Ratings1
Average rating3.5
I'm giving this a 3.5/5 because overall I really enjoyed it. It was a 4ish hour read, quick, spicy, dark and twisted, and kept me interested through the book.
I enjoyed the portrayal of our classic crew: Crowe (aka the scarecrow), the undead zombie-like man who enjoys cruelty for the sake of it; Talos (aka the tin man), our silent but deadly, but also sort of caring man whose bones were replaced with metal; Leon (aka the lion), our sexy alpha male lion shifter who can't shift back into his lion form; and Tobias (aka Toto), our former emotional support dog turned alpha dog shifter, plus sexy and loyal protector.
Dorothy was okay in this portrayal, I didn't love her but I didn't dislike her either. As the book went on I realized she was just the ultimate submissive person and I understood her character a bit more, but I didn't really enjoy the Kansas> Hollywood actress attempt>back to Kansas trope she had. It was interesting and totally fit into the plot really well, but It wasn't for me.
The spice was great! 5 stars for the spice, and another 5 stars for the reverse harem trope. I loved how all of this turned out, and I loved how the author used all the camping and walking to the different places as an avenue for not only getting to know our characters better, but also to invoke lots of spice with each of the men.
The mate mark? Hell yes. The mind talking post-spice encounter? Hell yes. The exhibitionism for Crowe? Hell to the yes.
I LOVED the portrayal of the 4 witches and their different versions of cruelty. I thought it was really well written and thought out, and the author did a great job balancing the darkness and cruelty with not going too far. The things they did were HORRIBLE and they were so sick and twisted, but I loved it. 5 stars for the witches!
Overall, I enjoyed this book! I think I would have rated it higher if I liked Dorothy more since she was the main character, but everyone and everything else was great. If you are looking for dark twisted retellings with dark/ dom/sub spice, this series is for you.
*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*
Originally posted at woarr.com.