Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

How did I get the book? I bought it.

Genre: Classis Retold

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!

200words (or less) review: Well what can I say about Dorothy Must Die?
It’s brilliant!

This book was just about everywhere in the run up to the release and jumped right to the top of my reading list the moment it was delivered. I hope a UK publisher picks it up soon because I really want everyone to get a chance to walk down the dilapidated yellow brick road.

I love retellings but they don’t always work out and the bigger the hype the more I dread that the book won’t deliver. Danielle Paige did not let me down. At. All.

Amy Gunn is the other girl from Kansas, she arrives at Oz the same way Dorothy did. There is the yellow brick road, she finds a munchkin but Oz is corrupt. Good is cruel. Wicked can be good and Amy never gets the full story.

I adored the way the Oz came to life on the page, even with pre-existing ideas Danielle Paige builds a world for you that you feel like you’re walking around in, instead of reading about. Old and new characters work together so well.

Dorothy Must Die is a book that truly lives up to the hype.

Recommend it?

Absolutely

 

Side-note: I am no annoyed that No Place Like Oz isn’t available to download in the UK (at least not that I can find). Hopefully I can get it when I’m @ BEA / New York.