[ARC Review] The Great and Terrible by Gena Showalter

✨ PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS: When twenty-year-old college dropout Moriah Shaker runs into an empty chapel to escape an unexpected storm, she’s catapulted into another world Wizard of Oz style. Unfortunately, she winds up in the treacherous realm of Hakeldama, a fantastical but brutal land where justice is twisted and innocents pay for crimes committed by the elites—and she’s now marked for death.

On the run and determined to get home, Moriah heads for the City of Lux, where a rumored portal between worlds exists. At her side are the most unlikely of companions. A scrappy hustler, a cranky ex-mayor, and a growing beast-dog. But the one who fascinates her most is Jasher, a heartless executioner who hides a terrible secret. Together, they’ll battle bounty hunters, lethal poppies, and winged monsters. Though Moriah doesn’t yet know it, there’s nothing more dangerous than their forbidden attraction.  

✨ MY THOUGHTS: The Wizard of Oz is admittedly not a go-to for me when I'm wanting to read a retelling. But Gena Showalter's Wizard of Oz-inspired fantasy hit all the checkboxes for me and gave me a story I couldn't put down from beginning to end. 

For fans of the movie and/or original story, Gena managed to work in a lot of references while making this story wholly her own. I immediately felt for Moriah and the struggles she was facing at home, coupled with knowing her father needed help she just couldn't provide herself. Being transported to a new world was the last thing Moriah needed, but it was also the catalyst to Moriah becoming her best self. 

Unlike the land that inspired it, Showalter's fictional world is not all gumdrops and lollipops from the very start. It's evident that the world Moriah now found herself in had danger around every corner, with one wrong step (or one little lie) easily dooming whole groups of people. I loved this idea of the whole world Moriah found herself in just being more menacing right from the get go. Gena took everything Dorothy had to be scared of and amplified it tenfold. 

I really enjoyed all the supporting characters in The Great and Terrible. Moriah stood out all on her own, but her journey wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if it weren't for the cast of characters she traveled with. Jasher was a stand-out character; he was grumpy, he was stoic, and he kept a lot of secrets from Moriah. But watching him slowly open up and put it all on the line to keep Moriah safe? His actions made me like him as a love interest, despite all the big reveals. 

This story was, start to finish, an epic adventure that seemed both familiar and strange. By the end, this felt like a perfect start to Moriah's adventures, and I can't wait to see what comes next. 

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Release date: 11/4/24

Format: eARC

eARC provided via: the author/Author Talk Media