Book Club / TBR Pile: Dorothy Must Die

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige is about a girl named Amy. She's from Kansas, she ends up in Oz after a tornado...sound familiar? Except Amy is completely different from Dorothy, and the Oz in which she lands is completely different, too. Paige's dark re-imagining of Oz is a pondering of the question, "What would happen if Dorothy had returned to Oz and gotten a little greedy about her fame and fortune in the foreign land?" And this will change your view of Baum's beloved children's novels forever.

(picture taken from Goodreads;

jacket art and design by Ray Shappell)

First Impression: This is a very interesting concept for a book. Dorothy crazed with power and magic? Brilliant but disturbing. I'll say this: it's keeping me intrigued. I like Paige's characters so far, but I wish I was learning more about them. I understand why I'm not, though. Every clue is a risk of being discovered by Dorothy later. And it makes sense that Dorothy, growing up on a farm of poor circumstances, would want more. I'm curious about the level of her greed, but Paige seems to be treating it kind of like a drug addiction in her story. Dorothy even says something to Amy about it.

Conclusion: I feel dissatisfied with the ending. Not because Amy didn't accomplish anything or because I didn't like the book, but it's so open-ended. I can't even tell what or who to root for because you can't trust any characters in this book. Even if they seem trustworthy for a few chapters, something happens to remind the reader that they're really in it for their own goals. Take Nox, for example. It's obvious that he cares for Amy, but his main goal is taking down Dorothy. And I'm curious what the Order of the Wicked will do now or how Amy might be connected to them. What are the goals of the other "trustworthy" characters? Basically, people use Amy throughout the book while she figures out what she thinks is right. I like Paige's unique ideas, and I'll continue the series to see what happens, but I'm unsure about such wishy-washy plotlines and characters.

Recommendation: This is a good book if you like unique YA re-tellings of fairy tales and classics. It would also be good not to be too attached to Dorothy as a beloved character--you might become angry about the level of cruelty and greed to which she's taken.

This is my eleventh read for the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge. Do you have a favorite re-telling of a classic? I'd love some suggestions of more unique spins on already-loved stories!