{Review} Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Paige

Posted by Donna
Release Date: April 1st, 2014
Finished Date: October 25th, 2014

Publishers: HarperCollins
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Retelling 
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback

Pages: 452

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

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:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

The Review: We all know the tale of The Wizard of Ozm so when I heard that Danielle Paige was writing a story based on the famous tale, I was immediately intrigued. I haven't read many re-telling’s and the ones I have I've thoroughly enjoyed, so I wanted the same for this. And Dorothy Must Die definitely has some intriguing twists to the fairy tale that we all love!

Amy Glumm hates her life. She's bullied at school for being poor, lives in a trailer and having a trailer trash mother. She doesn't push herself to do anything, tries to keep out of trouble even though she has trouble keeping her mouth closed at the wrong times, but other than that, her days are spent dreaming of a day when she can finally leave her life behind in Kansas. But the day a tornado comes to Kansas, Amy is swept up with in, into a land that looks a lot like Oz. For Amy, she's been thrown into a world that is not supposed to be real let alone be how it is - everything is in reverse and Dorothy is evil and controlling Oz with her powers. But when Amy is recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked - the people who want to take down Dorothy and her men - she is given the task because she's like Dorothy and because she fell out of the sky, the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked believe Amy can do what they can't; kill Dorothy and restore Oz to what is once was. Now what's a girl to do?

I really didn't know what to expect heading into this story. I was excited and nervous at the same time but what a surprise it was because Dorothy Must Die is a dark-retelling and it's one that I really enjoyed. I adored all the twists that Danielle Paige added. This is not the story we all know, this is something full of dark imagination, and it’s twisted, evil, and written so well. The Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion were just plain horrid but they really added that dark element to the story and made it a very interesting read. And so was Dorothy. She really isn't that lovable character any more either.

Amy is a character that is quiet torn through-out most of the story. I really liked her, although her back and forth not knowing what she wanted was a little annoying at times, but despite that, I liked her. She's full of courage and stands up for what she believes in, and I loved that she thought of others in their time of need before her own. And the secondary characters were great to get to know also, even though it was hard to know who to trust, they were still great and I can't wait to re-visit them again.

In all, Danielle Paige's Dorothy Must Die is an intriguing and imaginative start to a twisted version of The Wizard of Oz which will appeal to many readers! If you haven't picked this up yet, do so as soon as you can because you won't regret it!

3.5 flowers!

Thank you to Harper360 for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.