Contrary to other reviews, this is NOT a retelling of the Wizard of Oz. It’s about what happens to Dorothy when she gets back from Oz!

This one surprised me. Dorothy barely makes an appearance. I’d say she’s in the book for about 25% of it. That’s because when she returns from Oz and tells everybody her story, they immediately assume her story is nothing but diabolical delusions. That is until the local spinster turns up dead and some incriminating evidence against Dorothy comes to light. Then she finds herself institutionalized in the Topeka insane asylum.

As Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford interviews Dorothy at the asylum, she starts to wonder who really committed this crime and starts to investigate on her own.

This book was rampant with religious bigotry and small town prejudice, but this is 1896 so that really is to be expected. That didn’t stop me from rolling my eyes every time a character said Dorothy was the work of the devil, though.

This was a very interesting concept, but I think the execution was a little sloppy. However, the author was writing this as he was losing his battle to cancer so I am willing to give a little grace on that regard. I did like the ending and how everything played out.

I read this arc as an audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed her style of narration.

Thank you to netgalley for this arc!

This book was good but wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I think I expected more magic and fantasy, but this one read more like a murder mystery/thriller type book.

Still, it was enjoyable, and I found it very well-written and engaging. On enjoyment factor alone, I'd have to give it 3 stars simply because, as I said, I was expecting something else. But on its own merit divorced from my expectations, it's probably a 3.5- to a 4-star book, so I went ahead and gave it the four stars.

The story itself is basically an unsettling, small-town bigotry-infused look at what life was like for Dorothy after she returned home from her fantastical visit to Oz. (Which just so happened to coincide with a brutal murder of the town pariah.) It did a nice job of showcasing prejudice, small-mindedness, and how people sometimes twist religion to serve their purposes. In short, it's about what you'd expect from a rural, small town in the 1920s or 30s. Ha.

The narration comes from two places: a psychiatrist trying to help vindicate Dorothy and prove she didn't kill the woman in town & a dissenting voice who absolutely KNOWS Dorothy is guilty. (side note: You'll grow to hate this narrator by the end, especially if you're listening on audiobook like I was.)

Dorothy herself plays a surprisingly small role in the book. Her "voice" comes in on tapes recorded with her sessions from the doctor trying to help her. I actually really liked this. It was a very interesting way to present what most people would consider "the main character" of the story. It made it so that the reader had to rely on the (possibly unreliable) narrators and took most of Dorothy's agency away. It was a very unique and interesting way to tell the story, and I enjoyed it.

However, in another way, that's also what made me not enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. Taking Dorothy out of the story, so to speak, also takes away all the magical elements. There's very little Toto and only the briefest mention of the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tinman. In short, it erases all but the very barest of bare bones from the actual Oz story.

So, while I enjoyed the unique method of storytelling, I also disliked that it took the fantasy out of the story. If that makes sense.

Also, I didn't find the ending 100% believable. It was a bit too dramatic for my tastes.

Even so, I enjoyed the book, and -- as I said -- on its own merits, I can give it 4 stars, even if it personally felt more like a 3-star read to me. As for narration aspects, those were excellent. No complaints whatsoever there.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC for review purposes.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the ALC of After Oz in exchange for my honest review. When I saw this book available , the title and stunning cover totally hooked me, and when I read the blurb, I was immediately impressed with the creative concept behind the book. After Oz is not exactly a The Wizard of Oz retelling, but rather extrapolates the story, imagining the ripple effect of Dorothy’s adventure as she returns to her small rural Kansas town.

Though the famous film was released in 1939, it is of course based on L. Frank Baum’s book, published in 1900- a very different America than 1939. After Oz is set in 1896, in a cloistered community which views a fantastical story of talking scarecrows, wizards in emerald cities, and good & bad witches as pagan at best, and satanic at worst. When Dorothy reports that she slayed a witch with a bucket of water, the authorities are alarmed, and when the body of a local woman is found, Dorothy is swiftly sent to an asylum for the criminally insane.

I enjoyed this spin on the classic Oz story and was interested to see how it would play out. The writing style alternated between “found footage” letter entries from one character, and an unusual plural first person representing the townspeople at large. The transitions between the two POVs could have been a bit clearer, though I am not sure how it would come across in the print version. Overall I recommend After Oz, especially to fans of the original work!

While After Oz was a highly enjoyable book that I would normally rate five stars, the narrator’s voicing of Dorothy came off as bratty and unlikable, rather than a character you’re supposed to sympathize with. The voicing the narrator gave to other characters was fine, but Dorothy’s was hard to get past. Fantastic book, okay audio version.

This was fine. I never felt drawn to any characters, other than to Dorothy's plight while she was in the asylum. The relationship between Dorothy and Dr. Wilford didn't seem fleshed out enough and I wasn't hooked on why Dr. Wilford got so involved in the first place. While I think what she did was admirable, it seemed far-fetched. I did like Dr. Wilford's correspondence with her relative and the connection made to the actual Wizard of Oz; I thought it was very clever and something that helped save this book for me. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic, which also helped in my enjoyment. Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

The POV in After Oz was a little strange. Maybe it’s because I was listening on audio, but I didn’t always know whose perspective I was in right away and then I felt like I was playing catchup after I figured it out. So that was frustrating, but maybe that’s an audio vs. print issue.
Otherwise I thought this was a really interesting take on what happened after Dorothy returns from Oz and spoke more to the racial/socioeconomic issues of the time that would definitely played into the fantasy of Dorothy in Oz. The small town feel and scandal were interesting and felt accurate and I enjoyed the perspective of the psychologist and her letters to her mentor were an effective way to get her thoughts across to the reader. It’s kind of an obvious yet brushed over take that no one would believe Dorothy’s story of Oz and assume she’s mentally ill.
There are also a lot of church and bible references - on town for a small town, but be warned, I guess.
Overall this book is great, though, and I’ll definitely recommend to my Wizard of Oz superfan friend.

This book was a great story of what could have happened after the events of Wizard of Oz. It was well written and offered a story that really could have happened. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook! The experience from the narrator was fantastic and really kept me interested and helped keep the different characters straight in my head! The book itself was such a fantastic read and I enjoyed the crazy ride. There were many twists and turns I didn’t see coming! It was hard for me to put this book down so I finished it fairly quickly! Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!

This was heartbreaking, both in the story and in the author's note at the end. I think it did a great job of showing how, as a society, we jump to conclusions and hide behind religion. It also highlights the lack of rights and autonomy of women during the time period. I also love the twist in how L F Baum might have gotten the idea to write The Wizard of Oz.

Oh my gosh. What an interesting take on the classic 'Wizard of Oz'.
While I found the narration bouncing between 21st century and what should have been 19th sometimes confusing. But the overall premise and storyline was remarkable.

In this newest take on The Wizard of Oz, we are taken back to Kansas in the mid 19th century where after a devastating tornado has ripped through town, Dorothy has reappeared after being missing for 4 days. Now that she is back, she is being treated by a psychiatrist because of her wildly unbelievable story about talking lions, scarecrows, tin men, wizards and witches! These stories are considered wicked and in this deeply bigoted town, the community is on edge by all that she has to say and wants her to be locked away at an Asylum for the Insane.

This is a dark retelling of the infamous Wizard Oz story. It also serves to expose the bigotry of the time. I am not one for retellings but this was an interesting premise with plenty to unpack about society and its beliefs in rural America in the 19th century.

Thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for a gifted audio version of this novel.

This Wizard of Oz retelling takes on an interesting twist of battling misogyny and women deemed hysterical/delusional . I liked that it was a unique take while still referencing some of the original story.

What a concept! A murder mystery set in a rural town in Kansas right after the infamous tornado that took Dorothy to Oz.
Dorothy is back, the local recluse is murdered, and the town folk only see what they want to see.
Loved the book from the beginning to the end. A fascinating examination of a rural town community at the end of the 19th century in the aftermath of the tragedies, both natural and man-made.

{4.5 stars}

Thanks to Macmillian Audio for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions below are my own.

I love re-tellings and there are some great Wizard of Oz ones. This story takes a slightly different tact, we join the small town, Sunbonnet, Kansas as Dorothy is found after the twister. The town has been looking for her and thinks her mad after hearing her story and the body to match her story. She is placed in an insane asylum and we are with her as the psychiatrist questions her and the town investigates the murder. The psychiatrist is a woman and knows what it's like to be discounted in the 1890's Midwest and as such she wants to give Dorothy the benefit of the doubt.

I loved the gritty crime mystery angle of the story. The idea that Oz was just made up by a young girl with a fantastical imagination is certainly alluded to at the end of the original story but seeing it in black and white was really cool. I appreciated seeing the realities women faced in those days from a little orphan girl to a farm wife to a professional woman. The mystery was great and the procedural part was really well done.

