I received this book via the author, Candace Robinson, Amber R. Duell. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
Tin by Candace Robinson, Amber R. Duell Series: Faeries of Oz #1
Published by Midnight Tide Publishing on 2020-12-09
Length: 218 pages
Reviewing eARC Rating:
A curse to break...
Tin is the most famous fae in Oz for all the wrong reasons. Cursed with a stone heart, he is the perfect assassin: ruthless, efficient, and merciless with thousands of kills to his name. When his old friend, Lion, offers him a small fortune to deliver Dorothy to the South for his lover to wear the girl's head as her own, Tin doesn't hesitate to accept the unsavory deal.
Dorothy Gale lost everything--her family to illness, her dog to age, and now her farm to foreclosure. The entire town thought she was crazy for believing in a faerie world called Oz, but even after ten years have passed, she can't help knowing she was right. So when an emerald green portal opens in her wheat field, she jumps at the opportunity to return to the only place she ever felt like she belonged.
Tin wasn't expecting a grown woman to step through the portal, just as Dorothy wasn't expecting Tin to have his stone heart back, but Oz holds more unexpected things than either could have imagined. Magic has hidden dangerous lies behind glamour, trapped innocents in curses, and left the land of Oz in turmoil--none more so than the South. As Tin and Dorothy travel together for the second time in a decade, their lives begin to make sense again. Soon, they must decide who to give their loyalties to before Lion takes Dorothy's head and Tin's cursed heart is forever doomed.
It is no secret that I love retellings, and this book exceeded all of my expectations! Tin by Candace Robinson, Amber R. Duell is a substantially dark retelling of one of my favorites, The Wizard of Oz. Set roughly ten years after Dorothy returns to Kansas, Oz is in ruin. The fae who guided Dorothy as a child have gone their separate ways, and the gifts the wizard bestowed on them aren’t what they expected. Tin’s heart is stone once more, and the Lion has charged him with bringing Dorothy to his lover so she may wear her head. Can Dorothy soften the Tin Man’s heart or will she become just another victim to his bloodlust?
When we first meet Dorothy Gale, she is a jaded woman about to lose her family’s farm to debt. Ten years after her magical experience in Oz, Dorothy is lost once again. No one believed her about the magical slippers or the munchkins or the man who needed a heart. Instead she was subjected to “treatments” and told none of what she believed was true. So when a bitter Dorothy is pulled back into Oz by one of the Fae she long ago helped, the sadness and anger melts away to awe. It was all real, but nothing is what she remembered. The yellow brick road is crumbling, and the Fae she helped get a heart is cruel and distant, his heart returned to stone. I understood Dorothy and like her! She’s a fighter for those she cares for, and despite all she has been through continues to love and forgive with ease.
Tin is unlike any iteration of his character before him. I love this Tin Man! He has a heart of stone, no remorse for his actions, only living between jobs as an assassin in the kingdom of Oz. Like Dorothy, he is jaded and doesn’t care for the lives he takes. When approached to bring Dorothy back to Oz, he just accepts the payment and is even a little happy about the prospect of causing the girl pain who left him ten years prior. What he doesn’t expect is the woman he pulls through. Dorothy was just a girl when she was in Oz before, but humans age differently than Fae, and this girl is now a woman.
While Tin has plans to bring Dorothy to Langwidere, the witch ruling the west and attempting to overthrow Glinda in the South, Dorothy plans to find all her old friends and stop whatever is plaguing Oz. Dorothy’s kind heart and gentle spirit have an effect on Tin he can’t deny. I love how the authors combine the action and danger with a slow burn romance. Both move at a lightning quick pace, and the dual POV helps you understand the motives behind both characters. I found myself rooting from them from page one.
Overall I really enjoyed Tin. I loved the world of Oz and how the authors twisted the original to seamlessly create a new story. While I loved Tin and Dorothy, I cannot wait to see more of Crow and the others introduced throughout this book. If you enjoy Fae fantasy, slow burn and steamy romance, I highly recommend you grab this one.
About Amber R. Duell
Amber R. Duell is a native of Central New York but currently lives in Mississippi with her husband and two sons. She survives on caffeine and baked goods. When not reading or writing, she enjoys snowboarding, embroidering, staying up way too late to research genealogy, and discovering real-life adventures.
About Candace Robinson
Candace Robinson spends her days consumed by words and hoping to one day find her own DeLorean time machine. Her life consists of avoiding migraines, admiring Bonsai trees, watching classic movies, and living with her husband and daughter in Texas--where it can be forty degrees one day and eighty the next!
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