Danielle Paige

Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas, has been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to stop Dorothy who has found a way to come back to Oz, seizing a power that has gone to her head -- so now no one is safe!

Amy Gumm is recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to stop Dorothy, who has found a way to come back to Oz and seized a power that has gone to her head. The plot contains blatant vulgarity and graphic violence. Book #1

Dorothy must die

Rebecca Hurd

This book has me looking at the characters of The Wizard of Oz in a whole new light!! Magic can change people in the nastiest of ways!! What once was good is now wicked and what once was wicked is now good!! Such a great story can’t wait to read the rest of the series!!!!

Ryan Mateyk

I stand by what I said before: I would've loved this if I was about 10 years younger. I loved the idea of the story, but to me, the execution just wasn't there. And (view spoiler)[Dorothy didn't even die????? (hide spoiler)]... I feel cheated.

Hanna Rybchynska

3.5 stars

Something was missing in this book... But I quite don't know what!

I've been wanting to read this book for so long and I finally got around to it. I thought it was an interesting take on a classic story we all know. I enjoyed the storyline, but I felt like everyone was so vague as to how Dorothy got the way she it, even though I know that's part of the story. I like Amy's character and I'm excited to get to the next book. Enjoyable, but I don't think I would read it again. 

Maggie Hotmer

Sarah Sammis

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige is the first of a modern day Oz series of the same name. I originally bought the book new, well before the kerfuffle, and then decided to let the book sit until the kerfuffle had blown over. In that time four more books, plus a bunch of novellas have come out. My husband has purchased and read the novels and wants me to read them so we can have discussions.

In those intervening years, I've also restarted my road narrative project and I have been reexamining Oz (see my essay on crossing the cornfield), both Baum's take, as well as the Ruth Plumly Thompson books. Basically I'm looking at Oz as it was from 1900 to 1972. Despite an entire lifetime of Oz books it seems that modern tellers of Oz stories always want to go dystopian and Dorothy Must Die is just one of many that envisions Oz post Dorothy as a smoky wasteland of its former Technicolor glory.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comm...

★★★★☆
4.00 STARS

This book has taught me one thing. There's a thin line between Good and Wicked. But that doesn't matter. Because what matters the most is what's RIGHT and WRONG. 

First ever retelling book I ever read, and I am glad I did. I've been putting this book off my reading list for some unexplained reasons. It's a good thing I get my will to start reading this series. I love how the author has turned a children story into something a bit  dark . My childhood fantasies were ruined, in a good way though, because of the way the author retells the story. Not so children story anymore, I guess.

Kate

I thought this book would satisfy me, the first three chapters captivated me so I continued reading it. But as I read it, the shifting of the scenes is too slow. I have to endure its lack of emotion. And I decided to drop it. I did not finish reading it. I got bored in the middle somewhere in Chapter 23.. Idk..

Melissa Palmer

Book #35 Read in 2014
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

This is a different take on The Wizard of Oz. In this book Dorothy is evil and in charge of Oz. A tornado brings another Kansas girl, Amy, to Oz. The Revolutionary Order of the Wicked ("bad" witches that seem to be the good guys) decide that Amy must be the one to kill Dorothy so they begin to train her in magical ways before sending her into Dorothy's palace to kill her. Of course, there is a cliffhanger ending that begs for book #2....but I can think of worse things....

This book was a good read. There was a lot of actions and plot twists to keep one engaged. Amy is a good anti-hero and I enjoyed her sense of humor and her guts. I loved Ollie the flying monkey. 

I received a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine review program.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Briar's Reviews

Dorothy Must Die was a fantastic take on The Wizard of Oz!

I so desperately wanted to pick up this book for ages and when I finally got my hands on it I was not let down! It was definitely an incredible read and it was very unique! I didn't expect this novel to be anything spectacular, and it was!

It definitely wasn't my favourite YA novel, but it was an incredible take. It was original, unique and is a good read for someone looking for a retelling.

I did have a few problems with this book - first off it starts out super slow. I felt like at the beginning there could have been more action or introductions to different characters. Despite the slow movement, it was still interesting. I wasn't turned off by the beginning of the book, I was just slightly disappointed.

Once the novel gets going, I felt like the story was pretty obvious. Most of what was going to happen I guessed, except for the final note of the novel. I would have loved a more unpredictable plot, but this also didn't make the book any less enjoyable. 

Overall, the take on this book was incredible. It's a great, unique idea and I really want to pick up the next book to see the story be continued. Hopefully the next book will continue with Dorothy's story, maybe another take on the continued series of The Wizard of Oz.

Four out of five stars! I enjoyed it! I can't wait to read the next novel.

