SPOILER ALERT!
Dorothy Must Die - Danielle  Paige

I have to say, I was not as impressed by this book as some others were.

 

This book felt like a teenager was writing it.

 

Do you know what makes characters cool and memorable? Life experiences from the author infused into the characters. Be it someone else's experiences or their own. Having those little tid-bits that don't include fighting with Mom and Dad or whining about Dad or Mom leaving, or being bullied, make up for great characters.

 

Take Evie O'Niell from The Diviner's by Libba Bray. I really liked 'The Diviners' and Evie's experiences made it enjoyable. Like when she called out the guy in question in the first half. The one who got the maid pregnant and she'd used her powers to denounce him. That introduced me to someone from the Roaring Twenties that had psychometry and she was a great character.

 

But then, Libba Bray is not a high school kid who really has no life experiences beyond, well, high school.

 

And it annoyed me that the extent of Amy's experiences were: being bullied, living in a trailer, and cleaning up after her mother who's a drunk and pill addict. In terms of characters, Amy wasn't the most inspiring.

 

The other characters were also two-dimensional. And that makes me wonder for the rest of the characters and the rest of the series. But we'll see. Maye Amy and the authoress will grow up and gain some life experiences.