Nikki St. Crowe

“Peter Pan was a myth and now he’s real and he’s drinking in the sight of me like I’m a mirage.”

I don't think I enjoy anything more than I do a Peter Pan retelling and I have to say I'm incredibly mad at myself for waiting this long to dive into these amazing books. I love the fact that we've aged up our characters. It always makes these retellings more fun that way. I adore this book, I feel like I inhaled it. Winnie is the perfect character. She feels alone and to an extent she's show more searching for something more... I mean when you start looking forward to being taken by Peter Pan, who it turns out is the bad guy... The whole book just had this amazing feeling to it. Pan and his three most loyal Lost Boys are a group for sure. A very powerful group of people. I instantly loved how each of them are all so different. I apparently have a thing for the sweet morally gray "villains" and I won't apologize.
The book has the romance dynamic down of course and the scenes are chef's kiss. I really enjoyed though just how much of an actual broader story exists. Neverland is basically in a power struggle between Pan, Hook and Tilly (the Fae Queen) and watching all the ways this plays out is amazing. It's also really cool because we don't know much about Pan at this point or really any of our major players and I have to say I can't wait to find out more. The book throws so many plot twists that you just know something amazing is coming. I really feel like this one kept me on the edge of my seat at the end... just to end on an intense cliffhanger that made me dive right into the next one. show less

~~Reviewed by Toby Palevsky Smith of Toby's Nerd-Cave Library~~

A retelling of the Wizard Of Oz. A different, more modern Dorothy Gale who uses foul language, has sex, and smokes a joint within the first chapter, lives in Kansas with Em and Henry, who took her in when she was left with them by a mysterious woman when she was less than 5 years old. Life on the farm is safe and comfortable, but Dorothy longs for something more. When a huge cyclone comes to Kansas and lifts Dorothy, her dog show more Toto, and her entire farmhouse into the air, they are deposited right onto the Witch Of The East in the strange land of Oz.
Dorothy kills the witch in self defence, but all the East Enders believe she is a great sorceress to be able to kill the ‘unkillable’ Cardinal Witch, and begin to cheer and celebrate her.
I’m really liking these alternate characters too - The Tinman as a (literal) heartless, ruthless mercenary tasked with kidnapping Dorothy for the Wicked Witch Of The West; Rook as the Scarecrow, a man with no memories found hanging beaten bloody and tied to a pole, but has a sexy grin and charming sex appeal constantly coming out of him. I think Cleo’s character might be this world's version of the Cowardly Lion - just based on how she is terrified and everyone and everything, and even afraid to speak most of the time.
The writing style really kept me engaged and the pacing was great for me. The surprise twist at the end really got me, I honestly did not see that one coming. Definitely a cliffhanger ending, and I am now desperate for the next book to find out what's happened to everyone. I would absolutely recommend this to any adult reader who likes classic retellings, with modern and spicy twists.
Thank you to my sister, Ari, at the Cuyahoga County Public Library for providing me with a free paperback ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. show less

This story starts out like the original with Dorothy getting transported to Oz and killing the witch. She encounters the Scarecrow and saves him. He gives her the nickname "Kansas". He goes by the name of "Rook". Together, they try to make sense of what happened and what Oz is all about.

The make their way to see the Wizard. However, the Wicked Witch is after them. The Tin Man is another main character in the story. A bit of a spark does slowly bloom between Rook and Dorothy.

I really loved show more this book. It is a romantasy. So, the focus is more on the storyline and characters than the spicy romance. I am not mad about this. This is because the storyline and characters were so intriguing by themselves that I was fully engaged. In addition, that I felt like this first book was setting up the framework for what will be a very exciting next book; especially after the twist at the end.

I am hooked and can't wait to read book two. Calling all audiobook fans, as you are going to want to listen to the audiobook. It features a full cast of amazing narrators! Both the Wicked Witch and Glenda would both agree that this book is amazing! show less

I really like that the complete collection of this series is available in one audiobook. This allowed me to just keep listening and not lose momentum with the series as one book ended and the next one began. What really did make the audiobook enjoyable are the two narrators, Amy and Jim. I thought they both did really good jobs of voicing the characters. This included Amy voicing male characters.

I do like Jessie and Bran together. Although, I do have to admit that it took me a bit warmer to show more warm up to Jessie than Bran. Instantly, I liked Bran as soon as I met him. This is because he has a cocky side to him. I am a sucker for cocky, handsome men, even vampire men.

I became more invested in Bran, Jessie, and this world as the stories progressed. This omnibus is a romantasy. So the story is more of the focal point with touches of spice here and there. If you like strong stories and engaging characters, where the MMC sinks he teeth into you. you will want to turn up the volume on this audiobook. show less