An Insufficient Interpretation

I have to get something off my chest: I am sick of over-hyped books.

Recently I read “Cinder,” which I’d heard such incredible things about, and found it to be nothing more than okay.

This month, I felt inclined to check out “Dorothy Must Die” by Danielle Paige. This book has been all over my Instagram feed like a quickly spreading virus. I loved the cover, and thought the synopsis sounded interesting.

Here’s the truth buried beneath the eye-capturing font and pulse pounding synopsis: “Dorothy Must Die” is cliche and completely uninteresting. The story focuses on Amy Gumm, a rebel without a cause, and not the good kind. She literally has no cause other than the one she is dragged into by the wicked witches of Oz. She hates her mom, then feels guilty about hating her mom, and this becomes a never-ending cycle of “who is the antagonist here?” She is pushed along her journey, rather than having any drive of her own.

Then, of course, there is the ever-present hetero romance. She has heart eyes for every boy she meets, despite having much bigger problems. Romance is a common complaint from me when it comes to YA novels. When done right, I do enjoy a good love story. But a girl fawning over a guy for no reason other than that he is hot… frankly, it makes me gag a little.

I love Oz, and I especially enjoy Gregory Macguire’s re-imagining of Oz. In Macguire’s Oz, the line between good and wicked is blurry. Rather than trying to explore gray areas and the blurry line, Paige simply makes the good guys the bad guys. She takes beloved childhood characters and turns them into horrifying caricatures. The Wicked are the good guys, the good guys are wicked.

Perhaps it’s unfair of me to compare a modern classic to Paige’s novel for teens, but I almost felt cheated as I read this book. I felt like a story I loved had been violated by poor writing.

I haven’t even finished Dorothy Must Die, and I don’t know that I will. Every time I pick it up it makes me groan.

Don’t make the same mistake I did. It’s a good looking book, certainly, but it’s not worth the money, or the trouble.