Title: Dorothy Must Die
Author: Danielle Paige
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: April 1, 2014
Hardcover: 464 pages

Where’d I Get It: Purchased from Barnes & Noble

Synopsis (From Goodreads): 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, 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.

My Thoughts: If you’ve followed Literary Obsession for any length of time, you know I have a love for fairytale retellings.  Even if it’s an author I’m absolutely not interested in, if they publish a fairytale retelling, I’m going to jump on that ship. It’s just a thing.  So, despite being on a buying ban and deciding I wasn’t going to review books anymore and all that fun stuff, when I heard about Dorothy Must Die, I had to have it. I pre-ordered it, read it the day it downloaded onto my Nook, and it’s what thrust me back into the world of book blogging.  It’s just -good-. Danielle Paige’s debut was quite honestly thrilling. I haven’t read a YA book, or a fairytale retelling, or a debut book, or any combination of the above that was so interesting, well written, and engaging as this one was in a long while. Amy was absolutely fascinating as a protagonist and, in my opinion at least, was absolutely relatable to the age group (and older).  She came from a pretty bad life and rises above without being overly dramatic or insanely silly. Again and again the author surprised me with twists and tidbits that made me smile or groan – but you know, in a good way. In general, the writing was crisp and smooth while being easy to follow and not at all dumbed down. Some of the things I did not love as much  all of which made this an entirely pleasant read and one that I’ll likely do again as soon as the sequel comes out.  Now, while I easily enjoy this nearly as much as I enjoyed Wicked, there are some portions that made me cringe. The author seemed to fixate on our antagonist’s sexuality pretty heavily rather than leaning more heavily on other actual evil things. Hopefully there’s less of that in the second book. Honestly, though, aside from that bit – I loved this book. I loveloveloved it. It’s awesome.

If you’re interested in a reimagined version of the world of Oz, go grab this book. Be prepared for nothing to be as you expect it to be if you’re familiar with the original, and come back and let me know if you enjoyed all the little details the author slipped in from the classic story.

Rating: 4.5 of 5

Series: Dorothy Must Die, Book 1 | Second: The Wicked Will Rise (expected publication: 2015) | Third: Untitled (expected publication: 2017)