{Review} NO PLACE LIKE OZ by Danielle Paige

Love fairy tales and mythology?
Fans of mermaids, dragons, unicorns, and other mythical creatures?
Enjoy when a beloved classic tale is retold?
A Twist in the Tail Thursdays features all this and more!

A Twist in the Tail Thursdays has returned!
In a way, I can't believe I haven't done one of these since March.

On the other, April was all about Fairy Tale Fortnight, so you had two straight weeks of twisty tales ;)

Today, I'm going to talk about the e-novella NO PLACE LIKE OZ.
This is a prequel to DOROTHY MUST DIE, and can be read first!
There isn't anything in there that will spoil DMD!

Check out my review of DOROTHY MUST DIE!

O P E N I N G   H O O K:

  THEY SAY YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN. I'm not entirely sure who said that, but it's something they say. I know it because my aunt Em has it embroidered on a throw pillow in the sitting room. 
  You can't go home again. Well, even if they put it on a pillow, whoever said it was wrong. I'm proof alone that it's not true.
  Because, you see, I left home. And I came back. Lickety-split, knock your heels together, and there you are. Oh, it wasn't quite so simple, of course, but look at me now: I'm still here, same as before, and it's just as if I was never gone in the first place.

(Page , US e-book edition)

I often complain about how e-novellas are so short and cost so much. It never feels worth it to spend three bucks on something that's maybe 60-80 pages plus an extended preview of an upcoming book. I get that a lot of people want the preview and pay for it, but I never read early peeks. I'll just wait and read the book all at once, thank you! HarperCollins used to put out a lot of e-novellas like this. I've been pleasantly surprised with this year's line, where the novellas I've picked up have been $1.99 and 100+ pages. Definitely worth the money!

NO PLACE LIKE OZ is a full story that stands on its own. What happened after Dorothy returned to Kansas? After all, all she ever wanted was to go home. She got her wish. Was she happy? Apparently not. The first line of the novella is "They say you can't go home again," and that's true. Once you've been away and lived elsewhere, nothing is ever the same again. Try going to college and coming back. You'll see. It's not that home has changed. Home is exactly the same. You've changed. You no longer fit in. Dorothy has seen the majesty of Oz, and she can't fathom living in Kansas for the rest of her life. When she has the chance to go back to Oz, she takes it...and accidentally brings her Aunt and Uncle along for the ride. But even Oz has changed in the time she's been gone. The Scarecrow no longer has his throne, usurped by Princess Ozma, who claims to be Oz's true ruler. Dorothy knows there's something off about her, though. Especially since Glinda the Good is missing. Princess Ozma must have had something to do with it...and Dorothy is determined to find out and expose the princess.

When I first heard about DOROTHY MUST DIE, I was taken back. Dorothy, evil? Her faithful, lovable companions evil? They all need to be killed? No, not possible. Reading NO PLACE LIKE OZ, I can see how Dorothy slowly became corrupted over time. She's not evil in the novella, no. But a lot of time passes between Dorothy's return to Oz and Amy Gumm's first journey there. Readers will see that Dorothy isn't perfectly innocent. She wants more, yes, and that's the heart of the problem. Dorothy wants. And whatever Dorothy wants, Dorothy gets. Even if it comes at a high, unimaginable price. By the end of the novella, I had come to dislike Dorothy. I wanted to smack her. I can see why Amy Gumm needs to take her down.

If you're a fan of fractured tales retold in new ways, definitely take a peek at the way author Danielle Paige gets into Dorothy's head and changes everything about the way we view Oz...and our beloved heroine!

~*~

C O V E R   D E S I G N:

I love that the yellow brick road is shaped like a hot air balloon. It's great symbolism. I also like how the road is a little tarnished, not quite perfect, not quite right. Just like Oz. Just like Dorothy.

I also like how the word "Oz" is treated the same way as the word "Die" on the novel's cover. Definitely ties the two together!

  ~*~

C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: none

Language: none

Violence: mild ( not as intense as the violence in DOROTHY MUST DIE, but there's some blood and death here, too )

Other: --

~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: NO PLACE LIKE OZ

Author: Danielle Paige

Release Date: Nov. 12, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen
Received: Borrowed

SUMMARY:

In this digital original novella, Dorothy travels back to Oz to reunite with old friends, but her story may not have a happy ending. NO PLACE LIKE OZ is a prequel to the forthcoming novel DOROTHY MUST DIE.  

After returning to Kansas, Dorothy Gale has realized that the dreary fields of Kansas don’t compare to the vibrant landscapes of Oz. And although she’s happy to be reunited with Aunt Em, she misses her friends from the yellow brick road. But most of all, Dorothy misses the fame and the adventure. In Kansas she’s just another prairie girl, but in Oz she was a hero. So Dorothy is willing to do anything to get back, because there really is no place like Oz. But returning to the land she left comes at a price, and after Dorothy is through with it, Oz will never be the same.  

Perfect for fans of Alex Flinn, Marissa Meyer, and Gregory Maguire, NO PLACE LIKE OZ is a dark reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Building off of its rich mythology, Danielle Paige creates an edgy, thrilling story for teens that chronicles the rise and fall of one of the literature’s most beloved characters. This digital original novella is a prequel that sets the stage for the forthcoming novel DOROTHY MUST DIE.