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Althie
Althea Westway has been told her entire life that her mutation, her skin, puts her at risk.
She’s content to stay with her sister and mother, safe in their cottage in the West Country forest. Then one day, after a game of hide and seek with her sister, she meets a young boy.
Made of tin.
He tells her stories of the world and encourages her to join him at the Marbost school.
Nathaniel and Althea are both Ozian outcasts, but know that they can get through anything together.
So what goes wrong?
Althie is a new take on the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and dives deep into the Is anyone ever truly just evil?
She’s content to stay with her sister and mother, safe in their cottage in the West Country forest. Then one day, after a game of hide and seek with her sister, she meets a young boy.
Made of tin.
He tells her stories of the world and encourages her to join him at the Marbost school.
Nathaniel and Althea are both Ozian outcasts, but know that they can get through anything together.
So what goes wrong?
Althie is a new take on the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and dives deep into the Is anyone ever truly just evil?
200 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 30, 2025
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 8, 2025
This book explores how the wicked witch became so wicked—a concept I was really eager to dive into. While I was excited to jump into this, there were some fundamental issues with the execution that made it a difficult read. This is one of those times I genuinely wish the book had been longer—just to give the story, characters, and world the space they needed to really come alive.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5
📖 Storyline: ⭐️⭐️
📉 Pacing: ⭐️⭐️
🖋 Writing: ⭐️⭐️.5
🌍 Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️
🎭 Characters: ⭐️⭐️.5
💓What I Liked:
The overall concept of the story had great potential. I could see where the author was trying to take Althie’s story, and there were strong foundations for something dark and emotionally complex. I especially liked the backstory of how the wicked witch came to be so wicked—because let’s be honest, there’s always a backstory, right? Exploring the “why” behind her descent was one of the more engaging aspects, and with more development, it could’ve been a really powerful origin tale. I do love a good origin story!.
The writing was mostly clean in terms of grammar, and there were moments where the emotional depth and worldbuilding tried to break through. With more room to grow and develop, I think this story could evolve into something truly impactful.
❌️What Didn’t Work for Me:
While the idea was promising, the execution fell short. The storyline felt more like a plot outline draft than a finished novel, especially toward the end, where things became rushed and erratic. The pacing was inconsistent and often jarring, with large time jumps that, although noted in chapter headings, still made the progression feel abrupt and disconnected. The formatting and structure of the writing made it difficult to stay immersed, and the worldbuilding lacked the depth and clarity needed to understand the setting or stakes. The characters, particularly Althie, felt underdeveloped due to the limited space given to explore her trauma and growth. As a result, I struggled to connect with her or any of the cast on a meaningful level.
✨️Overall:
I know this is meant to be a prequel, and while it didn’t leave me eager to continue the series just yet, I do see real potential here. While I did find it had some fundamental issues, I still liked the core idea and the direction the story was trying to take. With more development and space to flesh out the characters, world, and emotional arcs, this story could truly shine. It feels like a strong foundation that, with added depth, could grow into something genuinely compelling.
While I understand this is an ARC, and that anything under three stars is often frowned upon, I feel it's important to be honest and transparent with my fellow readers. I always want to approach reviews with fairness and respect, but also with authenticity—and in this case, the book just didn’t work for me.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5
📖 Storyline: ⭐️⭐️
📉 Pacing: ⭐️⭐️
🖋 Writing: ⭐️⭐️.5
🌍 Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️
🎭 Characters: ⭐️⭐️.5
💓What I Liked:
The overall concept of the story had great potential. I could see where the author was trying to take Althie’s story, and there were strong foundations for something dark and emotionally complex. I especially liked the backstory of how the wicked witch came to be so wicked—because let’s be honest, there’s always a backstory, right? Exploring the “why” behind her descent was one of the more engaging aspects, and with more development, it could’ve been a really powerful origin tale. I do love a good origin story!.
The writing was mostly clean in terms of grammar, and there were moments where the emotional depth and worldbuilding tried to break through. With more room to grow and develop, I think this story could evolve into something truly impactful.
