Degrees of Affection

I'd heard such differing accounts of this book, I wasn't sure what to do. A part of me wanted to stay far away...but a part of me had to see what the author did with a dystopian Oz much like I had to read Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I had to know the worse because people would ask me. I'm on the fence if knowing is actually the better state of being in this case.

Let's be blunt: if Baum's Oz is a wonderful, nostalgic element of your childhood, you're not likely to enjoy this. I know enough about Oz to know more then the movie but not a ton and I've always been fairly ambivalent about it, so while things bothered me, I didn't feel they were destroying my childhood. (The same can't be said about newer Robin Hood and Zorro movies, but I'm pretty nostalgic about those heroes of my childhood.)

But I found parts of this quite disturbing; about the time someone dissolves into blood and gloop,

, I was not really okay. I found elements cliched - I'd seen them done better - and I felt parts of this were dragged out quite unnecessarily. What was a great idea was...adequately done. And it's a cliffhanger! Of course it is, let's milk as much out of this as possible. There is no warning and few clues except that the ending is going no where and the pages are running out fast. *sigh*

I'll admit I'm horribly interested (in a now I've started have to find out what happens kind of way) to see where this all goes but I'm going to wait till the complete series and see what others think.

I foresee at least three books to get through this.

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Image came from Epicreads