No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige (Dorothy Must Die Prequel #1)

This is the backstory on Dorothy after she spent her first time in Oz wanting nothing more than to return to Kansas and then spent her time back in Kansas wanting nothing more than to return to Oz. We begin with Dorothy's infamous (at least to her) 16th birthday party, and are reminded how terrible teenagers are, no matter what universe or timeline you are in. Then Dorothy mysteriously returns to Oz and unfortunately brings Toto, her Aunt Em, and uncle Henry with her. I say unfortunately because not only are Aunt Em and uncle Henry buzzkills for Dorothy, they're buzzkills for me too. I get that they're from a different time and simple, down to earth people, but they were unrealistically annoying. But we don't have to deal with them for too long, if you know what I mean *murderous wink*.

I think it's unfortunate for Toto because he turns into an evil diva and that seems unfair to poor Toto.

Paige provides insight into Dorothy's relationship with Ozma that leads to the unfortunate mind mush incident. And while the mechanics aren't as fleshed out as they are with Amy in the Dorothy Must Die series, we see Dorothy's transition from magical virgin to becoming accidentally more powerful than Oz's rightful ruler - even though Ozma has access to the oldest, strongest power in Oz. I feel like there is a parallel with people who end up in the emergency room after "accidentally" slipping on the Mrs. Buttersworth bottle, but I could be wrong. 

While I had to push the "I want to believe button" for more than once in this book, I'm already balls deep in this series and will pretty much keep reading even if Mrs. Buttersworth herself flies in a declares she's the Queen of Oz.