Oz Takes An Ugly Turn - Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die is the first book of a series by the same name, written by American author, Danielle Paige. The relatively new series is a continuation of the classic story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where another girl from Kansas is taken to Oz. In this story, Oz has been overrun by Dorothy and her ‘loyal’ companions and the new protagonist, Amy Gumm, is sent on a mission to kill her.

I personally adored this book. The introduction of Amy into a world of established characters made the story more relatable to young audiences. Amy is a poor but modern teenager (even rocking some fancy pink hair) who is witty and doesn’t like to be left in the dark about the treacherous events that had befallen Oz. With the first-person narration, Paige has created the world through the eyes of an average teenager. Amy only knew the story that we all have already been told, through the original book and film. Therefore everything Amy knows, we know.

Besides Paige’s beautifully-written protagonist, the book is fairly unique in its field. Most of us know of fairly successful adaptations of the Wizard of Oz, such as Wicked or Oz the Great and Powerful, but both of these examples create the history of Oz and gives us a bit more insight into the characters’ intentions in the original tale. Dorothy Must Die takes a different approach, as it shows what became of Oz after Dorothy arrived.

The thing I will say last is that this book is not afraid to go a little dark and a little mature, having a mention of teen pregnancy in the first chapter or so, seeing Dorothy more vulgar and revealing as well as seeing the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion as borderline-psychopathic monsters.

Overall, I give this book a 9 out of 10. I would definitely recommend this book to teenagers and young adults. I would avoid giving to children under 12 due to language and violence.

Just remember, be prepared for commitment. This book comes along with its share of sequels and prequels . . . but more about that later.

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