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.

A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

Series: The Madman’s Daughter (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Gothic Horror/Historical Fiction/Sci-fi

Subjects: retellings, experiments, scientists, love, death

Setting: An estate in the Scottish Moors

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Juliet Moreau

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 388 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own.

With inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman’s Daughter trilogy is about the things we’ll sacrifice to save those we love—even our own humanity.”

My Review:  As I’ve said before, this is the only Historical Fiction series I have enjoyed, and the only hist fic series I had read to completion. These books are dark, gothic tales with a mix of horror and sci-fi. They are very different from most Hist Fic YA out there that usually fall into two categories: Steam Punk/Hist Fantasy and Realistic. These books have mystery and romance and horrifying acts of science.

A Cold Legacy is the third and final book in the Madman’s Daughter trilogy. All the books are retelling of classics that have Doctor in the title. This one is the retelling of Dr. Frankenstein. The first book was a retelling of the Island or Dr. Moreau and the second was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Retellings are wonderful because they take elements from stories you already know about and change them or twist them in some way. I personally have not read any of the books that these books are based off of, but I’ve seen some movies.

Set with a backdrop of the Scottish moors, a cold legacy is especially creepy. It’s winter in the book. Likely February. There’s misty fog and storms, but no snow. The setting becomes a character itself. There’s characters from the previous book and new characters. There are many twists and unexpected ones at that. I was caught by surprise by some of the events. One near then end didn’t surprise me so much, but it wasn’t fixed the way I thought it would be.

Without spoiling the book, I can tell you that Juliet learn about the secrets of Dr. Frankenstein from Elizabeth and she tries to revive someone. Lucy becomes less of an airhead and more determined and important. Juliet and Montgomery plan to have a wedding at the mansion. There is no long triangle issue at all here. Juliet helps Lucy find a way to rid Edward of the Beast since Lucy and Edward love each other, and the Beast is still obsessed with Juliet. Stuff happens in this book. The climax is epic and the story isn’t open ended, but I would like to read an enovella from a different character’s POV. I can’t wait to read Megan’s next series, The Cage. If she can make Hist Fic interesting to me, then I’m sure her regular sci-fi will be just as awesome.

Cover Art Review: Interesting landscape image. The girl is wearing a red bow on her dress like the previous books. The cover when printed looks too dark compared to the image online.

~Haley G

My blog:

http://breathlessbookreviews.blogspot