Dorothy Must Die: Stories by Danielle PaigeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed these stories. I wish I had "read" them earlier, I listened to the audio books for all of the Dorothy Must Die books so far. I think if I had listened to these earlier some of book 3 would have made alot more sense. They were certainly nice additions, but not required reading.
The first story tells us how dear Dorothy got her lovely red shoes and how she got to be so mean. As you know she didn't start out that way, and I had a really hard time with the Dorothy Must Die series in the beginning with an evil Dorothy and Glinda. It all makes alot more sense now having gotten through book 3 and 6 of the short stories. In this story we find Dorothy preparing for her 16th birthday party on her farm with her beloved Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. She's been back in Kansas for some time now, and she still has a bit of fame from her tornado experience. Em and Henry are doing their best, but Dorothy wants more, she wants Oz. After a horrible birthday, Dorothy receives a magical present of the red shoes, from a mysterious benefactor. The shoes take Dorothy back to Oz, which is not as she left it. She's been gone for quite some time, Ozma is Queen, Glinda is missing, but otherwise Oz is a happy magical place. Dorothy is reunited with old friends and makes a new one in Ozma, but Dorothy is ever suspicious about Glinda's disappearance. She is also quite irked when her Aunt and Uncle just want to go home instead of staying in Oz. Alot happens in this story that lead up to how things are when Amy arrives in the first book, and this filled in alot of questions I had.
The second story is about Jellia, Dorothy's head maid. Jellia worked for Ozma, and then came to work for Dorothy after Ozma's accident. I don't remember Jellia from any of the main novels, so I'm anxious to see where she fits in. Her story is pretty interesting. Jellia can use magic, and it turns out she's pretty powerful, this catches the eye of Glinda. Glinda, always up to something, borrows Jellia for the summer for a sinister plot with the Scarcrow. When Jellia fails to prove useful, Glinda sends her back to the Emerald City. In swoops the Order of the Wicked, where we meet some familar characters before Amy comes to Oz. Based on this story, Jellia should be a significant player in the saga of Oz, so I'm anxious to see if she appears in book 4 which I haven't gotten to yet.
The final story in this compilation tells us about the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, or as he is known in this story, Hex. The wizard has been cast out by good Dorothy, and he has sailed away in his hot air balloon. Taken out by a storm, he's spent a long time in the field of poppies, only to be awakened by none other than Pete. If you know who Pete is you know that means Dorothy is back and she's evil this time. The wizard can't remember who he is or why he's been sleeping in a poppy field. Pete tells him he can get his memories back if he passes a test. Pete also tells him that he's basically a jerk and done alot of pretty bad things in his past, but he can make up for it if he wants to. I love that we get to see more of Pete in this story, even if its only a little. Hex, anxious to regain his memories, goes with Pete. He has a few interesting adventures mainly involving a spreadsheet loving monkey named Iris, then he ends up being tested by the fairies to get his memory back. He has to choose between going home to a live of luxury, or staying in Oz and having real magic and a chance to put things right. I thought this was a really interesting story. You never really knew what he was going to do.
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