Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die is a retelling, or really more of an unauthorized sequel to The Wizard of Oz. In this version Dorothy returned to Oz because life on a Kansas farm just couldn't compete after her adventures in Oz. Upon her return Dorothy is welcomed as a hero and made something of a co-princess, next to the real princess, Ozma. Dorothy adores being adored, even more, she adores power and magic. It isn't long before the once sweet girl from Kansas becomes an evil tyrant, sucking the magic out of Oz and its inhabitants. By Dorothy's side are her trusty companions from her original adventures. They have changed just as much as Dorothy has. The Scarecrow has become a mad scientist of sorts. The Cowardly Lion feeds on people's fears and sometimes on the people themselves. His heart full of unrequited love for Dorothy, the Tin Men is her loyal henchmen and leader of Dorothy's army of soldiers.

Into this new Oz comes Amy, another Kansas girl. Before she and her trailer flew into Oz on the winds of a tornado, Amy's life wasn't so great. Her dad left, her mom is caught in a spiral of alcoholism and drug addiction, and at school Amy is a favorite target for bullies. It's hard to say whether being dropped in Oz is an improvement in Amy's life or the opposite.

As she makes her way down the yellow brick road Amy makes some friends while witnessing the devastation Dorothy has brought to Oz. She finds that good witches have turned wicked. Wicked witches are still wicked but are fighting to free Oz from the tyranny of Dorothy. There's a third group, fighting Dorothy and steering clear of the wicked. It soon it becomes clear that Dorothy must die, and nearly everyone is convinced only the new girl from Kansas can kill the original Kansas girl.

The premise sounded great but the execution was just alright. It was not particularly compelling or interesting. Amy has a complicated life with difficult problems but all that fades away when she gets to Oz. She becomes a lot less interesting. Even less interesting is the totally predictable and uninspiring instant budding romance Amy finds herself in.

What did interest me about this story were the various factions fighting against Dorothy. I wanted to know more about them, particularly the non-wicked faction. Unfortunately, not much time was spent on their story. Perhaps there story comes in the next installment of the series but it is doubtful I will continue with this series.