Cover of The Wicked Will Rise, featuring a grey witch hat and cloud-patterned long dress

About the Book

Title: The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2)
Published: 2015
Series: Dorothy Must Die
Swoonworthy Scale: 4

Cover Story: Wicked
BFF Charm: Heck Yes
Talky Talk: Amy of Oz
Bonus Factor: Not a Bridge Book
Relationship Status: Looking Forward to Our Next Date

Danger, Will Robinson! The Wicked Will Rise is the second book in the Dorothy Must Die series. If you have not read the first book—Dorothy Must Die—turn away now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you have read the first book, however, feel free to continue below. I will refrain from major spoilers in my review, but there might be hints at plot points and details about the story.

Cover Story: Wicked

OK, so it’s kind of cheating to describe this book using a word from its title, but really, this cover is wicked—in the Massachusetts sense*. It mixes grunge with iconic Wizard of Oz imagery, and the dress on the hardcover has a shiny varnish coating that gives the clouds a 3D feel.

*i.e, awesome.

The Deal:

When a tornado swept Amy Gunn out of Kansas and into Oz, she was surprised to find that the land wasn’t at all like the one she’d learned about in the classic movie. Magic was being drained from the earth, people feared for their lives, and the “wicked” witches were waging a revolution against the Queen … Dorothy Gale, who had returned to Oz and taken control, and who had gone crazy thanks to her abuse of her power, both magical and political.

After seeing first-hand how awful the grown-up Dorothy could be, Amy joined the revolution, somewhat unwillingly. She learned to use magic, made friends with Winged Monkeys, and partnered with a Mysterious Loner Dude. But the revolution failed, at least in part, and Amy now has to pick up the pieces, figure out what went wrong, and try again.

BFF Charm: Heck Yes!

BFF Charm Heck Yes - sparklier and shinier than the original BFF Charm

Amy is a spitfire. In Kansas, she was mistreated, unloved and let herself get walked all over—sometimes so that people worse-off than her wouldn’t take the brunt of it all. In Oz, she’s discovered that she’s a warrior, and one that can help all people. But she’s not without her self-doubt, and her magic might not come from a place of pure good, which makes for some scary moments. But she’s still a great girl at heart, and someone I’d want watching my back.

Swoonworthy Scale: 4

Y’all know I love me some enemistry, and Amy and the Mysterious Loner Dude from Dorothy Must Die, Nox, have it in spades. Sadly, they’re kept apart for most of The Wicked Will Rise.

Talky Talk: Amy of Oz

At the core, The Wicked Will Rise (and the whole Dorothy Must Die series) is a statement on the abuse of power. But it’s never heavy handed, and its often a whole lot of fun. Often crass fun. Amy’s no goodie two red shoes, and Danielle Paige has written her in a way that makes her a believable modern heroine. She gets angry. She curses. She has worries about her relationships. The other characters are no exception either.

Paige also does a fantastic job of world building, particularly given that most of us know the world she’s playing in pretty well. The Oz we know and love is no more, due to being ravaged by Dorothy and her power plays, but there are glimpses of the fantastical, which, thanks to Paige’s writing, fit both with the familiar fantasy and the very modern twists.

Bonus Factor: Not a Bridge Book

A stone bridge over water with a big red X marking it out

The Wicked Will Rise is the second book in a series, but, thankfully, it doesn’t fall prey to the dreaded Bridge Book Blues. Full disclosure: Not much plot progression happens in the book, but what does happen is so fun, I didn’t really mind.

Relationship Status: Looking Forward to Our Next Date

I am seriously considering traveling to Kansas and becoming a storm chaser, Book, in the hopes that it might suck me into Oz. Sure, it’s kind of a battleground right now, but that’ll eventually get sorted, right?

FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Harper, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. The Wicked Will Rise is available now.

Mandy (she/her) is a manager at a tech company who lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, son, and dogs. She loves superheroes and pretty much any show or movie with “Star” in the name.