Review - No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige

No Place Like Oz (Dorothy Must Die 0.5)
by Danielle Paige 
Published November 12th 2013
Published by HarperCollins
ebook, 196 pages
Goodreads
My Rating - ✯ ✯ ✯ ½


Description

  In this digital original novella, Dorothy travels back to Oz to reunite with old friends, but her story may not have a happy ending. No Place Like Oz is a prequel to the forthcoming novel Dorothy Must Die.

  After returning to Kansas, Dorothy Gale has realized that the dreary fields of Kansas don’t compare to the vibrant landscapes of Oz. And although she’s happy to be reunited with Aunt Em, she misses her friends from the yellow brick road. But most of all, Dorothy misses the fame and the adventure. In Kansas she’s just another prairie girl, but in Oz she was a hero. So Dorothy is willing to do anything to get back, because there really is no place like Oz. But returning to the land she left comes at a price, and after Dorothy is through with it, Oz will never be the same.

  Perfect for fans of Alex Flinn, Marissa Meyer, and Gregory Maguire, No Place Like Oz is a dark reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Building off of its rich mythology, Danielle Paige creates an edgy, thrilling story for teens that chronicles the rise and fall of one of the literature’s most beloved characters. This digital original novella is a prequel that sets the stage for the forthcoming novel Dorothy Must Die.



My Review

     After reading Dorothy Must Die I was extremely interested in getting a few answers in this prequel novella. My first impression was good. The world build was definitely there, I could easily Invision a impovershed Dorothy Gale living on her Kansas farm, bored with the monotony and wishing for anotheGoodciting adventure in Oz. Luckily , she gets her wish and I was taken along for an informative ride.

     Along with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, Dorothy re-enters Oz and finds that things aren't exactly the way she left it. The family decides that the best person to seek out would be Glinda the Good Witch and along the way she was re-aquianted with some old friends. She also was introduced to the new reigning queen of Oz, Ozma. Slowly you can see a change appear in Dorothy and eventually she begins to have insidious thoughts towards her family and the queen. She also develops an intense jealousy towards Ozma and the magic that she possesses.

     This novella didn't answer all of my questions, but it did give me a much better understanding of how Dorothy became the woman that we encounter in Dorothy Must Die. This story has also furthered my belief that something is influencing the way that Dorothy is thinking. If you enjoyed Dorothy Must Die I would highly recommend reading There's No Place Like Oz.

 I give this a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars