Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Review)

Date Finished: October 25, 2017

Page Count: 427

Genre: Historical Fiction

            How refreshing, a novel not written by Danielle Paige or a young adult fantasy novel. It’s not that I don’t love Paige’s work, I just really need some air after that suffocating series finale, and I’m happy to say Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden was just the glass of ice cold water with a tiny umbrella and lemon slice of refreshing I was looking for. The life story of Chiyo’s, better known by her geisha name, Sayuri, life was immersive, delightful and a wonderful way to learn more about Japanese culture. Her story was so good, that on multiple occasions I had to physically separate myself from the book (with miles) so that I would spend the afternoon doing homework instead of reading. Let me take a few steps back though, there were many great elements in this story and by far the one you should know I love to highlight by now is the fabulous characters that carried the story! Just a few quick note though, I almost interchangeable use Chiyo and Sayuri to refer to the protagonist though I’m trying to only use Chiyo before she becomes a geisha. They are indeed the same person. Also much of the cultural elements are unexplained as well as things that happen in the plot as that would take way to many words and I’m sure by the third or so paragraph some of you people reading this must be bored.

Though Sayuri herself is a fictional character, her story is based on the real life of geisha from the 1920s to the 1950s and is told from her perspective as she reflects on her experience as an old woman. Having been born the year of the monkey under the element of water, many people saw Chiyo with having the potential to be very clever and resourceful. This alone is not what catches of Mr. Tanaka, the head of the fisherman company who sells her into the okiya (geisha house), but rather it’s her eyes that are described as translucent gray rather than the dark brown that’s common among Japanese people. I’d call out Golden for using the cliché of, super unique characteristic that makes the main character stand out, but this is a historical fiction novel and not a reboot of Yu-Gi-Oh!, so it’s understandable that Chiyo has some physical trait about her that makes her stand out (and at the very least, it’s not as extreme as over the top spiky hair).

Any who, Chiyo is taken away from her home at the age of eight along with her fifteen year old sister to be sold in Gion, the geisha district in Kyoto. Here she finds herself in the midst of a life separated from her sister that she has no choice but to accept and is immediately targeted by the head Geisha Hatsumomo, due to being possibly competition in future. This is the part where things start to get really good for me as Hatsumomo’s character is exactly like Dorothy form the Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Paige, just a bit less extreme in her torture (or more extreme if you think death is a sweet release compared to making someone’s life a living hell) and she’s not invincible. Her beautiful yet vicious nature was something for Chiyo to beware, as being the source of income for the okiya everyone tried to please her so Chiyo had no choice but to allow Hatsumomo to bully her into breaking the rules. Hatsumomo’s presence also gave me a reason to root for Chiyo as she was the underdog, and quite possibly the only one who could put an end to Hatsumomo’s tyranny. Her presence is what allowed us to see just how desperate Chiyo is to escape her fate as a geisha in training by attempting to run away only to fall and break her arm. Even after that when Chiyo was taken under the wing of renowned geisha, Mameha as her little sister we got to see patience in Sayuri when she was dealing with trouble and her water like qualities in how she would easily adapt to different situations. As a matter of fact, when Hatsumomo was tormenting Chiyo/Sayuri I found Chiyo/Sayuri’s character most enjoyable to read about.

Chiyo/Sayuri’s, kindness was another thing I enjoyed about this novel as she wasn’t afraid to make friends with the rival apprentice, Pumpkin, and she didn’t behave as Hatsumomo did to the new geisha apprentice when returning to the okiya after world war II. Perhaps this came from her clever nature, or maybe even the fact the she was so flexible that she never felt the need to push others away. I’m not saying Chiyo/Sayuri was Disney princess kind, but she was kind and honest enough to get the attention of Nobu and the Chairman to both want to be her danna. Her kindness wasn’t without it’s repercussions however, as when she tried to discourage Nobu from being her danna near the end of the novel and asked Pumpkin to discover her and the Minister (nothing important about him except he likes Sayuri and Nobu owed him a favor late in the story), Pumpkin betrayed her and brought the Chairman (the man she liked) instead. Sayuri didn’t understand the actions of her friend but Pumpkin was upset over the fact that Sayuri stole the position of the daughter of Mother back in their girlhood days’ despite them being friends. In a way this give makes Sayuri out to be naïve and at the same time over trustworthy, a flaw most appreciated and despised at the same time.

Yeah, I’m going to be honest with you, sometimes it was annoying even repulsive to listen to Chiyo/Sayuri, though it was only a few times in the beginning and a lot of times at the last few chapters. The thing that bothered me the most about her character had to be when she was around Nobu. So Nobu Toshikazu was the president of Iwamura Electric that had meet the founder and Chairman, Iwamura Ken after being in a horrific bombing of Seoul in 1910, which caused numerous burns on his body and the loss of his left arm. Since Sayuri fell in love with the Chairman as a maid years prior to meeting Nobu when he showed kindness to amidst her depression, she far less emotion ties to him compared to the Chairman. This causes her mind to often point out the negative things about Nobu like his short temper and tendency to be rude and she would ignore the fact that he shows great favoritism towards her and even would like to be her danna. Heck, like I said before, she even goes as far as having intercourse with the Minister to try to halt his attempts of trying to become her danna. What the heck man?! Nobu was so kind to you and just because some stranger showed you kindness so many years ago you’re going to try to be with him and stay true to him mostly, and deny this other guy who obviously likes you just because of that (and the fact the he’s unsightly)? How awful! Though I must admit, I originally wanted Sayuri to end up with the Chairman at first because that would have made her happy, but Nobu was the one that actually made a move (since the Chairman was backing off because he owed Nobu so much) and that made me want him to be Sayuri’s danna even though I knew it wasn’t meant to be, _{because I was an idiot and red the Wikipedia summary four months ago}! I kid you not, near the end of the book it so band due to Nobu was preparing to seal the deal, and Sayuri stated to think herself sick trying coming up with way to avoid Nobu and I couldn’t help but think,

“Godd*mn Sayuri, shut the hell up about that Chairman. He doesn’t even really love you, he just loves your beauty!!” And then she’d keep talking about the Chairman. “JESUS CHRIST WOMAN, SHUT THE HELL UP!” but the misery wouldn’t end till the book ended. She was just so freaking ungrateful about her friendship with Nobu and all the fun they had together it reminded me of my generation and how ungrateful and rude we tend to be. That enough can make my stomach hurl and I’m surprised I was so dedicated to the story to finish reading it despite those really low point. What can I say though, Memoirs of a Geisha is one fine book and I already knew how the story would end so might as well stick it through for the happy ending.

