Dorothy Must Die #1 by Danielle Paige
Synopsis:
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!
Review:
Dorothy Must Die is the debut novel of Author Danielle Paige, and is a dark, dystopian retelling of the classic The Wizard of Oz.
Though, “retelling” isn’t the right word to use. This is more a sequel to the original story. Dorothy returned to Kansas, but what happened after that? She returned to Oz, of course, and took over with an iron fist. The Dorothy we knew from the books and movies is no more, replaced by a maniac with a lust for control and a need for more power.
Oz has become a desolate wasteland, dotted in the middle by the unmarred Emerald City. Munchkins are forced into labor, Winged Monkeys are cutting their own wings off in order to escape slavery, and the famous trio (the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion) have become twisted caricatures of their former selves. The only person who can save Oz is Amy Gumm, a girl from Kansas with dyed pink hair and a drug addicted mother and a desire to just escape it all.
The future of Oz is placed in Amy’s hands.
I was skeptical of this book at first. I had seen the original movie classic, but had otherwise not been too enamored with the tale of The Wizard of Oz. But after reading this book, I’m ready to reassess my interests.
Amy is an extremely likeable character, and I found myself cheering her on throughout the novel. I also disliked the way she was treated, by both enemy and “friend.” You don’t know who to trust in this novel, and you can feel Amy’s frustration with everyone’s cryptic sentences and motives. In the end, the only person that can be trusted is Amy herself.
There are definite twists in this novel, more than once making me have to put it down to process what I had just read. Author Danielle Paige is certainly a master of the craft, and I’m, without a doubt, looking forward to the next book in this fantastic new series!
Five out of Five stars!