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Dorothy Must Die #0.4-0.6
Dorothy Must Die Stories, Volume 2 (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Dorothy Must Die Novella) by Danielle Paige
A collection of three prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Paige!
Follow Dorothy’s iconic companions from the beloved classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as each of their gifts becomes key to the downfall of Oz. After Dorothy Gale wished her way home and long before Amy Gumm found herself in Oz, Dorothy’s friends left the Road of Yellow Brick to go their separate ways. But in a place like Oz, where magic and temptation lurk, the gifts from the Wizard begin to take on a life of their own. The Tin Woodman becomes twisted with longing. The Scarecrow develops a taste for plotting. And doubt consumes the Cowardly Lion.
Kiss the land where troubles melt like lemon drops good-bye. Here there’s danger around every corner, and magical shoes won’t be able to save you.
Follow Dorothy’s iconic companions from the beloved classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as each of their gifts becomes key to the downfall of Oz. After Dorothy Gale wished her way home and long before Amy Gumm found herself in Oz, Dorothy’s friends left the Road of Yellow Brick to go their separate ways. But in a place like Oz, where magic and temptation lurk, the gifts from the Wizard begin to take on a life of their own. The Tin Woodman becomes twisted with longing. The Scarecrow develops a taste for plotting. And doubt consumes the Cowardly Lion.
Kiss the land where troubles melt like lemon drops good-bye. Here there’s danger around every corner, and magical shoes won’t be able to save you.
Library Binding
First published February 16, 2016
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4127 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Paige
34 books5,600 followersDanielle lives in NY. Before turning to YA, she worked in television & was nominated for several Daytime Emmy's. Dorothy Must Die is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews
February 21, 2016
Oh this was wonderful! I loved traveling back to this alternate Oz! I can't wait for Yellow Brick War to come out next month.
Heart of Tin: 5/5
Oh! Poor Tin! I feel so bad for him. Even if I hadn't read the rest of the series, I would have known Dorothy doesn't love Tin. His want for her is pathetic, and if it was towards me I would be severely annoyed, but reading it from his POV breaks your heart. Tin deserved love. Notice the past tense. Obviously, once he let Scare and Glinda take over his heart, he was lost. But before that, he deserved better.
The Straw King: 5/5
I love that Scare and Lion's stories use stories from the original Oz plot. It was amazing. This Jinjur was a lot scarier that the one from Baum's story though. Hearing Scare's internal monologue is scary. I feel so bad for him at times, but other times, I want to run away from him! Paige did a wonderful job with this one!
Ruler of the Beasts: 5/5
This one started a little slow for me, but when it picked up, man, did it pick up! Again, it uses some of Baum's original story line, but it is much more fearful. The Nome King in Baum's story is laughable, in Paige's, he is the stuff that nightmares are made of. And Glinda is the Devil reincarnate! Lion is the one I feel the sorriest for.
Now I need to go watch The Wizard of Oz where everything ends all happy.
Heart of Tin: 5/5
Oh! Poor Tin! I feel so bad for him. Even if I hadn't read the rest of the series, I would have known Dorothy doesn't love Tin. His want for her is pathetic, and if it was towards me I would be severely annoyed, but reading it from his POV breaks your heart. Tin deserved love. Notice the past tense. Obviously, once he let Scare and Glinda take over his heart, he was lost. But before that, he deserved better.
The Straw King: 5/5
I love that Scare and Lion's stories use stories from the original Oz plot. It was amazing. This Jinjur was a lot scarier that the one from Baum's story though. Hearing Scare's internal monologue is scary. I feel so bad for him at times, but other times, I want to run away from him! Paige did a wonderful job with this one!
Ruler of the Beasts: 5/5
This one started a little slow for me, but when it picked up, man, did it pick up! Again, it uses some of Baum's original story line, but it is much more fearful. The Nome King in Baum's story is laughable, in Paige's, he is the stuff that nightmares are made of. And Glinda is the Devil reincarnate! Lion is the one I feel the sorriest for.
Now I need to go watch The Wizard of Oz where everything ends all happy.
February 4, 2017
I'm sad to say that I didn't enjoy this bind up of novellas anywhere near as much as I enjoyed the first one. This collection of short stories just lacked the magic that the first one had. These just felt forced and like they dragged on forever. Especially Heart of Tin, I thought it would never freaking end! I'm really disappointed because I was quite looking forward to reading these and I so enjoyed every other book in the series. But these novellas just left a bad taste in my mouth and had me wishing I had never read them!
April 10, 2017
Heart of Tin : 4 stars
The Straw King : 2 stars
Ruler of Beasts : 3 stars
I thought this was an interesting collection - it did give me more insight about the different characters in the original series, although it wasn't as engaging.
The Straw King : 2 stars
Ruler of Beasts : 3 stars
I thought this was an interesting collection - it did give me more insight about the different characters in the original series, although it wasn't as engaging.
February 29, 2016
4 stars
The Dorothy Must Die novellas bring that extra flavor to a series that is unique and fun. When reading Dorothy Must Die , you get a basic understanding that the characters you've once loved are now total bat-shit crazy. Dorothy is a spoiled Tyrant, the Scarecrow is basically a sadist Frankenstein (Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster), the Tin Woodman leads an army of half Winkies half machine parts who are horribly disfigured and are practically begging to be put out of their misery even though they don't say it, and the Lion is now this thrill seeking junkie who happily munches on any animal he pleases. So what happened to them? Why are they like this? What the fuck happened to Oz? All those can only be answered if you read the novellas like I did. This Volume of novellas focuses on the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the Lion. (Dorothy got her story told in Volume 1 along with Jellia and the Wizard.)
Now then, lets dive into the stories that made Dorothy's companions into what they are now.