I’m not going to say I was happy the Sayuri successfully obliterated her friendship with Nobu forever and almost ended up living happily ever after with the Chairman, but it was quite a satisfying ending and by the final chapter I was back onboard the Sayuri-Chairman ship. See, at the end she was able to retire from being a geisha due to the Chairman becoming her danna rather than Nobu (which would be rather awkward around Nobu) and the two often spent some good times together. She even got to go to America a couple times with him and had an illegitimate son with him, eventually moving permantly residing in New York with said son because of inheritance issues with Iwamura Electric. Something about reading old Sayuri reflect on her life with the Chairman as her danna was very pleasant for me, and I love how she (technically Golden) wove her words together to summaries everything but still provide enough detail at the most important parts. Still upset about her selfishness though, but not so upset that I don’t plan on not forgiving her for having that happen, or letting it ruin my whole reading experience. Something else was are real enjoyment killer and slightly disturbing too.

First off, I am a virgin and have been raised to have abstinence towards the sex until I’m married, so you can imagine how awkward it felt for me when Mameha started to talk about eels wanting to find caves to explore. I thought that would be then end of it but nope, the Baron, Mameha’s danna might I add, undressed Sayuri a bit after that and Sayuri described in detail when it was like to have her striped down and how afraid she was when the Baron leaned in close. Thankfully, he didn’t lay on her then so I hoped that would be then end of that, except then Sayuri’s mizuage (deflowering ceremony) came up and she totally describe how that went too!! There were a couple more instances after that, but yeah I was holding my breath every time a scene like that came up and hoping that I wasn’t breaking the law or anything by reading such content then again, I read Push by Sapphire last year, but that experience was way more horrific *shudders*. So fair warning reader, there is intimacy in this novel and other stuff like it, but that’s to be expected when the main character is a prostitute (something I didn’t know about geishas before reading this). This can really kill the fun of the novel if you aren’t okay with that sort of thing.

 

Sayuri (center) as an apprentice in a kimono inspired from one in the movie surrounded by Mr. Tanaka (bottom left), the Minister (middle left), Nobu (top left), Dr. Crab (bottom right), the Baron (middle right), and the Chairman (top right). I went for a shōjo style due to the romantic nature of this book and apologize for any inaccuracies.

 

Any who, I overall enjoyed this book greatly. The story started out at just the right place in Chiyo’s life and had smooth transition between each phase, plus that fact the she was narrating this as an adult gave an old-timey, metacognitive feel to the story that suited it well that I enjoyed. Despite the flaws in Sayuri’s character I truly wanted her to succeed in her quest for winning the Chairman’s acknowledgement and affection. While I didn’t talk about many of the other characters in this review, some of the strongest supporting cast members were Hatsumomo and Nobu, as the savage yet venerable Hatsumomo provided an obstacle for Sayuri to overcome and helped to progress the plot along for the majority of the book, and Nobu provided a very down-to-earth perspective and seemed to be one of the few sensible yet kind characters in the book (actually remind me of myself a bit). Sayuri truly carried this story the whole way through however, her narrating being phenomenal and engaging for me and I found myself connecting with her and rooting for her happiness most of the time in the story. Heck, I even learned some stuff about Japanese culture (though some might be exaggerated by Golden) and the affect WWII had on Japan. This is why I highly recommend the book to those interested in historical fiction or those who are Japanophile or okatus/weaboos as those who are interested in one aspect of the culture might be interested in another.

One last thing worth noting, the book was made into a movie and that’s what pops up when you Google, “Memoirs of a Geisha”. So if you’re one of those people who hate it when books are made into movies or love it when books are turned into movies that’s something to look out for. I heard that the movie was enjoyable as the book from my English teacher last year so it can’t be too much of a horrid disgrace to the source material. I myself have actually never seen the movie, but after watching the preview I have the sudden urge to spend my weekend trying to watch that rather than season 2 of Stranger Things.

The End of Oz by Danielle Paige (Reivew)

 

Date Finished: October 16, 2017

Page Count: 277

Genre: Fantasy

 

            Dorothy does not, I repeat, does NOT die in this book. At least I’m pretty sure she doesn’t. She dumps a bucket of water her head and rewrites the Oz time line or something, so everyone is happy and no one has died thanks to her vanity. Aside from whatever the hell happened, reading this book was a huge mistake. Did I mention that there should have only been three books in the series in my last review due to the series becoming tedious and losing its charm? That was the problem with this book, and it somehow managed to screwed up everything I love about the series. It got rid of all the characters, setting and elements I loved for poorer characters, crappy setting and romance everywhere (I kid you not, the basis of the plot revolve around the Nome King trying to marry Dorothy). Who cares though, this is my opinion so none of it can be true right? Well, I might be exaggerating just a teeny, tiny, microscopic bit though so allow me to go into detail on everything wrong with this book. Just be warned that everything I say from here on out should be taken with a grain of salt and I mean no disrespect to Danielle Paige. She is an awesome write who just wrote a book that only one fan got salty over or maybe more if other feel the same way as me.

