Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige | Review

The New York Times bestselling first book in a dark series that reimagines the Oz saga, from debut author Danielle Paige. Start at the beginning and discover your new series to binge!
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. And—Dorothy must die.
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 a road of yellow brick—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.

Holy Crackerjacks, I am just now having any luck with my last couple of reads.  Another massive disappointment for this Wizard of Oz retelling.  This had massive potential, the premise is something that I would have totally been on board with.  A dark edge to a classic story, a reversal of roles, do not trust anyone.  I always thought that Dorothy was just a little too sweet, there was always surely a darker edge to her – you just can’t trust anyone that is that sugary sweet all the time!  The potential to be swayed by power and possessions is a pull that very little could refuse. 

The very first problem I had with story was just how boring it was for about 85% of the time.  I found my eyes beginning to skim read as I needed to try and push through the monotone storytelling and the childish narrative.  Okay, sure things were moving along, and things were happening but nothing that lit a light up in me or that I cared about.  I think that was the first warning sign – I found myself just not caring.  A sigh there, an eye roll here, but still I hoped it would get better. 

The story was miles too long.  It just felt way too padded out – it really gave me the impression that the author wrote it with the intention of writing a trilogy, because of course that’s where the money is* Note my sarcasm*.  The Wizard of Oz is a much-loved story and I just found it a little bit tarnished after reading Dorothy Must Die.  Scenes were too long and monotone and felt like an info dump and didn’t add to the overall complexity of the story.  The pacing was off, and I was becoming very frustrated. 

The characterisation was awful.  They didn’t develop or grow and that was the most disappointing aspect of the entire story and really did put the final nail in the coffin.  The characters felt one dimensional and wooden, the author tried to hard make each character the exact opposite of the originals.  We had these descriptions of the characters and Oz, but not once did I get a grasp of how Oz or the people felt, it was empty.  I think the author just tried too damn hard to be Tim Burton and failed miserably. 

Dorothy Must Die, Really? It probably should have been called Dorothy Should Die or Dorothy Might Die.  I will not be reading the sequels, it is at this point I say goodbye.