Broken: A Mystical Trip Through Oz
Jim Scarborough
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, YA Fantasy
* (Terrible)
DESCRIPTION: After a tornado devastated their Kansas town, Uncle Henry and Auntie Em were grateful that their home, at least, survived the devastation... but young
Dorothy suffered a bad blow to the head. She woke up babbling about scarecrows and lions and witches. When they take her to a specialist for treatment, he gives her pills to help her relax - but instead, they send her back to the land of Oz, along with her faithful stuffed bunny Mr. Fluffles. She hopes to visit her friends again, but something has gone horribly wrong. The Scarecrow's missing, the Emerald City is under siege, and the Wicked Witch of the East - flattened by Dorothy's house in her first visit - has returned for vengeance.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: Sometimes, I think it's just too easy to self-publish these days. This story reads like a first draft of light fanfic, with threadbare characters and a
weak storyline hampered by rampant spellings errors and outright misused words. (At one point, Dorothy and her friends spend an evening "recanting" tales of their adventures. Either the author meant "recounting," or he cut out a rather interesting chunk of story.) Most, if not all, of these issues could have - and should have - been ironed out with redrafting, beta-reading, or just plain running the thing through a spellchecker. The true killer, however, is the ending, a bait-and-switch that might have tempted me to toss the book against the wall had it not been on my beloved Kindle. Worse, there is a sequel available, implying a likely series in the making.
I'm sure Scarborough enjoyed writing this, and his friends and family adored reading it. For us hapless strangers, unfortunately, the charm is lost.
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