Dorothy Must Die: A Review

Description (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.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

My Review:

I have seen this book at Barnes and Noble for the past two months and finally, when I was given a Barnes and Noble a gift card, I decided to pick it up.

In the beginning, we get to see the normal, everyday life of Amy Gumm. She is not a popular person by a long shot at her school, in fact, she is often bullied because she is poor. We learn a bit about her sad, hard past, which I thought was a very effective way to draw me in and feel for Amy and her hard life. She had a slipping relationship with her mom, who was always on some sort of pills. Amy had to raise herself, and frankly, she did a good job of it.

What I didn't like at the beginning was the amount of cussing and use of the "F" word. And then... the language stopped for a long time. So I was fine with it. I just don't like the "F" word.

Anyway. The rest of the book was amazing!

We get to follow Amy Gumm on her strange adventure through Oz. Only, this Oz is not the Oz you remember from The Wizard of Oz movie and book. Oh, no. EVERYTHING has changed. The once vast, beautiful country/land is now devastated by the crazy, maniacal whims of Princess Dorothy.

That's right. Princess Dorothy.

Amy makes a few acquaintances throughout this novel, but everyone tells her that she should not trust anyone except herself. This makes things confusing and dangerous for Amy, but she always found a way to do the right thing. Even with all the risks and horrible consequences that went with them, Amy found a way to help the citizens of Oz in her own way.

One thing that this book surprised me with was the fact that you don't know who's going to die next. Who will upset Dorothy enough to make her punish them?

It made things a bit edgier. No one was safe.

A few side characters I liked were Nox and Gert. Despite their telling Amy to not trust anyone, they were the people who grew closest to her. I know that she had some sort of "trust" for them, because she did listen to their instructions and went undercover to find a way to kill Dorothy. Although, in the end, she didn't know what to think anymore. And considering what she went through, I would probably be in the same position.

I liked how Amy grew. She went from being the bullied girl from trailer Kansas to warrior, undercover assassin in training. Even when she felt like giving up, she didn't. I liked that the change wasn't gradual. It made it seem more realistic.

I also liked how she didn't forget about her mom. I thought that really made Amy a connectable and realistic character despite the fantasy aspects.

Overall, I really liked this book and I can't wait to see where the yellow brick road takes me next ;)

I give this a 4 out of 5.