Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die: Book One)
Written by Danielle Paige
Fantasy, Retelling
Published April 1st 2014
464 Pages
Add to Goodreads
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!
Her latest suspension is just another incident in why Amy needs to escape the confines of Dusty Acres, where living in a mobile home with her narcotic dependent mother has labelled her with the name of Salvation Amy. A cruel taunt on her lowly economic status. Arriving home to the news of a Tornado, on yet another whim with her latest boyfriend, Amy's mother leaves the teen to fend for herself. This time, Dusty Acres won't be spared. 

When her trailer plummets into the middle of nowhere, this is now how Amy expected to have left the desolate trailer park, nor was she expecting the road that is paved in yellow bricks. But this isn't the same Oz that had endeared itself to the world. Dorothy Gale may have arrived on the wind, Slayed the Wicked, Freed the Munchkins and returned to Kansas. But she returned. Oz is no longer adored with rich fields of magic and the lines between good and wicked no longer exist. The Munchkins have been enslaved, the landscape drained of magic and the once Wicked Witches have banded together to stop a greater evil destroying what is left of Oz, the crowned Princess Dorothy and her henchmen. The mastermind Scarecrow, the Tinman and the former Cowardly Lion, who now terrorises villages.

The Revolutionary Order of the Wicked are the only chance Oz now has. The once Wicked Witches taking Amy under their coven and training her for a war waged upon Dorothy and the Emerald City where her palace lies. Amy is bound by agreeing to join the fight against Dorothy, and trained by Nox, Warlock and newest member of The Order. Amy's mission is to kill Dorothy.

But in a world where down is up, up is down. Wicked is Good and Good is Wicked, who will Amy learn to trust? She's not in Kansas any more.

My Thoughts


The Wizard of Oz has been one of my childhood favorites, and Dorothy Must Die certainly didn't disappoint. A dark and Wicked retelling, it follows the story of Amy, a girl who calls the Dusty Acres trailer park home and is teased relentlessly throughout the halls of her high school. With no friends and no father, the only person Amy has had to rely on is her mother who is emotionally and physically absent since her father left. Amy needs to escape the small town mentality, but had never imagined that a Tornado warning would leave her stranded in what she always believed was a make believe world of magic and wonder.

Following in the footsteps of Dorothy, Amy is thrown into the land of Oz, but it's now a dreary and dangerous world where Dorothy has enslaved communities and continues to destroy the once picturesque landscape. She too meets characters along the way, from the boy who seems to dissolve before answering any questions, the sassy and foul mouthed Munchkin Indigo and the wingless and intelligent Monkey Ollie, all are incredibly endearing and aide Amy in her quest to reach the Emerald City. Only Amy is sidetracked by Dorothy's attempt to capture her, and her savior comes in the form of The Order of the Wicked.

Danielle Paige is phenomenal, taking a much loved children's fable and morphing it into a dark and incredibly entertaining retelling that blurs the lines between Good and Wicked. I absolutely adored it. It's unique, sassy and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel that can't come soon enough.

22 comments

  1. Wizard of Oz is one of my most favourite childhood musicals and I'd love to see how this author morphed it into something dark. I've never read a retelling before so I have no idea what to expect. Great review, I'll have to look out for this one.

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    1. It's mine too and I was a little hesitant to start this one in the fear that it would have been butchered. But it was incredible. Throw everything you knew about Oz out the window, it's brilliant.

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  2. Fantastic review, Kelly! I'm so glad you enjoyed this one. I just finished it last night and was quite surprised by just how much I loved it. :)

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    1. Can't wait to see your review! It was fabulous wasn't it. So ballsy to take on a much loved favourite as well, but she pulled it off marvelously.

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  3. Awesome review Kelly - I've seen this book around on the interwebs and in stores, and now I want to read it even more! Retellings of stories that we all know so well is always a risk, but it's good to see that this one lived up to expectations :)

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    1. I love love LOVED it Eugenia. She definitely took a chance, but it was just so engaging and a new spin on such a well loved favourite. I think this one will appeal to the majority of readers and those who have read the original and seen the film.