            For starters, let me talk about the beginning. We have Amy Maddison and Nox on the yellow brick road escaping the attack of Galinda/Glamora and the Nome King and as it flies through the sky Amy explains everything that happened to her to Maddison. So the recaps are a regular in the series but they never cease to slightly irritate me since I jump from book to book with less than 24 hours between reading each book. Having Maddison around for the adventure seemed like it’d be an interesting thing as I had hope I’d get to experience what Oz is like from the eyes of a U.S. citizen again rather than a native or a veteran. Rather than stay in Oz though, the Yellow Brick road takes the three to the Kingdom of Ev, where the Nome King is from. Yep, his dreary, plain, flat slab of a kingdom with nothing but living nightmares that don’t really leave an impression and tons of people that we never get to meet. Good bye all my favorite characters in Oz because instead of a proper goodbye like with Pete in book three we just get a glance at you guys kicking butt against Gilinda/Glamora sometime after the trio has been hiding in Ev and even then it’s merely a glimpse. Seriously Paige, why would you do that?! None of the characters in Ev besides Bupu, Dorothy’s Muchkin maid, were interesting! Why get rid of all your glorious little children and give you readers nothing more than a glimpse of them in chapter ten!! They’re one of the best things about the series!!! Even Satan would agree that taking the plot to Ev was a sin because of how mediocre the plot is compared to the other three books!!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO THE FANS!!!!!

            …

            This was by far one of the worst things about this book and just about killed my enthusiasm for the series. In the past three reviews, I praised Paige for her fabulous character development and diction for describing them. She made me love them even though I knew they could die at any moment just like Indigo way back in book one. To just get up and leave them fighting what could have been the most epic battle in the series was an awful decision. The only interesting about the cast from Ev in this book was seeing the Nome King get tight with Dorothy (in some twisted, romantic way) and Lang, a former member of the Order forced to work for the Nome King, with her feelings for Merlindra, another member of the order meet in book one who had half a body of tin, and got them rejected, and Bupu because of her candid yet fearful personality and desire to help Dorothy despite the wickedness in her heart. That was all they brought to the story and though it was something, the plot was still highly uninteresting and drab. The one glimpse we do get to see of all our friends in Oz they’re kicking butt, which I think I stated before, but that scene was just a shell of the awesomeness that could have been the finale. Just picture the epicenes of the battle through Paige’s own words but even better than what we got (part of a chapter) because Amy and Nox would be there too and since it would take up the majority of the book. But nope, characters gone and their replacements just weren’t as good so the book was highly dissatisfying.

            Despite the lack of enjoyable characters, you’d think this would still be like all the other books in the series, full of action and blood pumping battle that have you on the edge of your seat, right? Wrong! The only battles are at the middle where Amy get a glimpse of what’s happening in Oz, and at the end when the Nome King realizes Amy has made it into Ev during his wedding and plans to crash it (which isn’t as much as a battle as it’s a struggle to me), and some sort of mini cat fight between Dorothy and Amy as they tried to kill each other without powers. That was it. I kept waiting for the moment to come where someone would run forward to sever a head from a body like in book two or shoot oversized sparkly lightning bolts into the heart of their opponent like in books two and three (and maybe one), but that only happened in the second battle I mentioned. Huge disappointment. I get that Paige was trying to write Amy as reasonable and able to solve her problems with her head rather than her magic, but when you build a series based on battling with Pokémon there had better be a Pokémon battle the final confrontation and not humans fighting humans!

            I will admit however, it was nice to see Amy trying to find a way to defeat Dorothy without killing her as she just couldn’t weigh that on her conscience, and it was also really cool for the story to be told from the perspective of Dorothy at times (one of the few redeeming things about this book that I seriously look forward to). She’s such a inspiring villain and it was wonderful that we got to see her open up about her thoughts and past life after becoming a power-hungry tyrant. And I’ll admit, I’m glad that Nox and Amy could be together since the changed time in Oz (still not sure how) and he chose to go to Kansas to be with her, and I actually like the cliffhanger for once since it left possibilities open for what happens next but was still a satisfying conclusion that could end the series. I actually what to know what happens next because the land of Oz was great, and after a whole book of being deprived of it I’d hate for the series to end this way.

            So the final judgment eh? I honestly didn’t see it coming out like this, but I don’t recommend this book to people who have come to love the Dorothy Must Die series as I have. The action is gone, the characters are gone, the magical land of Oz is gone (so in a sort of twisted irony, it makes the title fit really well), and it’s as if some pitiful mushroom is growing in a magnificent valley of flowers. If you want to see a much more merciful and metacognitive version of Amy, the inner thoughts of Dorothy, or more Amy and Nox romance then read this book. Who knows, you may find satisfaction where I find disappointment, though I do apologize if my review has made you bias and you can’t enjoy the book now because I haven’t. This really was a disappointing end to the series, satisfying but disappointing. If I had to describe my feeling towards this book it be getting shot by bullets made of salt ten-trillion times without dying, then being cut in half with a salt sword along my midsagittal plane and every sagittal plane possible without dying, but rather having a hundred layers of salt put in between my severed flesh and then being stitched back together with a needle and thread made of salt and finally wrapped in ten layers of salt bandages. Then when I’d think everything was over I’d learn that a thousand giant nuclear bomb of salt was headed straight for me for the finishing blow and I just sit thinking that it’s a relief to have everything end, but when my body is obliterated by all the bombs my soul ends up in salt hell for all eternity and Satan is sadly shaking his head at me saying he feels the same way (although with much more vulgar language) and then whipping me for all eternity while a waterfall of salt simultaneously drops millions upon millions of pounds of salt on me. So, yeah, I’m a little salty about the ending and everything that happened in the book. It was like it would never end and it makes me almost regret reading the series in the first place. However, you should still read Dorothy Must Die and the other two books in the series at least and either choose to heed my words or ignore them and see what you think about, The End of Oz. Change can be a good thing, this sort of abrupt change right at the end of a series it the kind of this the tears fans up and then by erasing time you’re usually just throwing salt in the wound. I honestly think Daniel Paige is a phenomenal author with some of the best diction I’ve ever read and fantastic characters to dance in her beautiful imagery, but Marissa Meyer remains the retelling queen, and the way this series has ended simply leaves the same sort of bitter taste in my mouth as D. Gray Man. I’d still read the series again after enough time has passed, with the exception of this book and highly recommend the overall series to all those who enjoy young adult fantasy or a more morbid retelling of a classic tale.

Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige (Review)

Date Finished: October 11, 2017

Page Count: 270

Genre: Fantasy

            Yellow Bick War by Danielle Paige is the third entry in the Dorothy Must Die series, and I’m sorry to say, the weakest book so far. The story picks up where it last off in Kansas at the ruins of Dusty Acers trailer park after Amy, Nox and Dorothy were sent there thanks to the wizard’s spell. There are three witches in red, blue and gold, cloaks who turn out to be Galamora, Mombi and Gert, respectively who are calling out to Nox to join them. I was super happy to find out that Gert was still alive after she supposedly died in the first book since she was such a caring and positive member of the Order. Heck, just having the whole order back together was great as I enjoyed seeing them team up with Amy so much in the first. My happiness soon diminished through the book however as the order, with the exception of Nox, had a smaller role than previously and interacted only a few times with Amy.

Speaking of Nox, it turns out that the witches want Nox to step up and become the witch (or warlock in his case) of the north in order for them to gain power and bring balance to Oz by uniting together, which he accepts. Before the witches can use their magic to hold Dorothy long enough for Amy to kill her however, Dorothy uses her shoes to return to Oz, stranding Amy and the Order in Kansas. This was somewhat of a double edged sword for me, as I always thought that the witches of the Order represented the four divisions in Oz and to have it confirmed in the book made it all the better to me, but the fact that the everyone was stuck in Kansas was a huge downgrade form the magical land of Oz which I’ll talk about more later. With the newly formed Quadrant, Nox becomes bound to the other witches and becomes unable to live a normal life, including being unable to pursue a romantic relationship with Amy. I found this a pivotal point in his character development as before I simply saw him as a second rate side dish that was nothing more than serious most of the time and Amy’s love interest. His character consisted of bland and predictable qualities and I didn’t give a crap about his existence other than the fact that he motivated and influenced Amy in many situations. Heck, I didn’t even support the fact that they were in love with each other as there was too little there and I felt that both were stronger on their own, but this book changed all of that.

            In his youth, Nox had little chance to enjoy the luxuries of life like you and I, making him a real tsundere with his brooding and mysterious personality, attractive appearance and slightly cruel attitude at first before warming up to Amy. To me this was super cliché and I despised Nox when he was around others, especially Amy. Now that the two are unable to be together Paige has expanded more on how the two specifically feel for each other, and established the tone the two have when around each other. Nox finally cares about Amy to the point where he’ll fight the Nome King, the true antagonist behind everything, against the Order’s wishes. Before, Nox was so apathetic that he was willing to bring up the Amy’s old nickname, Salvation Amy, to get her to use magic, but in Yellow Brick War he tries to do everything he can to keep her out of danger. I love this change in his character as it makes him far more relatable than he was before and at the same time it makes me care for him now. Amy and Nox being together without any trouble was way too easy compared to reality and everything else in Oz.

Mombi (bottom left), Nox (top left), Amy and Amy as a monster (center), Glamora (bottom right) and Gert (top right) simply jumping into battle.

            Another thing I enjoyed (though only mildly) was seeing Amy return home and have to deal with being gone for a month. Seeing how she interacted with her mother after she became sober and cleaned up her act was touching and provided many reasons for Amy to consider staying in Kansas rather than returning to Oz, something that I hope happens at the end of the series. It made her realize how similar she is to Dorothy due to both wanting more after leaving the adventure for a simple life, which was an interesting revelation and made me want to see an happy ending for Amy rather than watch her become corrupted like Dorothy did. Amy was also able to make amends with Madison, the former pregnant girl who would bully Amy at school, and befriend her along with Madison’s ex, Dustin. Amy’s interactions with these three people showed how much she matured from her pre-Oz days, and adding to the realism of her character due to her capacity for growth. It may seem a bit redundant for me to talk so much about characters in this series by now, but characterization is one of Paige’s strongest traits and it the thing I love most about the series.

           One of the things I had another love hate relationship with is the amount of pages the villains got in this book. Dorothy appears in the first chapter and then goes home leaving the readers with zero antagonist except form the Nome King (who I don’t have anything to say about since he’s just a power hungry, evil incarnate as far as I can tell who set up the whole plot of Glinda bringing Dorothy back to Oz, which is boring compared to the other villains) until chapter eighteen when Amy and the order arrive back in Oz. That’s almost halfway through the book! I’m all for down time in an heavily action packed story, but there was simply something displeasing about that part of the plot. Maybe it was because Amy was the only person form Oz that primarily appeared during those chapters except for during the beginning where she got a list of duties to due from the order and the occasional check-in from one of the witches. It’s no fun when you take out all the characters we’ve come to love for fifteen plus chapters Paige, so don’t expect me to instantly flock you with praise for developing a bully and abusive mother just for character development! Thank goodness there was a huge fight against Glinda and her army once everyone returned to Oz and even Dorothy got to show up a wreck shop with her mutated three-headed Toto. What made it all the more better was that the two of them were stepping on each other’s toes instead of working together like before. To read about the two of them trying to gain the upper hand against each other was hilariously relatable, plus it made me appreciate both more as villains. The final battle paled slightly in comparison to the fun the first battle in Oz, despite its raised stakes with Dorothy screwing with time, but it was still very action packed and satisfying, especially when Amy went to meet Lurline, the fairy that created Oz, and gain wisdom to help her defeat Dorothy.

Sadly, Dorothy wasn’t killed in this book and I’m getting rather sick and tired of Paige always ending with a cliff hanger. I also have a small problem with the None King, as he’s an interesting villain and his presence is true to the original Oz books, but I find him a dull character who isn’t as good an antagonist as Dorothy. Why couldn’t he have just not made any moves at all and everyone be happy that Dorothy was dead causing the book to end all happy and stuff? It makes me wish trilogies were still a thing and I get the feeling that the fourth book was only made to make a couple extra bucks. The whole reason I chose to read the series was to see Dorothy die, and if that doesn’t happen in the final book there better be a good explanation or I will be very disappointed (heck, even if there is a good explanation I’ll probably still be disappointed). I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that Amy might not be able to kill Dorothy since she spared her from her blade at the in this book and chose to have the Emerald Palace fall on her instead rather than dealing the final blow herself.

Overall, this was a good book but not as good as the previous two books. It’s got a more lighthearted tone with less violence and fewer moments with everyone’s favorite characters from Oz, but when they did show up it was all good. Some of the new characters such as the Nome King weren’t the best like previous characters that were introduced in the past, but many returning characters improved such as Nox. I’d recommend this book to those who have read the previous two books but if you find the series getting a bit dry at some parts and don’t really want to read the fourth book then I’d only read up to thirty-six. Anything past that leaves far too many loose ends and you’ll end up with a cliffhanger which is no fun to sleep on. I’ve been reading the fourth book for since the twelfth of the month and it’s taking far longer to read than the other book because I simply don’t like it as much so far. But I’ll save all my complaints for The End of Oz review and until then, I remain hopeful that the series will end on a good note and look forward to Dorothy dying!

Dorothy Must Die Review (first book in the series)
The Wicked Will Rise Review (previous book in the series)

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige (Review)

Date Finished: October 10, 2017

Page Count: 293

Genre: Fantasy

            I’d assume that you assume that The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige must be a really good book as it was only the eighth when I said I’d get around to reading the rest of the book in the Dorothy Must Die series. That, or I’ve checked out too many books from the library at once and they’re all due in less than two weeks. If you assumed both then give yourself a pat on the back because you are correct!

            Motives for finishing the book aside, the page count much less than the first book in the series, so it makes the whole situation less cool but more understandable. Even if this book was also four-fifty pages long or so, I’d still be on the edge of my seat as I found Paige’s sequel to Dorothy Must Die as riveting and enjoyable as her last, and at some points surpassed the original in my opinion. The action was there, the bloodbath was increased, new characters appeared that were as exciting as the previous, unexpected surprises were at every turn, and Paige continued to make tons of fun references to the Oz book series, with her characters and setting not that I got all the references, but I was still able to appreciate them. I getting ahead of myself though so let me start with the beginning.

Amy still dressed like a maid supposedly fighting the Lion (center) Ozma (inner left), Pete (inner left), Maude (left) and Ollie (right) by her side just looking cool. Behind them are the four witches Amy later see in a dream and in the center is Amy turned into a monster.

            The book started off strong, taking the first chapter for Amy to reflect on the events of the previous book for all those who had to take the year or so in between release dates when reading the books. This may have been the most annoying thing about the book for me, but it was only a small thorn in the side as Paige structured the text fairly well, balancing off the recap and Amy flying away from a burning Emerald City with Princess Ozma via Ollie and Maude. Luckily for me, Amy and allies get attacked by rocs (a species of birds) while flying and fall to the ground, only to run into the lion and have to battle him. Gotta hand it to Paige, she continues to write fast-paced actions sequences that you want to read again. Sadly, this book had less action than the first one, but I guess that’s to be expected when you downgrade by a hundred fifty pages. Never the less, the lions fight was my favorite in the whole book, mostly because we were able to see the effects Oz is having on Amy and how much she’s improved since first landing in Oz. Seeing how much stronger Amy’s gotten and how much more jaded she is towards the violence (she wanted to slice the Lion into a pulp and was totally planning on doing it) was an interesting direction Paige took her character in. Amy gets even cooler later on in the book as she steps further into the shadows and goes as far as turning into a monster unintentionally at one point. Amy is constantly fighting the urge to give into the magic and allow it to transform her like it did to Dorothy, and Paige beautifully illustrate this with Amy’s thoughts as much as her actions. The development of Amy is smooth as ice and I just loved every second Paige showed us how far she’d go in battle. Amy is by far my favorite character in the series (right up there with Pete) for now, she’s relatable in most situations, and has reasonable enough motives for me to jump on board with her goals. Anyone can be corrupted in Oz with the right circumstances, and it’s nice to have at least one character who is able to do this (especially the main character).

            Something else that I greatly enjoyed in this book was the development of Ozma and Pete’s characters. Not much of them was seen in the previous book other than an absent minded nincompoop in Ozma, and a shady yet slightly helpful Pete. I personally guessed that Pete was Ozma in the beginning of the previous book due to having some background knowledge of Oz and getting to see both their different personalities work together (or perhaps I should say against each other, since both want to exist when only one can at a time) was truly fascinating. Ozma as stated before, was very distant most of the time, wandering around like a child due to a spell Dorothy put on her. The few moments of clarity she had still seemed like nonsense, yet revealed the true Ozma and made me want to see her back to normal more. Her lack of clarity gave her a childlike and innocent charm, a perfect balance for all the other bloodshed and anguish that happens which makes me love her. Pete on the other hand, was forced by Amy to reveal most of his secretes (the explanation on what he was) and I for one, welcomed his openness. He was another guy Amy could openly talk to (Nox was gone at the time) and the trust the two built up together was wonderful. His serious yet, casual attitude was refreshing and the guy wasn’t afraid to have a bit of fun so we got to see some leisure activities happen in the Queendom of the Wingless Ones. Of course he had to go and screw up everything by bringing Glinda to Rainbow Falls since Polychrome, the daughter of the rainbow, was going to try to bring Ozma back with the side effect of killing him. And that’s not even the worst part! Amy (at least that’s what the next book states) freaking separates the two of them by freaking accident without freaking killing Pete. Freaking fabulous job Amy!! She should have totally done that before Pete went and betrayed her cause now everybody hates him and no longer wants to give him a chance!!! Technically, I’d feel the same way too, but I love Pete’s character, and I hate how bad he has so many enemies and can’t even use magic to defend himself (though someone who can’t use magic is also a refreshing aspect of his character). Either way, the fact that these two stepped up their roles in the book was awesome and they totally picked up the mantel from the Order and burned it just as bright.

            In addition to learning about old characters, Paige brought in some fun old characters of the old Oz books but put her won twist on them. Polychrome, as mentioned before, made an appearance in this book due to Mombi sending Amy to her in hopes of finding a way of returning Ozma to normal. Her authoritative tone, yet carefree personality was fun and well suited to someone with such an affinity for rainbows. Heathcliff, her pet unicorn that looks more like a white panther with a horn, also added to the fun as well as Bright, the placid womanizer that was her lover. I physically felt my heart sink once I realized she was dead, partly because I love her character so much and the other part was because it was just depressing to read about her dying and Rainbow Falls burning into oblivion.

            Queen Lulu of the Queendom of the Wingless Ones, was another spark in the dying world that I was fascinated with. She wouldn’t take crap from nobody, but Ozma, preferred to keep her people out of the surface’s business, and had a grudge towards witches due to being enslaved by them. She became livid when someone wasn’t going to follow her rules in the trees and had the power to back her up. Lulu isn’t all salt and no sugar though, due to previously caring for Ozma when she was a baby, and can’t help but feel bad about not being able to protect her from The Wizard. Her strongest character trait though has got to be her appearance. If bright red lipstick, a pink tutu and cat-eye sunglasses encrusted in rhinestones doesn’t scream character then I don’t know what does. Her sass was a favorite of mine to read and it was sad seeing her get left behind in the Queendom later on (luckily she reappears later on in the story and in the next book so I’m cool with it).

            Then we have The Wizard who suffered death by implosion thanks to Dorothy. I don’t feel sorry for him since he pulled a total Magolor right at the end there. Just walk with me for a moment here (or go Google, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land). The whole plot of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land was that this little alien landed on Pop Star, the home planet or the hero, Kirby, and needed your help repairing his ship. You help him and he rewards you by taking you to his home planet, Halcandra, where a dragon named Landia attacks you causing Magolor to request you help again. Fast forward to Landia’s defeat and Magolor reveals that they were guarding a crown that possesses unlimited power, and he originally attack them to get it but failed so he used you to get the crown for him. Then you get to fight Magolor and kill him (though he somehow come back to life or something and reappears in later games) and that essentially it. See how much Magolor’s like The Wizard? He sends Amy on her quest to get the Tin woodman’s heart, the Lion’s courage and the Scarecrows brains only to use them to try to merge Oz and Kansas into one (since it turns out the two are linked) and put himself in charge. I was not expecting this change of heart from him, but it was an interesting twist, reinforcing the fact that trust is fragile and not everyone is worthy of it. He was an unpredictable villain than no one could control and Dorothy just went on a killed him. Thank you so much Paige for dousing his potential to be the true villain.

            On the flip side of that, nothing is seen from Glamora, not much from Dorothy (though she was a killer villain when she did show up), and Nox, ugh, he was merely remained Amy’s love interest despite the small developments in personality he got as well. Glinda was taking her own path slightly in this novel which was interesting to see her and Dorothy’s alliance fall apart. Other characters from the previous book with a big role like Jellia had died in previous books (also like Jellia), were licking their wounds somewhere, or had no connection to the events that were happening in the book so they didn’t appear either. Emerald City also only had a minor appearance at the end but I didn’t mind much since it got twisted into something outlandishly awesome and served the purpose of creating the new cliffhanger. Yeah, Paige did that again too. Not too angry this time though since I could start reading the next book the following day and finish it too.

            To sum things up, this book was only slightly weaker than the first and provided a very satisfying sitting. The action was there, though a smaller dose, and Paige introduced some fun characters while killing off some others. Paige also didn’t falter with her vivid weaving of words, and I was so pleased with the descriptions of the new characters as well as the battle scenes. Definitely worth reading this sequel to Dorothy Must Die, though I can also see it possible for some people to just leave the book for good and be satisfied with that. This book did however surpass the first in terms of themes. The theme of holding onto hope was evident in how the characters Amy meet on her journey had confidence in her abilities and expected her to kill Dorothy despite the odds. This theme was far more optimistic than the previous themes and a like the change in tone it brought. If you enjoyed the grim tone of the previous book however (you did read the book after my amazing review didn’t you?) corruption was still a present theme, but it was much more prominent due to Amy reaching to a darker side of magic and the contrast between it and the theme of hope. With all that said, I hope you’ll consider reading this sequel after reading the first one as Paige has continued to keep up with herself and brings something that is sure to stick with you for some time.

