Well y’all, Smashing Series September started off pretty well with The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die, #2) by Danielle Paige.
In this dark, high-octane sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy 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?
The Good
- Great new side characters with some kooky personalities, especially Queen LuLu. She was definitely my new favorite!
- Got to see more of Oz, which is probably the best thing about this series. This world is extremely unique and plays such a major part in the actual story.
- The plot turned to more of an adventure story, where the focus is on Amy’s travels across Oz with Princess Ozma. I felt like this was a better change of pace compared to the first book which was really just her learning to become an assassin and then infiltrating the palace.
The Bad
- The romance – I just didn’t really feel any of the sexual tension or connection between Nox and Amy.
- This book lost some of the grim, macabre creepiness that was in the first novel. I had really enjoyed that part, as I feel like that is what set this retelling apart. I appreciate when authors get dark with their stories, but this one was missing some of that.
For the most part, this was a pretty solid second book. It turned into more of an adventure story, which I really appreciated. However, I feel like there was some stuff still missing that kept it from getting the full 5 stars. I would like for there to be more show rather than tell when it comes to the relationship between Nox and Amy. Let’s get dark again!
Wonderfilled Reads 
I think based on the poll from a few days ago we’re reading ADSOM next month and Dorothy Must Die in December for HLF. Go figure you’ve read them both and that’s what the group wants to read. 😂 I’m such a massive fan of the original that I can’t wait to check out this series. I’ve owned Dorothy Must Die for months now and still haven’t read it. I think the problem is I have so many series that it’s making it impossible to get through all of them, so I end up picking the standalones instead. Crazy TBR problems. Lol. Nice review! I’m looking forward to reading this series by the end of the year. 🙂
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Hahahaha well I’ll still participate, just won’t do another full review for them. That’s the trouble with hyped books, so many people have already read them! But it’s okay, I hope everyone else enjoys them too. ADSOM was good but the sequel was way better in my opinion! I hope you enjoy Dorothy! I always appreciate a darker, more mature tone in retellings. 😊
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We have so many themes to choose from that you could just do one of those and maybe link your old book review to get some hits on it. 🙂 It’s crazy how many hyped books we have to check off this list and they’re all sitting on my kindle or in an OwlCrate box. 😂 Thanks! I love The Wizard of Oz movie and the writing in the book is brilliant. The prose has that real wow factor. I loved it.
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Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll do!.. Well I hope you enjoy it. It’s definitely a different take on the story, not the happy-feel-good one that we know!
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Can’t wait to check this out!
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