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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book! I have only read the first Oz book so I went into this knowing that there would definitely be things from the original Oz books that I didn't recognise. However I immensely enjoyed this book and didn't feel lost at all. I loved the character of Amy and I really liked how she was allowed to mess up and feel the consequences of her actions. There didn't seem to be a slow moment in the book and I found that it constantly held my attention. I did find that it seemed to rely a bit on cliches for some stuff but that never detracted from the overall reading experience. Basically I loved this book and would definitely recommend it!
On Reread:
I loved this book just as much as I did before and I also found that knowing some of the big reveals ahead of time didn't dampen my enjoyment of the book. I do feel like some character descriptions are very cliche (like those of Madison and Nox) and I'm not entirely sure we needed a description of how Dorothy looked every time she appeared. But I do really like this book and series and I feel like that was only proven on this reread.
On Reread:
I loved this book just as much as I did before and I also found that knowing some of the big reveals ahead of time didn't dampen my enjoyment of the book. I do feel like some character descriptions are very cliche (like those of Madison and Nox) and I'm not entirely sure we needed a description of how Dorothy looked every time she appeared. But I do really like this book and series and I feel like that was only proven on this reread.
Soft dnf. I'm thinking about coming back to this another time because I remember absolutely loving it in highschool but right now I'm just not feeling it and honestly kind of bored.
If you’re going to reimagine a story, you need one thing: IMAGINATION. As much as, if not more than, the original had. And very few people have more imagination than Frank L. Baum. So I approached the Dorothy Must Die series with little enthusiasm.
It turned out to not be that bad. It’s not great either – the tone is alllllllllllllllll over the place, like a kid throwing up on a carnival ride. But surprisingly, Danielle Paige’s trip down the beloved road of Yellow Brick is more interesting than I expected.
The story is well paced, zinging around Oz at a good clip. The action goes from dangerous to disgusting at times. Along with a few F-bombs, there are passages that will have you asking who this book is supposed to be for. I don’t have much nostalgic love for Oz, but I was rooting for Amy to win. Her character, complete with flaws, is by far the strongest part of this story. While Paige has turned Oz on its head – sometimes far more than necessary – Amy reads like a real girl trying to do the right thing.
It turned out to not be that bad. It’s not great either – the tone is alllllllllllllllll over the place, like a kid throwing up on a carnival ride. But surprisingly, Danielle Paige’s trip down the beloved road of Yellow Brick is more interesting than I expected.
The story is well paced, zinging around Oz at a good clip. The action goes from dangerous to disgusting at times. Along with a few F-bombs, there are passages that will have you asking who this book is supposed to be for. I don’t have much nostalgic love for Oz, but I was rooting for Amy to win. Her character, complete with flaws, is by far the strongest part of this story. While Paige has turned Oz on its head – sometimes far more than necessary – Amy reads like a real girl trying to do the right thing.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I was wary as Oz and the characters are so iconic. It's a very quick read, helped by the fact we know so many of the characters already and introductions aren't required. I like the twist that the characters you previously thought were good maybe aren't so good when they get power.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I LOVED this story. I read a lot of YA retelling of classic stories but this was was so refreshing because it was different. I grew up with the story of Dorothy and what Paige did here making her evil was so fun and interesting to read. I could not put this book down...the only thing that upset me and (WARMING MINOR SPOILER AHEAD OR MAYBE MAYOR) was that at the end of the story Dorothy was not dead! WHY? But Paige prose and story telling and world building was very well done.
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book had me wanting to fight for Oz!! Dorothy is such a good villain and I realized that while reading, it’s weird to envision it but she honestly does. Amy had me on a roller coaster with her decisions then the kiss she shared with Nox
Everyone knows the story about Dorothy, a simple girl from Kansas and how she defeated the Wicked Witch of the West. But not everyone knows the entire story: that after Dorothy returned to Kansas, she was tired of being treated like any other girl and returned to Oz, where she was treated like a heroine instead. And Dorothy has changed from the farm girl that she used to be to become a tyrannical princess now, enslaving the Munchkins and mining Oz for all the magic that it has.
Oz now depends on Amy Gumm, another girl from Kansas who appeared in Oz after surviving a tornado. Amy is shocked by the difference in Oz and when it's discovered that she comes from the same hometown as Dorothy and shares a nearly identical story about how she appeared in Oz, she's thrown into prison to be sentenced to a Fate Worse Than Death. When she's rescued and recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, Amy agrees to her mission--to kill Dorothy and to free Oz from her rule.
I didn't know what to expect from Dorothy Must Die and picked up the book on a whim, based on the quirky title and the cute front cover. While the book was rather long, coming in at 452 pages, I found that I did enjoy it. The plot is simplistic: it follows Amy as she trains to become an assassin and also details her encounters with the different people that she meets in Oz. There's Dorothy, the villain of the novel and the other witches. There's Pete, a boy with luminous green eyes who first found Amy when she appears in Oz. And there's also Nox, an enigmatic wizard that Amy is drawn to and who seems to equally attracted to her as well:
"I liked it before."
"What?" I asked, turning back to him.
"That face."
"My face?" He liked my face before? Was this a setup for some kind of insult?
"Don't get me wrong, Glamora's magic is effective. But it's almost a shame to see it change. I haven't seen one with so much written there--every thought right there on the surface. It's a rare thing in a place like this."
Amy was a wonderful MC, with enough pluck to keep her going despite some of the horrors that she's witnessed. Her background is rather sad though, she's been told that she's absolute trash and her mother neglects her. Despite all that though, Amy has always risen above the occasion. At its heart, this story is about Amy finding her identity, about what it is that she wants out of her life and who she thinks she is:
"It's not a matter of who you're supposed to be. The truth is, I already know exactly who you are. But my telling you--that won't do you any good. You have to be the one to figure it out. Here, try again. Light the candles."
