Review: Queen of Hearts & Blood of Wonderland by Colleen Oakes

Title: Queen of Hearts (Queen of Hearts #1)
Author: Colleen Oakes
Published: February 12th 2014
Date Read: August 1st – 5th 2017
Read In: English

Only Queens with Hearts can bleed.

This is not a story of happily ever after.
Beneath each smile lies a secret, each tart comes with a demand and Alice has not tumbled down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Not yet...

Princess Dinah will one day become the Queen of Hearts. She longs for her father's approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, she is launched into danger. Dinah must stay one step ahead of her enemies or she'll lose not just the crown – it will be off with her head.

Evil is brewing in Wonderland and maybe, most frighteningly, in Dinah herself.

Title: Blood of Wonderland (Queen of Hearts #2)
Author: Colleen Oakes
Published: January 31st 2017
Date Read: August 7th – 12th 2017
Read In: English

The Queen Will Rise.

Dinah has been exiled from Wonderland.
Her vicious father has framed her for the brutal murder of her brother, and turned the kingdom against her.

Now hiding in the mysterious Twisted Wood with only her war steed at her side, Dinah is faced with a choice. She could leave Wonderland behind forever or return and fight for her throne.

A chance encounter with one of her father's enemies brings Dinah more allies than she ever could have imagined. But before she can lead her people into war she must confront certain truths about her heart and her destiny – no matter how dark those truths may be.

Review: Wanted by Betsy Schow

Title: Wanted (The Storymakers #2)
Author: Betsy Schow
Published: February 7th 2017
Date Read: April 17th – 22nd 2017
Read In: English

Fairy-Tale Survival Guide Rule No. 52:

No matter how difficult the obstacles or all-powerful the evil villain, one can rest assured that the hero of the story never dies. The sidekicks though... they should be worried.

Rexi Hood is proud to be an outlaw.
After all, she's the daughter of the infamous Robin Hood. But sidekick? Accomplice? Sorry, that wasn't in her story despription. Yeah, she and Princess Dorthea of Emerald have been inseparable since they teamed up to fight the wickedest witch. But if Rexi doesn't figure out how to break the curse that binds them, forget being overshadowed by the spirited princess, Rexi's going to become a Forgotten, wiped from the pages of Story and reduced to a puddle of ink.

Not happening. No way in Spell.

Rexi's plan? Steal the sword Excalibur and use its magic to write her own tale. But Gwenevere has opened a new Academy of Villains in Camelot and danger lurks behind every plot twist. And you know how it goes in Story: keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

I really enjoyed Spelled last year and I was so excited for Wanted, but I'd say I still liked Spelled more. Wanted was a little long for not-so-much story, but since I really liked Rexi in Spelled, I quite enjoyed it too. The ending was a huge cliffhanger I guess, so there definitely will be another book in this series. I really liked how Betsy Schow made Rexi the leader of this story and not Dorthea, so I'm curious who will be the next main character.

Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Title: Heartless 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published: November 8th 2016
Date Read: December 10th – 17th 2016
Read In: English

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Catherine is expected to receive the King's marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

I was so excited for this book because i loved The Lunar Chronicles so much and i miss the characters a lot. While this book is different and probably not supposed to be part of a series, i did like it. Sometimes it was frustrating to read about all those failures of Catherine though. But i hoped until the end that Catherine is going to have a happy ending, even though the title suggests different.

Review: Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 by Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 (Dorothy Must Die #0.4 – 0.6)
Author: Danielle Paige
Published: February 16th 2016
Date Read: July 3rd - 7th 2016
Read In: English

Before the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow became Dorothy's Henchmen in Dorothy Must Die...

The Wizard was gone, Dorothy had returned home to Kansas, and Oz was left a changed place. Glinda the Good Witch set the three friends on their new paths: the Scarecrow would now rule the Emerald City with his new brain, the Tin Woodman and his heart would travel to the land of the Winkies to become their leader, and the Lion would put his courage to good use as the King of the Beasts.

But in a place like Oz, where magic and temptation lurk around every corner, the gifts from the Wizard begin to take on a life of their own...

This bind-up of three prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series follows the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Lion as they evolve from Dorothy's beloved friends into something almost Wicked.

