West of Wicked: I Have Thoughts, and Feelings

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What if Dorothy wasn’t the cutie pie we were told she was? Yeah she has the dress and the ruby slippers but what if she was more?

What if Oz was never emerald but shadow?

What if the villain…got the girl in the end?

Because that’s the promise on the cover of West of Wicked. And I needed to know if Nikki could deliver on it the way she delivered Peter Pan into my bloodstream with Vicious Lost Boys.

Spoiler: she gave me something different this time.

Keep reading. I need to talk about it with someone.

Title: West of Wicked (The Great and Terrible Land, 1)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Format: physical ARC

Genre: Dark Romance, Fantasy Retelling

Release Date: April 14, 2026

Pages: 320

Star Rating: 3.5 liked with with reservations

Spice Rating: 1 chili pepper (lower than you’d expect from Nikki, and we’ll talk about that)

The Cyclone Hits Different This Time

You know this story.

You think you know the story.

Because you actually don’t know this story.

Dorothy Gale doesn’t know where she came from—only that Kansas is gray and flat and all wrong for her. Then the cyclone comes. The farmhouse is gone. And Toto (who I am CONVINCED is hiding something, more on that in a sec). And suddenly she’s in a cursed land, shrouded in shadow, on a path that isn’t quite yellow yet glittering, chasing a wizard who might be the most dangerous thing in the entire story.

There’s a mercenary who’s been cursed.

There are witches who know her name before she tells them.

There is power sleeping under Dorothy’s skin that she doesn’t realize she has yet, but you feel it humming on every page.

It’s sweeping. It’s lush. Nikki St. Crowe takes the bones of a story we all grew up with and builds something new on top of it. Detailed, descriptive, magic glistening across the yellow brick road like iridescent oil on water. You can see it. The buildings. The witches. Dorothy herself. And just when you’re getting your bearings, she pulls the familiar out from under you.

The worldbuilding is the love letter here.

(Also, when Dorothy tells Delphine her name? And Delphine goes WHITE and says I know who sent you, and then LUNGES at her? I nearly dropped my Kindle. I actually did gasp, mind whirling.)

Let’s Talk About the Two POVs

Dorothy’s POV is in first person.

Cleo’s is in third.

And I’m still turning this over in my mind, honestly.

Because yes, being dropped directly into Dorothy’s head, first person, present, on hand experience, is what lets you connect with her. I was her when she landed. I was her when the curse pressed in. That immediacy is everything in a retelling where the main character is already someone we think we know.

But Cleo’s POV being in third kept her at arm’s length. It made her feel observed. Watched instead of experienced. Like I was reading about her instead of being with her through the journey. And honestly, I’m not sure yet if that was intentional —a quiet signal about who Cleo really is—or just a choice that didn’t quite land for me.

I’m leaning intentional. From what I know about Nikki, she doesn’t do accidents.

The Twist I Called (And Mostly Minded)

I’m going to be careful here because I am NOT spoiling you.

But there’s a reveal. A big one. Late in the book.

And I clocked it. Early. Like, in the introduction of the character early.

Part of me didn’t mind. There’s something so satisfying about watching a story confirm what your gut has been whispering the whole time. You get to feel smart 😏. You get to feel in on it.

The other part of me?

Was annoyed because I wanted to be wrecked when it was revealed.

I wanted to be absolutely floored the way Nikki floored me in Vicious Darling. I wanted the floor to drop out. And it didn’t quite hit that way, because I’d already sketched the outline in my head by chapter five.

Here’s Where I Have to Be Honest With You

I didn’t love West of Wicked the way I LOVE the Devourer series. I am not really comparing.

But at the same time, I said what I said.

And before you come for me, I KNOW. I know. But you and I are friends, and I’m not going to lie to you about a book.

This one is slower. More methodical. It asks you to settle in, to let the world unfurl, to trust that the payoff is coming in book two and subsequently book three. And that’s a different kind of reading experience than the full body devour of Roc, where I didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, didn’t exist outside the pages for 48 hours.

West of Wicked is the foundation.

Devourer of Men was arson (and if you know Roc, you know he would love that 😏).

Both matter. They just hit differently.

And here’s the thing, I’m still going to read East of Envy. I already requested it on Edelweiss. Because Nikki’s writing shines even in setup mode. The prose is still gorgeous. The atmosphere is still a hand necklace. And when she pulls the trigger in book two, I want to be in the room.

🛒Shop Indie Because Where You Buy Matters

If this sounds like your next obsession, please grab West of Wicked from an indie bookstore.

Bookshop.org. Your local romance forward shop. The indie that hand sells dark romance with a knowing smile. They’re the ones keeping this genre alive, and every copy that moves through their door is a vote for the books we actually want to read.

(Amazon will always be there. Your favorite indie won’t be, if we don’t feed her.) 🖤

Read If You Like:

• Villain gets the girl energy that actually commits to the bit
• Retellings that honor the original without being a cover song
• Lush, atmospheric world-building that treats setting like a character
• Morally grey mercenaries carrying curses
• Slower burn series openers that are PLAYING THE LONG GAME
• Nikki St. Crowe’s prose in any form (hi, it’s me, obsessed)

Not For You If:

• You need book one payoff, or you’ll bounce
• You came for Lost Boys level spice (this is lower heat, I’m not going to lie to you)
• You want a twist you didn’t see coming
• Slow, atmospheric openings aren’t your vibe
• You’ve never been able to get into Oz as a world

One Last Thing Before You Go

Here’s what I keep coming back to:

Nikki wrote a Dorothy who kills. 🔪

Who walks into Oz not as a lost little girl but as someone with power she hasn’t named yet. Who tells a witch her name and makes her flinch. Who is being watched, sought, and feared before she even knows why.

That’s not nothing.

That’s a promise.

And I’m going to be there when it’s kept.

Grab your copy of West of Wicked from an indie bookstore and let’s be wrecked together. 🖤

Dedicated to the girls who always knew Dorothy had more in her. And to Nikki, I’ll follow you anywhere. Even through a cyclone. 🌪️📖♾️

Thank you to Bramble and the Queen Nikki St. Crowe for providing me with an ARC of West of Wicked. I can’t wait for East of Envy and wouldn’t be opposed to an early copy!

Where We’re Going Next🖤:

Will Katee Robert’s Learn My Lesson Leave You Wanting More?→ If West of Wicked had you craving more villain energy and a dynamic that actually commits, Katee might be your next download. Come find out if she delivered for me.

Extreme Dark Romance Books That Cross the Line→ For when the shadow in Oz wasn’t dark enough. These are the ones I whisper about. The ones with the content warnings that mean it. Proceed like you mean it.

Do I have the Other Book Challenge?→ The bookish scavenger hunt my TBR was NOT ready for. A book with a villain MMC? Check. A shadow-drenched retelling? Now I have one of those too. 🖤Come see what my shelves coughed up.

Secrets, Lies, and Chills: 10 Psychological Thrillers You Need→ When you want that “I KNEW IT” feeling, but this time the twist actually wrecks you. If the West of Wicked reveal left you wanting more bite, these will leave teeth marks.

Penryth Mystery: Immersing in ‘The Curse of Penryth Hall’ →Same atmospheric chokehold. Different world. If it was the lush, cursed, settle into it quality of Oz that held you, meet me in Cornwall.

The Best Books I Read in 2025→ The ones that left marks. The ones I pressed into every friend’s hands. If you trust my taste after West of Wicked, come see the books that owned my whole year🖤.

The Best Murder Mystery Books→ Sometimes the romance girlies need a body count. No notes. These are the ones I kept coming back to when I want a mystery that actually earns its reveal. 🔪