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 Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett

Series: Arkwell Academy (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, boarding schools, dreams, humor, magic, magical creatures, mystery, mythology, nightmares, sirens

Setting: Somewhere in Ohio (Chickery) at Arkwell Academy

POV/Tense: 1st person, past tense: Dusty

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 380 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Tor

Summary/ product description: “The final installment in a thrilling fantastical mystery series.

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough, not to mention the crazy events of the past year. Dusty may have saved the day, but there are many days left in the year, and with an old foe back to seek revenge, she'll need all her strength to defeat him and save her friends.

Mindee Arnett thrills again in this stunning final installment in the Arkwell Academy series.”

My Review:  Another wonderful finale. What started in The Nightmare Affair, and continued in The Nighmare Dilemma ends in The Nightmare Charade. Dusty Everhart is a Nightmare (and half-human). She can enter people dreams and feed off their dream energy known as fictus. Eli and her are Dreamseers (and call themselves the Dream-team). When she enters Eli’s dreams, they can see the future. They are given a task to look into the disappearance of Deaths Heart, which can steal souls.

I really like this series. It’s fun and entertaining. It’s set in a boarding school like a lot of paranormal series I’ve read. This school isn’t like Hogwarts. It’s not only for wizards and witches, but also for Dark-kind (demons, nightmares, sirens) and Nature-kind (fairies, dryads) too. It’s supposed to be in Ohio, which is cool because I’ve been to Ohio, but it’s not like the state setting plays a huge role. It’s where the author lives.

I think the coolest side character is Selene, Dusty’s best friend. She’s a Siren and she has black bird wings and can fly! She can also mesmerize like the other sirens, but chooses not to. She mostly uses spells and decides to try out for the gladiator team. I think it would be awesome for the author to write a spin-off series about a siren. It’s kind of cool to have a non-mermaid siren.

In this book when Dusty enters Eli’s dreams they see something that freaks them out. There’s this curse that Dreamseerers can’t fall in love because one will die. Lady Elaine has warned them and shown Eli her vison of what will happen if they continue their relationship. Eli can’t help that he loves Dusty, but tries to distance himself and tries to join the gladiator team. During the dream-feeding session, a Will Guard puts Eli to sleep before Dusty has a chance to talk to Eli. In the dreams, they cannot touch, which sucks. This forbidden romance is hard on them.

The ending is crazy and full of twists. I never guessed who was behind it all. There’s a lot of things I don’t want to spoil, so I didn’t mention the other plot points. There’s so much than happens in this book. It’s a great ending. I recommend this series to fans of paranormal romance series that take place in boarding schools, like Evernight, Hex Hall and Haven.

Cover Art Review: It’s a vector illustration and looks kind of fun. I just don’t like how the boat was rendered.

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.