This book contains 3 stories:
Heart of Tin
The Straw King
Ruler of Beasts

This book was kind of different than i thought. I expected to read stories about the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the Lion about how exactly they got evil, but it wasn't like that. You could only imagine how it turned out later, but these stories were only some stories about those three. Only Heart of Tin was kind of how he became evil, but not exactly. But still a good book if you like to read novellas.

Review: Dorothy Must Die: Stories by Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die: Stories (Dorothy Must Die #0.1 – 0.3)
Author: Danielle Paige
Published: April 9th 2015
Date Read: June 17th – July 3rd 2016
Read In: English

Long before Amy Gumm got swept away from a Kansas trailer park...

Dorothy Gale received a package on the night after her 16th birthday: a pair of red high-heeled shoes. Dear Dorothy, the note read. I thought about silver to match the ones you lost, but in the end I decided that red was more your color. I think you know what to do with them.

And with a knock of her heels, Dorothy returned to the magical land that made her a star – and Oz would never be the same again.

This bind-up of three prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series follows Dorothy Gale as she transforms from good girl to Wicked Witch. Kiss the land where troubles melt like lemon drops goodbye. Here there's danger around every corner, and magical shoes won't be able to save you.



This book contains 3 stories:
No Place Like Oz
The Witch Must Burn
The Wizard Returns

No Place Like Oz is about how Dorothy came back to Oz and how she changed. How she found out she could do magic. Great story, but Dorothy changed too fast from nice girl to crazy bitch.

The Witch Must Burn is about Glinda and Jellia, Dorothys maid we already met in Dorothy Must Die. It's writtten in Jellias Point of View, and it's about how she got involved with the Order of the Wicked Witches.

The Wizard Returns is about the Wizard obviously. Glinda once said the Wizard didn't even leave Oz, and this is what really happened.

Review: Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige

Title: Yellow Brick War (Dorothy Must Die #3)
Author: Danielle Paige
Published: March 15th 2016
Date Read: June 13th – 17th 2016
Read In: English

Once Upon a Time, there was a Girl from Kansas named Dorothy.

You might know her as the Girl Who Rode the Cyclone. She ended up in Oz, where the temptation of magic was too much for her. She let it change her. She turned evil.

The Land of Oz is now a dark and menacing Place.

My name is Amy Gumm. Tornadoes must have a thing about girls from Kansas, because I was swept away on one, too. I landed in Oz, where Good is Wicked, Wicked is Good, and the Wicked Witches clued me in to my true calling:

Assassin.

The way to stop Dorothy from destroying Oz – and Kansas – is to kill her. And I'm the only one who can do it. But I failed. Others died for my mistakes. Because of me, the portal between the worlds has been opened. And if I don't find a way to close it?

Dorothy will make sure I never get to go home again. Now I have to:

Join the witches.

Fight for Oz.

Kill Dorothy.

Stop a Yellow Brick War.

Well, this book took Amy and Dorothy back to Kansas. But it started different than i thought, because Dorothy goes back to Oz immediately. I thought she'd be stuck in Kansas too, like Amy. She didn't, so Amy had to find a way back to Oz herself. She's not alone, but i don't want to spoil too much.

This book was nice to read and i really liked it. If you've enjoyed Dorothy Must Die and The Wicked Will Rise, you shouldn't miss Yellow Brick War.

Review: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1)
Author: Danielle Paige
Published: April 1st 2014
Date Read: May 26th – June 3rd 2016
Read In: English

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. But I never expected Oz to look like this. A place where Good Witches can't be trusted and Wicked Witches just might be the good guys. A place where even the yellow brick road is crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

My name is Amy Gumm – and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and I've been given a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.

Steal the Scarecrow's Brain.

Take the Lion's courage.

And then – Dorothy Must Die.

I really liked how the book took Amy to Oz within the first chapter. It would have been quite boring to read chapter for chapter before she finally came to Oz, so i really liked how the author did that in only one chapter. Danielle Paige made Oz a kinda creepy place, but Amy didn't know why. For the reader it was quite obvious Dorothy is her enemy, but Amy figured it out eventually.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I've read lots of fairytale retellings, but i still like them. Sure, it was kind of disappointing when Dorothy didn't die in this book (since its title is Dorothy Must Die), but since it grew into a series, it was quite obvious. But Dorothy really is a character you can hate.