In this dark, high-octane sequel to the New York Times bestsellingDorothy 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?
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?
- Goodreads Synopsis
This Review May Contain SPOILERS
Last year, I picked up Dorothy Must Die and loved it! Obviously for my love for the first book, and just The Wizard Of Oz in general, it was automatically going to be one of my most anticipated books of 2015. The first thing I noticed about this when I first held it in my hands was that it was a lot shorter then the first, in fact it was shorter then the novella bind up. I have bad experiences with sequels that are half the size of the first, so what I predicted was that nothing would happen and this sequel wouldn't really feel needed.
I understand why authors have sequels that do almost nothing for the plot, I just wish they could find a way to incorporate more into the story. In this book, Amy is basically just revisiting her past and finally realizing what she feels. To me this was just what I call a 'filler', a 'filler' is something used to fit words on a page that have no point to the story. There was almost no plot development, or character development which is something that I look for especially in sequels. This book was bridge to the next book, and that's not really a bad thing. It just means that you're not going to be that invested in the story. In my opinion, this series could've been a two book series just because of the awkwardness of this one.
Just because there wasn't much character or plot development, Danielle still had the amazing storytelling of her version of Oz. Some aspects of this book that I really enjoyed is that we got to see more parts of Oz, we get to see the 'wingless ones' which was very strange but very entertaining. Another one of the reasons why I fell in love with the first book was how this world was described so vividly, and you could imagine things perfectly. There was this one part of the book where Ozma says "The magic is coming back" or something along those lines, and that moment just felt so magical.
Since this book is a 'Wizard of Oz' spin off/continuation, it obviously has to have components to the original story. I am a very big Wizard of Oz fan, and it makes me very happy that Frank L. Baum's Oz isn't as far gone as it may seem. Amy takes away the lion's courage (his tail), immediately the lion is turned back into the legendary 'Cowardly Lion' the way he was presented only made me think of my favourite Bert Lahr, it made me smile even though the situation wasn't supposed to be happy.
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Since this book is quite short, there were many scenes when I felt that things were rushed. I think so many people can agree on the fact that connecting to characters is a very important factor when it comes to reading books. There were certain situations where Amy would lose something important to her, and I wouldn't feel anything. When it comes to writing a short book, I think it's important that you put the same effort into the writing of the pacing and connection as you did the first. Just because the books may be a different length, it does not mean you have to make everything rushed.
It really annoys me to say this, but I forced myself to read this book. I knew nothing much was going to happen, if I were willing to completely abandon this book I would have. This book had so much publicity. The title is called The Wicked Will Rise, on the back it says:
I understand why authors have sequels that do almost nothing for the plot, I just wish they could find a way to incorporate more into the story. In this book, Amy is basically just revisiting her past and finally realizing what she feels. To me this was just what I call a 'filler', a 'filler' is something used to fit words on a page that have no point to the story. There was almost no plot development, or character development which is something that I look for especially in sequels. This book was bridge to the next book, and that's not really a bad thing. It just means that you're not going to be that invested in the story. In my opinion, this series could've been a two book series just because of the awkwardness of this one.
Just because there wasn't much character or plot development, Danielle still had the amazing storytelling of her version of Oz. Some aspects of this book that I really enjoyed is that we got to see more parts of Oz, we get to see the 'wingless ones' which was very strange but very entertaining. Another one of the reasons why I fell in love with the first book was how this world was described so vividly, and you could imagine things perfectly. There was this one part of the book where Ozma says "The magic is coming back" or something along those lines, and that moment just felt so magical.
Since this book is a 'Wizard of Oz' spin off/continuation, it obviously has to have components to the original story. I am a very big Wizard of Oz fan, and it makes me very happy that Frank L. Baum's Oz isn't as far gone as it may seem. Amy takes away the lion's courage (his tail), immediately the lion is turned back into the legendary 'Cowardly Lion' the way he was presented only made me think of my favourite Bert Lahr, it made me smile even though the situation wasn't supposed to be happy.
(Bert Lahr as 'The Cowardly Lion') (Jessica De Gouw)
(Side Note: I have mentioned this before in my past review for the first book, but this is Jessica De Gouw and she is the one I picture for Dorothy. I'm just saying this because if this becomes a movie, I want her to play Dorothy.)
There may have not been any plot or character development, but what I did see was how Danielle's writing improved. In the first book, I noticed how some of Danielle's characters seemed very immature and rude but they weren't written in a very good way. In this book, there are still some of the spoiled, immature characters but they have more of a realism to their voice and they are not just yelling at everyone and everything they see. The change in dialogue really made me have a better tolerance for those kinds of characters.
It really annoys me to say this, but I forced myself to read this book. I knew nothing much was going to happen, if I were willing to completely abandon this book I would have. This book had so much publicity. The title is called The Wicked Will Rise, on the back it says:
THERE'S A NEW GIRL FROM KANSAS IN OZ. . .
AND SHE HAS MISSION:
F I N D
Dorothy
D E S T R O Y
The Yellow Brick Road
S A V E
Her Home
THE WICKED WILL RISE.
You're going into this book expecting 200+ pages of epicness. Did this book live up to that expectation? No. However that is just my opinion. This book could be the perfect sequel for someone else but the elements that I look for in a sequel weren't there unfortunately. I wished there was character development, more plot development and at least fifty more pages.
Overall, this book was a disappointment to me. I still love Danielle Paige and her books but this one just let me down. This book and it's story was just very awkward, and it just felt so different and separated from the first book. I understand the difficulties that come with writing a sequel to a best-selling book and it just happened to hit this book very hard. If it weren't for the popularity of trilogies now a days, I'm sure this series would've ended up being a duology. To me, this story was just spread out way too much. I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars.
You can read my review for Dorothy Must Die HERE
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Overall, this book was a disappointment to me. I still love Danielle Paige and her books but this one just let me down. This book and it's story was just very awkward, and it just felt so different and separated from the first book. I understand the difficulties that come with writing a sequel to a best-selling book and it just happened to hit this book very hard. If it weren't for the popularity of trilogies now a days, I'm sure this series would've ended up being a duology. To me, this story was just spread out way too much. I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars.
You can read my review for Dorothy Must Die HERE
Please feel free to follow our blog!
Check out our social media!
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