Dorothy Must Die

Gantastic twist on a classic tale! It's an emotional roller coaster of intrigue, deception and change.

Love this story and how it connects to the wizard of Oz. Love the twisted writing and how it gives us more of Oz that we all need

Let's start with, lately I have seriously had a knack for picking stories told in first person...which I hate. This was an interesting enough story that it was pretty easy to ignore. This book was dark, very dark and a teeny bit gruesome.Amy is a teenager from Kansas. She lives in a trailer, her dad walked out on them, her mom has turned into a junkie that blames Amy for every bad thing in her life. Her school life is terrible, she's been bullied for years, has no friends and no means of escaping her craptastic life. That is until a tornado hits and sweeps her away to Oz. Yup, just like in the movie she'd seen bunches of times as a child.However, she doesn't find herself in the Oz of the movie or storybook. This Oz is desolate and decaying. As it turns out, Dorothy, who had gotta a taste for magic, found her way back to Oz and took over. Now she and Glinda are mining it for it's magic and killing it an it's inhabitants in the process.Amy, who has her pet rat, Star as a companion meets people who (somewhat) explain to her what has been going on and eventually she falls in with the Order. Which is led...by...the...wicked...witches? Yeah, things have gotten so bad that the wicked have joined forces to stop Dorothy, and Amy is their weapon of choice. She is trained by them in combat and in the use of magic before being sent to the palace in disguise. She's meant to be a spy to gather information that will help with their plan, only Amy is never given the details of the plan or a way to relay any information she may have discovers. She has to wing it and in doing so learns that there is more than one faction that is trying to rise up and take Dorothy out of power... and she gets herself into trouble.I like Amy, but she's too full of doubt and indecision. Which, considering her circumstances is totally understandable. My thoughts are that she can't really trust any of the factions, and she knows that, but hasn't exactly accepted it. While these groups may be operating under the guise of making Oz great again--and yes that is an actual phrase from the book and it made me cringe reading it--I think they all want Dorothy out of power because she's a monster who is destroying their world, but also because they want to be in power themselves.Amy has a tough road ahead because her mission is to kill Dorothy, and she royally botched it in this book. Dorothy has managed to escape and no one knows where. Now Amy's been thrown together with a different resistance group and who knows what they will tell her in order to get her to do what they want. All she knows is that before she can kill Dorothy, she must stop her first companions in Oz. That means, taking the heart of the Tin Woodman, the brain of the Scarecrow, and the courage of the Lion. And then, hopefully, Dorothy will finally die.

I ride the fence when it comes to Oz. I am neither a hater nor the biggest fan, I know both the horror stories of what happened and making that movie and the amazing inspiration it has caused for generations for years after.

That said my experience so far with this book has been relatively okay. That really suits the book for the most part: it's okay.

Amy is not the most interesting character, but she is way more interesting than Nox. Well address Nox later, he really does take this rating down a couple of points. I expected more of a hardcore fighter attitude from Amy, the intro and a lot of the building up scenes before she is taken to Oz imply that she is not afraid to bloody up everything and everyone in her way.

Instead Amy is very careful almost too clean, she's supposed to have grown up being told that she was Salvation Amy, a poor girl wearing poor clothing, that kind of upbringing means she got into a lot of fights. And we even open on proof that she gets into fights. Yet upon reaching Oz she doesn't do anything violent or react violently to anyone. Odd creatures are talking to her and she's just handling this perfectly fine.

She reacts to Oz being real way too calmly.

I'll say it even though this is a character that we don't get enough of, this probably would have been a two-star review or a 2.5 star review if it wasn't for Indigo. Amy doesn't get a lot of character development, but Indigo gets so much scenery and you can really tell they wanted to give you as much information as possible about her so that they could build up how feels the and sad a certain scene is with her. It indeed feels awful when that scene comes because Indigo was such an interesting character and really had more chemistry going than anyone else in the book thus far.

Amy is just not bonding with anybody, which really makes it hard to care when she gets upset because she doesn't feel anything for anyone.

And now I'm on Nox, Nox just appears. He appears and he's helpful and he's nice and he's the romance. Not that my brain could handle the idea of somebody going to Oz and forming a romance knowing that they have to go back eventually. Nor that my brain could handle a relationship between a character who's barely there and a character who can't even form bonds with the cash she has before they're killed off. This character honestly took a star himself. Nox it's not a love interest. He's just this character who somehow starts having a relationship with Amy. But their relationship is just there it suddenly appears and now it exists. There's no build up there's just normal talking scenes and then suddenly oh it's a romance.

Bur nor just any romance, a romance all the witches use to "enhance" her powers and even say straight out they're using Nox and Amy to benefit themselves and setting them up like that for that purpose. It's pretty fucked to read. They treat Nox like a chess piece, not a person. He's there to be utilized.

Which isn't unusual, any rebellion or people on their side are just pawns, but Nox is the worst case of it. And they know what they're doing, but they still do it. Plus in response Amy gets disgusted, then quickly catches feelings for no reason. She's teased a few pages after and gets the "I don't like him" while blushing reaction which comes out of nowhere.
Pretty eh. Like very predictable suddenly and it's obvious a romance between a being of Oz and a human isn't gonna end well.

Now as for the theme, and the plot line. Even though this has been done to death and mangas and manwahs, I was willing to let this story ride. I've seen so many mangas about Oz and the magical World and basically rehashing these plot lines to death. Especially the Dorothy is evil plot line. This book is not "original". In fact most fanfiction has a what if the good guy was bad au for every character who ever was good. So I can't say Dorothy Must Die is doing anything that other books haven't done, nor any fanfiction or basic manga. Even though I say this, this being a common plot line did not change my rating. I don't really care about flat lines that have been done to death, I like to ride and see how it ends.

I hope that the series actually gets good instead of only okay, but I know that the first book is basically a healthy fat load of bait to keep you reading until the second book. I don't think I'll continue reading this series but I'm not opposed to maybe trying the second book. It's definitely not the worst thing I've read but it's very okay.

Okay is how this whole book is.
Not great, not good, not awful, not bad.
Just okay.

2.5 stars, bumped to a three on Goodreads and here because it doesn't have a half star rating.

Don't get me wrong, the audiobook helped but it couldn't save this weak writing.

cooool

Creo que es un buen primer libro, no soy fan de no poder confiar en absolutamente nadie mientras se va desarrollando la historia, pero le doy crédito a la intriga y suspenso.

I have read every Oz book in the series by L. Frank Baum. Danielle Page is spot on with her book. It is almost like her book picks up at the exact spot where his last book ended. There are characters mentioned in this one that make you think "Oh, I remember the Patchwork girl" or 'Oh, Dorothy killed the Wogglebug". Dorothy did come back to Oz to live in the later books and Ozma did make her a princess. I couldn't find fault with any of her facts. I love how she had Dorothy corrupted by her new-found powers. I can't wait to read the next book!!

having loved the wizard of oz growing up, this had so many references ands nods to the original in it, it was so fun to spot them! it wasn't my usual style but overall i liked it - i think fairytale retellings are my way forward to get into fantasy!

In this book, Dorothy is the villain. I thought this was a really cool dystopian book following what happens after the Wizard of Oz. It can get a little creepy and gory, but I really enjoyed it.

DNF. I probably shouldn't give it a rating but the fact that I could not finish it says something about the book. The reader was overwrought at points in the story that didn't need it.

