Novel Melodies: Dorothy Must Die - Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die
Author: Danielle Paige
Pub Date: April 1st, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Count: 452

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

Title: Her Name is Alice
Artist: Shinedown
Album: Almost Alice
Release Date: March 2nd, 2012
Record Label: Buena Vista Records
iTunes

May include spoilers, read at your own risk! (I'm really bad at going spoiler-free as much as I try.)
 

I'm currently working on the review for Dorothy Must Die but I thought I'd bring up something very very curious that I noticed.
When I first read through it, my mind was racing with thoughts of "oh my gosh, this is so unique!" And actually, no it isn't. Not even in the slightest. A girl who, recruited by an unlikely group, need to defeat a mad and wicked ruler? Also, let's not forget that the place she goes to is no longer the same happy place she once knew.

While that's the premise of Dorothy Must Die, sorry novel, Alice in Wonderland had it first. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing but it does give a great opportunity for me to compare it to the song "Her Name is Alice" from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland soundtrack. And just because it's different, the comparisons will be between the song and Dorothy.

"Her Name Is Alice"

[Intro]
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.
Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't.

This is what something crazy Dorothy would say before she took power.

[1st Verse]
I invite you to a world where there is no such thing as timeJust saying, Dorothy controls when the sun sets so this life is perfect.
And every creature lends themselves to change your state of mindEvidently, things are not what they once was and the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Woodman are all evil. [And even Glinda is bad!]
And the girl that chased the rabbit, drank the wine, and took the pill
Has locked herself in limbo to see how it truly feels

While I always thought about this part is how Dorothy doesn't really... do anything. She's got a whole boatload of power but she's neither helping or [directly] harming. Like limbo.

To stand outside your virtue
No one can ever hurt you
Or so they say

The whole idea is that Amy has to kill the all powerful Dorothy and this part reminds me of how every keeps calling Dorothy powerful.

[Chorus]

[2nd Verse]
Sometimes the curiosity can kill the soul but leave the pain
And every ounce of innocence is left inside her brain

So relevant because the Dorothy in Dorothy Must Die is a cross between The Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.
And through the looking glass we see she's painfully returned
But now off with her head I fear is everyone's concern

Amy's the other girl from Kansas, coming to fix what Dorothy screwed up but Dorothy obviously doesn't want that.

You see there's no real ending
It's only the beginning
Come out and play

This reminds me of how Amy was really confused at the ruins that is Oz. She expected it to be all happy because of movie ended. She was also shocked at how Dorothy was here when in the movies, she goes back to Kansas.

[Chorus]
Her name is Alice (Alice)
She crawls into the window
Through shapes and shadows
Alice (Alice)
And even though she's dreaming
She's unlocked the meaning for you

Amy, even though she doesn't realize it, has a lot of power and she could be the key to everything.

[Bridge]
This kingdom,
Good riddance,
Good freedom
And innocence
Has brought this whole thing down
Kind of self explanatory. Dorothy is a crazy dictator and Amy is trying to change that.

[Chorus]

[Bridge 2]
Red nights, white knights, marching into the fight.

Drink me, shrink me, fill me to sink me. [x2]

It hasn't happened yet but in the sequel, I can expect there to be some kind of final showdown between good and wicked.

She's unlocked the meaning for you

[Outro]
And contrariwise, what it is it wouldn't be.
And what it wouldn't be it would.
You see? This is the whole concept of madness that's evident in Alice but in Dorothy, it's pretty much the only line in the song that doesn't fall into the story well.

This book got a really big amount of hype but I guess at the time, I wasn't interested because of the whole book packaging thing. Now, I'm still not too keen on the idea but I picked up the book thinking "what the heck?" And now after reading it, I can say that it isn't as special as some people make it out to be.