Review: Dorothy Must Die

Title: Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1)

Author: Danielle Paige

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: April 1, 2014

Source: Purchased from Amazon

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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 bluebirds. 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 a yellow brick road - 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.

My Review

Okay, so first of all, I must say that I never in my life imagined that there would be a dark retelling of the classic story that so many of us have come to love over the years that I would ever enjoy. I'm pretty skeptical about retellings, and honestly, I've only read a few. I knew that there were Oz retellings, but actually reading and enjoying one was just something that I never thought about. When I heard about Dorothy Must Die, I knew I had to get it. Like who would ever think that sweet, little Dorothy could be envisioned as an evil character? Obviously, I was intrigued.

Dorothy Must Die delivers the oh-so-interesting tale of Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas. Just like Dorothy, Amy has found herself in Oz after a tornado picked up her home. After exploring Oz for a bit, Amy soon discovers that she didn't land in the perfect "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" world that she's only seen in books and on the screen. Oz is dark. Oz is scary, and everyone Amy meets thinks that she will save the once wonderful land. Personally, I liked Amy. She's a spitfire girl from Kansas with pink hair, and she's sure to delight readers.

To save Oz, Amy must kill Dorothy. But why kill Dorothy? Isn't she just a sweet girl from Kansas who traveled to Oz, met some cool creatures, and eventually found herself back in her warm bed? Nope, you're wrong! In this retelling, Dorothy is now hungry for magic. She wants it all, and she is destroying Oz to make sure that she has all the magic she needs. She will literally stop at nothing to ensure that she is the most powerful on in all of Oz.

Honestly, Danielle Paige took a risk when writing this. She also took another risk in releasing it just when Oz stories were becoming prominent in the media and pop-culture again with Disney's Oz, the Great and Powerful and Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. I think the risk she took was worth it. Even though some parts of the book read a little slow, there is always something happening in Amy's journey to free the Ozians from Dorothy's reign. It is a unique parallel tale, and I think that readers of the original novel will enjoy it if they are also fans of dystopic, paranormal, and fantasy literature.

Beware if you are a huge fan of L. Frank Baum. Be prepared to see Dorothy's red slippers again. I was a little disappointed that the shoes were taken out of the movie, but Paige does make sure that the red slippers are just as powerful as they were in the movie adaptation. Besides, Amy does say that she saw the classic movie, so it makes up for it.