West of Wicked

West of Wicked by Nikki St. Crowe introduces us to Dorothy Gale, a girl without a clear past. Her memories of life before the monotonous, grey expanses of the Kansas prairie are sparse:

She recalls a desire to go home and a faint recollection of clinging to a woman who wasn’t her mother during a fierce summer storm, a storm so violent it whipped her hair sideways. The woman, face bloodied, pleaded with two strangers to take Dorothy. Dorothy's memory of the woman is faint, but the blood on her face is not.

As Dorothy grows older, a feeling of something missing in her life becomes undeniable. Only during her encounters with Edward in the barn's hayloft does she feel a jolt of electricity, as if the world suddenly bursts into vibrant colour. Chasing this thrill has consumed her ever since. However, this thrill falters when Edward proposes once more. Dorothy faces a conundrum: the sensible choice is to settle down with Edward, yet a part of her longs to uncover her true identity, an endeavour that requires leaving Kansas. Nevertheless, out of gratitude to Henry and Em, who provided her a home and upbringing, she feels obligated to care for them and the demanding farm.

Everything changes when a cyclone strikes, carrying away Dorothy, her dog, and the farmhouse to a land far more distant than she ever envisioned. She lands in a peculiar, shadow-veiled realm burdened by a curse. To return home, Dorothy needs a wizard's help. Her journey is fraught with peril, demanding she navigate a path laden with threats: menacing forest beasts, witches, a cursed assassin, and potentially the most treacherous of all— the wizard himself.