Dorothy Must Die Review (previous book in the series)

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (Review)

Finished: October 5, 2017

Page Count: 452

Genre: Fantasy
 

            Woohoo! I finally got around to reading Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige and I loved it all the way through. Well, right up until the end that it. I’m going to go ahead and warn you right now dear reader that the book ends on the cliffhanger of the main character, Amy, failing to kill Dorothy, but succeeding in killing the Tin Woodsman instead and also successfully escaping from Glinda with Ozma thanks to help of the Wizard and Ollie and Maude. I knew this was coming since when I first discovered the book lying in my theater class eighth grade year I read to the end (though it made little sense). Somehow I still got super upset and felt dead inside once I got to the end though. On the bright side, the series has been finished with four books in the main storyline and either nine or ten prequel books that I personally don’t feel the need to read. This way, if you’re like me, you won’t feel like back flipping through an unbreakable glass window on a million-story building, and continuing to backflip through the air in towards the ground for all eternity in a miserable hells. But, I digress, this is a book review, not a list of grievances about all the great series I’ve started that are unfinished or never continuing and tear me up inside looking at you D. Gray-Man, this is a book review and I intend on reviewing the book.

            Now I hate to start by comparing this book to my last but, I greatly enjoyed this book more than A Face Like Glass. Paige tells the story in first person so it feels way more personal and less predictable than A Face Like Glass (not that that was predictable). I felt like Amy (the main character) was talking to me and as if I was experiencing the story along with her. The other thing Paige did well with her writing was describing the world of Oz and the characters. Hardinge did a poor job with describing her characters in a memorable and detailed way. I knew exactly what Amy, Pete, Indigo, Ollie, Glinda, Dorothy, Gert, Mombi, Glamore, Nox, Ozma, and the Wizard looked like just to name a few. It was wonderful, and way easier for me to imagine the story in my head because of it.

            And while I’m at it naming off lots of the characters, some of them may seem familiar if you’ve watched or read anything about Oz (it makes the book way more enjoyable if you have). If it wasn’t evident by the title and other things that may have cause you to come to this conclusion, but Dorothy Must Die is a derivative work based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the book series that followed. I love the fact that Paige has twisted all of these beloved characters and bent them backwards into cruder, more vicious versions of themselves. That sweet and innocent Dorothy who just wanted to go home? Now she’s a power hungry princess that’s not afraid to kill if it’s to get what she wants. How about the beautiful and kind witch Glinda who wanted the best for Oz? She’s Dorothy’s right hand b*thc and is helping steer Dorothy down her path of destruction (also, I’m pretty sure she’s the one who corrupted Dorothy in the first place). Those two are the most drastic of the bunch, but they also maybe my favorite non-original characters in the book. I was relieved that the development of their evil incarnations here wasn’t rushed though, as it was explained that when Dorothy first came back, things were okay, but slowly went from bad to worse. In addition to that, when Amy later goes undercover as a maid in the Emerald Palace to kill Dorothy in chapter twenty-six, we slowly get a sense of how corrupted these characters truly are, and I must say it that section of the story is one of the more interesting. Each character has their own motives and their own part to play in pushing the plot forward and while some outshine the others none can truly upstage each other and none seem out of place in a world such as Oz. Even the main character, Amy, fits in perfectly amidst all the colorful characters.

            The character of Amy doesn’t seem to be one of a hero at first as she lives at a trailer park with her mother after her father left them for another woman, and she isn’t able to make any friends. She doesn’t carry herself an air of confidence, nor does she treat others with kindness. It’s a huge contrast with Dorothy in the original series and the types of protagonist I normally read about, but with this type of character, her motive of wanting to leave her home for a better life in obvious and it matches with the later tone of the plot later on. When Amy arrives in Oz via a tornado, her reactions are believable in her disbelief of anything being real, her sense of ignorance, and overall sense of being lost make her instantly relatable and I can’t help but cheering for her. None of these traits are too generic or stale as many main characters seem to come off, and this is further enforced by the fact that it’s written in first person (way easier to get inside the main character’s head and learn about them, not to mention get a different perspective on other characters). The best part is that she doesn’t become any less realistic after joining the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, learning magic, or infiltrating the Emerald Palace. It just builds upon her relationships and overall character and I couldn’t help but seem to like her character more and more the further on I got into the book. Amy is the number two reason I stuck with this book (number one was because Dorothy is the villain) and the number one reason I enjoyed the book.

Amy with Star in her jacket pocket (right), Ollie (top left), Pete (middle left) and Indigo (bottom left). Set when Amy first arrives in Oz. Art by me, characters and setting not mine.

 

           Overall, Paige’s writing is like pack of 150 Prisamcolor Premier colored pencils that you get for your birthday, it’s super high quality and they make great images (in your head). Sometimes you just gotta get quality over quality which I hope is proven wrong as I read the next three books in the main series. Seriously, I did some plot searching on what happens since I was doubting weather I should read the next three books or just except that ending rather than trouble myself, but Paige has proven herself to be a worthy writer of my time and I’m going to try to finish all three books within the next two weeks (cause that how long I’ve got them from the public library and I think my copy of Memoirs of a Geisha has come in so I’ve got to read that too). I wasn’t that all keen about what happens in the end, which I actually won’t spoil and it makes reading the whole series seem pointless now, but just reading summaries never makes much sense to me and I’d like to know how the supposed ending happens. Take my word, Paige is one hell of a writer (she’s almost as good as Marisa Meyer) and her style of diction is a feast for the mind. She also has a very adept imagination and is spot-on with sticking to the source (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in this case), so you should really give this book a shoot. It’s got adventure, action, violence, and is one of the best revamps of a classical story (second, again to only Marissa Meyer so far). I highly recommend this book to all those interested in the thing I listed above and hope you keep posted for my reviews that are sure to come on the rest of the series.

