Novella Review: The Straw King (Dorothy Must Die #0.5)

Release Date: November 10, 2015
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: HarperCollins
Length: 97 pages
Source: Library Audio Book

Once upon a time, the Scarecrow's only wish was to have a brain. This digital original novella is the fifth installment in the prequel arc to the edgy and thrilling New York Times bestsellers Dorothy Must Die and The Wicked Will Rise and follows the Scarecrow after he finally gets his wish.

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow received the gift of a brain from the Wizard and was appointed the new ruler of Oz. In The Straw King, the Scarecrow's tale takes a crooked turn when his reign is threatened. With faith in his newfound wisdom shaken, the Scarecrow will turn to anyone who can help—even if others have their own interests at heart.

The Straw King by Danielle Paige is a dark and compelling reimagining of a beloved classic and is perfect for fans of Cinderby Marissa Meyer, Beastly by Alex Flinn, and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

    

Review:

Protagonist: When I went into this novella, I expected it to largely take place around the same time as Heart of Tin, and show how the Scarecrow, here nicknamed Scare, became twisted by the gift the Wizard imparted upon him at the end of The Wizard of Oz. Let's just say I was partially right. Scare starts out as a very sympathetic character, he just wants to be the best ruler that he can be. This, Scare thinks, involves a lot of reading. However, when a rag tag group threatens his rule and marches to overthrow the Emerald Palace, slaughtering whoever gets in their way, Scare needs to figure out how to be a good leader and fair ruler. That sounds like a nice, semi-typical, story, but what this character goes through is a bit different. The darkness in Scare comes out softer than with Tin in the previous novella. With Tin, he pretty much started out with his heart being twisted by obsession, with Scare, he more begins to doubt whether his gift even works. With a little push from a particular "Not-So-Good" witch, he'll find just how cunning he can be and what he needs to do to get what he wants. I really liked the development of Scare, don't get me wrong he's in no way a hero, but I liked seeing how knowledge and cunning slowly corrupted him. There were a couple key moments from his development from Straw King to Mad Scientist, but the bits we did see and the development that was shown was very intriguing and compelling.

World Building: This story takes place only a couple years after what I'm just going to call the source material from now on. Anyway, this story does expand Baum's world with Paige's vision as we learn more about the history of Oz, as well as a certain group of all female soldiers who believe that their leader would make a better leader than Scare and use brutal tactics to find a way to take over Oz. While we do see this world expanded a bit, it's honestly not much. This is a very character driven story, but we do get a glimpse into Glinda's master plan and see that she's been working at it for a while.

Predictability: I have to say, while I knew this story would be about the corruption of the Scarecrow, I was not prepared for the surprises and twists that this story holds. Granted they aren't game changing twists that will have lasting consequences in the main series, they're bits in pieces of the story that fit together in ways I wasn't expecting them to.

Ending: As for the ending of this story, well, it wasn't quite the ending I was expecting. I loved seeing how this story came together and how smaller storylines in this series entangle into an amazingly complex web. As this story winds down we learn more about Glinda's master plan, as well as Scare's. Scare has a lot of thoughts in his head, and his thirst for knowledge could lead him down a much darker path, but we already knew that.

Rating:

So I'm giving this story five stars because by itself it's a great and intriguing story of how the Scarecrow became the twisted mad scientist we see in Dorothy Must Die, but honestly other than providing minor context it doesn't seem to have any major significance to the main series. I mean, I know that novellas are essentially supposed to be filler, aspects of the story that aren't vital to the main plot, but I just wished there was some foreshadowing for the main series in these stories or something.

Novella Review: Heart of Tin (Dorothy Must Die 0.4)

Release Date: July 28, 2015
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: HarperCollins
Length: 93 pages
Source: Library Audio Book

Everyone knows the Tin Woodman as Dorothy's lovable sidekick, the tin man who longed for a real heart to beat inside his tin chest. This digital original novella is the fourth installment in the prequel arc to the edgy and thrilling New York Times bestsellers Dorothy Must Die and The Wicked Will Rise, and tells what happened to the Tin Woodman after he got his wish.

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wizard gave the Tin Woodman a heart, and all lived happily ever after—or so the story goes. But in Heart of Tin, the heart wants what the heart wants—and the Tin Woodman's heart pines for Dorothy. The gift that the Wizard once bestowed on him turns twisted with longing. And when Dorothy returns to Oz with her own dark agenda, the Tin Woodman will do whatever it takes to help her rise to power—and to make her his.

Heart of Tin by Danielle Paige is a dark and compelling reimagining of a beloved classic and is perfect for fans of Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Beastly by Alex Flinn, and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

    

Review:

Protagonist: So, the Tin Man, that guy who only wants a heart since, as essentially a robot, he doesn't have one, returns in this novella that details his obsessive love for Dorothy and the beginnings of the army that he has in Dorothy Must Die. Nearly from the start of this novella, I didn't like the Tin Man, or Tin as he's frequently referred to in this novella, and I don't think we're supposed to sympathize with him in any way in this story. I don't know how "old" Tin's supposed to be in this story, but since most depictions of him are of a fully grown man, his romantic feelings for Dorothy are extremely creepy, I mean it would be understandable, though honestly no less creepy if he fell for the sixteen-year-old Dorothy that comes back to Oz, but he talks about being in love with the twelve-year-old who initially left Oz behind. This "love," which is really some serious obsession, is what sends Tin down the path to what he becomes by the beginning of the actual series. While I never felt sympathy for him, it was interesting to see his journey from obsessive but overall harmless, to practically a stalker doing whatever it would take to get even the smallest bit of recognition from Dorothy.

World Building: This novella is DARK, I mean, probably one of the darkest things I've ever read. There's a scene, which I won't spoil, that had my stomach roiling with how gory and intricately detailed it is. I mean, look, the entire series is dark, but a lot of its darkness is hidden "behind the curtain" if you will, and tears one particular curtain away and shows it all in detail. Another thing I liked was seeing not only Tin's fall into darkness first hand, but third-handedly seeing the other companion's descent into darkness that I think will be detailed more in the next two novellas. Another interesting thing we get to see, although not completely first hand, is what happened almost directly after the events of No Place Like Oz, and Dorothy's sudden rise to power.

Predictability: So I debated keeping this section because most of the "twists" in this story would already be known for those who've read the first full installment in this series. However, there were quite a few surprises in this book. Nothing big or game changing, but things that happened that I didn't quite see coming that added to the addictiveness of this tale.

Ending: Okay, so while I definitely think that the ending to this story was a fantastic stopping place, I don't know why but I was expecting something more out of it. I can't put my finger on exactly what, but I don't feel like I got enough closure for this story. The final climax of this tale is frightening and intriguing, and the very end does have that perfect note of finality to it or at least finality to this tale, but there's still just something missing...

Rating:

I really did enjoy this story. It's dark, creepy, and sometimes downright terrifying, but with an ending that just inexplicably wasn't up to snuff, I couldn't justify a 5 star, or even 4.5 star rating. This is still a cpativating and interesting look into this world though and I can't wait to learn the other companions' tales.