bookishwanderlove

*I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*



2014 seems to be the year of retellings, but most importantly I have come across so many books taking their own spin on Oz and I love it! Tales from Oz is more of a prequel that shows us how each character came to be. I'm glad I decided to read this before reading Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz, I fell like this will help me understand and easily follow the backstory to Tin Man, The Scarecrow, Thane the Line and Toto.

While I'm very new to reading anything from Zenescope, I wasn't expecting the illustrations to be somewhat sexually explicit. Once you get past that, you're able to enjoy the amazing detailing in the illustrations and the use of colour to set the tone.
If I were to rate each character's story independently they would be:

Tin Man

“If you have no reason to fight, then you have no reason to be feared.”

The lonely woodsman had nothing to fear for he had nothing to lose, but once he managed to find love the witches took that away from him. This was a cruel story that shows you just how crude the witches can be once they feel like they’ve been betrayed. On a side note: Thora, I do not like you!!
4 "woodchopping" butterflies!
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Thane the Lion

I am not the warrior you are, brother. I love you too much to see you die.

This was probably the story I least enjoyed. I was glad to find out Thane’s background and the story of his family, and of course why love was so important to him. But I found I just wasn’t as interested to read about Thane the Lion.
3 "cowardly" butterflies!

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The Scarecrow

I'm so sorry, my love. I will love you for eternity. And you will be avenged. This I swear.

Now this was an excellent story! This is tied as my favourite with the story of Tin Man. While each story had gore to it, this one had the most bloodshed of them all, which isn’t why it was my favourite but because I found it the most interesting.
4.5 "vengeful" butterflies!
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Toto

She fell that day, beset by Zinna's malice, and has not stirred since."

Okay I will openly and honestly say this story confused me. Toto could probably be agreed upon as one of the forgotten characters, so reading the backstory was somewhat interesting but I feel that if they were going to write a back story they should have gone further back to the part in which his master battles the witches.
3.5 "wound licking" butterflies!
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Overall, I found Tales from Ozto be a very fast paced and enjoyable read! Now while I put this wasn’t a series, it said Vol. 1 on the cover…so is it safe to assume there might be a Vol.2? Or does Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz serves as “Vol.2”? Either way, I can't wait to start Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz.