Saturday, August 13, 2016

Yellow Brick War (Dorothy Must Die #3) by Danielle Paige


Rating: 


I have to applaud Danielle Paige because it is difficult to write a series dealing with an iconic fantasy world and making it her own and I know this series is utterly brilliant because it immerses into the story within the first page and this same magic happens everything I read the next installment in the franchise. I want to warn everyone and say that this IS NOT THE FINAL BOOK IN THE SERIES!!!!

For years now I have read interviews and other snippets about the author and it was pretty much summed up that this was going to be a trilogy. I believe it was a smart tactic because within three books you can get plenty of action and adventure in Oz, great character development, and by concluding it in 3 books it would leave the audience begging for more. Technically this could have been a trilogy because the last two books can have put into one book.

The book was almost 500 pages long and since then each book has been almost 300 pages and plot wise I felt like it would have been perfect to have Wicked Shall Rise and Yellow Brick War put together and then the final book to this epic finale. I haven't been able to find out whether the 4th book will be the final book in the series and I wish this series would end. I love everything about this series but each book ends with a major cliff hanger and at a certain point you are going to have readers become outrage that this series will never end.

Plus if you cannot make up your mind about how many books then it confuses the readers and making them not bother to read the book until you conclude the series. I don't want this to become a six-book series and I hope Dorothy Must Die series will end with the 4th book! Leave on a high note!

*** SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT***

Does Dorothy finally Die? Um... Maybe?

From my understand in films and television shows, if you don't see the body and it's not buried 6 feet under the ground then that means she is possibly still alive but barely. I want to believe that she finally died because this awful war that is going to blow up in the next installment will not require Dorothy's assistance unless she becomes good? We will see until then...

*** END OF SPOILER ALERT END OF SPOILER ALERT***

Yellow Brick War picks up right where Wicked Shall Rise ends which is Dorothy and Amy go through the portal and end up back in Kansas. We learned that many characters like the Wizard tried manipulating Dorothy and Amy and sadly came to an horrific end. The Wicked Order are all together in Kansas and they are preparing a ritual to include the 4th member of their covenant and based from the previous book we all thought that was Amy but it turns out that it's for Nox.

He's been training his entire life for it and now become the member of the Quadrant meaning that all 4 Wicked Witches are extremely powerful, immortal and possibly the only one who can kill Dorothy unfortunately it might have worked except they are in Kansas and their magic is weak. Amy had the chance to kill Dorothy in Kansas but with those magical ruby slippers, Dorothy was feebly able to escape back to Oz.

Now Amy is stuck in her world, without magic, and now has to find a way to help the witches get back to Oz. The only way possible is to find Dorothy's slippers. Wait a second... Doesn't Dorothy already have slippers? Well yes and no. In the original Oz story, Dorothy wears silver slippers when she kills the Wicked Witch of the East but she lost it when she returned to Kansas. Now in this series, Glinda wanted Dorothy to come back and had the red slippers made to help her come back but the silver slippers were never retrieved.

The witches believe that the slippers are hidden in one place which is Amy's High School. Sadly that means that Amy has to see her drug-addicted mother, and attend to the same high school where she bullied around by this mean girl named Madison. At first you are wondering how awful this little reunion is going to be but surprising her mother got sobered up, and Madison is no longer the mean girl on campus post pregnancy.

At first it seems impossible that people can change especially from my experiences but at the end of the day we are human beings trying to hopefully improve the mistakes we make as we grow up and while it is too soon for these drastic changes to happen I believe her drugged up mother is completely sober and ready to be the mother she should have been years ago and the popular mean girl has learned her lesson once karma payed her back in full.

Amy is conflicted by all these events because her idea was get the shoes, head back to Oz, and never return back to Kansas but now with all these new changes in her life it questions the idea of is it simple to leave your home where you have family and loved ones care and worry about you? 

If you are an expert in the Oz literary world, then reading this book will bring out questions about where is such and such character that hasn't been featured or mention before and don't worry because one important character that I completely forgot about becomes a force not to be messed with in the progression of this story.

What greats about this book is it answers questions like who truly brought Amy to Oz and why? Is it possible to kill Dorothy? And what other forces are at play that no one has bother to notice and are they dangerous enough to destroy both Oz and Kansas?

I do not want to give any spoilers about what happens in this book because I worship this series and for me the hype is real because I wish everyone that I know would take the time and read this series. I haven't read the short stories yet and in my honest opinion it hasn't conflicted with the books which is perfect because you shouldn't ruin the flow of the story because you have to read this short story to understand the character. These short stories in my opinion enhance the characters background and provide the reasons as to why they became evil under Dorothy's leadership.

Danielle Paige is great at providing flashback reminders so you don't forget who is who and how they died in the previous books. I cannot wait for the final book and hopefully Good will win over evil in this epic saga.

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