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  4. I have yet to read or watch The Wizard of Oz (please don't hurt me) but I love retellings. I've seen the latest movie, Oz the Great and Powerful with James Franco, so I at least know who's who. It's promising that you loved this one, Kelly, knowing that you adored The Wizard of Oz as a kid. I would definitely read this soonish. Lovely review! :)

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    1. I actually haven't seen that version of the movie, but love the original. Even watching it now as an adult, it's never lost that magic. Even though this one is more of a new interpretation than retelling, it has just enough that it'll draw you in with it's familiarity. Can't wait to see what you think of it too Sarah.

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  5. I don't know anything from The Wizards of Oz. But this one is getting interesting. It has a lot of mixed reviews on GR, so maybe it depends huh? :)

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    1. Definitely watch the original movie beforehand Jules, it'll give you a greater understanding of how dark and quirky this one is. It's brilliant, I highly recommend this one.

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  6. Yay, I'm glad you liked this! I saw SO many negative reviews of this, but still got my dad to buy it for my birthday - a good decision, since I really enjoyed it. I love fairytale retellings in general, and this one was VERY dark. Indigo oh my goodness O_O

    I can't wait for the sequel :)

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    1. I LOVED Indigo! She was so funny and her in your face type personality was brilliant. Not what you'd expect from a Munchkin. Have you read the novella as well?

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  7. YAY! I am so glad to see you enjoyed this one, Kelly (was it?? I forgot your name.. you've been away too long). I actually never read The Wizard of Oz as a child so I might not get some of the parallels (or most of them for that matter) but it'll definitely be interesting to see the twist and how it affects the world Danielle has created!

    Lovely review, Kelly! :)

    Rashika @ The Social Potato

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    1. It's only been a few days, although it may have seemed a little longer all the way from your home planet. (Rashika is from a galaxy far, far away)

      You've never seen the movie? Before reading this one, try to catch the original or even the recently remade version, it'll give you a much better understanding of the magical, or in this case not so magical land of Oz.

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  8. YAAAAY! I have this to read too, like, on the bottom of my (again) enormous TBR Seriously. How does my TBR grow when I'm not going to the library or buying books? I need help. I need to eat more books. Yes. ANYWAY. I'm really into retellings and if it's sassy then bonus. YAY FOR THIS BOOK!

    (Also, Kelly, this huge wait between posts is killing me. I MISS YOU.)

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    1. I'm back now after the endless computer issues and then lack of internet. So expect a few posts to clutter up everyone's feeds over the next few days.

      Push this one up the pile, it's brilliantly dark and sassy. When you hear a Munchkin using the term fuck, you know you're onto a winner. Read it because I can't wait to see what you think of it too. I think you'll love it just as much as I have.

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  9. I loved the dark twist on a beloved classic and this one did it really well. Definitely sassy and fun to read about.

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    1. Me too Jeann, can't wait for the sequel. Might check out the novella in the meantime.

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  10. I actually haven't seen the movie, too. But I think I'm familiar with the song used in it as my mom oftentimes sang it when I was a wee one... do you think with the premise this one has the song would still be a match, too? ;)

    In any case, I love retellings. Especially dark retellings. There's just something so fascinating about taking light stories and making them much darker than what they were supposed to be. So does that mean I'm checking this one out? You can definitely believe that!

    Faye at The Social Potato

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  11. I don't think I've read any other very positive reviews of this, but it's good to see you liked it so much! I was planning to read it when I first heard of it, but after finding out a little more about the content and fact that that list doesn't really come into effect until the last twenty pages or something, I decided this wouldn't be the read for me! I hope the sequel is such a great read for you, too, though!

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  12. This has been in my reader for a while, but I couldn't get into it yet. Maybe in the future. I did love Oz, and I like the idea of Dorothy being bad. XD

    ~ Dre @ Sporadic Reads

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  13. I love the look of this book. I may have picked it up a dozen times in the bookstore, took it on a tour before realizing I probably don't need to buy yet another book so put it back. I really like that the characters seem great - I'm very much a character first, plot second kind of reader. Glad you enjoyed it Kelly!

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