Dorothy Must Die, by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1), by Danielle Paige

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Retellings

Rating: 5/5 stars











Goodreads Summary: 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:

 "I don't know why you're here or who brought you, Pink Hair, but if you're here, it means it's all beginning for you, too. You're like her in so many ways, but I can tell you're different. I can't help you. I'm not powerful enough. But you can help yourself. Prove me right. Don't make the same mistakes she made."

 Before reading this book and the prequel itself, I'd never think that Oz was such a horrible place. Every little girl's dream is to live the life that Dorothy did, and experience all of the wonder and heroic abilities that Dorothy did in the movie. Now, I'm really not so sure. The truth hurts...

  I'd recommend that you read the prequel before reading this. That's what I did, and after reading this, you'll have a full understanding of what really happened to Dorothy before this main fiasco began. There is a reason why Dorothy became to be such a bitch, and you'll definitely realize the truth kind of better.

  But seriously, I don't blame the Wicked witches, Dorothy really has to die. What the frost cakes does she think she's doing, ruling and overpowering Oz? To get magic and to get whatever she wants? Oh, come on. 

  I swear, this is how I imagine that... piece of snot. x) I remember feeling sympathy towards her in the prequel, but now she has definitely crossed the line. 

  This about Amy Gumm. She is going through a tough time at both school and home. Her mother doesn't care anymore, and all she does is drink and expects Amy to do all of the cooking and cleaning while she goes and hits the local bars. At school, Amy is known as the girl who goes and shops at the Salvation Army. Life is tough, and one day when a tornado is just about to hit her small town in Kansas, her mother goes out and leaves her in their small trailer apartment. The tornado hits... and she wakes up in Oz, with a cute "rescue guy" hunched over her. She doesn't know where she and why she got all the way there. All she knows in her heart... is that she must kill Dorothy, and she will do whatever it takes to accomplish that.

  Dorothy's past story is very similar to Amy's, but Amy is living in the present day, and things have definitely changed since that time. It's been many years since Dorothy has stole the throne, and once Amy arrives in Oz, everything has changed since Dorothy's young age days. Oz is horrifying and is almost completely destroyed... and it's all because of Dorothy. Many people are living in sorrow and sadness, and since Amy, the perfect heroine, is willing to change that, she must kill Dorothy.

   "When I'd watched The Wizard of Oz with my mother, Glinda had always been my favourite character- because who wouldn't want to travel around in a flying soap bubble wearing an awesome dress? She'd been my mom's favourite character, too, but for a different reason."

   If you had read my prequel review, you would have known that something about Glinda was strange to me... and in this book, we really found out the truth, at least I did. Glinda is pure evil, even though she was the good witch. I KNEW IT.

   "I know, she said. I hate it. Her huge grin barely moved as she spoke. It was like Botox in a tube." 

   Oz is absolutely fake and like an industry now. It's not a fairyland that we all know of. PermaSmile? Seriously? Dorothy was really spicing up something here..

  Wait until you read this quote:

  "Instead of farm-girl cotton it was silk and chiffon. The cut was somewhere between haute couture and French hooker. The bodice nipped, tucked, and lifted. There was cleavage. Lots of cleavage.

Dorothy’s boobs were out to here, her legs up to there. Her face was smooth and unblemished and perfect: her mouth shellacked in plasticky crimson, her eyes impeccably lined in silver and gold. Her eyelashes were so long and full that they probably created a breeze when she blinked. It was hard to tell how old she was. She looked like she could have been my age or years older. She looked immortal.

She had her hair pulled into two deep chestnut waves that cascaded down her shoulders, each one tied with red ribbon. Her piercing blue eyes were trained right on me. I knew I was supposed to look down, like the Tin Woodman had instructed. Instead, I found myself falling into her gaze. I couldn’t help it.

Her eyes didn’t look evil. They looked curious and almost kind. Like she was just trying to figure me out. She was so pretty that it was hard to imagine she was responsible for Indigo’s death or any of the other atrocities I’d been told were her fault."

God, Dorothy. What's up with you? Where's the old country girl we've always known?

The characters were absolutely amazing, besides the wicked "princess," of course. Amy was the most kick-ass character I've ever read about, and I love her heroic personality. She just wanted everyone to happy, and was willing to take many risks to get that established. All of Oz depended on her, and she made them proud.

The romance just blew me away. NOX, NOX, NOX, where have you been all my life, my little honey bunches of oats?

  He was so sexy, and just made my insides burst. It was even better that he was a warlock, OMG. A guy who knows how to fight and to make girls' insides burst? That's my man. *giggles*

  What can I say? This book hooked me from the start, and Danielle Paige has created my favourite book of 2014. A great idea + a heart-pumping storyline + plot twists + amazing characters= absolute perfection.

  Thanks to everyone on the Goodreads "DOROTHY MUST DIE READALONG" group for introducing me to this amazing novel.

   EVERYONE. MUST. READ. THIS. BOOK. NOW.