Review of Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page

 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. (Taken from Goodreads)

Stars Given: ★★★★☆

Overall View (*Spoilers are included in this review):
This book attracted me because of its title.  I'm really interested in books that bring a little twist into well known stories.  The book started off a little slow in my opinion, there were some points where I found it extremely hard to push myself to continue reading.  It was near the middle of the book, that story began to get interesting.  However, I felt that there were some parts in which the author could have expanded more.  An example of this **SPOILER**was when Indigo died.  I felt that the author could have done a lot more in order to ingrain Indigo's character into the readers before killing the character.  The death felt very sudden and in a way detached.  What I mean by detached is that readers, well in my case, have a hard time feeling the overwhelming sadness death scenes should bring.  Although Indigo is a supporting character, I felt that her death should induce a stronger feeling from the readers since it is the turning point in which Amy sees the dark side of Oz.  I felt that there should be a bigger "climb" towards the death.  

The overall writing in this book was satisfactory.  There were times when I felt that the description could be better in order to bring the deep sadness of the residents of Oz.  I loved how there was a contrast in the happy look of the place compared to what the residents were feeling.  This contrast was able to create a bigger rift in the image of the wonderful Oz and Dorothy's Oz.

I read this book after watching Oz:The Great and Powerful.  I highly recommend readers to do this.  Through watching the movie, I was able to find many connections between Oz: The Great and Powerful, The Wizard of Oz, and this book.  It made the story flow so much more.  What would have been really interesting is if the story continued on with Oz being in love with Glinda. 

That would definitely create an interesting twist in this series as this would allow the author to create a more compelling story.  Creating suspicions as to whether or not characters are with the Wicked or if they're being sent to the group undercover would definitely increase suspense. 

I thought that the overall story was well written, hence I gave the book four stars out of five.  From where the story ended, I really hope that the next book will have a much more interesting and captivating start.

Character:
Amy Gumm -
Description of Character: Amy is the other girl from Kansas.  This is a big deal for the people of Oz since their current ruler, Dorothy was also from Kansas.  She is a person who seems cold, however as the story went on, Amy evolved into a kind character who was sympathetic person.  This does not mean that Amy is the type of character that would allow others to do the "dirty" tasks for her.  She is not one of those characters that hope that other people or environmental disasters to help her complete her mission.  Amy's character is a really intricate one if you take the time to slowly analyze her character through her actions.

Review of Character:  There were times when I actually disliked the way Amy acted in different situations.  The good news is that as the story progressed on, I was able to understand the reasons behind her actions.  What I really liked about her was her determination to do what she thinks will be best for her friends.  It was one of her qualities that stood out to me the most when I was reading it and I felt like it was the characteristic that drove her to go against Dorothy.


*Supporting characters not listed