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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
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.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Una gran sorpresa este libro, diría que lo único malo es la contraportada que literal spoilea el final del libro y para donde va la historia
The evil are now good, the good are now evil, and I'm ill, yet despite the the fact that no one watches these I somehow felt the need to film a video whilst ill, and off my tits on flue medication, this may explain why I was so angry and ever so slightly crazy.
Full video review can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlZZM2fViSU
Full video review can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlZZM2fViSU
Not my favorite version of oz but not the worst either. worth a try if you like oz based stories.
I expected so much more from this book! I mean with a name like "Dorothy Must Die", who wouldn't be excited?? The plot is ok but the writing is horrible!
1.
a forced romance (girl meets guy, girl hates guy and guy hates girl, the first time they are alone,they kiss, which is 2 hours later even though they don't know/like each other)
2.
this main girl is unbelievably stupid. She went to a witch who puts her in a healing pool because the girl was hurt. The witch dunks her to make her fully heal, and she starts freaking out! She says,"I thought she was my friend, but then she betrays me like this!" WHAT THE HECK??? SHE JUST TOLD U IT WOULD HEAL YOU!! And the book is really cheesy and did I mention the horrible writing? She tries to make it suspenseful but I end up laughing many times at Danielle Paige's pathetic attempts to make this book exciting...This may be a premature review since I am not finishing this, but I feel that this writing and plot will not get any better.
1.
a forced romance (girl meets guy, girl hates guy and guy hates girl, the first time they are alone,they kiss, which is 2 hours later even though they don't know/like each other)
2.
this main girl is unbelievably stupid. She went to a witch who puts her in a healing pool because the girl was hurt. The witch dunks her to make her fully heal, and she starts freaking out! She says,"I thought she was my friend, but then she betrays me like this!" WHAT THE HECK??? SHE JUST TOLD U IT WOULD HEAL YOU!! And the book is really cheesy and did I mention the horrible writing? She tries to make it suspenseful but I end up laughing many times at Danielle Paige's pathetic attempts to make this book exciting...This may be a premature review since I am not finishing this, but I feel that this writing and plot will not get any better.
Actual rating: 4.5/5
When I first began reading this, I was beyond excited! I adored The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when I was younger and seeing how I like retellings I knew I was bound to enjoy this. And I did. A lot.
At the beginning, I wasn't a huge fan, but once we entered Oz I was swept away.
What I LIKED:
•Oz...Oz was magical the first time I encountered it. This time it was dark and creepy. Very creepy. And I LOVED it!! Normally creepy things....well creep me out, but this kind of creepy was awesome.
•Characters: and when I say characters I mean Nox, Ollie, Pete, Jellia, and the Scarecrow among many others. The first four were fantastic...especially Nox. I really like Scarecrow because of his whole "inventing horrible and creepy things," thing that was going on. His experimentation was absolutely chilling. He's a character that truly scares me. That's a good thing right? In books it is.
•THE COVER...its one of the best.
•The elements from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This is an obvious one but there were soooo many more elements and references than I expected and I LOVED it.
•The Plot, and by that, I mean the last half because it was action-packed and chilling and wonderful! The middle was rather slow and the beginning not as I expected. But the ending made up for it completely.
•Amy's PINK HAIR. It's not everyday an assassin has pink hair. Just sayin.
My DISLIKES
These are minor but collectively, they knock off a star.
•Amy Gumm. Now I don't HATE her but I haven't fallen in love with her either. For the majority of the book, she was every bit like the typical ya female protagonist: stubborn, slightly stupid, quick-tempered, sarcastic, and in denial that she has any good qualities in terms of personallity and physicality.
Not that those type of characters are bad. I mean sarcasm and stubbornness is great, but I was just hoping for something else. Despite all of this, I was warming up to her once she started doing things.
•The writing: now this is just me being picky about comma placements, missing commas, sentence structure, choice of vocabulary, etc. but STILL. Danielle's writing isn't horrible by any means at all...but it certainly fell short of fantastic.
•The beginning. Yeeeeaaah I didn't really enjoy the whole thing with Amy and her school rival. I just wasn't feeling the magic right off the bat like I expected. I was appreciative that we did get backstory BUT her situation in life seemed soooo very cliche. I felt like I was watching every highschool drama ever. I just wasn't into it.
My overall thoughts? This book would make a GREAT movie so movie people please please please get on this. I enjoyed it for the most part even with some grievences. The ending was fanatastic and I can hardly wait to read the second book!
In conclusion, I would describe this book as kick-butt, awesome, action-packed, magical, whimsical, and creepy as heck. Creepy in a marvalous way.
When I first began reading this, I was beyond excited! I adored The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when I was younger and seeing how I like retellings I knew I was bound to enjoy this. And I did. A lot.
At the beginning, I wasn't a huge fan, but once we entered Oz I was swept away.
What I LIKED:
•Oz...Oz was magical the first time I encountered it. This time it was dark and creepy. Very creepy. And I LOVED it!! Normally creepy things....well creep me out, but this kind of creepy was awesome.
•Characters: and when I say characters I mean Nox, Ollie, Pete, Jellia, and the Scarecrow among many others. The first four were fantastic...especially Nox. I really like Scarecrow because of his whole "inventing horrible and creepy things," thing that was going on. His experimentation was absolutely chilling. He's a character that truly scares me. That's a good thing right? In books it is.
•THE COVER...its one of the best.
•The elements from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This is an obvious one but there were soooo many more elements and references than I expected and I LOVED it.
•The Plot, and by that, I mean the last half because it was action-packed and chilling and wonderful! The middle was rather slow and the beginning not as I expected. But the ending made up for it completely.
•Amy's PINK HAIR. It's not everyday an assassin has pink hair. Just sayin.
My DISLIKES
These are minor but collectively, they knock off a star.
•Amy Gumm. Now I don't HATE her but I haven't fallen in love with her either. For the majority of the book, she was every bit like the typical ya female protagonist: stubborn, slightly stupid, quick-tempered, sarcastic, and in denial that she has any good qualities in terms of personallity and physicality.
Not that those type of characters are bad. I mean sarcasm and stubbornness is great, but I was just hoping for something else. Despite all of this, I was warming up to her once she started doing things.
•The writing: now this is just me being picky about comma placements, missing commas, sentence structure, choice of vocabulary, etc. but STILL. Danielle's writing isn't horrible by any means at all...but it certainly fell short of fantastic.
•The beginning. Yeeeeaaah I didn't really enjoy the whole thing with Amy and her school rival. I just wasn't feeling the magic right off the bat like I expected. I was appreciative that we did get backstory BUT her situation in life seemed soooo very cliche. I felt like I was watching every highschool drama ever. I just wasn't into it.
My overall thoughts? This book would make a GREAT movie so movie people please please please get on this. I enjoyed it for the most part even with some grievences. The ending was fanatastic and I can hardly wait to read the second book!
In conclusion, I would describe this book as kick-butt, awesome, action-packed, magical, whimsical, and creepy as heck. Creepy in a marvalous way.
This is so fucking insane but it’s so camp at the same time. If this ever gets a movie (I highly doubt it will but a girl can wish 😔) it will 100% become a queer classic in my eyes (even if it’s got zero gay people).