Review--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.

Danielle Paige's debut Dorothy Must Die was seriously my most anticipated new release for the first half of the year! And so far it remains as for the whole year as well! It was freaking amazing!!

Now I know the story of Oz, I mean, most of us have see Judy Garland in her most famous performance of it, after all. Which helps in knowing the facts, that being said, I highly recommend reading No Place Like Oz, the prequel novella. This will give you a little more insight to Dorothy and her rise to power too! It's not necessary to read it prior to this, but it's definitely helpful! And delightful!

Amy Gumm is your average teenager. Except, emphasis on average. She lives in a trailer park with her mother, who's a heavy drinker ever since she got a little too addicted to her pain medication. Amy's life has basically took a turn for the worse. Her father left them years ago for another, better life and poor Amy was left to raise her mother after her mother gotten into a car accident and then addicted to the painkillers. Amy is also very unpopular and is bullied at school by another girl and really, her life isn't anything special. She wants more from life, but she doesn't expect it to happen when a tornado drops her trailer--with her and her mother's pet rat, yeah, no Toto dogs for Amy in it--in Oz.

After shell shocking revelations, Amy learns she is in fact in Oz. But it's nothing like the storybooks or movie for that matter. Dorothy is reigning supreme over Oz. There's the Order of the Wicked, the remaining wicked witches of Oz who are a rebel group basically, plotting to overthrow Dorothy and put some order back into Oz. One of these witches brings up a good point to Amy, that Good is now bad and Bad is now good. Basically, all our heroes are now villains and the villainous sort are now our heroes. Of course, our Wicked Witch of the West and East are still dead, so it's not like they're around to help with the cause.

I have to say that I positively loved this! In a way, it does remind me of Wicked, but only because we get a new twist to the story. From that, we learned of Elphaba and her plight, how she really wasn't an evil, wicked witch really. And now here we learn that Dorothy, a once hero of Oz, is now a tyrant! 

I will segue in that there was a tad of romance in here for Amy. Living her life as Amy Gumm, she never had a boyfriend. But here in Oz, it seems like she has caught the eye of a young man or two! First is Nox, a member of the Order who is training Amy to use her powers--people from The Other Place tend to have capabilities of powers. So while learning to use this new found power, there's quite a bit of tension or just something growing between Amy and Nox. But I liked that it wasn't an automatic insta-romance situation. Kudos to Danielle for that part! Then there's also Pete, another young man who was there when Amy landed and basically helps her along the way in small manners. Definitely an interesting predicament Amy's in.

The characters were by far my most favorite part! I loved seeing how Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and even Glinda are all different from what we know. I don't see this book as something that butchers a classic tale. It merely, expands upon it! I mean, what does happen to Oz after Dorothy leaves...well, now we have the answer!

The pacing was also remarkably done! We get Amy landing in Oz fairly early on and then learning how things have changed rather quickly. It moves seamlessly through the motions up until it's shocking ending!

I will forewarn you, there's a bit of a cliffhanger! Not one that makes you shout in agony, oh no, but this is one that just kind of keeps you on your toes in anticipation. Amy learns a few things or two that will be helpful her quest to kill Dorothy. It's definitely going to be a fantastic series, one that stays with you even after the last page is read! I am so looking forward to reading the rest of this series!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars