Dorothy Must Die (#1) by Danielle Paige – Book Review

Dorothy Must Die

(Dorothy Must Die, #1)

Author: Danielle Paige

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Pages: 452

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Magic, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Adventure

Review: I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I have owned this book since Christmas and haven’t had the time between law school and other books to finally read it. I finished it in two days and could not put it down! It was the best book I’ve read this summer so far.

I know I am a little bit late to the game with this book, but it absolutely deserves all of the positive reviews it is getting. Danielle Paige has created a completely unique plot line from a very well-known and beloved story, The Wizard of Oz.

To start, I have never been a fan of The Wizard of Oz and certainly never a fan of the main character, Dorothy. She always seemed too positive, enthusiastic, and a little too nice for a girl in her circumstances, in my opinion. When I first saw Wicked on Broadway, the Wizard of Oz story got a new sense of life for me and I had been hesitant to read anything else related to the same characters, but I am so glad I chose to read this book. It was worth it. I am going to write my review without revealing any spoilers and by trying not to reveal too much about the characters.

The cover of this book is so gorgeous and simple that I would love to frame it and put it on my wall. I picked up the book a while ago, because of the cover.

Paige created a version of Oz that was so twisted, so destroyed, and so backwards that it felt like a completely new land and new characters from the original. All of the same characters return (Dorothy, The Lion, The Tin Man, The Scarecrow, Glinda, The Flying Monkeys, and of course, Toto) and there is the addition of several new characters, including the female protagonist, Amy. Amy is a very realistic and likable protagonist that you can’t help but root for the entire time. She is sarcastic, a little bit naive, and very down to earth.

The characters that everyone knows and loves are so different, but also have the distinctive characteristics from the original that make this novel very new and refreshing, but without being too out there. The new characters are also very interesting and really complete the whole concept of the book. My favorite new character was Nox (not only because he has a really interesting name), but because you could see him struggling as a character, without the author really being straightforward and telling the reader of his internal conflicts.

This book is filled with action (some of it being a little bit grotesque, but not too bad) and is complimented by some softer moments that equalize the plot line out to avoid throwing too much at the reader at one time. It was very well written.

The book ends really abruptly, which I wasn’t a fan of, but it did make me want to go out and get the next book in the series, The Wicked Will Rise, at some point today. I cannot wait to read it. Danielle Paige has also put out electronic prequels to tell Dorothy’s story and how she became the tyrannical dictator that she has become in this first book.

Here is the link to the Youtube book trailer that Harper Teen posted a while back in case anyone needed more convincing. I also heard that the CW was considering making this a tv series or something…which I would not be opposed to at all!

I am recommending this book to all of my friends and will probably be lending them my copy in the next few days. I cannot rave about this book enough.

Some of my favorite quotes:

• “Those who have sacrificed always have the most to lose.”
• “Forgiveness can get you places, I guess. But sometimes you need to light a fire.”
• “Sometimes only pain can heal.”
• “I didn’t know what was worse: to have your shot and screw it up, or to never have had a shot in the first place.”
• “No matter how tough you think you are, there are certain things that just get to you, and they’re usually the little things. The ones you don’t expect.”
• “I hate to break it to you, but just because someone has pretty hair and a good skin tone and a crown instead of a pointy hat doesn’t mean she’s not the baddest bitch this side of the emerald city.” This is probably my favorite quote in the book!

This review is featured on my Goodreads page. Feel free to add me on there as well.