A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge (Review)

Finished: October 2, 2017

Page Count: 487

Genre: Low Fatasy/Dystopian

            I finally finished, A Face Like Glass by Frances Harding and I can’t help but feel my mind go blank. The story focused on the tweenaged girl Neverfell, who was born on the surface, but mysteriously ended up in the subterranean city of Caverna with no memory. She becomes a danger to the people of the city due to showing all her genuine feeling on her face rather than being unable to do so without learning how to display these emotions, or faces as they’re called, like everyone else. This make her a danger to the city, since she can be used to lie if her memory is wiped about certain events as she’s asked to give a testimonial. To top it all off, Neverfell doesn’t want to stay in Caverna but rather escape onto the surface which she often dreams of. Neverfell is successful in her quest to learn the truth and escaped the city, and the story ends with an epilogue implying she lives a good life which give me a pleasant feeling since everything’s all nice and concluded if anyone say that the book is part of a series is speaking crazy talk even if it’s true and I don’t care for another book in the story because this is a good enough ending for me. However, when I say the ending gave me a pleasant feeling that only lasted for an hour or so after finishing the book and soon I was left with the impression of, “so that it huh?”

            Don’t get me wrong, endings where everything is wrapped up in a nice package with maybe a few lose ends to prevent all the characters from living the American Dream are always best to me, with the exception of some stories that run on mysteries which deserve to remain a mystery. This ending, however, seemed to strike me when I wasn’t paying attention and leave me with a deep mental scar that I need to think about. Just take the time to imagine not being able to change one’s expression unless thinking about it, or knowing the proper way to make that expression. In Caverna, aristocrats with a wide disposal of faces use this to their advantage by choosing the right face to manipulate other people into submission. In addition to having a wide arrange of faces at their disposal, the aristocrats are also mostly Craftsmen, people who are masters at a skill such as winery or cheese making, but rather than simply being able to make the tastiest foods, winemakers brew wines that can erase or restore memories and cheesemakers craft cheeses that bestow visions on others. These powers make it easy to take advantage of others and end up in a circle of violence and hatred in the city, which are primary factors effecting the politics of the city. Using these concepts, I think Harding was trying to tell the reader that all people have the capability of people will twist their interoperation of good and evil in order to benefit themselves. Take Maxim Childresin, a wine master who takes in Neverfell at certain points in the story and the primary antagonist, kills the leader of Caverna, the Grand Steward, in order to obtain power and put his family in a better position that it currently is. This act may seem evil unless one realizes he does it for the benefit of his family. Maxim sees his actions as a good thing because he helping others despite hurting others at the same time. I for one think he’s doing the wrong thing, as he’s outright murdering people to archive his goals and no matter how much he says his actions are for his family (so that’d be the excuse of killing for a good cause), his motives are still partially selfish since his family includes himself so that’s selfish. Not too many characters do something out of the goodness of their own heart except for Neverfell, Erstwhile (a deliver boy and Neverfell’s friend), and maybe Zouelle (Maxim’s niece and friend to Neverfell). Even Master Grandible only takes in Neverfell as a child so he can have someone to trust. Because of this, most characters twist reality to benefit themselves.

            Speaking of Maxim, if I lived in Caverna I’d be one of the people to abuse my faces and true delicacies (I seem to recall that being what the rare goods craftsmen produced were referred to as) for my advantage for reasons similar to him. Because of this similarity I found myself to be very understanding when it came to Maxim killing the Grand Steward for the sake of his family and Madame Appeline (a facesmith and secret ally of Maxim) enslaving Neverfell’s mother to create faces for her. Despite the fact that the characters were mostly had warped perspective and motives, I thoroughly enjoyed the personalities of the characters in the story. Part of the reason is because I have a fondness for those with a couple screws loose (they remind me of myself), but also because they had clear understandable motives that helped me appreciate their character more and respect their actions, like Maxim who is actually my favorite character for that reason. Other characters like Zouelle and Erstwhile were also some of the most enjoyable due to growing as characters thanks to their interactions with Neverfell. In Erstwhile’s case, he became more open change and a friendlier person, looking out for other. Zouelle was able to grow a conscious and developed a stronger sense of right and wrong. These transformations that the characters went through made them more likable for me and kept me invested in the story. Ironically enough, Neverfell herself was definitely one of the less interesting characters.

            While her amnesia was cliché it was executed in an interesting enough fashion that I cared about what happened to her. Neverfell’s amnesia was one of the things I disliked most about her however as it made her character very ignorant of the evils of the world and awestruck with all she saw. Her naïve nature was often times an annoyance to me for some reason, as I simply got irritated when she acted a fool despite trying to be tolerant with all characters. I did, however, love how her character grew wiser over the course of the story as she was exposed to new people like Maxim, the Grand Steward and Zouelle, and new places like the Drudgery. Her transformation was the one I welcomed the most and one of the most impactful, as with her new found knowledge she was able to devise a successful plan to evade capture by Maxim and escape Caverna (one of the best parts in the story by the way). This however was not enough to me for her to be redeemed, so Neverfell remains to be one of my lesser favorite characters.

            Overall, I found the setting of the plot and concepts presented in the underground city such as the presence of true delicacies, and a lack of ability to display functions without thinking about it to be very interesting and well written in the story. The messages Hardinge told in this story were also very meaningful and the characters embodies these traits well. This book wasn’t my favorite though despite the strong characters due to them not being strong enough to leave a mark long enough and the conclusion being so sound that it doesn’t make you wander about what happened once the story finished for very long, due to being so solid and wrapped up. My recommendation for you to read this book however is moderately strong if for those who’re interesting in seeing what a world where people need to learn how to express emotions is like, a refreshing take on the dystopian novel genre, or a low fantasy political violence on a small scale.

More blogs posts on, A Face Like Glass
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Characterization in the book