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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I honestly couldn't make it through this book.
The writing was terrible and repetitive in places and it irked me so much. I kept pausing to reread because I had to mentally edit the sentences.
I didn't care at ALL about any of the characters, and honestly the whole thing seemed to be written by someone stuck in their Goth Vs Prep phase. And there's an obligatory love triangle that can be seen coming from a mile away.
Which is a shame, really, because the concept of Dorothy turning evil had so much potential, but the ball was dropped so hard with this book.
The writing was terrible and repetitive in places and it irked me so much. I kept pausing to reread because I had to mentally edit the sentences.
I didn't care at ALL about any of the characters, and honestly the whole thing seemed to be written by someone stuck in their Goth Vs Prep phase. And there's an obligatory love triangle that can be seen coming from a mile away.
Which is a shame, really, because the concept of Dorothy turning evil had so much potential, but the ball was dropped so hard with this book.
Though they seem to be everywhere these days, I'm still always a sucker for remakes of this kind of thing. Having been a huge fan of the Oz books as a kid, and liking the overall premise of the story, it seemed like a pretty good read. Long story short, it was... okay. Some of the twists were fairly predictable, but the main problem with it was that many of the sections seemed kind of unnecessary. Though I'm all for a good training montage (ie...the longest section of the book), I'm sure some of that time could have been better spent actually answering some of her (actually kind of important) questions. The lack of information isn't compelling as much as it is frustrating, and a fairly obvious indicator of them just trying to make a profitable series. (Also, Nox? Literally just one more of the angsty/angry/sparkly eyed formulaic dime-a-dozen YA love interests, but that's such a common trope that I'd be more surprised if he hadn't been, so it's all right.)
Given the ending, I might read the next one at some point, but I won't be racing to the bookstore.
Given the ending, I might read the next one at some point, but I won't be racing to the bookstore.
(From www.pingwings.ca)
Source: Borrowed ARC
Summary from Goodreads:
I borrowed my friend Kathy’s ARC (thank you!). I was so excited to read this book. The premise was so intriguing. I love the idea of taking a familiar story and putting an unexpected twist on it.
This story doesn’t waste time getting Amy to the land of Oz, where she’s greeted by the mysterious Pete. Eventually Amy finds herself on the wrong side of the Tin Man and his gruesome entourage, and locked up in the Emerald City awaiting trial. As for the rest of the plot, I’ll stop there, because it was so fun to read this without any idea of where the story was going. It was wonderfully unpredictable.
Right away it’s clear to the reader that this is going to be a dark story. It was darker than I expected, and I loved that! And for much of the story, Dorothy is a bit of a mysterious character, rarely seen by Amy but she certainly gleans a lot of information from the way others talk about her. I was fascinated, trying to think of what could possibly of happened to the sweet, friendly Dorothy we all know from The Wizard of Oz (I should note here that I have never read the Oz books, but I did watch the movie a lot when I was young).
There are the makings of a love triangle here, but one of the wonderful things that Danielle Paige does in this book is turn my idea of where that was going completely on its head. As I said, this book was unpredictable!
The characters I expected are all present in this book: the Tin Man, the Lion, the Scarecrow, the Wizard, Glinda, and of course Dorothy. And I loved seeing how they had been somehow twisted from the movie versions I was familiar with into darker, twisted, menacing figures. Seriously, so much darker than I thought the book would be (which is a good thing in my opinion!).
Slight spoilers – skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know! The ending left me with a few questions (how did Amy get to Oz; what are the Wizard’s motives and alliance; seriously, what happened to Dorothy) but I guess I just have to wait for the next book for answers. End of spoilers.
I’ve already pre-ordered a finished copy and can’t wait to put it on my bookshelf. This will be a lot of fun to re-read and now I’m desperately waiting on the sequel! This book is a must-read!
Source: Borrowed ARC
Summary from Goodreads:
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!
I borrowed my friend Kathy’s ARC (thank you!). I was so excited to read this book. The premise was so intriguing. I love the idea of taking a familiar story and putting an unexpected twist on it.
This story doesn’t waste time getting Amy to the land of Oz, where she’s greeted by the mysterious Pete. Eventually Amy finds herself on the wrong side of the Tin Man and his gruesome entourage, and locked up in the Emerald City awaiting trial. As for the rest of the plot, I’ll stop there, because it was so fun to read this without any idea of where the story was going. It was wonderfully unpredictable.
Right away it’s clear to the reader that this is going to be a dark story. It was darker than I expected, and I loved that! And for much of the story, Dorothy is a bit of a mysterious character, rarely seen by Amy but she certainly gleans a lot of information from the way others talk about her. I was fascinated, trying to think of what could possibly of happened to the sweet, friendly Dorothy we all know from The Wizard of Oz (I should note here that I have never read the Oz books, but I did watch the movie a lot when I was young).
