Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Release Date: April 1, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Dorothy Must Die, Book 1
Rated: YA 14+
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

There was a ton of hype for this book around the time it came out, particularly because the Wicked Witch of the West appeared on the TV show, Once Upon a Time. I wanted to read this one anyway because I’m a HUGE fan of the movie with Judy Garland (“Over the Rainbow” is my jam), and I have read The Wizard of Oz, even though I didn’t continue on with the series and I read the book like a bajillion years ago. Dorothy Must Die did not disappoint– I was really taken by the dark retelling of the classic and found myself enjoying the changes made to familiar characters and the world of Oz.

Okay, so at first, I’ll admit, I hated Amy. She seemed spineless and constantly whined about her life. Yes– she doesn’t seem to have the best life. But seriously, does she need to complain about it all the time? Anyway, thankfully all the whining went down later on in the book and there was some major character change. I must also admit, while I do love the sweet and innocent version of the character, Dorothy was amazing. Horrifying, yes, but what a character. I seriously enjoyed her pigheadedness and general dictator-like stance, so you've got to hand it to her: she knows how to be evil.

I’m really considering reading the rest of the books in the series as well as a re-read of The Wizard of Oz because there are so many characters that apparently exist in the classic that I totally could not remember in this retelling. It would be cool to compare how they are in the original versus how they’re presented in this novel. I’m also looking forward to reading the prequel (or should I say prequels) to this series, No Place Like Oz and The Witch Must Burn. I’m definitely interested to see how Dorothy came back to Oz, as I’d mentioned she’s such an intriguing character in this novel, and how she becomes this tyrannical ruler.

Playfully imagined and wickedly enthralling, Dorothy Must Die was a spiced up return to the yellow brick road and the Emerald City, complete with the original cast like you’ve never – and I repeat, never – seen them before and new characters that must face this brave new Oz. Danielle Paige’s debut is addictive and I can’t wait for more!

If you like this, try...

• When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle ● Goodreads
• Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter ● Goodreads

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