#garten gevedon

[nobeerreviews]

Well, here I am in the most exotic of places, in a world of vivid radiance, with magic all around me.

-- Garten Gevedon

#magic #nature #colors #ray of sunlight #garten gevedon #nature photography #switzerland #quote #flowers #photinia #garden photography

[brightbeautifulthings]

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon

"'Suppose we fail,' Werelion squeaks out. 'Then I shall always be a zombie.' 'And I shall always be a coward.' 'And I shall always be a heartless killer of vampires either way,' says Nick."

Year Read: 2019

Rating: 2/5

Context: I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publicists at Xpresso Book Tours. Trigger warnings: death, parent death, car accidents, grief, violence, gore, buckets of blood, threats, abduction, spiders, slavery, homophobic/ableist/sexist language, consent issues, some NSFW content.

About: When Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are swept up into a tornado, they're dropped straight into a world of monsters. Oz is overrun with zombies, vampires, and shapeshifters, and if Dorothy ever wants to return to Kansas, she's going to have to make it to the Emerald City alive. Helped along by her magical, butt-kicking boots and a few friends she meets along the way, Dorothy's journey takes her through the many lands of Oz and up against a number of foes, not least of which is the Wicked Vampire Witch of the West.

Thoughts: If you read my reviews, you know that I can’t pass up an Oz or Peter Pan retelling, and sometimes that’s a thorn in my side because I’ve yet to read an Oz adaptation I couldn’t live without. I don’t like to give low ratings to small press or indie pub books, but I don’t see a way around this one. There’s a lot of potential in here for a good story, but Dorothy in the Land of Monsters is mightily in need of an editor–-perhaps two, because its issues are both structural and line-based.

On a structural level, it's just too long. The book too closely follows the events of the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz (with its own monstrous spin on them), and it quickly grows tedious. At least two or three of the major confrontations could have been left out in favor of streamlining the plot. The narration is also extremely repetitive. Dorothy thinks many of the same things, in the same words, every few pages, and characters have what amounts to the same conversations several times (especially if she's talking to Nick about their Feelings).

On a sentence level, the writing just isn't great. The descriptions are wildly overdone. I'm fond of adjectives, but it's more adjectives than even I would ever use, plus every synonym for red and yellow I've ever heard (and some I haven't). I don't often imagine writers sitting with a thesaurus open next to them, but it's clear that's what happened here. There are also basic mistakes that a good editor (or even a good beta reader) would have caught, such as characters' names randomly appearing before they've introduced themselves and a character's hair color changing from gold to dark and back again. Usually, I can overlook a handful of editing errors, but there were enough to be distracting.

The characters are average. Dorothy is a fairly standard heroine who falls victim to some tired YA tropes (not being like other girls, not realizing she's drop dead gorgeous). Apparently, her boots make her act cockier than she really is, and she says a lot of insensitive things under their influence. They’re a constant strain on the story’s believability, so powerful that I never really believed that Dorothy was in any danger from the threats she faced. The romance plot is similarly packed with overdone tropes (he's too attractive for me, mutual pining and denial), and it takes up more of the novel than it needs to.

In contrast, her other two companions don't get nearly the same development. I did love Glinda, fabulous red-haired Rita Hayworth queen that she is, and I wished she'd gotten more page-time. I also like the twists Gevedon puts on the universe with plenty of zombies, vampires, and shapeshifters (though I did have Damon Salvatore in my head going, "I think the PC term is witchpire" every time someone said Vampire Witch), and there's plenty of world-building on the magic system. All in all though, it's entirely too much: too many descriptions, too many scenes, too much repetition. I struggled to finish, and I won't be continuing with the series.

#book review #dorothy in the land of monsters #garten gevedon #the wizard of oz #ya fantasy #ya paranormal #netgalley #xpresso book tours #2/5 #rating: 2/5 #2019

[solaceinprose]

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters (Oz Revamped #1): A Review

My name is Dorothy Gale, and I think I might be dead. When my dog Toto and I got swept up in a twister, we landed in hell. A very colorful hell. Like a rainbow dripping in blood. Now it looks as though this dreadful underworld plagued with vampires, zombies, and shifters will be the site of my eternal damnation. They say this terrifying land called Oz isn’t hell or purgatory, that escape is possible, but first I must survive the journey down the blood-soaked yellow brick road to the only place in Oz where vampires dare not tread—The City of Emeralds. With enchanted footwear and the help of my three new friends—a friendly zombie, a massive shifter lion, and a heartless axe murderer of evil night creatures who also happens to be the hottest guy I’ve ever seen—Toto and I have a fighting chance to make it to the Vampire Free Zone. When we get there, I must convince the most powerful wizard in this magical land of monsters to send us out of this radiant nightmare and return us to the world of the living. They say he’s just as frightening as this monstrous land, that he detests visitors, and even the most horrifying creatures cower in his presence, but I must seek him out. And when I find him, I’ll do whatever it takes to make him send me home.

First, thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book. When I read the description, it immediately caught my attention. A retelling of Dorothy in the land of Oz, but with monsters? Sign me up. I did not love this book. I barely enjoyed it at times. This book took me entirely too long to read only to not finish because I couldn’t be pressed to pick it up. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments that shined in this book. The friendship between Dorothy and the Oz Trio was very well written. The descriptions of Oz were so vivid, I could see it in my mind. The world building, or the revamping of the world of Oz was done very well. That’s about all I can say good about this book. I had three major gripes about this book. First gripe is the use of SAT/ACT words when Dorothy is our narrator. Dorothy is supposed to be 17 from Kansas and hasn’t finished high school yet. Her school is very small, and I’m pretty certain they’re not the best school in the state of Kansas since it’s in the middle of everywhere. If the story was told in 3rd person omniscient, then I could understand the use of such words. But this is from the eyes of a 17-year-old girl, and I’m going to take a bet that she doesn’t really know these words. It sounded like the author had a thesaurus next to her the whole time and just wanted to fancy up the writing. It didn’t need it. The descriptions were good enough on their own, that using big fancy words just bogs the writing down. Also, the overuse of certain words like scintillation was aggravating as hell. The writing bogged this story down, and it appeared to be a clever way to disguise the lack of character development with Dorothy. My second gripe is the forced romance between Nick and Dorothy. Oh my Ozma, did these two annoy the ever living crap out of me. They’ve known each other for maybe a total of a month, if we take into consideration all the time they spent walking to Oz, the time they spent in Oz, and then heading to kill the Vampire Witch of the West, and the time Dorothy was trapped there. They had known each other less than that before Dorothy is all, “Oh I’m so in love with Nick!” Then he’s all, “Oh, I’m so in love with Dorothy!” Before we’re even 70% into the book, they’ve proclaimed their love for each other and how they will never love anyone else in the entire realms. Hold up, girly. You’re 17. You got your whole life ahead of you. Slow down for a second. There’s even a part after they return to the City of Emeralds (because Emerald City was too…plain?) that she refers to him as her husband. NO. NO NO NO NO. That’s not how it works, and they just became insufferable with their misery that he wants her to leave and she wants to stay and fight with him, and they’re just not meant to be together because they are both TOO STUPID TO FUNCTION. This romance wasn’t needed. Or better yet, this romance had time to grow. My third gripe was this book didn’t know if it wanted to be young adult or a new adult novel. There were moments that were not young adult appropriate, and all the talk about sex kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. We had a character flat out call Dorothy a place for Nick to park his cock, and I was so flabbergasted that this made it through an editor’s pen. It felt like the author wanted to make this an adult fiction but was trying to bank on the young adult readers, so she aged down Dorothy and Nick, but left all the inappropriate dialogue and scenes. I’m not a prude by any standards, and I love me some smut, but if this was written towards young adults, mainly teens, then the all the talk about sex, friends with benefits, having flings needs to be cleaned up a bit. That would also take out a lot of unnecessary scenes between Nick and Dorothy. Good Lord was there way too many of the same repetitive nonsense between these two. Okay, I have final gripe. That was Dorothy’s silver boots. These literally created plot armor around Dorothy, and soon because that all threats to her life became predictable, because of these boots. They created this armor that made her this badass of a warrior even though she hadn’t fought in her entire 17 years. Nothing was going to touch her, and the only time she didn’t benefit from the boots, they still protected her. She was never in any actual danger, so all the scenes with monsters and danger fell flat. If our main character isn’t at risk of dying, being hurt, or being turned into a vampire or zombie, then what is the point of having those fight scenes? The boots were too powerful, and it took away from the suspense and danger this book was trying to create in a land full of monsters. This book had a lot of potential, but it needs an editor that is going to be brutal to it and take out half of the unnecessary drama between Nick and Dorothy. Also there were a lot of typos, but nothing that took me out of the book. I didn’t need help with that, I stayed mostly on the outer edges of the book most of the time anyway. I didn’t finish it so I have no idea how it ends. I just couldn’t be bothered with it anymore.