I focused in on myself. I imagined the candles flickering and lighting up.
But still, nothing happened.
Even though I found the story to be predictable, I still liked the journey that Amy undertakes in learning more about her magic and infiltrating Dorothy's castle. The struggles that she feels about doing the right thing and about doing what's expected of her from the Order is believable. She's a spunky heroine who's extremely relatable and I enjoyed her character growth as she grew more confident about herself and her abilities.
However, I do find that there are some problems with this book though. For some reason, everyone in Oz is described to be extremely attractive. It's not only Nox that's said to be good-looking, it's literally every person that Amy meets--there's Dorothy who seems to be a cross between a prostitute and a succubus according to the description:
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 ilke she could have been my age or years older. She looked immortal.
There's Pete who's very beautiful and striking, there's Glinda and Glamora the twin blonde witches. The amount of attention that's given to the description of physical beauty got old fast and I didn't understand Danielle Paige's obsession with letting us know how physically perfect all these people were. The book probably could've been a lot shorter if there was less of these descriptions. Seriously, let's just get on with Dorothy dying!
And then there's also the relationship between Nox and Amy. I didn't buy the romance between them. Okay, so she finds Nox to be physically attractive and all but what distinguishes him from every other good looking guy out there? Nox remained a very flat character for me throughout the novel, even though there was an attempt to give him a tragic backstory.
Finally, I think the last issue is more of a problem with the publisher than with the author. I'm really hoping that the next book would make up for this one.
Overall, Dorothy Must Die was a very quirky and original retelling of an old classic. I enjoyed seeing the story being updated by Amy's adventures and I'm definitely excited to see where Danielle Paige is going to take us next! Dorothy better watch out because there's a new girl in town and Amy's not going to give up so easily.
Oz now depends on Amy Gumm, another girl from Kansas who appeared in Oz after surviving a tornado. Amy is shocked by the difference in Oz and when it's discovered that she comes from the same hometown as Dorothy and shares a nearly identical story about how she appeared in Oz, she's thrown into prison to be sentenced to a Fate Worse Than Death. When she's rescued and recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, Amy agrees to her mission--to kill Dorothy and to free Oz from her rule.
I didn't know what to expect from Dorothy Must Die and picked up the book on a whim, based on the quirky title and the cute front cover. While the book was rather long, coming in at 452 pages, I found that I did enjoy it. The plot is simplistic: it follows Amy as she trains to become an assassin and also details her encounters with the different people that she meets in Oz. There's Dorothy, the villain of the novel and the other witches. There's Pete, a boy with luminous green eyes who first found Amy when she appears in Oz. And there's also Nox, an enigmatic wizard that Amy is drawn to and who seems to equally attracted to her as well:
"I liked it before."
"What?" I asked, turning back to him.
"That face."
"My face?" He liked my face before? Was this a setup for some kind of insult?
"Don't get me wrong, Glamora's magic is effective. But it's almost a shame to see it change. I haven't seen one with so much written there--every thought right there on the surface. It's a rare thing in a place like this."
Amy was a wonderful MC, with enough pluck to keep her going despite some of the horrors that she's witnessed. Her background is rather sad though, she's been told that she's absolute trash and her mother neglects her. Despite all that though, Amy has always risen above the occasion. At its heart, this story is about Amy finding her identity, about what it is that she wants out of her life and who she thinks she is:
"It's not a matter of who you're supposed to be. The truth is, I already know exactly who you are. But my telling you--that won't do you any good. You have to be the one to figure it out. Here, try again. Light the candles."
I focused in on myself. I imagined the candles flickering and lighting up.
But still, nothing happened.
Even though I found the story to be predictable, I still liked the journey that Amy undertakes in learning more about her magic and infiltrating Dorothy's castle. The struggles that she feels about doing the right thing and about doing what's expected of her from the Order is believable. She's a spunky heroine who's extremely relatable and I enjoyed her character growth as she grew more confident about herself and her abilities.
However, I do find that there are some problems with this book though. For some reason, everyone in Oz is described to be extremely attractive. It's not only Nox that's said to be good-looking, it's literally every person that Amy meets--there's Dorothy who seems to be a cross between a prostitute and a succubus according to the description:
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 ilke she could have been my age or years older. She looked immortal.
There's Pete who's very beautiful and striking, there's Glinda and Glamora the twin blonde witches. The amount of attention that's given to the description of physical beauty got old fast and I didn't understand Danielle Paige's obsession with letting us know how physically perfect all these people were. The book probably could've been a lot shorter if there was less of these descriptions. Seriously, let's just get on with Dorothy dying!
And then there's also the relationship between Nox and Amy. I didn't buy the romance between them. Okay, so she finds Nox to be physically attractive and all but what distinguishes him from every other good looking guy out there? Nox remained a very flat character for me throughout the novel, even though there was an attempt to give him a tragic backstory.
Finally, I think the last issue is more of a problem with the publisher than with the author.
Spoiler
In the copy of the book that I borrowed, it says that Amy's mission is to remove the Tin Woodman's heart, steal the Scarecrow's brain, take the Lion's courage nad then--Dorothy must die. However the problem with this is that this portion of Amy's mission is only revealed at the end of the novel, by the Wizard. The Wicked have no idea that this is what Amy has to do in order to defeat Dorothy. Because of that, the 400something pages that I've read felt like a letdown.Overall, Dorothy Must Die was a very quirky and original retelling of an old classic. I enjoyed seeing the story being updated by Amy's adventures and I'm definitely excited to see where Danielle Paige is going to take us next! Dorothy better watch out because there's a new girl in town and Amy's not going to give up so easily.