Reviews

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

booknerd777's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow, this book was amazing! It was so good! The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite books of all time so I knew I was going to love this book. This was an amazing retelling. I need the next book now, I can't wait to see what happens next! I will be filming and writing reviews on my blog and channel so stay tuned :)

laurasl's review against another edition

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4.0

Ding-dong, the witch is dead

Dorothy è tornata a Oz e ha ritrovato i suoi vecchi amici.
Ma la ragazzina innocente che cantava di luoghi da sogno oltre l'arcobalento è scomparsa. Chissà, forse non è mai esistita.

Io ADORO il re-telling, quell'oscura pratica nella quale si prende una storia e la si riscrive cambiando le carte in tavola. Così Cenerentola può diventare un cyborg, Dorothy una strega cattiva e la Bella e la Bestia magari possono andare al liceo.
Ovviamente si tratta quasi sempre di romanzi Young Adult, quindi non sempre i risultati sono stellari, ma come letture d'intrattenimento leggero vanno più che bene.

Come si può intendere dal titolo, Dorothy must die racconta la storia di Amy, trasportata da un parcheggio di rulotte in Kansas ad Oz da un tornado; il suo compito è quello di uccidere Dorothy, tornata ad Oz e ormai corrotta dalla magia della quale ha abusato.

La premessa mi ha conquistato ancor prima che cominciassero a circolare le prime recensioni e devo dire che il libro è stato all'altezza delle mie aspettative.
Come al solito ci sono dei difetti: percepire lo scorrere del tempo in questi romanzi non è mai facile per me. Certe vole mi sembra che siano passati mesi, poi scopro che in realtà sono solo 3 settimane, cosa che ovviamente rende poco credibile lo svilupparsi di certe relazioni o lo sviluppo di certe capacità da parte della protagonista.
Però l'ambientazione e i personaggi secondari hanno pareggiato i suddetti difetti egregiamente; in certi punti sembrava di trovarsi in un mondo stile Tim Burton, con una bella aggiunta di malattia mentale tanto per gradire.

Sono davvero impaziente di leggere il secondo libro di questa trilogia, dove spero che l'Ordine dei Malvagi dimostri un pelino più di cervello nella gestione delle missioni segrete.

wggleworm's review against another edition

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3.0

The beginning was a little too similar to The Wizard of Oz for me, but then the story took on a life of its own and I got very interested. I will probably follow up with the sequels.

pn_hinton's review against another edition

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4.0

Dystopian fantasy is big in YA now so it can be easy to just chuck any of them up to just that. I really enjoyed the take on Oz in this story as well as the main players and what happened to them after the events of the story. What happened after Dorothy's return to Oz to make her evil and her friends? What turned them from heroes to tyrants and is it really all their fault or is there something else there? Who is really Wicked, good, or just out for personal gain? It is said many times in the story but it is very true that Amy (and the reader) can really trust no one in this new Oz so I think as the series continues that will be played on a lot (it will be interesting to see if the author even plays with the idea of Amy as an unreliable narrator).

It was a bit drawn out in some places I will admit but even on that it played into the "trust no one" aspect since a lot of the turns were made because Amy made a choice not knowing what the large plan was and no one telling her. You also have to factor in this is the first book and as with any of those a lot of seeds need to be planted to set the stage for the other stories. I am also interested in reading the prequels to see if there is a reason Dorothy is the way she is. It is also (sadly) one of those books where you probably shouldn't get overly attached to anyone because well ultimately it is about the prelude, action, and aftermath of a war. A very good read and new spin on the Oz folklore so if you like YA, dystopia, and Oz you'll enjoy it.

andiadair22's review against another edition

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5.0

Creative and entertaining.

nanu_nanu_narnett's review against another edition

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1.0

This book started off strong, I will admit. The conflict between Amy and her mother was very well done and I was rooting for her as a protagonist from the get-go.
And oh, how the good premise flops.
The Wizard of Oz was an absolute favourite of mine growing up, so maybe I'm biased. Perhaps when male-love-interest (I can't remember his name and I don't care) showed up, she turned into a ditsy, jealous moron. I do think it's a disappointment how many YA novels nowadays focus on the love story and fail to deliver on it by either having one of them be extremely unlikable, or just having bad chemistry.
Of course, after the novel turns in this direction Amy just becomes that 'one special cookie who can and has to save the day!' and I just lost interest.
I was open to an alternate view on an established world (I always am) but this was just... no.
DNF at 80%. I had about 100 pages to go, and I just couldn't do it. If that doesn't say something, I don't know what does.

mythos05's review against another edition

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2.0

Original rating: 3/5 stars
New rating: 2.3/5 stars

I originally thought it was well written when I first read it years ago. Now that I have read it again, I am so glad that I didn't continue to read this series years ago. The writing made this book boring. The first few chapters were alright and probably where I paid the most attention. This is where I liked Amy's character the best. All the characteristics, flawed yet well-balanced, that I liked about her were lost as soon as she came to Oz. Also, I realized that this book also included the insta-love trope. Considering everything that was going on during this book, the romance aspect made no sense to me. I feel like if done well, this series could have been resolved in just one book. This series is not worth reading, so I can't recommend it.

lisxjayne's review against another edition

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5.0

I absolutely loved this book! It's action packed from start to finish, and I found myself never able to predict what was coming next. I would of loved it more if the main character Amy was a bit older, as I did find her to be a bit childish at a couple of points in the book. However her character is definitely funny, likable and sarcastic as hell. I absolutely love the mystery behind the land of oz, and the book has left me dying to know more about what turned Dorothy so crazy! I will definitely be starting the second book asap :)

motivoslobos's review against another edition

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5.0

¡Que gran sorpresa me llevé con este libro!

Luego de leer "El mago de Oz" me dejó algunas dudas y ganas de continuar la historia. Si bien la historia original es más amplia tenia en mente desde hace tiempo darle la oportunidad a este retelling.

¡Dorothy debe morir! Podría decirse que es una secuela de la historia original de El mago de Oz. Tenemos a casi todos los personajes tan amados solo que esta vez algo cambia.

Amy Gumm es otra niña de Kansas que ha sido llevada por un tornado al mundo mágico de Dorothy. Amy conoce la historia anterior a su llegada pero desconoce todo lo que la "princesa" Dorothy ha causado, que no es nada agradable.

Y llego a esto porque me encantó la creación de Dorothy como villana. La autora no pensó en medir la maldad que podía llegar a tener una niña tan noble como normalmente se le relacionaba.

Desde el inicio me atrapó por completo. Tiene unos giros en la trama que me dejaron helado... personajes muy bien re-creados y con ganas de seguir leyendo la saga.

Muy recomendable para quienes les gusta leer fantasía juvenil, quienes han leído El Mago de Oz y quieren tener una lectura bastante ligera pero intensa a la vez.

No dudo por ello darle 5 estrellas. Veré si esto cambia a medida que lea los demás.

chloev17's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF. Super cringe, no connection to any of the characters. Amy was ANNOYING. Premise was cool but did not do it for me.