I wouldn't say that this is a particularly cheery series but for some reason I found The Wizard Returns to be more sinister than the last two novellas. This might be because 1. I always found The Wizard to be a rather shifty fella and 2. This book did not resolve the mystery surrounding this character. Is he good? Is he wicked? Who's side is be actually on? Nobody knows!! What we do know is what he was up to when the people of Oz thought he had returned home (you're not even ready for that anticlimactic reveal). I, for one, am chomping at the bit for the next book in the series, The Wicked Will Rise, which I'm sure will more than satisfy my burning curiosity…I hope.

I don't think it's ever taken me this long to read a novella. I had a really hard time getting into this. It was definitely my least favorite of the novellas tied to this series.

I wasn't overly interested in the wizard or his story after reading the first book. The other novellas added something to the series at large. They were interesting and helped explain backstories of several important characters. That's not to say the wizard isn't and won't continue to be important in the actual books, his backstory just wasn't all that compelling.

The only reason I didn't give this fewer stars is because of the way we get to see the wizard grow and change in this novella. It was nice to see. I also liked the character Iris and found her to be entertaining. But that doesn't change the fact that overall this novella was an unnecessary one.