Dorothy: The Darker Side of Oz by Scott Stanford

As Dorothy awakes in Oz there's no sunshine in Munchkin country, just a twisted race enslaved by the Eastern witch, and a crooked path of yellow bricks she has to take to the mysterious Emerald City, a place ridden with sinister secrets. To get home the orphan girl treks the magical land, sometimes beautiful though often deadly, seeking help from the great wizard of Oz. The young girl struggles through a vast land of new sights, unfamiliar villages, and endures the dark forest, finding strange friends along her way. Cautiously trusting a peculiar scarecrow, he accompanies Dorothy through Oz, finding a tragic tin-man on their travels, and the cowardly lion; a victim to Mr Jack's infernal carnival. The animal's only hope is to be saved by Dorothy and her friends, but the ringleader and his obscure show have other plans for them. Dorothy's enchanting journey takes her through new, peculiar and amazing countries as Oz unveils itself. The strange friends must fight to overcome the rivers of mist, the deadly poppy fields, and beyond; whilst Kalidahs, Hammerheads and other macabre creatures stand in their way...and if they reach the Emerald City, they my find more than they bargained for. To get back to Kansas the young girl must survive the dangers of Oz, find the mysterious great wizard, and most of all, avoid the dead-lands of the West, where the evil witch Outika breeds her carnivorous pets, and watches the strange friends' every move. This isn't the Oz you know, and Dorothy may never leave. From Goodreads.

It was okay but I think I need to read the real Wizard of Oz soon to have something to compare with. I have only ever seen different cinema editions of it. I think I know the ending of the original and this one is different and I kind of liked that.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge
Serious Readers 2013
Tower Teams Read 2013-2
2013 Ebook Challenge
Bout of Books Read-a-Thon 8.0
Author Alphabet Reading Challenge
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
2013 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2013 Why Buy the Cow? Reading Challenge (free on Amazon.uk 1st of December 2012)