Heart of Tin : 4 stars
You know in those romantic comedy movies where the guy is hopelessly in love with the girl and tries everything to get her attention and hopefully get her and have the happy ending they deserve? That's Tin, basically. I know it sounds trope-y, but it was actually an entertaining read. He tries so hard to impress Dorothy but it's to no avail. It's kind of sad really. The one problem I have with some romance is when it is all one-sided. Like if the protagonist has been in love or has a crush on a person and in their head, they come up with ways to get them together even if the person doesn't feel any romantic interest in them. It's all one-sided. I can see how some people may find that romantic and odds are that it usually works, that is not how love is or how it works. The Tin Woodman made an exception because I understood why he was all crazy for Dorothy. And not to mention that Dorothy was already beginning to turn into a tyrant, so the one-sided love thing didn't bother me as much since we all knew Dorothy and the Tin Woodman wouldn't be together.
It was short nice read and I enjoyed it.
The Straw King : 4 stars
Here's where it gets interesting with one of the characters. The Scarecrow has the brains of the group. He basically lives in the library in the palace, and uses his knowledge he learned from books to try and be a good king to the Emerald City. However, he may have the brains, he just doesn't know how to use it. And that can be a problem for several people. A situation happens at the beginning and now the Scarecrow has to figure out a way to solve the problem. But like I said, he may be book smart, but that isn't going to save you all the time. This novella focuses on Scare and him struggling to figure out how to use his brain. For all purposes, he is trying to be a good king. Learn from the past mistakes the Wizard made and make the Emerald City a better place. What makes this story stand out is that if someone had brains, that person could use it for good purposes or bad ones. There have been rules in the past - and even now - who used their brain for some good things and some bad things. The Scarecrow is no exception. I enjoyed getting to know more about him and his brain.
Ruler of Beasts : 4.5 stars
This one I enjoyed a lot more than the other two. The reason why is because the Lion and Ozma bonded so much in the story that it makes me sad that they are basically enemies in the main series. They started out being friends and now look where they are. So sad. Although knowing how the Lion is (unpredictable at some points and a thrill seeker which usually ends badly), it doesn't surprise me as much why he's the way he is in Dorothy Must Die . He is an animal after all, and animals are primal. But even then in the story, he was this good friend and protector to Ozma that I wanted their friendship to last. It was a really good story.
Now that I am done with the novellas (I know there's a 0.7 novella coming soon on Danielle Paige's goodreads author page), I'm going to re-read the first two books in the trilogy in preparation for Yellow Brick War .
Thanks for reading my review!
-Cesar
The Dorothy Must Die novellas bring that extra flavor to a series that is unique and fun. When reading Dorothy Must Die , you get a basic understanding that the characters you've once loved are now total bat-shit crazy. Dorothy is a spoiled Tyrant, the Scarecrow is basically a sadist Frankenstein (Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster), the Tin Woodman leads an army of half Winkies half machine parts who are horribly disfigured and are practically begging to be put out of their misery even though they don't say it, and the Lion is now this thrill seeking junkie who happily munches on any animal he pleases. So what happened to them? Why are they like this? What the fuck happened to Oz? All those can only be answered if you read the novellas like I did. This Volume of novellas focuses on the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the Lion. (Dorothy got her story told in Volume 1 along with Jellia and the Wizard.)
Now then, lets dive into the stories that made Dorothy's companions into what they are now.
Heart of Tin : 4 stars
You know in those romantic comedy movies where the guy is hopelessly in love with the girl and tries everything to get her attention and hopefully get her and have the happy ending they deserve? That's Tin, basically. I know it sounds trope-y, but it was actually an entertaining read. He tries so hard to impress Dorothy but it's to no avail. It's kind of sad really. The one problem I have with some romance is when it is all one-sided. Like if the protagonist has been in love or has a crush on a person and in their head, they come up with ways to get them together even if the person doesn't feel any romantic interest in them. It's all one-sided. I can see how some people may find that romantic and odds are that it usually works, that is not how love is or how it works. The Tin Woodman made an exception because I understood why he was all crazy for Dorothy. And not to mention that Dorothy was already beginning to turn into a tyrant, so the one-sided love thing didn't bother me as much since we all knew Dorothy and the Tin Woodman wouldn't be together.
It was short nice read and I enjoyed it.
The Straw King : 4 stars
Here's where it gets interesting with one of the characters. The Scarecrow has the brains of the group. He basically lives in the library in the palace, and uses his knowledge he learned from books to try and be a good king to the Emerald City. However, he may have the brains, he just doesn't know how to use it. And that can be a problem for several people. A situation happens at the beginning and now the Scarecrow has to figure out a way to solve the problem. But like I said, he may be book smart, but that isn't going to save you all the time. This novella focuses on Scare and him struggling to figure out how to use his brain. For all purposes, he is trying to be a good king. Learn from the past mistakes the Wizard made and make the Emerald City a better place. What makes this story stand out is that if someone had brains, that person could use it for good purposes or bad ones. There have been rules in the past - and even now - who used their brain for some good things and some bad things. The Scarecrow is no exception. I enjoyed getting to know more about him and his brain.
Ruler of Beasts : 4.5 stars
This one I enjoyed a lot more than the other two. The reason why is because the Lion and Ozma bonded so much in the story that it makes me sad that they are basically enemies in the main series. They started out being friends and now look where they are. So sad. Although knowing how the Lion is (unpredictable at some points and a thrill seeker which usually ends badly), it doesn't surprise me as much why he's the way he is in Dorothy Must Die . He is an animal after all, and animals are primal. But even then in the story, he was this good friend and protector to Ozma that I wanted their friendship to last. It was a really good story.
Now that I am done with the novellas (I know there's a 0.7 novella coming soon on Danielle Paige's goodreads author page), I'm going to re-read the first two books in the trilogy in preparation for Yellow Brick War .
Thanks for reading my review!
-Cesar
April 6, 2016
I found this book to be slightly underwhelming to be honest. I liked these stories more than I liked those in the first volume, but they are riddled with plot inconsistencies and are scattered all over the timeline. Heart of Tin takes place around the same time as Dorothy's return, but ignores and rewrites several details of No Place like Oz, such as the timing of the Tin Woodman's arrival in the Emerald City. Meanwhile the latter two stories take place well before Dorothy comes back. I had a hard time keeping the narrative straight between the two books and the majority of the stories barely kept my interest. I may take a break before continuing this series.
