Amy Gumm was just a girl from Kansas: unpopular, lippy and practically hunted by her school's very own personal demon, the "ever lovely" Madison Pendleton. Then, one day, a tornado hits her home and Amy is swept away to Oz. Only, it's not the Oz she's read about, this Oz has no cheerful munchkins or joyful parades; here in Oz Dorothy rules, and Oz has paid a heavy price for it. Torture, imprisonment and evil punishments are all Amy finds in this new, drained version of the magical land she knew as a child, and she's a much bigger part of it than she thinks. She's been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked with one mission and one mission only: Dorothy must die.

I'll admit, at first I didn't understand all the hype over this book; I mean, a retelling of the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy is evil? It kind of just sounded bizarre. But THEN, I read it and whoa. This book was insanely addictive, it blew me away on so many different levels. Dorothy was a monster. A completely terrifying, sweet-talking, party-obsessed, mean, creepy monster. She is the queen of evil characters in YA. Her insanity just pours out of the pages along with her unnatural lip glossed smile and hypnotic red heels. Yes, the ruby slippers are hypnotic. Paige went there.

As for our heroine Amy Gumm, how can we not adore her? She's feisty, brave, insecure, grounded, sarcastic (ALWAYS sarcastic, I have never loved dialogue in a novel more) and most importantly, real! She isn't your typical, crazy talented, beautiful selfless character, she has a real story and a personality you can really relate to.

There were also some seriously gross scenes in this book: arms being pulled off, blood squirting everywhere, injections to the brain where the fluid being injected is LIQUID BRAINS. You know, the usual everyday grotesque stuff. It had me making faces every other chapter but, to be completely honest, it was REALLY cool; the weirder it got the more I loved it. Just a side note, if you want to carefully step away from your computer for fear of possibly reading the words of a maniac who enjoys reading about pain, I'll totally understand, pinky promise.

Oh, and Danielle Paige, if you're reading this "HOW DARE YOU GIVE ME THIS BEAUTY AND THEN EXPECT ME TO WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE; GIVE ME THE SECOND BOOK NOW!"

Please?

• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop

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