Review: Mad Hatter Reads Review No Place LIke Oz
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2014
I love modern re-imaginings of the classic tales that I grew up with. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was one of my favorites, so when I saw the title for this series it stopped me in my tracks. Dorothy Must Die? Dorothy? Dorothy Gale? But she was the heroine. Just how could the girl who was all rainbows, ribbons, and sweetness change so much that she deserved her own house or bucket of water? I HAD to find out.The series prequel, NO PLACE LIKE OZ, focuses on Dorothy’s return to Oz and her corruption from heroine to villain. Danielle Paige does a wonderful job with Dorothy’s transformation. I have to admit that I wasn’t very fond of her right from the beginning of the novella. Oh, she wasn’t evil…not quite…but she was very self-absorbed and bitter that her fame of riding the tornado had waned. She desperately wanted to have her share of the spotlight again and she made me want to smack her with how she treated Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and even the farm animals. My dislike of Dorothy only grew stronger over the course of the novella and I have a feeling that her wickedness is going to surpass the Wicked Witch of the West.Ms. Paige’s writing is excellent. Her take on the world of Oz is vivid and extremely reminiscent of Baum’s original. I love that she incorporated characters found throughout the series, not just those that you might be the most familiar with. It’s as if Ms. Paige really transports us back to Oz.I was blown away by NO PLACE LIKE OZ and I can’t wait to meet Amy Gumm, the girl who is destined to take down Dorothy. You need to hurry and read NO PLACE LIKE OZ now because DOROTHY MUST DIE is going to be a must-read when it comes out April 1, 2014.