April 18, 2021
Probably I’m enjoying these novellas more than the actual saga. The stories presented here with the characters we all well know and love were delightful, unexpected and wicked! I’m sad they are over.
October 31, 2016
This is post originally on Vivian's Book Pavilion
So now…I have to wait till February to get the latest Dorothy Must Die series…can someone give me The End of Oz…like RIGHT NOW??? I CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER TO READ THE FINAL!!!!!! Yes, I’m crazy, again. But I must say, also I gave this book 3 stars, I think it’s better than the first volume of Dorothy Must Die Stories. I like Ozma, either she is crazy little fairy or an all-powerful queen. And…except from Tin, I really like Ruler of King and The Straw King stories. By the way, Heart of Tin, The Straw King, and Ruler of King are the short stories in this volume. These are all stories happened before Amy Gunn comes to Oz, and how those characters were been corrupt by the evil magic of Oz. However…someone was truly evil, always and always. (Well? I never like pink…so I’m not so fond of that character. Yet…I do like Strawberry Sundae.)
Heart of Tin
Ah! I hate lovesick guy. No, they’re all idiot. And no, I don’t think I’ll like to have a boyfriend to make me a lovesick idiot…perhaps…fictional boyfriends. <3 <3 <3 Now…we all know the Tin in “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and the Tin in the original Dorothy Must Die series. Yet, this is something never be seen. In Dorothy Must Die, we mostly focus on how Tin built an army for Dorothy and follow her like a lovesick puppy dog, and in the original story of Oz? He had no heart, until the Wizard gave him one. In this short story, we’re going to see how Tin made all effort to get close to Dorothy, and what kind a king he was.
I must say…even I love stars, moon, and sun so much…I can’t help but feel disgusting. (Sorry if I offend…but…nope, I’m not a Tin/Dorothy shipper.) I’m really obsessed with stars…as you might know, my novel is all about Stars. However…after I read this story, I started to realize that not everyone with “star” is good. Now, our lovesick Tin. He wasn’t truly a horrible king, I must say, yet not the best one as well. All his mind was about Dorothy. And this was happened during the time Dorothy first came back to Oz again by Glinda’s red boots. We can see how hard Tin tried to impress Dorothy, unfortunately, nothing happen at all. Dorothy’s mind was now all full of power.
This isn’t exactly a bad story, so I did give it 3 stars. Yet…I’m just not into this kind of plot, so sorry Tin.
The Straw King
Ah! This one is slightly better than the first. I think Scarecrow was indeed an interesting character in the series…before he was crazy as well. I love reading! So I’ve totally no objection for someone to sit around library all day long. But…you are a king!!!! Or, “were” until the army come to attack and Glinda came.
Someone came to challenge Scare, and since he spent most of his time reading, he had no battling experience, not to mention with guns pointing right between his eyes. And he wasn’t the one ask for courage, so it make sense that he ran away first, right? Now, Glinda came! Why aren’t I surprise at all? Glinda might seem to be an unimportant character in the novella series, yet she appeared every time, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. And she was one of the most horrible villains of all. Sorry? Where your sense of taste? Pink? (Which has nothing to do with the point.) SO, HEAR MY POINT NOW!!! Glinda appeared in every novella, and made tons of horrible decisions. What I don’t get it is that how can Scare sensed the horrible deeds behind Glinda still help her alone? Where was your brain? Was it make of STRAW??? PLEASE!!!! No, sometimes, even you can memorize doesn’t mean you’re smart, and Scare was one of the cases.
But, the story was truly exciting, and I love how Lulu appeared as a child and how Ozma appeared as a crazy queen. She really reminds me of Luna!! In a good way, sort of. And I especially love the scene that Ozma stood out to protect her country, even she didn’t really know what she was doing. That’s a true queen, she was destined to be one.
Ruler of King
Now this was my favorite of them all. I like the plot twist, the storyline, and everything. Perhaps besides the ending…I can never understand which side Lion was on.
Once again, Glinda appeared in Lion’s boring life and gave him a mission. Not mission impossible, but mission intolerable. Yet during Lion’s time with Ozma, he gradually like the princess and agree to protect her. This was the first time that The Nome King appeared, and…I really curious what would happen next after this story.
Ozma and Lion decided to find the Nome King, and Lion’s secret mission had a lot to do with this. However, when Ozma truly trusted her life with Lion, Glinda appeared and reveal the mission. Of course, BOOM!!! No trusting relationship anymore. Oh! By the way, there was a part that I believe Dorothy would want to see. Come, come Dorothy!!! (Oh sorry, I forget she was now corrupt by magic. Oops!)
The reason why I like this novella the most was that the part of bargain and the part that when you seem to forget the most important thing, Danielle Paige once again successfully drew back your attention. That’s what I like mostly about her stories. It’s really unexpected to reader, and I love unexpected things.
So now…I have to wait till February to get the latest Dorothy Must Die series…can someone give me The End of Oz…like RIGHT NOW??? I CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER TO READ THE FINAL!!!!!! Yes, I’m crazy, again. But I must say, also I gave this book 3 stars, I think it’s better than the first volume of Dorothy Must Die Stories. I like Ozma, either she is crazy little fairy or an all-powerful queen. And…except from Tin, I really like Ruler of King and The Straw King stories. By the way, Heart of Tin, The Straw King, and Ruler of King are the short stories in this volume. These are all stories happened before Amy Gunn comes to Oz, and how those characters were been corrupt by the evil magic of Oz. However…someone was truly evil, always and always. (Well? I never like pink…so I’m not so fond of that character. Yet…I do like Strawberry Sundae.)
Heart of Tin
Ah! I hate lovesick guy. No, they’re all idiot. And no, I don’t think I’ll like to have a boyfriend to make me a lovesick idiot…perhaps…fictional boyfriends. <3 <3 <3 Now…we all know the Tin in “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and the Tin in the original Dorothy Must Die series. Yet, this is something never be seen. In Dorothy Must Die, we mostly focus on how Tin built an army for Dorothy and follow her like a lovesick puppy dog, and in the original story of Oz? He had no heart, until the Wizard gave him one. In this short story, we’re going to see how Tin made all effort to get close to Dorothy, and what kind a king he was.
“Dorothy, you are my sun, my moon, my starlit sky.”
I must say…even I love stars, moon, and sun so much…I can’t help but feel disgusting. (Sorry if I offend…but…nope, I’m not a Tin/Dorothy shipper.) I’m really obsessed with stars…as you might know, my novel is all about Stars. However…after I read this story, I started to realize that not everyone with “star” is good. Now, our lovesick Tin. He wasn’t truly a horrible king, I must say, yet not the best one as well. All his mind was about Dorothy. And this was happened during the time Dorothy first came back to Oz again by Glinda’s red boots. We can see how hard Tin tried to impress Dorothy, unfortunately, nothing happen at all. Dorothy’s mind was now all full of power.
This isn’t exactly a bad story, so I did give it 3 stars. Yet…I’m just not into this kind of plot, so sorry Tin.
The Straw King
Ah! This one is slightly better than the first. I think Scarecrow was indeed an interesting character in the series…before he was crazy as well. I love reading! So I’ve totally no objection for someone to sit around library all day long. But…you are a king!!!! Or, “were” until the army come to attack and Glinda came.
“You ain’t the real king, you old strawbag, and I’m dumping you out on your straw behind.”
Someone came to challenge Scare, and since he spent most of his time reading, he had no battling experience, not to mention with guns pointing right between his eyes. And he wasn’t the one ask for courage, so it make sense that he ran away first, right? Now, Glinda came! Why aren’t I surprise at all? Glinda might seem to be an unimportant character in the novella series, yet she appeared every time, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. And she was one of the most horrible villains of all. Sorry? Where your sense of taste? Pink? (Which has nothing to do with the point.) SO, HEAR MY POINT NOW!!! Glinda appeared in every novella, and made tons of horrible decisions. What I don’t get it is that how can Scare sensed the horrible deeds behind Glinda still help her alone? Where was your brain? Was it make of STRAW??? PLEASE!!!! No, sometimes, even you can memorize doesn’t mean you’re smart, and Scare was one of the cases.
But, the story was truly exciting, and I love how Lulu appeared as a child and how Ozma appeared as a crazy queen. She really reminds me of Luna!! In a good way, sort of. And I especially love the scene that Ozma stood out to protect her country, even she didn’t really know what she was doing. That’s a true queen, she was destined to be one.
Ruler of King
Now this was my favorite of them all. I like the plot twist, the storyline, and everything. Perhaps besides the ending…I can never understand which side Lion was on.
“You love the fight more than you love what you are fighting for. Be careful, here.”
Once again, Glinda appeared in Lion’s boring life and gave him a mission. Not mission impossible, but mission intolerable. Yet during Lion’s time with Ozma, he gradually like the princess and agree to protect her. This was the first time that The Nome King appeared, and…I really curious what would happen next after this story.
Ozma and Lion decided to find the Nome King, and Lion’s secret mission had a lot to do with this. However, when Ozma truly trusted her life with Lion, Glinda appeared and reveal the mission. Of course, BOOM!!! No trusting relationship anymore. Oh! By the way, there was a part that I believe Dorothy would want to see. Come, come Dorothy!!! (Oh sorry, I forget she was now corrupt by magic. Oops!)
The reason why I like this novella the most was that the part of bargain and the part that when you seem to forget the most important thing, Danielle Paige once again successfully drew back your attention. That’s what I like mostly about her stories. It’s really unexpected to reader, and I love unexpected things.
March 26, 2016
I loved this whole book. Onto the second one. 4.5 stars! I really love this whole book!(:
April 29, 2016
This book contains prequels 4-6 of the Dorothy Must Die Series
Heart of Tin
This is the fourth novella before the Dorothy Must Die series.
This book gives you a ton of insight on how the Tin Woodman's character comes to be in the main Dorothy Must Die series. The book is slow to start but becomes extremely action packed half way through. The book has tons of Clift hangers. The book is written really well. It shows how the Tin man becomes twisted and how the Scarecrow is twisted. It shows who causes them to become that way and it shows Dorothy, who is starting to become darker and meaner every chapter.
-----------------------------------------
The Straw King
This is the 5th prequel to the Dorothy Must Die series.
This book focuses in more on the background information of the Scarecrow (called Scare in the book), Glinda, and Ozma.
The books showed how the Scarecrow became twisted on his own and how Glinda used to be good, but after a series of events her evil side started to show. If you were to look at all of the prequels on a time line of when they would take place, I feel that The Straw King would be first on the time line.
The book is action backed and is another book that just show cases how awesome Ms.Paige's writing style is. The back story to it is about how the Scarecrow got thrown off the thrown of being King of Oz, and how the He, the Lion, and Lulu and her army of winged monkeys try and get it back.
It all is a cute innocent story of how it all happened, completely different from all of the other prequels.
-------------------------------------------
Ruler of Beasts
This is the 6th prequel to the Dorothy Must Die series.
This book gives you background in the Lion and even more background on Glinda, Ozma, and the Gnome King.
The books tells you how Ozma and the Lion become friends and how Glinda try's to end Ozma's rule.
The book is not as action packed as the other prequels but it is still as nice story and yet again show cases Ms. Paige's writing style.
After reading all of the prequels to the series I would definitely recommend them to anyone before the read the main series.
----------------------------------------
THE REST OF THE REVIEW HAS SPOILERS. DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THE BOOK SPOILED.
-----------------------------------------
Heart of Tin
The Tin man finds out that Dorothy is back in Oz. The Tin man called Tin in the book goes to The Emerald City to meet Dorothy again. Tin finds out that Dorothy doesn't want to see him. Tin meets the Lion and Scarecrow again, both of whom seem odd. Tin expresses his love for Dorothy, but she shows no interest in him. Glinda tells Tin that in order to win over her love he needs to protect her. Tin goes to his country of the Winkies and forces them to go back with him to the Emerald City. Before he leaves Glinda starts to turn him evil. She transforms his hands into needles and knifes. He returns to the city with his weak army and Dorothy is not impressed. The scarecrow says he can help make them look and act better. Tin allows the Scarecrow and Glinda to operate on his army to make them better. Out of hundreds only one survives. This one is described as being half animal and half metal. Blood and oil is all over his body. Metal is digging and cutting up his flesh. Organs are hanging out. He is bleeding and claims to be in a lot of pain. Metal parts are digging and cutting him up. The scene is quite disturbing. Glinda then takes out the Tim mans heart and turns him evil. The Tin man then kills the Scarecrows invention and tells him to do better. The next day an army of half tin and animals are formed. Dorothy says she loves it and tells Tin and Scarecrow to make and get more.
--------------------------------------
The Straw King
Scare is kicked off the thrown of Oz. He and the Lion form an army with Lulu and the other beasts of the forest in order to get it back. Glinda contacts Scare telling him that their battle plan won't work out. She gives him a bottle of potion that will keep him out of harms way. They go to battle and the majority of their army dies. Scare drinks the potion and Glinda brings him to her palace. Scare decided that he is done with people messing around with him and that from now on he will be cruel and cold . Glinda shows Scare her army and says that he can use it. She tells him that once they win the war Ozma will be the new ruler. They go to war and win. Ozma is the new ruler of Oz, but Glinda does not like it. She says that she doesn't know what to do. Scare says something and then Glinda decides that she will bring Dorothy back to Oz.
-----------------------------------------
Ruler of Beasts
Lion is bored. Glinda comes to the lion and asks Kim to be Ozma's protector as she goes out to look for a gift for her. Lion goes and Ozma and him become great friends. Ozma gets worried because the Gnome King is going to attack Oz. Ozma and Lion go to the Gnome King to make him stop. The Gnome King says he will if the Lion can find Ozma. The Gnome Ling turns Ozma in a statue and mixes her in with 1,000's of other statues that look like her. Lion finds Ozma who was really hiding. The go back to Oz with the Wizards necklace which Glinda was looking for all along. Glinda gets mad . Ozma gets mad an banishes Glinda from Oz sending her into a black hole type thing.
Heart of Tin
This is the fourth novella before the Dorothy Must Die series.
This book gives you a ton of insight on how the Tin Woodman's character comes to be in the main Dorothy Must Die series. The book is slow to start but becomes extremely action packed half way through. The book has tons of Clift hangers. The book is written really well. It shows how the Tin man becomes twisted and how the Scarecrow is twisted. It shows who causes them to become that way and it shows Dorothy, who is starting to become darker and meaner every chapter.
-----------------------------------------
The Straw King
This is the 5th prequel to the Dorothy Must Die series.
This book focuses in more on the background information of the Scarecrow (called Scare in the book), Glinda, and Ozma.
The books showed how the Scarecrow became twisted on his own and how Glinda used to be good, but after a series of events her evil side started to show. If you were to look at all of the prequels on a time line of when they would take place, I feel that The Straw King would be first on the time line.
The book is action backed and is another book that just show cases how awesome Ms.Paige's writing style is. The back story to it is about how the Scarecrow got thrown off the thrown of being King of Oz, and how the He, the Lion, and Lulu and her army of winged monkeys try and get it back.
It all is a cute innocent story of how it all happened, completely different from all of the other prequels.
-------------------------------------------
Ruler of Beasts
This is the 6th prequel to the Dorothy Must Die series.
This book gives you background in the Lion and even more background on Glinda, Ozma, and the Gnome King.
The books tells you how Ozma and the Lion become friends and how Glinda try's to end Ozma's rule.
The book is not as action packed as the other prequels but it is still as nice story and yet again show cases Ms. Paige's writing style.
After reading all of the prequels to the series I would definitely recommend them to anyone before the read the main series.
----------------------------------------
THE REST OF THE REVIEW HAS SPOILERS. DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THE BOOK SPOILED.
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Heart of Tin
The Tin man finds out that Dorothy is back in Oz. The Tin man called Tin in the book goes to The Emerald City to meet Dorothy again. Tin finds out that Dorothy doesn't want to see him. Tin meets the Lion and Scarecrow again, both of whom seem odd. Tin expresses his love for Dorothy, but she shows no interest in him. Glinda tells Tin that in order to win over her love he needs to protect her. Tin goes to his country of the Winkies and forces them to go back with him to the Emerald City. Before he leaves Glinda starts to turn him evil. She transforms his hands into needles and knifes. He returns to the city with his weak army and Dorothy is not impressed. The scarecrow says he can help make them look and act better. Tin allows the Scarecrow and Glinda to operate on his army to make them better. Out of hundreds only one survives. This one is described as being half animal and half metal. Blood and oil is all over his body. Metal is digging and cutting up his flesh. Organs are hanging out. He is bleeding and claims to be in a lot of pain. Metal parts are digging and cutting him up. The scene is quite disturbing. Glinda then takes out the Tim mans heart and turns him evil. The Tin man then kills the Scarecrows invention and tells him to do better. The next day an army of half tin and animals are formed. Dorothy says she loves it and tells Tin and Scarecrow to make and get more.
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The Straw King
Scare is kicked off the thrown of Oz. He and the Lion form an army with Lulu and the other beasts of the forest in order to get it back. Glinda contacts Scare telling him that their battle plan won't work out. She gives him a bottle of potion that will keep him out of harms way. They go to battle and the majority of their army dies. Scare drinks the potion and Glinda brings him to her palace. Scare decided that he is done with people messing around with him and that from now on he will be cruel and cold . Glinda shows Scare her army and says that he can use it. She tells him that once they win the war Ozma will be the new ruler. They go to war and win. Ozma is the new ruler of Oz, but Glinda does not like it. She says that she doesn't know what to do. Scare says something and then Glinda decides that she will bring Dorothy back to Oz.
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Ruler of Beasts
Lion is bored. Glinda comes to the lion and asks Kim to be Ozma's protector as she goes out to look for a gift for her. Lion goes and Ozma and him become great friends. Ozma gets worried because the Gnome King is going to attack Oz. Ozma and Lion go to the Gnome King to make him stop. The Gnome King says he will if the Lion can find Ozma. The Gnome Ling turns Ozma in a statue and mixes her in with 1,000's of other statues that look like her. Lion finds Ozma who was really hiding. The go back to Oz with the Wizards necklace which Glinda was looking for all along. Glinda gets mad . Ozma gets mad an banishes Glinda from Oz sending her into a black hole type thing.
