The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2)
By Danielle Paige
Genre: YA Fantasy

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?

General Thoughts: I was surprised how much I enjoyed Dorothy Must Die, book numero uno in the series. And The Wicked Will Rise almost met those expectations. It was bad but it wasn’t stellar either. It’s almost hard for me to put my finger on. It seemed like the characters were confused about what to do next and that didn’t make an interesting story. I kind of got the impression this was a filler book whose sole purpose was to bridge the gap between books 1 & 3.

Plot: I thought this really lacked.  Obviously we know the main goal is to take down Dorothy and Glinda, but everyone seemed at a loss about how to do that. For the entire book. The whole storyline just felt fuzzy to me, like “Well, we gotta do something, so let’s try wandering through this forest and hopefully we’ll find this person who may or may not be able to help us.” The reason this bothered me so much is that it caused a lack of motivation in the characters so I wasn’t as invested in their story as much.

Characters: Good, I guess. I thought Nox became a little bland and I still haven’t decided if I think Amy’s inner turmoil was handled well, but not as bad as other books I’ve read. The character that I absolutely fell in love with though was Ozma. She because this interesting little mystery to me and I kind of wish the whole story would have focused on her more.

Pace: Despite my issues with the plot, I don’t feel the book dragged much. Sure, there were slow parts, but in general it seemed like there was always something going on, no matter how aimless it seemed.

World/Setting: I appreciated that in this book we kind of got to see a different side of Oz than we’re used to. We got to see where the monkeys lived, which I liked. Rainbow Falls was amazing and I want to move there.

The Jist:

What I liked: Ozma. And more Ozma; I liked that Amy became a deeper character, though maybe not as effectively as I would have liked; Did I mention Ozma?

What I Didn’t Like: Lack of direction in Amy and Nox’s plans, which led to questioning their motivation to get stuff done.

Would I Recommend It? I think so. I liked the first book a lot, and I don’t think this is an awful sequel. It may not be the best book you’ve ever read, but I don’t think it will be the worst and I don’t think you’ll be bored.

My Rating: 3.5/5 Lunas
1/2