REVIEW: The End of Oz (Dorothy Must Die #4) by Danielle Paige

The End of Oz by Danielle Paige
Series: Dorothy Must Die #4
Published by HarperCollins on 14th March 2017
Pages: 304
Source: *Received from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Ding dong—Dorothy is dead.

I watched as the Emerald Palace crumbled to the ground, burying Dorothy, the Girl Who Rode the Cyclone, under the rubble. And now that the rightful ruler, Ozma, has been restored to the throne…

Oz is finally free.

My name is Amy Gumm. You might remember me as the othergirl from Kansas. When a tornado whisked me away to the magical land of Oz, I was given a mission: Dorothy must die.

But it turns out girls from Kansas are harder to kill than we look.

Now the Road of Yellow Brick is leading me away from Oz to the dark world of Ev, where I have a new, powerful enemy to deal with: the Nome King. And—surprise—he has a gingham-clad bride.

With my magical shoes and a shrinking group of allies, I have one final chance to fulfill my mission, and save not only what’s left of Oz, but Kansas, too. As the line between Good and Wicked blurs even further, I have to find a way to get rid of Dorothy once and for all—without turning into a monster myself.

Dorothy once said there’s no place like home. Can I stop her from destroying mine?
Magical, spine-tingling and transporting, The End of Oz is a thrilling and enlightening ending to the Dorothy Must Die series. How amazing are the covers for this series! And I must briefly mention that it is worth getting the hardcovers just to see the actual hardback underneath the dust jacket!

Throughout this series, Amy has been an amazing character to watch develop into the strong and powerful woman she becomes, without losing herself in the midst of it. She becomes stronger, and is a powerful protagonist, making the reader truly appreciate what they have as Amy finds a way to learn to forgive those around her as she grows. Paige did a brilliant job in ensuring the reader understood Amy’s morals and what Amy’s thought process was, as many a times reading novels like this they are soon lost amongst the action of what is normal in the world they have entered. Amy was kind, compassionate and forgiving, everything one could want in a protagonist. Not only was she these things, but she did not whine nor moan, Amy had her own voice and stood her ground.

Not only did Paige create a brilliant protagonist, she created memorable and intriguing secondary characters, answering the reader’s questions flawlessly throughout about the characters and their pasts, allowing them to grow and develop throughout the series too. Their voices and backstories were brilliant and intriguing to read about and certainly makes me want to read the large variety of novellas published even more. Furthermore, the romance in this final novel did take a bit of a backseat which was appreciated so one could focus on the plot, but it was still certainly there and it was executed beautifully.

What I loved most about this last novel is that we got to read half the novel from Dorothy’s perspective, and it truly made the novel, and series. Dorothy is such a vile and disturbing character, yet one that you cannot help but be intrigued by and want to read about. Not only that, but the reader gains more of an understanding of what actually happened to Dorothy once she went home and then came back to Oz again. And this was certainly enlightening to read about and made me want more, so I am really, really hoping at least one of the novellas is about Dorothy’s past so one can read it in more depth. But ultimately, Paige made Dorothy’s voice incredibly distinct from that of Amy’s and it was very much appreciated as far too many times in multi-perspective novels do the voices just merge into one and sound like the exact same character throughout.

The plot of this finale was absolutely brilliant. It was fast paced, action-packed but also tied everything off perfectly. The novel takes place over only a couple of days, but being able to switch between both Amy and Dorothy’s points of view really painted a brilliant picture of the plot, whilst helping one to really understand the plot and what was actually happening in this world. Throughout reading this series, each novel has amazed me with its imagery and descriptive language. Paige’s vivid imagery will have you gasping whilst also recoiling in horror and hiding under your bed! She has created an incredibly powerful and vivid world that is equally both beautiful and enchanting, and terrifying and violent.

It was the ending, I really did not know how Paige was going to end this series, as I was really hoping she would help Amy’s character retain her morals. I was pleasantly surprised and was very satisfied with the ending. All my questions were answered and that, as a reader, is everything I asked for. I was certainly worried about how this series would be ended, but it certainly surpassed one’s expectations, and I cannot wait to reread this series again in the near future; I am also excited to see what Paige writes next!


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