Waiting on Wednesday – Week 129

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It’s to spotlight upcoming books that I’m DYING to get my hands on.

This week’s WoW is:

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

**WARNING: contains spoilers from book 1, Dorothy Must Die**

In this dark, high-octane sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die, Amy Gumm must do everything in her power to kill Dorothy and free Oz.

To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die....

But Dorothy still lives. Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn't wait to leave behind, may also be in danger. In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked?

March 30, 2015 ● Goodreads

I'd only recently read and reviewed Dorothy Must Die (review HERE), and I’m absolutely desperate to get my hands on this one. I mean, Paige has created such a dark and twisted Oz... I LOVE IT. Need to also get my hands on the prequels and novellas... I also heard that this was optioned for TV. Can’t wait to see what they do with it :D

What are you waiting on?

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

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 93

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight on upcoming reads which I'm DYING to get my hands on!

This week's WoW is:

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

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:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

April 1, 2014 ● Goodreads

I love the sounding of this retake on the Wizard of Oz! Kind of reminds me of The Looking Glass Wars in that sense :P Hopefully this one will be up on Edelweiss, so I can get to it soon– it sounds amazing!

What are you waiting on?