Before the tornado Amy Gumm's biggest problem was a pregnant bully. Now this girl from Kansas finds herself in Oz; she's just not the first one to get there. Glenda may have sent Dorothy home with her famous slippers, but Dorothy is back and, with the help of Glinda, The Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion, has installed herself as princess and is draining Oz of its magic. Amy is sentenced to death by a jealous Dorothy, after all, if there are two girls from Kansas wandering the yellow brick road, Dorothy isn't so special anymore. When Amy is saved by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and the next thing she knows she's been tasked with killing Dorothy. 
 This world doesn't feel completely Page's. We're in what feels like a pseudo-goth Oz, which is great, but Page owns it. I have admittedly never read the original Oz novels, though they've been on my list for a while. I love that Page harkens back to these books, especially when talking about the Tin Woodsman (although the novel does mention the iconic red slippers of the movie). Unfortunately, I never get a real good lay of the land. I know that Glinda and Dorothy are stripping Oz of it's magic, leaving it dark and dank, as well as littering it with dangerous holes unsuspecting girls form Kansas could suddenly wander into. I guess I just wanted more. I didn't want it to feel so surface level. I wanted Page to take control with her re imagining in the same way that Gregory McGuire's Oz felt both familiar and radically different. 
 Because the world felt so half-formed to me, I often had trouble with the premise. Dorothy was a caricature, and I could recognize it as a device. But, I grew up with Dorothy, and it goes against my grain for her to be a villain. I need a little more backstory to her becoming a villain than, she went home and didn't feel special enough. Indeed, most of the characters felt this half-formed. They were at the mercy of the plot instead of the plot developing organically out of the characters. Actions often didn't feel motivated, and left me raging at wasted potential. Amy learns magic very quickly in the book equivalent of a montage. I expected to spend the entire book with the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. Instead we spend a little bit of time with them before we're whisked back to the palace, and I'm left scratching my head about what the stakes really are. 
 Despite this, I did enjoy myself. There are details that I love. For instance, like Dorothy, Amy has a furry friend who accompanies her to Oz, her pet rat. I love that the Tin Woodman is not so secretly in love with Dorothy. And I can't wait to see what the series continues to do with Ozma. I just can't help seeing these bits of, "Yes!" and want some of the other bits smoothed out. The pieces are all there. For me, it just needed a little more development so I didn't feel like we were ploinking around in a "and then this happened, and then this" kinda way. It was a fun enough romp. I hope the next installments can work on the world and character building. I want to feel the stakes and be invested in Amy's fight. Right now, I'm just not there yet (This is where I spare you a Wizard of Oz pun, something to do with "not in Kansas anymore" or "over the rainbow" or who knows. You're welcome).