Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige

Series: Dorothy Must Die (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Subjects: magic, adventure, retellings, witches, wizards, fairy tales

Setting: Flat Hill, Kansas, Oz

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Amy Gumm

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 270 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “In this dark, action-packed third book in the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series, Amy Gumm—the new girl from Kansas—must do everything in her power to save Kansas, kill Dorothy, and make Oz a free land once more.

Amy Gumm’s mission to take down Dorothy Gale is not going according to plan. Dorothy has found a way to bridge the worlds of Oz and Kansas, and if the power-hungry dictator of Oz has her way, Kansas will be destroyed forever. Now, Amy has to team up with the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to save her home, restore the balance between the magic and nonmagic worlds, maybe get the guy—and kill that not-so-sweet Kansas farm girl once and for all.

In the third installment of the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series, Danielle Paige’s twisted versions of beloved Oz characters are back, including the biggest, baddest, most famous of all: the Wicked Witch of the West.

Welcome to the other side of the rainbow. Here there’s danger around every corner, and magic shoes won’t be able to save you.”

My Review:  If you thought this was the final book of the Dorothy Must Die series, then you were wrong. I was wrong. I was completely expecting a finale, but it ended with more questions and problems left to be resolved. Will this series stop at 4 books, or continue to 5 or beyond?

So, Amy and the witches appear in what used to be Amy’s home, Dusty Aches trailer park. They can’t get back to Oz, so they have to find another way. They suggest that Amy look for Dorothy’s original shoes, the silver slippers. They tell her that Dorothy farm used to be where her school is now. Also, now Nox joined the Quadrant of witches and he’s no longer allowed to have a relationship with Amy.

So Amy heads back to school and suddenly her high school nemesis Madison is trying to be her friend. Madison already gave birth to her baby Dustin Jr. and is carrying him around school and is no longer queen bee. Dustin, the father of her son and Amy’s previous crush also befriends her. Amy enlists them to help with her search under the guise of looking for proof that Dorothy was real.

No one believes Amy’s story about where she’s been, but she can’t tell them the truth because it’s too crazy. Also her mom’s cleaned up while she was gone. No drugs or alcohol. She’s living in an apartment since the trailer’s gone and she’s even got a job. When Amy and the witch finally do go back to Oz, all hell breaks loose and Glinda and Dorothy are no longer on the same side, but not on Amy’s side either.

Yellow Brick War was an interesting 3^rd book, but it was very short. I wonder if Danielle could have just extended the book to make it a finale. I did like the few romance scenes with Nix, but there wasn’t enough. I love the character still. They’re all pretty unique and funny. The book feels like a comedy series at times on top of the fantasy stuff. I love the magic and creatures. Stuff seems weird, but in a good way. I recommend reading the novellas prior to reading this. I recommend this series to fans of Once Upon a Times and other retellings.

Cover Art Review: I like the minimalist style and texture, but this cover doesn’t have a character on it like the previous ones.

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

Series: Dorothy Must Die (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Subjects: magic, adventure, retellings, witches, wizards, fairy tales

Setting: Oz

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Amy Gumm

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 293 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “In this dark, high-octane sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die, Amy Gumm must do everything in her power to kill Dorothy and free Oz.

To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die...

But Dorothy still lives. Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn't wait to leave behind, may also be in danger. In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked?”

My Review:  The sequel to Dorothy Must Die may not be as amazing as it’s 1^st book, but it was still pretty awesome. It was funny and kind of ridiculous most of the time. Overly silly at times. Maybe it was over done, or maybe Oz is supposed to be crazy and anything can happen. I did enjoy this book. It was a light, fun read and kind of short compared to the first book. I love all the magic and the adventure.

I really enjoyed getting to see different parts of Oz. I never read any of the Oz books or Wicked, only the movies so I’m not sure how accurate Danielle’s writing is. I’m sure the originals didn’t have swearing. This not a little kid’s book though. It’s meant for teens and up. Dorothy and Glinda are evil and the wicked are trying to save Oz. Things are kind of flipped. It’s not a retelling but more of a Wizard of Oz fanfiction that way. Some really crazy stuff starts to happen to Amy when she taps into dark magic more. She gets fast a fighting, but something really scary happens later on.

What annoyed me about this book was that Nox doesn’t show up again for a while. I really liked him and Amy starts pining over Pete, but Amy’s crush on Pete get solved quickly. No love triangles I guess. But I just love Nox. He helped train Amy in fighting in the first book.

Over all I enjoyed this enough to give it fours stars. I hope the 3^rd book’s even better. I am slightly irritated by all the novellas in this series. I read No Place Like Oz last year and that helped with backstory. The Witch Must Burn was Jellia’s story, but she’s not even in this sequel! How disappointing. I have yet to read The Wizard Returns or the Heart of Tin.

Cover Art Review: Minimalist vector based cover. Like the use of texture.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Series: Dorothy Must Die (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Subjects: magic, adventure, retellings, witches, wizards, fairy tales

Setting: Present Day Kansas, and then Oz

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Amy Gumm

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 452 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “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!”

My Review:  Dorothy Must Die is and exciting and unique retelling. It centers around the character Amy Gumm, who’s just a normal, snarky girl from modern day Kansas. She’s teased at school for living in a trailer with her mom. Her and her trailer are swept up in a tornado and she lands in Oz. She has the same kind of beginning as Dorothy, but she’s so very different. Dorothy came back to Oz only two years after she left. You can read her story in the novella called No Place Like Oz.

Dorothy has been twisted by the magic of ruby red high heels. She’s ruling Oz like a tyrant queen. She has a lot of horrible laws and punishments and Amy finds this out shortly after she arrives. Later on Amy meets a group of Witches that call themselves the Order. They consider themselves wicked because Dorothy, who’s assisted by Glinda, considers themselves good. She by being against Dorothy, they are Wicked. The lines between Good and Wicked are blurred.

Amy learns a lot from these Witches. They want her to kills Dorothy, who’s hoarding Oz’s magic. The witches want Oz to be what it once was.

I did not know what to expect when I first heard of this book. I wasn’t expecting it to be as amazing as it turned out. My first impression was that it was going to be a retelling and that maybe it was set sometime in the past. When I started reading I was happy that the narrator was a modern girl and that her voice was so snarky and a little angry. She’s a bit of a rebel and not sweet. Amy is able to channel her anger into a powerful magic.

There’s some brief romance in this book, but it’s definitely going to build. I didn’t realize this was a series when I read it. There’s a hot warlock/wizard named Nox. He helps train Amy along with the other witches. I like a lot of the characters. Nox, as well as Gert and even Glamora. Ollie also. Ozma who was in the novella prequel, is not herself, but kind of funny.

My favorite part in the book was when Amy had to impersonate a maid, and also the training scenes with Nox. There’s a lot of action too. More than I expected. There’s references to the Wizard of Oz book and movie and there’s even characters a creature that we’d expect. There’s even fairies. The story’s full of magic and all kinds of crazy strange stuff. For some reason the book had a dystopian feel. A post-apocalyptic fantasyland ruled and ruined by Dorothy.

Dorothy Must Die lives up to the hype and will leave you dying for more. It’s not the Dorothy you know. It’s bloody, action packed and fun. I also just heard it might become a TV show on the CW!!!! If you like shows like Once Upon A Time or other retellings, you'll love this.

Cover Art Review: Minimalist vector based cover. Like the use of texture. I like the title and the hand rendered word DIE.