GoodReads Rating: 2 Stars

#booklr #Dorothy In the Land of Monsters #Garten Gevedon #book review #book reviews #e-arc #arcs #netgalley #books #bookish #book lover #book nerd #book worm

[fangirlmomentsandmytwocents]

Dorothy In the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon Blitz

#dorothy in the land of monsters #garten gevedon

[jolieeason]

Book Blitz: Dorothy in the Land of Monsters (Oz ReVamped: Book 1) by Garten Gevedon

Book Blitz: Dorothy in the Land of Monsters (Oz ReVamped: Book 1) by Garten Gevedon

Dorothy In the Land of Monsters  by Garten Gevedon  (Oz ReVamped, #1)  Publication date: October 11th 2019 Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

Goodreads

Shifters, Zombies, and Vampires? Oh my!

My name is Dorothy Gale, and I think I might be dead.

When my dog Toto and I got swept up in a twister, we landed in hell. A very colorful hell. Like a rainbow dripping in blood. Now it…

View On WordPress

#book 1 #book blitz #Dorothy in the Land of Monsters #fantasy #Garten Gevedon #Oz reVamped #paranormal #young adult

[magical-book-lush]

Hi @starlightdesignsss, I am so glad that you are hosting a rep search. My name is Suzan Khoja. I am from India. I am an aspiring blogger and writer. I have my own website on which I write about books and also fight against body shaming. I love reading books. My favourite authors are Nag Mani (an Indian author), Garten Gevedon, Sara Wolf and the best of all George Orwell. I love George Orwell's books. I don't even need to write my first favourite book as you can already guess it's 1984 by George Orwell, I also love Dorothy In The Land of Monsters (a newly released book that touched my heart), The Green Room by Nag Mani and Bring Me Their Hearts series by Sara Wolf. I am so much into horror, thriller and suspense that my friends call me mini Sherlock Holmes. Now that I have written all this, I don't even think I am applying for a Rep Search but I feel like I am just blabbering. So I will end this. I hope you consider me for your Rep search. I just want to learn and work more with other people, A rep search will be a great way to learn and also will help promote my blog and your business. I hope you liked my introduction (I know it's wacky😜 but that's just me). #sdrepsearch #repsearch #bookblogger #bookstagrammer #bookworm #repsearchentry (at India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CERRVlpHUnt/?igshid=1gn5it7q5mnyb

#sdrepsearch #repsearch #bookblogger #bookstagrammer #bookworm #repsearchentry

[mybookplacenet]

Featured Post: Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon

"About Dorothy in the Land of Monsters: Shifters, Zombies, and Vampires? Oh my! My name is Dorothy Gale, and I think I might be dead. When my dog Toto and I got swept up in a twister, we landed in hell. A very colorful hell. Like a rainbow dripping in blood. Now it looks as though this dreadful underworld plagued with vampires, zombies, and shifters will be the site of my eternal damnation. They say this terrifying land called Oz isn’t hell or purgatory and escape is possible, but first I must survive the journey down the blood-soaked yellow brick road to the only place in Oz where vampires dare not tread—The City of Emeralds. With enchanted footwear and the help of my three new friends—a friendly zombie, a massive shifter lion, and a heartless axe murderer of evil night creatures (who also happens to be the hottest guy I’ve ever seen)—Toto and I have a chance to make it to the Vampire Free Zone. When we get there, I must convince the most powerful wizard in this magical land of monsters to send us out of this radiant nightmare and back to the world of the living. They say he’s just as frightening as this monstrous land, that he detests visitors, and even the most horrifying creatures cower in his presence. But I must seek him out. And when I find him, I’ll do whatever it takes to make him send me home. Targeted Age Group: 18+ Written by: Garten Gevedon Buy the ebook: Buy the Book On Amazon Buy the Print Book: Buy the Book On Amazon Author Bio: Garten Gevedon lives in New York City with her family. She's a sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, and magical realism author who loves taking fairy tales and turning them inside out. You can visit her online at www.gartengevedon.com. Follow the author on social media: Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author's Website Twitter Instagram Read the full article

#fairytaleretelling #Fantasy #magicalrealism #paranormal #paranormalfantasy #Paranormalromance #shifter #teen #upperYA #vampire #WizardofOz #zombie

[erraticprojectjunkie]

Winner of the randomized pick! I’ll be picking up Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon later this evening. #wintermagicalreadathon #epj via Instagram https://ift.tt/39exEuO

#IFTTT #Instagram

[beanosfighter]

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters (Oz ReVamped Book 1) by Garten Gevedon

My review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3041271921

#bok #review

[moohnshinescorner]

BOOK BLITZ| DOROTHY IN THE LAND OF MONSTERS

BOOK BLITZ| DOROTHY IN THE LAND OF MONSTERS

Dorothy In the Land of Monsters Garten Gevedon (Oz ReVamped, #1) Publication date: October 11th 2019 Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

Shifters, Zombies, and Vampires? Oh my!

