Review: Dorothy Must Die

This book is about a girl named Amy Gumm who lives in a trailer with her no good mother and goes to school where girls are calling her Salvation Amy. Her life already isn't easy, but things get even more complicated when a tornado comes in and takes her to the world of Oz. Only....Oz isn't the same as from the story. She quickly learns that innocent people are getting killed, munchkins are enslaved, flying monkeys are being chained down and magic is being drained. And it's all because of one person: Dorothy. Amy, the other girl from Kansas, now has to figure out who she can trust but as the story progresses, one thing is clear: Dorothy must die.

(Review will contain spoilers.)

So, I kind of have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the author did a great job on the creepy and dark elements of the story and Amy Gumm was a great protagonist to have, but on the other hand it took some time for me to get hooked and there were some parts I didn't feel connected to. Amy Gumm is sarcastic, funny and such an awesome character to relate to. She also wasn't the type to mope about her situation and I admired how well she was able to hold her own even though her life has gotten crazy. Her relationship with her mother is so complicated; she wants to hate her but at the same time she's her mother and I could really feel for her during those moments because relationships like that are supposed to be complicated. Although I really liked Amy, I can't say I felt that way for all the other characters. I feel like I don't know anyone else. I wanted to like Nox, but his character didn't really seem consistent. I had a feeling he was going to be the love interest, and I'm a little disappointed that it was so obvious. I do applaud the author for not having Nox be the first boy she meets however, since all too many times I've seen authors make the girl fall for the first guy they really interact with. But that's another thing. Pete was sort of a problem for me too but by the end of the story, I understand why. Anyways, back to Nox. He came off as a very serious, somewhat rude character who only cared about the cause. Even though Amy technically has trained with them for weeks, I didn't get to see the change in his character for myself. It just happens and I'm left thinking, what? I also applaud the author for not making them gush all over each other, but their relationship didn't seem developed enough for me to think they liked each other in the romantic sense. When Nox kissed Amy, she wasn't the only one shocked. I honestly don't know when he started liking her and that sort of bugged me because it now feels like the author wants to hook them up just because she wants a romance somewhere. In a story like this, I felt she could do without it. As for the other characters: Mombi, Gert and Glamora I didn't know long enough, Melindra is badass but that's as far as it goes, I don't even know who Ashley is to be honest, and I'm not even sure where to begin with Pete and Ozma. On the bright side, the villains of the story worked pretty well. Dorothy was evil but also a whiny brat and she's a great example of how so much power can go to one's head. I'm still at a loss however that someone so kind could become this cruel. I'm hoping to get more detail on what changed her in the next book. Which leads me to my next criticism: Dorothy still lives. I had a feeling she would since this is a series of four books, but the times Amy had her within her grasp and she managed to slip away irritated me to no end. And then the Wizard says there's more to killing Dorothy than she realized and my reaction is, seriously? Either way, this story intrigued me enough to continue so hopefully it picks up in the next book.