There are the makings of a love triangle here, but one of the wonderful things that Danielle Paige does in this book is turn my idea of where that was going completely on its head. As I said, this book was unpredictable!
The characters I expected are all present in this book: the Tin Man, the Lion, the Scarecrow, the Wizard, Glinda, and of course Dorothy. And I loved seeing how they had been somehow twisted from the movie versions I was familiar with into darker, twisted, menacing figures. Seriously, so much darker than I thought the book would be (which is a good thing in my opinion!).
Slight spoilers – skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know! The ending left me with a few questions (how did Amy get to Oz; what are the Wizard’s motives and alliance; seriously, what happened to Dorothy) but I guess I just have to wait for the next book for answers. End of spoilers.
I’ve already pre-ordered a finished copy and can’t wait to put it on my bookshelf. This will be a lot of fun to re-read and now I’m desperately waiting on the sequel! This book is a must-read!
Full of basic tropes. Very dull. I'm not planning on reading the next books in the series. I sort of regret buying this but at least the cover is pretty!
I definitely enjoyed Dorothy Must Die and found the plot extremely original (though retellings are in) and creative. However, I had some issues with it that led me to give it only four stars instead of five. Mainly, when Amy finds herself in Oz she isn't surprised enough for the situation. There's no shock when she is introduced to magic, which I believe to be extremely odd. Not only that, but Amy had a "moment" where she only gained confidence in her abilities once she became really pretty. Personally, I'd prefer if characters didn't have to be drop-dead gorgeous in order to kick butt. It's a little degrading and it's one of my least favorite tropes. However, her pink hair sounds amazing. I love that she actually has dyed hair, you don't see that too often with characters.
Other than those complaints, I loved the fast-paced plot. I was on the edge of my seat the majority of the time. I also liked the chapter length, which was somewhere in between long and short. I don't like short chapters because they result in really choppy books, but I also hate long chapters because they leave me bored. This is probably the perfect length because I can read a full chapter in a short period of time, but still feel as though the plot isn't being rushed. So, kudos to Danielle Paige there.
Not to mention, the characters are awesome. Amy is strong, but still realistic, which is a problem I see a lot. Many of the strong characters don't seem real. Sometimes I wonder if Celaena Sardothien is actually meant to be real because she doesn't act real. Amy acted real and that's all I really ask for in a character. That, and character development at least. This book also had some nice character development, which is a plus in my book. If a character doesn't change over the course of a plot, I can't really continue the series. Characters are everything to me, and finding great characters within Dorothy Must Die really made me enjoy it.
Overall, I loved this book and recommend it to all fairy-tale retelling fans despite the minor dislikes. It also made for a really fun read because my friend, who gifted it to me for my birthday, put sticky notes all throughout it with comments. Those were hilarious and so adorable. I would just be in class reading and then I'd stumble upon a little note and just burst into laughter. So, thank you:)
-Book Hugger
Other than those complaints, I loved the fast-paced plot. I was on the edge of my seat the majority of the time. I also liked the chapter length, which was somewhere in between long and short. I don't like short chapters because they result in really choppy books, but I also hate long chapters because they leave me bored. This is probably the perfect length because I can read a full chapter in a short period of time, but still feel as though the plot isn't being rushed. So, kudos to Danielle Paige there.
Not to mention, the characters are awesome. Amy is strong, but still realistic, which is a problem I see a lot. Many of the strong characters don't seem real. Sometimes I wonder if Celaena Sardothien is actually meant to be real because she doesn't act real. Amy acted real and that's all I really ask for in a character. That, and character development at least. This book also had some nice character development, which is a plus in my book. If a character doesn't change over the course of a plot, I can't really continue the series. Characters are everything to me, and finding great characters within Dorothy Must Die really made me enjoy it.
Overall, I loved this book and recommend it to all fairy-tale retelling fans despite the minor dislikes. It also made for a really fun read because my friend, who gifted it to me for my birthday, put sticky notes all throughout it with comments. Those were hilarious and so adorable. I would just be in class reading and then I'd stumble upon a little note and just burst into laughter. So, thank you:)
-Book Hugger
I wish I could have this book 3.5 stars instead of 4 but whatever. I did really like the book! Read it in one sitting but I wish that there weren't two books; it'd be better if I could just read all of it in one go. I'm still going to read the next one because I'm curious, but I'm a little sad that it ended the way it did. I wouldn't say that the book was lacking but I think I was expecting a little more from it than there was, hopefully the next one wraps things up nicely. It'd be a shame to have such a good plot idea be left hanging.
Quite enjoyed it, interesting story line, good characters, gruesome moments, all the things I like! More opinions will be uploaded onto my channel later next week.