April 4, 2020
There are 3 stories here:
1) Heart of Tin
2) The Straw King
3) Ruler of Beasts
All 3 stories are from Tin, Scarecrow and The Lion's point of view respectively. It was a fast read too like Volume 1.
1) Heart of Tin
2) The Straw King
3) Ruler of Beasts
All 3 stories are from Tin, Scarecrow and The Lion's point of view respectively. It was a fast read too like Volume 1.
May 28, 2023
I just wish the stories were arranged chronologically.
May 28, 2016
This was...okay. For starters, this collection is out of chronological order, but I guess in the order Paige wrote them? The chronological order would be Scarecrow, Lion, then Tin Man. Nevertheless, let's break this down by story:
HEART OF TIN - Easily the worst of the bunch. Danielle Paige turns the Tin Man into a sniveling teenager who can think of nothing but how much he loves Dorothy. Really poor characterization. The best part about this is that it's short.
THE STRAW KING - Better and it gets better as it goes on, but it's just so...violent. I get that this is a prequel to a dark and violent series of novels, but seeing these characters be involved with so much blood and gore is a bit off-putting. I like the use of some of Baum's other characters, but Jinjur felt misused (yes I understand she was under Glinda's control).
RULER OF BEASTS - This is the best by far of the three. Not only does it feel more like a traditional Oz story, but it's a genuinely interesting tale with some nice touches of Paige's world. THIS is how Paige should have been writing these prequels. There's some nice stuff with the Nome King that seems to be a hint at either the third or fourth book in the Dorothy Must Die series.
Overall the collection's theme is Glinda is bad news and takes advantage of people in Oz. RULER OF BEASTS is the best, but I found Scarecrow's relationship with Glinda most interesting. Tin Man is just handled so poorly.
HEART OF TIN - Easily the worst of the bunch. Danielle Paige turns the Tin Man into a sniveling teenager who can think of nothing but how much he loves Dorothy. Really poor characterization. The best part about this is that it's short.
THE STRAW KING - Better and it gets better as it goes on, but it's just so...violent. I get that this is a prequel to a dark and violent series of novels, but seeing these characters be involved with so much blood and gore is a bit off-putting. I like the use of some of Baum's other characters, but Jinjur felt misused (yes I understand she was under Glinda's control).
RULER OF BEASTS - This is the best by far of the three. Not only does it feel more like a traditional Oz story, but it's a genuinely interesting tale with some nice touches of Paige's world. THIS is how Paige should have been writing these prequels. There's some nice stuff with the Nome King that seems to be a hint at either the third or fourth book in the Dorothy Must Die series.
Overall the collection's theme is Glinda is bad news and takes advantage of people in Oz. RULER OF BEASTS is the best, but I found Scarecrow's relationship with Glinda most interesting. Tin Man is just handled so poorly.
June 26, 2016
These stories, while each a little violent in parts, provide interesting backstory about what was happening in Oz between when Dorothy left and before Amy arrived.
It took me a long time to realize that these little novellas are not released in order of events. Heart of Tin takes place after Straw King and Ruler of Beasts.
It is interesting to see each of their gifts consume them until they ultimately choose to be Wicked.
I was glad to learn more about Ozma. She's a great character and a great leader. She hasn't been in the prequels so I'm glad she's around now.
Also - someone really needs to defeat Glinda. She's terrible.
It took me a long time to realize that these little novellas are not released in order of events. Heart of Tin takes place after Straw King and Ruler of Beasts.
It is interesting to see each of their gifts consume them until they ultimately choose to be Wicked.
I was glad to learn more about Ozma. She's a great character and a great leader. She hasn't been in the prequels so I'm glad she's around now.
Also - someone really needs to defeat Glinda. She's terrible.
May 24, 2016
This was a pretty good collection of novellas. I don't really care for some of the characters but I love Ozma. Ready for Yellow Brick War!
December 27, 2017
So messed up. I'm glad I waited to read these stories till after I read the whole series. I think I wouldn't have seen them as such dark entities during the series if I had read this first.
September 29, 2017
Marginally better than vol. 1. I almost didn't read this because of how much I loathed Paige's depiction of Dorothy. She's kind of like a currupt a dream type of author.
May 3, 2018
“You love the fight more than you love what you are fighting for.”I really like how this novellas adds some world building to this series, as well as background for both the characters and the plotline. It's slowling creating the back story for the main series and giving the readers insight in how Oz turned into what we see in the first Dorothy Must Die book. My favorite was the Lion's story - how he used his courage, how loyal and caring he is with his friend, how he saw past Glinda's artifices and his friendship with Ozma made him a very relatable, easy to like and compelling character. I felt sorry for the Tin Man and his unrequireted love for Dorothy and how people used that to control him, but his novella didn't add much to everything ...unlike Scarecrow's story, although his was my least favorite story, mainly because Scare was already quite corrupted and kind of mean and egoistical before the big turning point. Still, in his novella we finally know how Ozma came to the throne, where she was before and who got her back, as well as one of the possible reasons for her fallout with Scare and Glinda.
Ozma is possibly one of my favorite characters in all this, she's sweet and kind, but smart and commanding when needed be, but also compassionate and mysterious. I really want to get to her novella, but I think the final set will be best read if after the second main novel. Which I'm anxious to dive into, so off to Oz again I go!
July 9, 2019
Three novellas in this collection --backstory for Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion.
One of my quibbles with this series--and ironically, what also makes it captivating--is the extremes it takes. The gift of brains, heart, and courage become intensely corrupted and aren't really "gifts" at all, but fucked up burdens foisted on them by an equally awful Wizard. Scarecrow goes from ineffective animated sack of straw > Dorothy's loyal friend > gruesome Mengele-like monster doing experiments on tied down Winkies, the Tin Man becomes a murderous "nice guy" incel trying to prove his love for Dorothy in building her an army, and the Cowardly Lion feeds off of other creatures' fear and loves nothing better than devouring Munchkins.
We never really see the true "before" in these books, except maybe the Cowardly Lion who has the best transition from good to evil out of the three. There is a brief flashback in one of the books to Dorothy's pre-Oz diary, we see the hardscrabble shitty life in Kansas and the mean bullies she deals with at school along with the crushing poverty / sad sack Em & Henry. Which is too bad--I think these books would have been a LOT stronger if there were more hints to what happened before the magic tainted Dorothy and the gang, rather than them being SUPER EVIL, which is what all these focus on. It might have made the stakes a bit bigger when Amy or the others use magic or just a sadness in the corruption of power (I mean at one point Dorothy WAS good--the Munchkins didn't build that statue for her for no reason.)
So a bit shallow and these novellas sort of address that aspect of it, but as novellas never really go to the places I want them to--but that's okay. We see in these chapters how Scarecrow is jealous and annoyed at being usurped (even though he wasn't a great ruler), how the Tin Man sold out all the Winkies, and my favorite of the trio, the Cowardly Lion's bonding with Ozma and him falling under Glinda's influence.
One of my quibbles with this series--and ironically, what also makes it captivating--is the extremes it takes. The gift of brains, heart, and courage become intensely corrupted and aren't really "gifts" at all, but fucked up burdens foisted on them by an equally awful Wizard. Scarecrow goes from ineffective animated sack of straw > Dorothy's loyal friend > gruesome Mengele-like monster doing experiments on tied down Winkies, the Tin Man becomes a murderous "nice guy" incel trying to prove his love for Dorothy in building her an army, and the Cowardly Lion feeds off of other creatures' fear and loves nothing better than devouring Munchkins.
We never really see the true "before" in these books, except maybe the Cowardly Lion who has the best transition from good to evil out of the three. There is a brief flashback in one of the books to Dorothy's pre-Oz diary, we see the hardscrabble shitty life in Kansas and the mean bullies she deals with at school along with the crushing poverty / sad sack Em & Henry. Which is too bad--I think these books would have been a LOT stronger if there were more hints to what happened before the magic tainted Dorothy and the gang, rather than them being SUPER EVIL, which is what all these focus on. It might have made the stakes a bit bigger when Amy or the others use magic or just a sadness in the corruption of power (I mean at one point Dorothy WAS good--the Munchkins didn't build that statue for her for no reason.)
So a bit shallow and these novellas sort of address that aspect of it, but as novellas never really go to the places I want them to--but that's okay. We see in these chapters how Scarecrow is jealous and annoyed at being usurped (even though he wasn't a great ruler), how the Tin Man sold out all the Winkies, and my favorite of the trio, the Cowardly Lion's bonding with Ozma and him falling under Glinda's influence.
January 8, 2021
These stories are based in the land of Oz before the series, Dorothy Must Die, takes place. I really enjoyed reading the story of the story and how it came to be that Dorothy comes back to Oz as it’s ruler.
Danielle Paige has a creative way of writing each story from a different character’s perspective. There are three short stories, each is told from the perspective of one of Dorothy’s three companions. This contributes to great character development and a unique twist to the original story. It’s fun to read to piece the puzzles together!
Spoiler alert just to clarify, The series Dorothy Must Die takes place after the classic story we all know and the Volume stories take place in between the classic and the new series.
Danielle Paige has a creative way of writing each story from a different character’s perspective. There are three short stories, each is told from the perspective of one of Dorothy’s three companions. This contributes to great character development and a unique twist to the original story. It’s fun to read to piece the puzzles together!
Spoiler alert just to clarify, The series Dorothy Must Die takes place after the classic story we all know and the Volume stories take place in between the classic and the new series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2021
4.5
Reseña completa en Books FD
Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 logramos conocer un poco más al trío que acompañó a Dorothy: Hombre de Hojalata, el Espantapajaras y al León, aunque uno de ellos me desesperó por su buen corazón, otro fue un cobarde que solo quería leer y otro fue más “humanizado” y creó algo lindo aunque al final la sombra de la duda lo llena. Con los dos primeros pudimos ver esa transición de buenos a malos, y con el León me ha faltado, es que si me ha gustado conocer estas historias antes de detectarlos en las novelas principales. Esta segunda recopilación me gustó un poco más que la primera.
Reseña completa en Books FD
Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 logramos conocer un poco más al trío que acompañó a Dorothy: Hombre de Hojalata, el Espantapajaras y al León, aunque uno de ellos me desesperó por su buen corazón, otro fue un cobarde que solo quería leer y otro fue más “humanizado” y creó algo lindo aunque al final la sombra de la duda lo llena. Con los dos primeros pudimos ver esa transición de buenos a malos, y con el León me ha faltado, es que si me ha gustado conocer estas historias antes de detectarlos en las novelas principales. Esta segunda recopilación me gustó un poco más que la primera.
August 1, 2017
Two scary and one dark story here. I thought these were so much better than the first three. I felt bad for Tin for about 30 pages and then was tired of his mooning on and on about Dorothy and then wanted to run from this crazy psycho. I never felt sorry for Scare, though I liked him for a little tiny bit. And then he got creepy. He became a evil Frankenstein, and you can see the beginning of it in Straw King, and the further in Heart Of Tin. Lion's story was really good, and a good break from the darkness of the others. I love how these three relate to Dorothy, Ozma and Glinda. Lion was the innocent one, in my opinion.
I also found it interesting how he was the one who was free of his gift, unlike Tin and Scare who became slaves of theirs. Looking forward to volume 3 now.
I also found it interesting how he was the one who was free of his gift, unlike Tin and Scare who became slaves of theirs. Looking forward to volume 3 now.
June 28, 2024
3.5
These stories definitely were super important for character background and Paige really covered all of her vases. Watching these three go from kind-hearted Ozians to psycho-wild tyrants was quite a transformation. However, these three lovesick men were so whiny at times I couldn't handle it. The desperation was almost creepy at times and it made all of them highly unlikeable. Overall, all three stories were relatively quick and the scarecrow's was my favorite of these.
These stories definitely were super important for character background and Paige really covered all of her vases. Watching these three go from kind-hearted Ozians to psycho-wild tyrants was quite a transformation. However, these three lovesick men were so whiny at times I couldn't handle it. The desperation was almost creepy at times and it made all of them highly unlikeable. Overall, all three stories were relatively quick and the scarecrow's was my favorite of these.
January 28, 2018
All three of the novellas in this book are well writing and well thought out. They each tell a different story relating to three of the main characters, tin, scare and lion.
These stories show how they came to be the way they are in the main story line as well as what happened before Dorothy arrived in Oz.
A true must read for a fan of the series!
These stories show how they came to be the way they are in the main story line as well as what happened before Dorothy arrived in Oz.
A true must read for a fan of the series!
January 30, 2018
The Tin Woodman's story was definitley a disappointment....talk about obsessive! The Scarecrow's story was alright. It was eerie to see how corrupt his brain was beforehand. The Lion by far had the best novella of these three.
October 22, 2017
I loved this book. The only thing was it took just a little bit to get into it but it was really interesting and I loved all three stories. I really like the main characters that were chosen for it.
January 17, 2021
Actually 3.5 stars
These three Dorothy Must Die prequels revolve around Dorothy's original traveling companions -- the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion. While it's interesting to see how they got from their post-movie selves to the evil versions we see in Dorothy Must Die, some of the themes are beginning to become repetitive.
These three Dorothy Must Die prequels revolve around Dorothy's original traveling companions -- the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion. While it's interesting to see how they got from their post-movie selves to the evil versions we see in Dorothy Must Die, some of the themes are beginning to become repetitive.
May 29, 2017
This is volume two of the novella bind ups. We follow the Cowardly Lion, Scarcrow, and Tin Woodsman on their adventures before Dorothy's return and how they reacted to her homecoming.
I am sorry but these stories just bored me.
I was constantly double checking how many pages I have left. There was just something missing from these stories. In the series, I found the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion to be scary and the Tinman's obsession to be so creepy.
But I felt that was all those emotions and magic were missing from their stories.
I don't think these stories added anything to the series. They felt unnecessary.
I give this collection a D.
I am sorry but these stories just bored me.
I was constantly double checking how many pages I have left. There was just something missing from these stories. In the series, I found the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion to be scary and the Tinman's obsession to be so creepy.
But I felt that was all those emotions and magic were missing from their stories.
I don't think these stories added anything to the series. They felt unnecessary.
I give this collection a D.
November 13, 2020
Out of the three bind ups, I was most excited to read this novella. One thing this book shows is that magic comes at a cost if you’re not meant to have it, with all three I think perhaps their ‘gifts’ from the wizard were already slightly corrupted and a change had become before the story began. Magic plays a huge part in manipulating them, but again the seed was already there.
Scare is going to be dangerous, those brains of his are cunning and he’s defiantly the worst out of the bunch. At the start he's filled with a need to consume and know every piece of history and knowledge, and by the end he's verging on mad scientist.
The Tin Man, well I want to say I feel sorry for him but honestly, he’s completely deluded. He’s head over heels in love with Dorothy and will do anything to please her. Unfortunately, he comes off very badly and is every girl’s worst nightmare. He is so so convinced that Dorothy sees something in him, feels a spark, in love with him even that you just want to slap some sense into him.
As for the Lion, there’s still hope yet. He’s no where near the same level of bad guy as the others and there’s a chance he could be saved, he’s just really selfish. His outcome will depend a lot on the main books, Scare and Tin have entered Villain mode but Lion hasn’t. He’s just a bit of a dick really.
This book almost had it for me, Scare’s story really showed his transformation, and so did Tins, but he was such a whiny pathetic thing that it spoilt it a bit. These characters are a million miles from who you’d expect them to be, they’re pretty selfish and self-centred and aren’t really the happy squad they claim to be. Which comes back to my initial thoughts of their gifts corrupting them, magic has a distinct role in this and I like it.
Scare is going to be dangerous, those brains of his are cunning and he’s defiantly the worst out of the bunch. At the start he's filled with a need to consume and know every piece of history and knowledge, and by the end he's verging on mad scientist.
The Tin Man, well I want to say I feel sorry for him but honestly, he’s completely deluded. He’s head over heels in love with Dorothy and will do anything to please her. Unfortunately, he comes off very badly and is every girl’s worst nightmare. He is so so convinced that Dorothy sees something in him, feels a spark, in love with him even that you just want to slap some sense into him.
As for the Lion, there’s still hope yet. He’s no where near the same level of bad guy as the others and there’s a chance he could be saved, he’s just really selfish. His outcome will depend a lot on the main books, Scare and Tin have entered Villain mode but Lion hasn’t. He’s just a bit of a dick really.
This book almost had it for me, Scare’s story really showed his transformation, and so did Tins, but he was such a whiny pathetic thing that it spoilt it a bit. These characters are a million miles from who you’d expect them to be, they’re pretty selfish and self-centred and aren’t really the happy squad they claim to be. Which comes back to my initial thoughts of their gifts corrupting them, magic has a distinct role in this and I like it.
April 2, 2016
I was afraid that this book would be absolutely required reading before Yellow Brick War, which would have been a disaster for me because my library has not yet ordered this (or even the first Stories collection), and the only library in the Link+ system that normally lets me special order from beyond Alameda County is in San Diego. No way will I order a book from that far away...but thankfully, I was able to read this one in the book aisle at Target today, and therefore gobble up the three Fractured-Fairytale stories of Dorothy's three classic companions in only an hour or so. All while recommending pretty much every YA book on the shelf to another customer.
And now...I'm finally sufficiently pumped for YBW. May that book come to me at the library soon! :D
And now...I'm finally sufficiently pumped for YBW. May that book come to me at the library soon! :D
May 29, 2023
Quick reads….gives some good backstory. However, after reading the first two main books of the series, it doesn’t even sound like the same author wrote the series and the novellas. There are so many inconsistencies between ALL of the novellas and the main story. Even the novellas have inconsistencies between them. Details are different in several aspects of the stories. Definitely written by different authors.
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