Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Pages: 452
Intended Audience: Mature Teens
Genre: Fantasy
Notes for Parents: Contains violence and coarse language

The Back Cover

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. But I never expected Oz to look like this. A place where Good Witches can’t be trusted and Wicked Witches just might be the good guys. A place where even the yellow brick road is crumbling.
What happened? Dorothy.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I’m the other girl from Kansas. I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and I’ve been given a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage; and then—Dorothy must die.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series.

What’s good?

Another girl from Kansas arrives in Oz to discover that Dorothy has been corrupted by power and is terrorizing the inhabitants – such a great premise! This story is a creative and original continuation of the Wizard of Oz story. The first-person narrative showcases Amy Gumm, the strong, well-drawn protagonist. She’s likeable, relatable, and a little irreverent. The story has a powerful start, a strong setting, and good world-building overall.
Best Part: Indigo, the foul-mouthed munchkin, Ollie, the former flying monkey, and Star, the pet rat.

What isn’t good?

The pacing is choppy, with great action scenes followed by long stretches of nothing. While the main character is well-drawn, the supporting characters are lackluster. How is it possible that characters that were so colorful and expressive in the original story can feel so…cardboard? Especially now that they have all been so corrupted by power! Perhaps it makes it worse because the story is told without a lot of emotion. The corruption is described, but not really felt. Even Amy’s motivation isn’t clear a lot of the time.
Worst part: the wasted potential

Recommendation þþþoo

I was underwhelmed. The story started strong, the premise was good, and I was drawn to the main character immediately. Even the idea that the difference between good and evil is ambiguous was a great theme. I don’t really understand why this book wasn’t more exciting! Perhaps this would make a better movie than book. It was entertaining, but also disappointing.

Paige, Danielle. Dorothy Must Die. New York: Harper, 2014.