Read Me Like…'s Reviews > Tik-Tok of Oz

This has been one of the biggest disappointments in the Oz series. The story is all over the place, Baum can't decide if the Nome King deserves redemption or not, and we have a character named "Ugly One."

There are two good things about this book. One, I finally figured out what it is that I don't like about Ozma. She's mean and she's a little dense. So, Ugly One is Shaggy Mans brother, and Shaggy has spent this never-ending book looking for him. Once Shaggy finds him, Ozma sends everyone back to where they belong, except for Shaggy, Ugly, Betsy, and Hank because 3 of the members aren't current residents of Oz and she can't let just anyone live in Oz. Except, she quickly decides to let Betsy live there so Dorothy can have a play mate and she can't separate Betsy and Hank. But she doesn't owe anything to Ugly. I mean, she says that. But she knows that Shaggy won't come back without him, but everyone in Oz loves Shaggy. Why is this an issue? You let the Wizard stay in Oz! So finally, after everyone says that they want Ugly to come live in Oz and Ozma agrees, she has the Wizard do the magic instead of just using the Magic Belt from the stupid Nome King. I just don't like her.

The other good thing in this book: Dorothy finally convinces Toto to speak. Every other animal in Oz can speak, so it didn't make sense that he couldn't. It was the fault of Dorothy not to make Toto talk sooner.

I will push through and finish the series, but I'm going to take a break. This book wore me out.