I had a surreal experience last night. The Wizard of Oz was on TV, and there I was, on my couch, trying to finish this book, which depicts a land of Oz that’s diametrically different than the one depicted by Judy Garland, et. al.

In the Oz which author Danielle Paige has created, Dorothy and her yellow brick cohorts have become corrupt with power and have turned Oz into a place devoid of happiness. All magic that existed within Oz has been siphoned into Dorothy’s kingdom, and made them more powerful. For instance, the Tin Man has become a ruthless killer, leading an army of half-human, half-metal mutants. The Scarecrow has a secret lab where he’s experimenting on those who dare to go against Dorothy. Messed up, right?

Our heroine is Amy Gumm, who comes to Oz in a very familiar fashion – via tornado, which carries her Kansas trailer home off the ground and to the magical land. She comes not with a dog, but a pet rat, and rather than Auntie Em, she leaves behind her pill-addicted mother.

This YA novel introduces us to the dark side of Oz and makes us question good vs. evil. As the title suggests, Amy’s mission is to kill Dorothy … how will this all play out? This is book one of the series, so it’s probably not a spoiler alert that she doesn’t accomplish the mission yet, but it an interesting and fun setup. I’m eager to see where this story goes from here.