Mythos

Original rating: 3/5 stars
New rating: 2.3/5 stars

I originally thought it was well written when I first read it years ago. Now that I have read it again, I am so glad that I didn't continue to read this series years ago. The writing made this book boring. The first few chapters were alright and probably where I paid the most attention. This is where I liked Amy's character the best. All the characteristics, flawed yet well-balanced, that I liked about her were lost as soon as she came to Oz. Also, I realized that this book also included the insta-love trope. Considering everything that was going on during this book, the romance aspect made no sense to me. I feel like if done well, this series could have been resolved in just one book. This series is not worth reading, so I can't recommend it.

angie

4.5*

 1st read:  around 2015?

 2nd read:  july 2022
reread this for the nostalgia... i forgot how fun this book was

Another 4.5 starred book, this was such an amazing read I can't even stress it enough. I've been wanting to read this for such a long time and I could only wish that I read it sooner because damn, that's a good book. 

I loved everything about it, honestly. The premise was promising and it delivered, the writing was totally my style and amazing, the whole story was just really good? It's seriously just so good. I don't really know what else to say.

Taylor Nuzzolo

Great twist on classic characters. Excited to read the rest of the series!

aisha

My love-hate relationship with this book is real. Oh how beautiful the writing and plot was. But the ending was cruel, I will get the sequel as soon as it sits on a shelf in bookstores.

Gisela Ayala 

I don't know what I was expecting, but what I got wasn't what I was expecting, it was way better. I love weird and far off places (kind of like Neverland and Wonderland) and I love retellings, and this one was no exception. 

I'll admit, the book at first was a bit hard to get into, but I believe it must have been the setting. I couldn't get into the whole Kansas-smalltown-girl thing at first, but Amy's character added that spark I needed in order to continue with the book. Amy was my favorite part of the book, actually. She is such a captivating protagonist, a total bad ass and I really felt for her in all her loneliness. She couldn't trust anyone in her life, not even her mother and I think (despite it being in a fantastical setting) is something that many of us can relate to. She meets an vast set of characters, that I couldn't even begin to go through! There was so many! But of course we see the ones from the original story, the Tin Man, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and of course Dorothy. 

After the first initial chapters I was totally hooked and I could never really guess what was going to happen, which is obvious since everything is Topsy turvy in Oz. And after that ending, I need the next book ASAP.

Nicole Dykeman

I really wasn't feeling this in the beginning but I'm glad I kept reading. There's kind of an awkward feel at first. I felt like I was being hit over the head with obvious Wizard of Oz references every other page, and I could pick out at least a dozen cringe-worthy quotes. Action sequences were well written, but any type of foreshadowing was kind of obvious, like slap-you-in-the-face type of hints. I didn't really care for the main character too much, she's a bit annoying, but the story was interesting and I'm probably going to finish out the series.

jess

I'm just going to come out and say that I'm not too familiar with The Wizard of Oz, and that I am very familiar with the musical Wicked. (I say musical because I haven't read the book yet.) The Wizard of Oz must be one of the most popular books made into fanfiction ever. 

But in my opinion, Wicked was a far, far better twist on the original story. My big problem with the book is that Dorothy had no depth at all. She was a tyrannical dictator, but for what? In Wicked, it was completely accidental that Dorothy ruined everything. Plus the book seemed to edge towards slut-shaming with the descriptions of how the villains dressed. Also, Glinda. I'm a big Glinda fan in Wicked, and it hurt to see her characterized like this. Amy's characterization was good. 

The writing itself was good, even if the plot seemed slow at times, and I do think that the book could have been considerably shortened. The book was better in the beginning than it was at the end, which is rare for me. I'm just glad, though, that the romantic subplot wasn't horribly annoying.

Arianna DeWitt

** spoiler alert **
           Very good book! I loved the concept although I had to take a few breaks because it got scary at times. I highly recommend it. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Krystal 

Rating: 4.5 

This book was nothing like I expected it to be, but I LOVED it!!! The cliff hanger at the end was a massive shock, I can not wait to start reading the next book. So excited to see where the story goes. DOROTHY MUST DIE!!!

Sabetha Danes

Terra

I liked this. Quick read. Fast paced. Old story and yet new and twisted all the same time. I am hoping character development kicks up in the next book

Kate B-L

Such an interesting premise, dimished by spirals of narrative that are ultimately confusing. It felt like the whole book was just setting up for a sequel, and doesn't stand on its own.

Becky

From the second I started reading this book I was obsessed. I bought it during lockdown 1 but never actually picked it up until now but I finished it in about 4 days. I love the whole concept and even though I’ve finished the book I feel like I’m still not sure who I should trust? I’ve got the next two on their way! 😍

Kari Finkle 

*4.5* 
Dorothy Must Die was spectacular! It completely changed my view of Oz and its history. Danielle Paige has created a thrilling novel that will leave you on the edge of your seat. It was comedic, somewhat fast-paced,gorgeously written, and had a story that immediately sucks you in! Dorothy Must Die focuses on the meaning of being true to yourself. Even when you doubt who you are, it's strength within that pulls you from the edge. Every word will entice you and leave you wanting more! 

And just one quick note: NOX!! OMG! The boys in this...they leave you speechless :D