[review] Dorothy must Die

Title: Dorothy Must Die
Author: Danielle Paige
Series: Dorothy Must Die, #1
Harper Collins
452 pages

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!



To begin, I must be honest and say that I was expecting a lot from Dorothy Must Die, mostly because I had read its preceding novella, “No Place Like Oz”. I loved No Place Like Oz - it took me back to a something familiar like Dorothy, and I could relate to her problems so much. It was a great way of telling us how she became dark, and also extremely logical - throughout the entire novella, I could completely relate to Dorothy and her feelings.
This didn’t happen right away with Amy and “Dorothy Must Die”. Although yes, I understood that Oz was dying and its magic as well, it didn’t feel the same. The atmosphere was a little off, and I felt like everything was going too fast. I didn’t connect to our protagonist, Amy - although the other elements in Oz were pretty good and with great worldbuilding.
So the series in general has potential - especially because it’s populates with other amazing characters, like the Wizard, Ozma and the wicked witches, and as begginings go this book was pretty good - but I didn’t fall head over heels with it as I wished I could. The potential for this series to be completely awesome is there - and I’m kind of expecting it in the next books. In general, it’s a pretty dark story filled with magic and great stuff - but don’t expect too much from it.
If you like twisty tales and retelling, then you better watch out for this one - I think this series is gonna grow better and do BIG STUFF.


Rating: 4/5 stars
Quote: “I didn’t know what was worse: to have your shot and screw it up, or to never have had a shot in the first place.”