I loved that After Oz was a mishmash of genres- historical fiction, murder mystery, fantasy, and a retelling of The Wizard of Oz. To me, it was dark comedy, as I laughed and chuckled throughout. This was an interesting take on the aftermath of the tornado and how it upended the life of Dorothy Gale. “In vivid detail, Dorothy describes a fantastical land and its magical inhabitants: a scarecrow, a tin man, a cowardly lion, a wizard, a witch. Her recollections are not only regarded as delusional, but also as pagan and diabolical in nature, especially when the body of a local spinster is found matching Dorothy’s description of a witch she claims to have killed. Authorities find incriminating evidence tying Dorothy to the real murder, and they sentence Dorothy to the Topeka Insane Asylum.” I was saddened to hear in the afterword that the author had died in 2021. ALC was provided by Dreamscape Media via NetGalley. I received an advance listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The story of what happens to Dorothy after returning to Kansas is one that was always on my mind. How can one just return to normalcy after experiencing such wonder?

Gordon tells the story of the aftermath of Dorothy’s return that offers us mystery, thriller, and found family. Gordon captures small town politics perfectly and this truly felt like a wonderful addition to The Wizard of Oz storyline we all know and love.

Gordon unfortunately passed away but this book is one of his many legacies and I am truly grateful I was given this ARC copy of After Oz. May Gordon’s legacy continue to inspire others.

3.5 stars. This re-envisioning of the Wizard of Oz was a unique and interesting spin on a classic that I love. The writing was a bit dry at times, and the mystery aspect was definitely more of a slow burn. Although I enjoyed the whole idea of the plot, the pacing was off, and the story definitely dragged at times. I would recommend this one if you are looking for something just a bit different in your reading.

This book was very good! I enjoyed the way that the Wizard of Oz was viewed in this book and how they viewed life from the late 1800s when it comes to a child discussing Oz and how women are not really trusted to be doctors or anyone of significance if they are not mothers.

The story takes place after Dorothy returns from Oz and what unfolds in the days and months after. Many believe that Dorothy is crazy because of her stories about Oz and how she melted the witch. The wonderful doctor who traveled to Topeka, Kansas to meet with Dorothy and be apart of her care team does have ulterior motives and was my favorite character by far. Dr Evelyn Grace Wilford does not accept Dorothy's sentence to the asylum and sets out to find out the truth.

Thank you Dreamscape Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this advanced readers copy!

Thank you to the late #GordonMcAlpine, @crookedlanebooks & @dreamscape_media for the #gifted #ARC & #audiobook of #AfterOz

The Wizard of Oz holds a special place in my heart from childhood & I adore anything related to it.

After Oz is a story that puts a spin on the story we all know & love. Dorothy has returned from Oz, but as she tells the story of her adventures in Oz, all of the adults (mainly the men), decide that she’s gone mad. Making it worse, part of Dorothy’s tale is that she caused a witch to melt by throwing a bucket of water on her. So, when the townsfolk find the local spinster, considered to be a witch by the town, dead with what appears to be her face melted off, it’s immediately decided to ship Dorothy off to an insane asylum.

Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford is a young psychologist who employs newer techniques. She arrives at the asylum specifically to work with Dorothy. It only takes one interview for Dr. Wilford to question whether Dorothy actually committed the crime that she’s been committed for. As Dorothy’s only hope of ever getting out of the asylum, Dr. Wilford sets off to investigate what happened.

This story is far from the magical story of The Wizard of Oz. The large focus is set on prejudice in small towns & religious bigotry, which were common in the 19th century Midwest. As we learn, going against the societal norm in this time period would have you condemned & committed. Further, once committed, it is next to impossible to regain your freedom. The ending was very satisfying, although a bit far-fetched. But this is fiction after all!

Don’t have expectations that this will be a retelling & you’ll enjoy it. This is NOT a retelling. It’s an alternate/continuation of Dorothy’s story after she returns to Kansas.

I rate this one 4 Stars

#2024 #August #NewRelease #MustRead #TBR #Bookstagram #Read #Reading #Book #Audio #Review #Fiction #Adult #Thriller #Mystery #Suspense #Historical #Fantasy #Retellings

After Oz is a story of what happened to Dorothy after she got back from Oz. Its a dark retelling in a way. It ended up being a lot better than I thought it would be. Who actually thought how Dorothy's life would be after she went back to Kansas. I really enjoyed it. What a story.
I really enjoyed listening to Maria Ru-Djen, she brought the story to life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.