❌️What Didn’t Work for Me:
While the idea was promising, the execution fell short. The storyline felt more like a plot outline draft than a finished novel, especially toward the end, where things became rushed and erratic. The pacing was inconsistent and often jarring, with large time jumps that, although noted in chapter headings, still made the progression feel abrupt and disconnected. The formatting and structure of the writing made it difficult to stay immersed, and the worldbuilding lacked the depth and clarity needed to understand the setting or stakes. The characters, particularly Althie, felt underdeveloped due to the limited space given to explore her trauma and growth. As a result, I struggled to connect with her or any of the cast on a meaningful level.
✨️Overall:
I know this is meant to be a prequel, and while it didn’t leave me eager to continue the series just yet, I do see real potential here. While I did find it had some fundamental issues, I still liked the core idea and the direction the story was trying to take. With more development and space to flesh out the characters, world, and emotional arcs, this story could truly shine. It feels like a strong foundation that, with added depth, could grow into something genuinely compelling.
While I understand this is an ARC, and that anything under three stars is often frowned upon, I feel it's important to be honest and transparent with my fellow readers. I always want to approach reviews with fairness and respect, but also with authenticity—and in this case, the book just didn’t work for me.
August 26, 2025
Althie or Althea isn't as you seemed. This is a different take on your beloved Wicked Witch of the West.
This story made me feel sorry for what Althea had to put up with during her life, the love she lost and the trust in people who were meant to protect her.
Althea has a lot of trauma that she is carrying around, no wonder she is unhinged and what's to kill Dorothy.
This story made me feel sorry for what Althea had to put up with during her life, the love she lost and the trust in people who were meant to protect her.
Althea has a lot of trauma that she is carrying around, no wonder she is unhinged and what's to kill Dorothy.
June 13, 2025
received this book as an ARC read (tales and teacups PR), so I pushed myself to finish it all in hopes that it was just the beginning that I didn't like.
however, unfortunately, I wanted to DNF it. it could be that it's because it's a prequel, or because it's an ARC read, but the entire writing of the story felt rushed and not immersive with rarely emotional impact even with such heavy topics.
I understand what the writer tried to do, I understand the stream of events that would ultimately build up to Althea's fall to rage, revenge, and darkness. HOWEVER, the way the story was told really did not reflect it.
many of the time skips felt unnecessary for the plot, and many of the major traumatic events were written just as casually as a description of a school day. it was written in an outside POV so we didn't read Althea's thoughts but there was barely anything that made you understand her turmoil or how she reacted to things or her inner conflicts between falling into rage vs not proving everyone right.
the dialoges were also really short and I really wish some of them were longer.
the writing between chapter 26 to 32 felt a bit better and more immersive with a glimpse into what she was going through after the SA, but again, there could be more written.
I signed up for the story for the dark magic academia enemies to lovers trope, I don't feel like I've gotten it tbh.
the childhood friends to lovers part was ok with Nate and I did like the parts with him towards the end.
All in all, it could be because It's a prequel to a series I haven't read, but I think the story could have been really good if the writing was more detailed and showing more emotion and inner struggles and the slow crumbling of Althea's resolve, like the author probably intended with the multiple instances of hate, violence, Injustice and SA.
however, unfortunately, I wanted to DNF it. it could be that it's because it's a prequel, or because it's an ARC read, but the entire writing of the story felt rushed and not immersive with rarely emotional impact even with such heavy topics.
I understand what the writer tried to do, I understand the stream of events that would ultimately build up to Althea's fall to rage, revenge, and darkness. HOWEVER, the way the story was told really did not reflect it.
many of the time skips felt unnecessary for the plot, and many of the major traumatic events were written just as casually as a description of a school day. it was written in an outside POV so we didn't read Althea's thoughts but there was barely anything that made you understand her turmoil or how she reacted to things or her inner conflicts between falling into rage vs not proving everyone right.
the dialoges were also really short and I really wish some of them were longer.
the writing between chapter 26 to 32 felt a bit better and more immersive with a glimpse into what she was going through after the SA, but again, there could be more written.
I signed up for the story for the dark magic academia enemies to lovers trope, I don't feel like I've gotten it tbh.
the childhood friends to lovers part was ok with Nate and I did like the parts with him towards the end.
All in all, it could be because It's a prequel to a series I haven't read, but I think the story could have been really good if the writing was more detailed and showing more emotion and inner struggles and the slow crumbling of Althea's resolve, like the author probably intended with the multiple instances of hate, violence, Injustice and SA.