This book is clearly designed to capitalize on the recent interest in the darker side of children's fairy tales. I found it to be a very engaging twist on Baum's original universe and characters. She does an excellent job of casting Glinda and Dorothy as Oz's mean girls and the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion as their twisted sidekicks. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I had wanted to read this book for years, and now that I finally did, I must say that I liked it a lot. I liked the protagonist, and I loved all the characters. I hope to get to know them better in the next books. (Translated from Spanish)

I liked this book a lot. It definitely had problems and its wasn't my favorite book ever but I did really enjoy it. I loved the concept of having Dorothy return to OZ and seizing control. I loved the Oz books and the movie as a kid and the characters in this book brought back a lot of those memories. I didn't love the character of Amy at first. I didn't dislike her, but there were things she did and said that bothered me but as I read this book I came to really love her character. I think the author did a really good job of getting me to either love a character or hate a character and all the characters had really strong personalities. The only character I didn't love was Nox. I know some of this was part of his character, but he felt really insincere at times and I didn't care about him as much as the main character did which was a little frustrating. I really liked the world the author portrayed as well. Obviously some parts of the world were already established in the original Oz books but I liked the way the author adapted it. I also liked the way that the author explained the magic in Oz as well. There were some parts of the story where I felt like the pacing was a little off. At the beginning everything seemed to happen really, really fast. I never want too much exposition in stories but I would have liked a little more in this case. I know part of that is because Amy doesn't know any of what is going on so as the reader, we don't know whats going on but I felt like I was thrown into action right away and I could have used a bit of a breather just to figure out what I had just read. The ending had similar weird pacing. It didn't feel really like the ending of a book. The ending made it feel like I needed to read the next book right away. I guess that could be a good thing but I wish that this book had ended a little bit more neatly. I was also really confused by the fact that at the end (and I don't think this is a spoiler) the wizard told Amy that to defeat Dorothy she will need to take the Tin Woodman's heart, the Lion's courage, and the Scarecrow's brain like it was the major plot twist because 1) it is written on the back of the hardcover copy of the book and 2) it felt like to me that that bigger and more plot twisty things happened at the end. I honestly don't understand why they put that on the back of the book. Putting that on the back of the book made it seemed like the courage, brain, and heart stealing would happen in this book but really it wasn't even revealed to the main character that she needed to do those things until like the last 10 pages. I know that probably has nothing to do with the author but it was still very weird to me. besides those few things that are small mistakes in my mind I did really enjoy this book. I am very excited to read the next book in this series and see where Amy goes next and to see what happened to everyone that was in the order of the wicked. I would say if you liked the Oz stories or the concept of the books seemed interesting to you and you think you could ignore some weird pacing, I would recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Such a good book. After reading this I am not able to look at the characters in the original Wizard of Oz the same. I just love how twisted up everything becomes. This is not the Oz that you remember!

For anyone who wondered what happened after Dorothy went back to Kansas.....its definitely not what you thought!

I'm giving this book 3 1/2 stars. It took me much longer to "get into" the story than I would prefer. The story itself (once really started) is inventive and intriguing. I was also pleasantly surprised when I guessed the "twist" ending incorrectly.

I was disappointed in the number of grammatical errors within this book. There were also many poorly worded sentences. I had to reread a few passages to be sure I understood the intended meaning.

Overall, I'd give the story 3.75 in rating (parts of the story --mostly of the main character's Kansas background-- irritatingly stereotypical, but the Oz story was enjoyable). I'd give the writing a 3.

I tried to continue the story through the rest of the trilogy, but found myself too bored and reluctant to get past the first chapter.

* 5 stars for being entertaining (super pre-teen-young-adult, but still entertaining);
* minus one star for complete insensitivity to world-building (a native munchkin calls something "magic 101", and everyone gets it);
* minus one more star for an EXTREME case of plot hole / armor at the very end: one that was clearly added with a singular purpose of spinning the book into a sequel.

But a fun book nevertheless!

Technically DNF at 72%. This book started out fun, if unexceptional, but then it was just unexceptional.

Amy, from Kansas, ends up in Oz. Yes – that Oz. Oh, and Dorothy is still there; it seems Kansas didn’t live up to the magic of Oz, so Dorothy came back. But Dorothy hasn’t been good for Oz, at all. The Order of the Wicked wants Amy to kill Dorothy, so things will go back to normal. Wow – what a spin. There are 15 original Oz stories by L. Frank Baum. Some of the characters in Dorothy Must Die are in those original stories. It’s not necessary to know them but it makes for fun Easter egg moments if you recognize the names. I’ve had a couple of students read this and the biggest complaint is they have to wait for a sequel. I agree it is definitely a cliff hanger ending. The next one comes out later this year and there are two novellas to tide you over until then.

