This is the fourth and final installment of the Dorothy Must Die series. The first three books are dark in their own right, but this book feels a little more so. In book 4, we travel to Ev, land of the Nome King. I’m not familiar with the original Oz books, but if you are familiar with the difference between The Wizard of Oz movie and the sequel Return to Oz, that is the change of pace to which I’m referring. Remember the wheelers? Yeah, I tried to forget them too. And the queen who wore different heads? Uh huh. Although I actually could have used more heads than were actually offered.
Most of this book takes place in Ev, beyond the land of Oz, where Amy, Madison, and Nox find themselves after escaping the Nome King. They travel to…well…are carried by wheelers against their will to Langwidere’s castle.
“Oh my god…I hated this movie.” -Madison upon seeing the wheelers
So we learn more about Langwidere and her head collection and get some of her backstory. There is some hiding in tunnels and caves, and then…a wedding.
One big difference in this book is that the chapters alternate between what is going on with Amy and what is going on with the Nome King’s newest prisoner. Of course, there’s a big battle at the end, can’t not have one of those. And the book resolves, but leaves the door open for more to come.
Overall, I like these books. Look, I’m not doing any heavy thinking about life or myself because of these books, but they’re short, entertaining, and fun to read. Paige also has even more novellas giving backstory on other main characters – Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and Tin Man, Glinda, the Wizard, Polychrome, Ozma, and the Order of the Wicked. Will my life change by reading these books? No. Will I read them anyway? Of course!