Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

(Format used for this book: Print–paperback)

Another YA read I found while pursuing the shelves with my oldest awhile back at Half Price books.

(seriously….I could spend DAYS ON END in used book stores yall!)

Here is the summary:

“The New York Times bestselling first book in a dark new series that reimagines the Oz saga, from debut author Danielle Paige.

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.

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.”

Sooooo….this book was NOT that great in my opinion.

I found the character development to be a bit lackluster and also some of the plot lines were pretty predictable (teen girl crushes on some handsome magical dude responsible for training her).

Some of the book’s themes actually reminded me of Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked”—-an Oz of unrest and oppression—so I didn’t feel like it was TOO original of a concept.

I didn’t SUPER hate it though…it had me interested enough to keep reading til the end.

UGGGHHHHH….. the end, y’all.

This is a first book in a series.

MOST of the time in the book world the first book can be a stand alone novel I think….

NOT THIS ONE.

It didn’t really have an ACTUAL ending or any kind of closure….it was just like “okay this book is done now…go get the next one.”

WTF?!?!

No strong like or dislike…


Just a 🤷‍♀️ on this one y’all.

Try it or not…your world won’t change either way.