July 18, 2025
As a huge fan of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz I devoured this book in half a day. The author has done an amazing job of providing a back story for the Wicked Witch of the West (Althie).
The story covered various points in Althie’s life and although there were large gaps in time it still flowed really well. The other well known characters from Oz such as Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy were incorporated in interesting ways.
Althie enjoys a relatively normal childhood, although her mother keeps her mostly out of sight. When she meets Nathaniel (Tin Man) she discovers friendship, acceptance and eventually love.
As Althie ventures out into the world through school, university and work she is increasingly labelled as bad and she suffers several traumas. Ultimately she becomes what the citizens of Oz have determined her to be and the darkness overcomes her.
The book is a testament to all women who have struggled with labels and trauma yet battled to overcome the darkness.
Thank you to Tales and Teacups and the author for the free review copy.
The story covered various points in Althie’s life and although there were large gaps in time it still flowed really well. The other well known characters from Oz such as Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy were incorporated in interesting ways.
Althie enjoys a relatively normal childhood, although her mother keeps her mostly out of sight. When she meets Nathaniel (Tin Man) she discovers friendship, acceptance and eventually love.
As Althie ventures out into the world through school, university and work she is increasingly labelled as bad and she suffers several traumas. Ultimately she becomes what the citizens of Oz have determined her to be and the darkness overcomes her.
The book is a testament to all women who have struggled with labels and trauma yet battled to overcome the darkness.
Thank you to Tales and Teacups and the author for the free review copy.
July 26, 2025
A quick prequel read following the story of the wicked witch of the west through her life in Oz before she came wicked! This was a fun short read into this world most are already familiar with but with some new twists on the story and a whole new magical school type portion. I enjoyed learning about all of the stories behind the world of Oz and the adventure of learning how all of the famous characters came to know one another in this retelling. I do want to warn to make sure to read the trigger warnings as there are some dark topics in this book. I could also very much understand the dissension into madness that Althie fell into after all of the trauma and bullying that she faced her whole life, I enjoyed this book and my rating is 4/5!
Thanks to the author and tales and teacups pr for the gifted copy, all opinions given are my own
Thanks to the author and tales and teacups pr for the gifted copy, all opinions given are my own
July 30, 2025
Have you ever wondered what happened to the Wicked Witch of the West for her to have been so wicked? This story is exactly that!
Hope Swan takes us on a journey as we learn more about Althea, with glimpses of many of the other well-known characters when they were young. Be warned, this is no fairy tale. The overall theme is rather dark, and you will need to check your trigger warnings before picking up this story.
The timeline set up is rather unique, giving glimpses of the different stages of Althie's life, which is a style that continues for the duration of the story.
While I enjoyed the story, I would have liked to dive into the story and events in more detail to allow for a deeper connection.
This is a truly unique take on the story of The Wizard of Oz.
A 3.5 star read for me, but bumped up to 4 stars with Goodreads unable to give half stars.
Hope Swan takes us on a journey as we learn more about Althea, with glimpses of many of the other well-known characters when they were young. Be warned, this is no fairy tale. The overall theme is rather dark, and you will need to check your trigger warnings before picking up this story.
The timeline set up is rather unique, giving glimpses of the different stages of Althie's life, which is a style that continues for the duration of the story.
While I enjoyed the story, I would have liked to dive into the story and events in more detail to allow for a deeper connection.
This is a truly unique take on the story of The Wizard of Oz.
A 3.5 star read for me, but bumped up to 4 stars with Goodreads unable to give half stars.
July 1, 2025
i liked the unique nature of this retelling, and the story was well written without a lot of fluff. The Oz nostalgia definitely pulls through, and Vilcarn sounds awesome lol! As a prequel, I didn’t really mind the big time jumps and minimal background for major plot points. I read this on a plane, and it was absolutely perfect for that. I will say some of the concepts don’t really hold up for me - while I understand Althie went through a lot, we don’t get a deep enough glimpse into her mental state for when she does lowkey lose it.
July 3, 2025
An amazing read that gives so much more depth to her first 2 novels. I enjoyed the whole thing from start to finish.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews