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katerowan 's review for:
Dorothy Must Die
by Danielle Paige
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Unfortunately, it just fell a little bit flat.
After Dorothy left Oz, she came back. She was worshipped by the people, but took it a little too far, and now all of Oz is suffering under her rule. Enter Amy. Amy is also from Kansas. She isn't liked, her life at home is terrible, and she wants to get out of Kansas. A tornado helps her with that, and deposits her in Oz. On the way to the Emerald City, she learns what Dorothy has done, and that she can't trust anybody. After being arrested, she accepts the help of the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked and promises them help in exchange for her escape. What do they need help with? Killing Dorothy.
I love twisting fairy tales and turning familiar stories upside down. So, I really wanted to like this. And I did like the premise. Rather than reimagining what happened, Danielle Paige asks readers to imagine what Dorothy might be like after having that taste of magic and being beloved. I liked that Amy Gumm was basically the opposite of Dorothy. I didn't like some of the characterization stuff (why does Dorothy have to be evil and sexy? Sexy does not have to be evil). I had a hard time connecting with Amy or Nox or basically anybody. The characters felt like barely fleshed-out stock characters. I've read Nox's character before a few times. And the romance stuff? Leave it out. Completely unnecessary. All the never trust anyone stuff (that was constantly harped on)? Meant that I had a hard time getting close to any character.
I could look past a lot of that if it wasn't for the writing. I just didn't feel like the writing was all that good. I'm not a prude, I don't care about cuss words in YA lit, but I feel like the cuss words should be there for a reason. The author seemed to add them just because. They didn't serve a purpose in the narrative other than giving the narrative a "dangerous" element. I know I'm not expressing myself well. But when you can take out the f-word and literally nothing changes, I don't think those words serve any purpose. The writing just felt sloppy. Good writers can make a bad story interesting; this is a case of the opposite.
I don't think I will read the sequel. I'm predicting this gets listed for a Gateway/Truman next year (even if just on the preliminary list). Notes: language, mostly. And violence. Lots of violence.
After Dorothy left Oz, she came back. She was worshipped by the people, but took it a little too far, and now all of Oz is suffering under her rule. Enter Amy. Amy is also from Kansas. She isn't liked, her life at home is terrible, and she wants to get out of Kansas. A tornado helps her with that, and deposits her in Oz. On the way to the Emerald City, she learns what Dorothy has done, and that she can't trust anybody. After being arrested, she accepts the help of the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked and promises them help in exchange for her escape. What do they need help with? Killing Dorothy.
I love twisting fairy tales and turning familiar stories upside down. So, I really wanted to like this. And I did like the premise. Rather than reimagining what happened, Danielle Paige asks readers to imagine what Dorothy might be like after having that taste of magic and being beloved. I liked that Amy Gumm was basically the opposite of Dorothy. I didn't like some of the characterization stuff (why does Dorothy have to be evil and sexy? Sexy does not have to be evil). I had a hard time connecting with Amy or Nox or basically anybody. The characters felt like barely fleshed-out stock characters. I've read Nox's character before a few times. And the romance stuff? Leave it out. Completely unnecessary. All the never trust anyone stuff (that was constantly harped on)? Meant that I had a hard time getting close to any character.
I could look past a lot of that if it wasn't for the writing. I just didn't feel like the writing was all that good. I'm not a prude, I don't care about cuss words in YA lit, but I feel like the cuss words should be there for a reason. The author seemed to add them just because. They didn't serve a purpose in the narrative other than giving the narrative a "dangerous" element. I know I'm not expressing myself well. But when you can take out the f-word and literally nothing changes, I don't think those words serve any purpose. The writing just felt sloppy. Good writers can make a bad story interesting; this is a case of the opposite.
I don't think I will read the sequel. I'm predicting this gets listed for a Gateway/Truman next year (even if just on the preliminary list). Notes: language, mostly. And violence. Lots of violence.