I really liked Amy. She finds herself in an Oz that has been turned into a terrible place by a despotic Dorothy.
Amy is in over her head. Everyone tells her - "You shouldn't trust anyone - not even me."
This is the start of a series so of course things are not resolved.
Loved that this includes characters from the books that are not in the classic Judy Garland movie.

Meh. It hasn't convinced me, or maybe I'm not the target audience, but leaving me with such an open plot to force a trilogy doesn't sit well with me. (Translated from Spanish)

I was amazed by everything that happens and is revealed; I couldn't stop reading. (Translated from Spanish)

What can be said about this terrible continuation? The second one wasn't very good either, but at least it kept me entertained and made me turn page after page. However, in this book, the little good that the "Dorothy Must Die" saga had really fell apart. It was evident since the second book that things were not heading in a good direction. There are so few pages, yet I was halfway through and couldn't take it anymore; I seriously considered abandoning the book. I barely managed to finish it.

Amy becomes more unbearable; the things she says and the way she behaves really annoy me. The way conflicts and/or battles are resolved throughout the book always seems very ridiculous, lacking any sense or logic, and curiously, they always have exactly what is needed to fix things without any explanation of how it was possible. This saga is simply a resounding NO. (Translated from Spanish)

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was a surprise. YA in a world most of us think we already know. At least, those of us who used to watch The Wizard of Oz every Thanksgiving.

I do recommend for anybody who would like to read this 2-book series, go stream the movie before you read the book, if you haven’t seen it either recently or a lot.

I would have given it 5 stars, but it’s just a bit bloody. Definitely NOT for younger kids. I think maybe teens and older. Characters die. But, the story is very good. Life lessons abound, but are well incorporated into the story.

Well-written and good character development. Strongly recommend that you get BOTH books (The Wicked Will Rise.) it’s less a sequel than the completion of the story. I started the second book immediately after closing the first.

Recommended!

A fantastic twist on the Wizard of Oz.
After ousting the Wizard, Dorothy became a magic addicted dictator. Using munchkin slave labor to strip Oz of it's magic, she and her malevolent trio turned the land of Oz into something nightmares are made of. Now there's a new girl in town and, under the guidance of the remaining wicked witches, she has to kill Dorothy.
Masterfully written, this novel swept me into the sinister and treacherous land of Oz alongside Amy Gumm. And I was completely immersed as each character came to life in this dark twisted world of secrets.
This novel is very fast paced, I didn't realize it was 452 pages long. I devoured this book in two days! Although, I was a bit disappointed to find that it's the first in a series, and not a stand alone - it's still a five star read.

I finished reading this book to see if the story improved, but the truth is that it didn't; I didn't like the way the protagonist acted, many of her actions didn't make sense, and most of the book was her being confused and not knowing what to do. (Translated from Spanish)

I can only say that I liked it but didn't love it (mainly Todd frustrates me a lot), and I was super intrigued by the story the whole time while also being left with a "don't mess with me!" look on my face! Haha. (Translated from Spanish)

Just like the last book, it continues right where the last chapter of the second book left off. As it ended, this one started off a bit slower in the beginning but kept you entertained. It's from the halfway point of the book that it gets really good. The last chapters lacked a bit more action, but it ended well and with intrigue for the conclusion of the story. (Translated from Spanish)

Wow, with this book, it undoubtedly shows you a side of the land of Oz and its characters that you never would have imagined they had or could see. For the first book, it was incredible, and I will definitely keep reading the rest of the series. (Translated from Spanish)

I liked it... but at the same time, I didn't. The idea of bringing the protagonists from the Wizard of Oz back as villains seemed very interesting and original to me, but who knows, maybe it's just not a novel for me. It was slow at some moments, and I found it a bit boring. For now, I don't plan to continue with the saga. (Translated from Spanish)