My name is Dorothy Gale, and I think I might be dead.

When my dog Toto and I got swept up in a twister, we landed in hell. A very colorful hell. Like a rainbow dripping in blood. Now it looks as though this…

View On WordPress

[brightbeautifulthings]

November

J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O

New Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (5/5) We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix (4/5) Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire (4/5) Beast by Peter Benchley (4/5) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (3/5) The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (3/5) Scared Little Rabbits by A.V. Geiger (3/5) Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon (2/5)

Rereads Say Cheese and Die– Again! by R.L. Stine (2/5)

#november reads #november wrap up #november reading #monthly wrap up #monthly reads #monthly reading #monthly reading wrap up #booklr #yrstruly

[solaceinprose]

Dorothy In the Land of Monsters: Reading Progress Notes

I’m not sure how I feel about this book just yet. The premise is interesting for sure. There are moments in the book that really shine. Then there are moments where I’m like, am I reading the same book?

The instant attraction to the Tin Man (who is actually human) has been a bit much. He’s at least only 2 years older than Dorothy (who is 17),  so that isn’t so bad. Them making out within a day of knowing each other was a bit unrealistic. This girl knows nothing about this dude except what he’s told her, but she immediately believes him because, well, she’s a fucking teenage girl who just got sucked from her shitty life in Kansas to a shitty quest in Oz. 

I guess we all gotta get our joy in somewhere.

The dialogue is also lacking so far. Dorothy’s ‘voice’ changes too rapidly for me to keep up some times.

There’s also the subject of the magical silver boots that act as the perfect excuse for Dorothy to be a badass who never fought in her life. Okay. I mean, it’s Oz. Anything goes, I guess.

I’m only about 20% done with this book, and Dorothy is about to meet this book’s version of the Cowardly Lion. 

I’m mostly curious as to how the author is going to drag this into a series. That’s the main reason I’m venturing on.

They also liked my status on Good Reads about reading the book, so now I feel as if I have to finish.  

#booklr #dorothy in the land of monsters #garten gevedon #arc #e-arc #netgalley #reading progress notes #currently reading #books #bookish #book nerd #book worm #book lover

[cbybookclub]

Book Blitz & Giveaway - Dorothy In the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon https://t.co/sd00aCwUP2 https://t.co/CiG7DHYtAE

#October 29 #2019 at 12:15PM

[valerieullmerromanceauthor]

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garden Gevedon

Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garden Gevedon

…

Dorothy In the Land of Monsters

Garten Gevedon (Oz ReVamped, #1) Publication date: October 11th 2019 Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

Shifters, Zombies, and Vampires? Oh my!

My name is Dorothy Gale, and I think I might be dead.

When my dog Toto and I got swept up in a twister, we landed in hell. A very colorful hell. Like a rainbow dripping in blood. Now it looks as though this…

View On WordPress

[freebargainbooks]

FREE eBook from February 14 - 18, 2020

#youngadult #romance #teen #fantasy #paranormal #freebooks

[magical-book-lush]

Participating in Magical O.W.L.S Readathon hosted by my favourite @book_roast. In this Harry Potter themed readathon, I am all set to become a Spell Maker. Let's start studying for the exams people. // My textbooks this semester are: •Ancient Runes: Dorothy In The Land Of Monsters by Garten Gevedon. •Arithmancy: Stolen By A Star by R.G Winter. •Astronomy: Lost Girl by Holly Kammier. •Charms: Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. •Divinations: 99 Stories Of Blood On The Wall by Kevin Cathy. •History of Magic: Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf •Transfiguration: Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. So now it's study time. 😜😊✌ #magicalowlsreadathon #readingtime #bookishlyme #letsreadtogether #readathon (at Between The Worlds) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-kas5enzD2/?igshid=1p40vp2vgzspl

#magicalowlsreadathon #readingtime #bookishlyme #letsreadtogether #readathon