Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige - Review

Title:               Dorothy Must Die
Series:             Dorothy Must Die
#:                     1
Author:           Danielle Paige
Publisher:        HarperCollins
Date:               01 April 2014


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:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

So, as you know I like to read a series at a time, but I just couldn't stay away from this book any longer. It has been calling to me since I first read the blurb. Evil Dorothy and another girl from Kansas trained to kill her had me intrigued.

I really enjoyed my trip back to Oz even if it was a little warped and twisted. Dorothy sure isn't the sweet girl I remember seeing when I was growing up. She may still have a thing for the blue and white check but the way she wears it sure has changed. Of course not only Dorothy has changed but all the main characters from the story: Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man are all freakishly scary in this tale. Definitely do not want to run into any of them!

Our Heroine is very different in this story. Amy Gumm has pink hair and a pet rat. Not your ever day saviour. She doesn't believe in herself but everyone around her says she is the one to do it.

"Simple you're going to kill her." She looked right at me and said "Dorothy Must Die"

Who was I in Oz. What had I done to make them think I was a potential teen assassin? 

"That was magic, I'm sure of it. But I couldn't kill someone. I wouldn't even know how""We'll teach you of course,' "Glamora said. "Everyone has to start somewhere"

Scattered around the room were strange iron machines that looked like either exercise equipment or torture devices.Training with Nox was going to be fun.

I really liked the magic in this one, from changing the way we look to teleporting ourselves across Oz it's all quite an adventure. I don't think there are any limits to magic and spells in this book. Which basically means if you can use magic you can do anything.

Permasmile! Ever wanted to be able to smile all day, well now you can, with Permasmile you just smear it on and you've got a big bright smile, lasts until you take it off.
Now that was freaky. Even if you're crying or scared you will be smiling.

The writing and the plot were easy to read and understand. It was so easy to imagine the world the was being described throughout the story that it was like I was there. The story was always moving along at a nice pace too, I didn't get the chance to be bored/confused or tell the book to hurry up/slow down.

Overall I found this a nice read, and it was a beautifully written twisted version of the Wizard of Oz that I can't wait to continue in the next instalment. If you're after an OZ that isn't rainbows and happy songs you've found the right book.