Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die, Bk 1) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I was very excited to read this book. I love the story of the Wizard of Oz and thought it would be interesting to read an expansion of that story. Unfortunately for some reason despite this interesting premise the story was pretty boring.
Amy Gumm is living a tough life, her mother is addicted to everything and Amy takes care of her mother more than the other way around. They are pretty much living at poverty level which doesnt help Amys school life either. Everything changes when a tornado rips through Amys house and transports her to Oz. There she finds out that all is not the happy scenario she was led to believe from books. Something has gone horribly wrong in Oz and Amy is the only one with the power to stop the evil Dorothy.
This is a very cool premise for a story, but it just wasnt all that engaging. I seriously kept falling asleep while reading this book. Especially in the middle portion of the novel where Amy is training and at the later portion of the novel where she is serving as a maid in Dorothys castle.
There is a lot more swearing in this novel than in a typical YA novel (Im not judging here...just something I noticed). I really enjoy Amys snark in the beginning of the novel, but that witty, funny attitude seemed to fade as the novel continued.
Amy is made out to be your typical white trash type of girl but with a funny snarky personality. Her matter of fact way of talking and her absolute determination to survive anything were probably the best parts of this story for me. In the beginning I really really enjoyed her as a character.
Unfortunately she was really the only character you get to know all that well and even she lacked depth. I was never really engaged with any of the characters and never really cared what happened to them. They just werent written all that well, especially the secondary characters.
The plot seemed pretty neat in the beginning but it unraveled a bit as the book continued. Amy starts training in her magic and then gets put into a spy type of role in Oz, the whole thing might sound exciting...but it was actually pretty yawn-inducing. Action scenes just werent all that intense and the plot was predictable, it all lacked intensity and failed to really grab me as a reader.
I think my biggest sticking point with the novel is that it sets up a lot of stuff (its a pretty long book), yet it doesnt really resolve anything. It pretty much is just setting up for future books in the series...books that I wont be reading.
Overall I loved the idea behind this book, but didnt think it was executed all that well. The characters lacked depth, the plot was predictable, and the action lacked any intensity. I did enjoy Amys snarky attitude in the beginning of this book, but this lost its edge as the story continued. I ended up really struggling to stay awake while reading and just found a lot of the book very boring. I wouldnt really recommend this book, it was okay but there wasnt a lot here aside from the interesting initial premise. I wont be reading any more books in this series.
Amy Gumm is living a tough life, her mother is addicted to everything and Amy takes care of her mother more than the other way around. They are pretty much living at poverty level which doesnt help Amys school life either. Everything changes when a tornado rips through Amys house and transports her to Oz. There she finds out that all is not the happy scenario she was led to believe from books. Something has gone horribly wrong in Oz and Amy is the only one with the power to stop the evil Dorothy.
This is a very cool premise for a story, but it just wasnt all that engaging. I seriously kept falling asleep while reading this book. Especially in the middle portion of the novel where Amy is training and at the later portion of the novel where she is serving as a maid in Dorothys castle.
There is a lot more swearing in this novel than in a typical YA novel (Im not judging here...just something I noticed). I really enjoy Amys snark in the beginning of the novel, but that witty, funny attitude seemed to fade as the novel continued.
Amy is made out to be your typical white trash type of girl but with a funny snarky personality. Her matter of fact way of talking and her absolute determination to survive anything were probably the best parts of this story for me. In the beginning I really really enjoyed her as a character.
Unfortunately she was really the only character you get to know all that well and even she lacked depth. I was never really engaged with any of the characters and never really cared what happened to them. They just werent written all that well, especially the secondary characters.
The plot seemed pretty neat in the beginning but it unraveled a bit as the book continued. Amy starts training in her magic and then gets put into a spy type of role in Oz, the whole thing might sound exciting...but it was actually pretty yawn-inducing. Action scenes just werent all that intense and the plot was predictable, it all lacked intensity and failed to really grab me as a reader.
I think my biggest sticking point with the novel is that it sets up a lot of stuff (its a pretty long book), yet it doesnt really resolve anything. It pretty much is just setting up for future books in the series...books that I wont be reading.
Overall I loved the idea behind this book, but didnt think it was executed all that well. The characters lacked depth, the plot was predictable, and the action lacked any intensity. I did enjoy Amys snarky attitude in the beginning of this book, but this lost its edge as the story continued. I ended up really struggling to stay awake while reading and just found a lot of the book very boring. I wouldnt really recommend this book, it was okay but there wasnt a lot here aside from the interesting initial premise. I wont be reading any more books in this series.
Helpful Score: 1
Starts out strong, but quickly becomes a flat, tedious narration with no real depth or interest. It's like somebody ordered up a quirky Oz spin-off but didn't actually give a rip about story or quality, as long as it was marketable. Very disappointing.
I enjoyed this story, and plan on reading all the prequels and the rest of the trilogy. This creative embellishment on the L. Frank Baum books starts off fast, lags off in the middle, then ends with a bang. I can't wait to read what happens next!
