Dorothy Must Die - Danielle Paige

Several friends have been telling me that I need to read Dorothy Must Die.  I knew it was based on the Frank L. Baum Wizard of Oz books and I just couldn’t see myself liking it.  I did, however, add it to my “to read” list.  Last week, I didn’t have anything that I really wanted to read, so….

Oh MY!!!!  What a crazy read!  If you are wondering what happened in Oz after “The Wizard of Oz” ended, here is the story.  After Dorothy went back to Kansas, she decided that she’d rather be in Oz. Somehow, she went back to Oz and took over the throne from Ozma and let power, and magic, go to her head.  All of Dorothy’s friends from the Wizard of Oz are still with her.  The Tinman is busy turning people into a tin army.  The Lion goes around sucking the fear out of Dorothy’s “enemies”.  The Scarecrow has basically become a mad scientist and is doing experiments on Dorothy’s subjects. Dorothy and Glinda the Good Witch are going around stealing all of the magic in Oz, because the only thing better than having magic is having ALL the magic.

Enter Amy Gumm, the grumpy teenager living in Kansas with her pill popping, drunk mother. A tornado, of course, brings Amy to Oz, where she is rescued by a boy named Pete.  Amy is caught by Dorothy and is about to meet a “fate worse than death”, when she is rescued by Mombi, a member of the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. The group, which includes Gert, Mombi, Glamora – Ginda’s twin sister, and the warlock Nox, want to recruit Amy to assassinate Dorothy. Amy, eventually agrees, and is bound to Mombi by her promise to kill Dorothy.

Amy, disguised as Astrid, learns Dorothy and her minions’ routine and bides her time until she is able to attack.  During Dorothy’s, “just because she wants a party”, gala, Amy/Astrid has her chance when a smitten Tinman accidentally rips Dorothy’s dress.  Amy “poofs” Dorothy and herself out of the party to change her dress.  When Amy gets her alone, she tries to kill Dorothy and all H-E- double-hockey-stick, breaks loose.  Amy gets away – barely, and does manage to defeat ONE of Dorothy’s side-kicks.  I don’t want to spoil the book by giving away the ending.  Needless to say, the ending left me wanting more…and so, I downloaded the next book in the series, The Wicked Will Rise.

This series is considered Young Adult.  It is a little graphic and violent, so you won’t want to read it to the little ones.