Wicked Review: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Published: April 1, 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Acquired: Digital copy

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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 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.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I didn't really expect that I'd like this book. But this book blew me away - more like swept up in a tornado. I was hesitant to actually read this book because I thought this would be a fan fiction, a rather cheesy fan fiction. But, no. The world of Oz is utterly a classic, way before Hogwarts came to life, Frank L. Baum was already writing about witches and magic and the wonderful place that is Oz.

Oz became a wasteland. Gone were the cute Munchkins and the flowers and rainbows. It was like Oz was turned upside down. And upside down it was. I love how Danielle Paige wrote Dorothy as this really annoying, evil, God-awful, demanding, and everything that is not Good. She was the kind of villain that you hate the most but yet you still like her because her villain-ness is amazing. I had a hard time picturing what Dorothy looked like in this book. We all remember her gingham dress and magic shoes. But here, she was a hot mess. Her merry band of friends, the Tin Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow, became monsters with the Scarecrow being the scariest one out of the three for me.

Amy, on the other hand, was a complete opposite. She had pink her to much her spunk. Her curiosity and her compassion lead her to more losses than wins. She was trained by Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, the merry band of witches that aims to bring back the old Oz and ultimately kill Dorothy. Amy's training to wield her magic was not easy as performing magic was forbidden by Dorothy and the source of magic was slowly depleting, a result of the magic mining.

All in all, this book was as action packed as I thought it would be. I can't wait for the next book, The Wicked Will Rise. Check out the cover below~

Danielle lives in NY. Before turning to YA, she worked in television & was nominated for several Daytime Emmy's. Dorothy Must Die is her first novel.

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