A dark retelling of the Wizard of Oz, this novel looks at the events following the tornado when 11 y/o Dorothy “returns home” from Oz. After going missing in the twister, she shows up in a neighbor’s yard full of tall tales about a whimsical land…and is quickly dismissed until she brings up accidentally killing a wicked witch. Days later, a local spinster referred to by many as a “witch” is found dead in her home. This twisted take on the Frank Baum classic takes on a murder investigation, an insane asylum, and the pious prejudices in a small Midwest town in the late 1800s.
As a childhood fan of Baum’s novels and even later loving spinoffs like Wicked and Son of a Witch, I was immediately drawn to this novel. I enjoyed the darker take as an adult but still found myself with a lot of questions at the end. The narrator did a good job, however, of making each character distinct which helped when following multiple perspectives or dialogue.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I am fortunate enough that I grew up close to a library that had an entire Oz collection -- most people don't realize that after L. Frank Baum, there were other "Oz historians" that kept the stories going for a long time. There were some inconsistencies and different points of view, but the other tomes were fun, imaginative books, and I also loved the movie and the musical and went to meet the actors who played the munchkins. So this was a really interesting experience, a book that used the setting but made it more realistic and kept you guessing as to what REALLY happened.
It's different, but once I got used to it, I enjoyed the way the story was set up. We hear from a young woman investigating the murder of the "witch" and from someone in the community, which is deeply religious and set in its beliefs, especially about the other people in the community. I found both points of view to be sympathetic, in that I could understand how they were thinking. This is a dark story, but it was fun to have this different perspective. The narration was great, which is part of how I remained so sympathetic. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook.

Let me start by saying that I was never a fan of The Wizard of Oz. However, when I read that AFTER OZ would be a 'dark retelling' (that I guess can also kind-of work as a sequel?), I was intrigued.
And at first this book was working with me. The tornado and the repercussions of it, this very religious (and small-minded) small town, the pagan and the magical elements, there is a psychiatrist in the story, which I'd say it helps the plot to bring some realness to it. All elemens and concepts that I usually like, and I was ok with them. However, I didn't connect with the author's writing style. I was pulled out of the story many times because I couldn't ge past it sometimes.
I will say that the audiobook helped me go through it. The audiobook narrator was decent enough (and the fact that this audiobook is fairly short also helped me) and it was because of the audiobook that I managed to finish the book.
I didn't have such a great time with this one but I'm sure other readers will. Maybe especially the ones who like the original Wizard of Oz.