Nathaniel W. (celticwolf) reviewed Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die, Bk 1) on + 9 more book reviews
I fell in love with the prequel No Place Like Oz and I got to tell ypu Danielle Paige knocked it out of the park again with this one. I could re-read this over and over again.
Leslie W. (kyyadifan) -
As soon as I saw this book I knew it was one I had to read! I couldn't wait for it to become available on PBS so I bought it! The first chapter was so cheesy that I was nervous the rest of the book would be just as bad. But when the main character Amy made it to Oz, I couldn't put it down. The characters that I've grown to know and love, were evil, and it was intriguing! The development of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion were captivating! I was pulled into the story and felt as if I was in this new, magical, corrupt Oz. It was amazing how I was rooting for the downfall of Dorothy and friends. Excellent plot concept, excellent story - I can't wait to see what happens next!!
Let's start with, lately I have seriously had a knack for picking stories told in first person...which I hate. This was an interesting enough story that it was pretty easy to ignore. This book was dark, very dark and a teeny bit gruesome.
Amy is a teenager from Kansas. She lives in a trailer, her dad walked out on them, her mom has turned into a junkie that blames Amy for every bad thing in her life. Her school life is terrible, she's been bullied for years, has no friends and no means of escaping her craptastic life. That is until a tornado hits and sweeps her away to Oz. Yup, just like in the movie she'd seen bunches of times as a child.
However, she doesn't find herself in the Oz of the movie or storybook. This Oz is desolate and decaying. As it turns out, Dorothy, who had gotta a taste for magic, found her way back to Oz and took over. Now she and Glinda are mining it for it's magic and killing it an it's inhabitants in the process.
Amy, who has her pet rat, Star as a companion meets people who (somewhat) explain to her what has been going on and eventually she falls in with the Order. Which is led...by...the...wicked...witches? Yeah, things have gotten so bad that the wicked have joined forces to stop Dorothy, and Amy is their weapon of choice. She is trained by them in combat and in the use of magic before being sent to the palace in disguise. She's meant to be a spy to gather information that will help with their plan, only Amy is never given the details of the plan or a way to relay any information she may have discovers. She has to wing it and in doing so learns that there is more than one faction that is trying to rise up and take Dorothy out of power... and she gets herself into trouble.
I like Amy, but she's too full of doubt and indecision. Which, considering her circumstances is totally understandable. My thoughts are that she can't really trust any of the factions, and she knows that, but hasn't exactly accepted it. While these groups may be operating under the guise of making Oz great again--and yes that is an actual phrase from the book and it made me cringe reading it--I think they all want Dorothy out of power because she's a monster who is destroying their world, but also because they want to be in power themselves.
Amy has a tough road ahead because her mission is to kill Dorothy, and she royally botched it in this book. Dorothy has managed to escape and no one knows where. Now Amy's been thrown together with a different resistance group and who knows what they will tell her in order to get her to do what they want. All she knows is that before she can kill Dorothy, she must stop her first companions in Oz. That means, taking the heart of the Tin Woodman, the brain of the Scarecrow, and the courage of the Lion. And then, hopefully, Dorothy will finally die.
Amy is a teenager from Kansas. She lives in a trailer, her dad walked out on them, her mom has turned into a junkie that blames Amy for every bad thing in her life. Her school life is terrible, she's been bullied for years, has no friends and no means of escaping her craptastic life. That is until a tornado hits and sweeps her away to Oz. Yup, just like in the movie she'd seen bunches of times as a child.
However, she doesn't find herself in the Oz of the movie or storybook. This Oz is desolate and decaying. As it turns out, Dorothy, who had gotta a taste for magic, found her way back to Oz and took over. Now she and Glinda are mining it for it's magic and killing it an it's inhabitants in the process.
Amy, who has her pet rat, Star as a companion meets people who (somewhat) explain to her what has been going on and eventually she falls in with the Order. Which is led...by...the...wicked...witches? Yeah, things have gotten so bad that the wicked have joined forces to stop Dorothy, and Amy is their weapon of choice. She is trained by them in combat and in the use of magic before being sent to the palace in disguise. She's meant to be a spy to gather information that will help with their plan, only Amy is never given the details of the plan or a way to relay any information she may have discovers. She has to wing it and in doing so learns that there is more than one faction that is trying to rise up and take Dorothy out of power... and she gets herself into trouble.
I like Amy, but she's too full of doubt and indecision. Which, considering her circumstances is totally understandable. My thoughts are that she can't really trust any of the factions, and she knows that, but hasn't exactly accepted it. While these groups may be operating under the guise of making Oz great again--and yes that is an actual phrase from the book and it made me cringe reading it--I think they all want Dorothy out of power because she's a monster who is destroying their world, but also because they want to be in power themselves.
Amy has a tough road ahead because her mission is to kill Dorothy, and she royally botched it in this book. Dorothy has managed to escape and no one knows where. Now Amy's been thrown together with a different resistance group and who knows what they will tell her in order to get her to do what they want. All she knows is that before she can kill Dorothy, she must stop her first companions in Oz. That means, taking the heart of the Tin Woodman, the brain of the Scarecrow, and the courage of the Lion. And then, hopefully, Dorothy will finally die.
