By Cynthia Ayala

Amy Gumm was swept up in a tornado just like Dorothy Gale. A higher power swept her up to destroy Dorothy and her close friends who let the power and magic of Oz corrupt them. No longer is Oz the vibrant place, now it’s a dark place full of monsters and danger. And Amy too is in danger of becoming one of those monsters. An assassin who has failed, Amy must find the light buried deep inside her to keep herself and her friends safe from Dorothy’s wrath and her own.

Published March 15, 2016, by HarperCollins Yellow Brick War
by Danielle Paige is the third in her young adult series about Amy Gumm and her trials in Oz against the wicked witch Dorothy of Kansas.

While the series itself is still riveting it’s starting to feel dragged out. After the last novel, it feels like Paige is tumbling through the story trying to figure out just where to take the story as a whole. Dorothy has been the villain for two novels and now she doesn’t seem to be anything more than a puppet. While that makes sense for the story, in the long run, the way the author has gone about establishing it seems somewhat convoluted, as if it wasn’t the original plan of the series and now she’s rushing to establish this final piece of the puzzle that wasn’t alluded to at all. It just feels like the story is rushing, pulling together from all these various strings to make a rather complicated looking rug. Not the perfect analogy by any means, but that’s what the story is beginning to feel like with this novel, a bit of a mess.

However, just because the story is beginning to feel a little dragged out doesn’t mean it’s not good. There is so much character development and with Amy returning her, she is forced to face her long neglectful mother who in the face of losing her daughter has changed so much. This puts so much into perspective for Amy allowing her to deal with all her feelings, her feelings for her mom and her feelings for the witches. It’s a pivotal moment that needed to be established for character growth because all these feelings she’s had since the first book has been what’s driven her. Now that she is forced to face everything she grows in such a powerful way. There was so much darkness in her and now she’s beginning to find the light, she’s beginning to find the hope and self-esteem within herself by challenging herself and facing that darkness inside her that has long haunted her.

What also works in the story’s favor is the pace. Every chapter is like “bam-bam-bam.” It moves effortlessly gliding from one moment to another. So, the reader will be captivated by the way the events unfold. The biggest problem is the fact that it just seems like the story should have ended here the way everything evolved and spun out. (★★★☆☆ | B-)

Product Details:

Get a Copy: