of Oz that puts a different, more modern, spin on it as well as adding some romance.
I love this book and absolutely look forward to the next installment! Paula Black takes the original tale of The Wizard of Oz and truly puts her own twist to it. She modernizes it with such simple ideas that are commonplace today, such as phones and cars and then goes on to mold the story with the Witch of the East. I enjoyed the idea of making the Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow into shapeshifters and giving the Tin Man the ability to communicate with Toto. I was inspired by the background story’s of Dorothy and the brothers. The idea to have the ruby slippers shift to fit the personality of the wearer just was icing on the cake to me, I wouldn’t want to wear high heels either!! My favorite passage may be the explanation of mates in the shifters world, of it being a family dynamic rather than sexual, and I’ve grasped that in the world of wolves and lions before, but to couple it with people was very interesting to me. I absolutely recommend and will be recommending this to two people post haste!
5 Cranky Stars
Take what you know about the land of Oz and ball it up. Toss it in the trash and light it on fire for safe measure. It’s been so long since I’ve read the original book, but I’ve seen the movie (yes I know it’s not the same) and this isn’t it. It’s different and unique but the story is still the same in a sense. Names have been retained and there is still the famous yellow brick road which leads our characters on some harrowing journeys. It’s a YA tale of family and love.
Dorothy is a teenage girl with an abusive past. She blocks all feelings and seeks them in the wrong way, yet she doesn’t go all the way if you catch my drift. She lives with her adoptive family and has a cute dog named Toto. When a tornado appears, she’s whisked off to a make believe land in her hatchback with Toto in tow. It’s here she lands on the witch and in a tribe of cannibal munchkins. Not the cute ones from the movie that sing you songs about lollipops. It’s here she encounters 3 shifter brothers who become her savior and a pair of shoes she wants nothing to do with. As they go on their journey to find a way home for her, they start to develop feelings. Chimmy our crow is sweet and kind Joon our wolf is a protector and closed off and Gin is our lion who is the caretaker. She starts to display what the shifters call the telltale signs that she is choosing them as her mates. When her skin starts to turn green, she becomes increasingly concerned and torn. She wants to go home but why? These boys feel like home to her.
Ok cannibal munchkins! They would eat anyone and anything which isn’t good. Oz the great and powerful is a manipulative jerk. I love Joon. Guess I’m a sucker for the strong silent type. This was so different than my normal read. I read it in a day and a half. Heck I even tried to read while I was cooking dinner which I don’t suggest. From poppy fields to trees that are venomous this story has something for everyone.This book was the story building to what is going to hopefully be an amazing series. Wicked Origins is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life….and help you find the family you so very much deserve.
Overall rating: 4.7
I love a good tale retold with an authors creative twist! There is just enough suggestive content in this book to make a young heart thump wildly. The suggestive RH seems to stretch that YA rating but I really dont know what the border is. In any case, for me , this retell of the wizard of oz is just captivating! The buildup moves at the perfect pace to keep the action going and with a flip of the page, a reader can expect a neon sign to flash in your minds eye reading “ stay tuned for the next episode of”. Even though we know the traditional storyline, this rendering truly will make you seek out the continuing story! All my reviews are always voluntarily written.