Wicked. Oh Wicked... I'm going to be 100% honest, I had no idea what I was getting into here. I absolutely adore the musical by extension now the movie. I've heard people talk about how different the book is and so I wanted to find out. The two are worlds apart and I honestly love that. The book is very not child friendly and had some moments (looking at you puppets.... and you tiger) that made me question why and what I was reading. However, I actually really enjoyed the story. I think the book does an amazing job of highlighting so many issues that impact a society. We get a look at politics, race, social class, religion, gender and a myriad of other things. The author does a fabulous job of showcasing these issues while presenting a story of a green girl who constantly has her intentions misjudged.

I am all about retellings and villain origin stories and I think this one is perfect because Elphie really has a good heart even if she's learned to hide herself behind sarcasm to survive in a world that judges her. She quickly picks up the plight of the disenfranchised in Oz and from then on everything just goes awry. I love that we get a different understanding of events from The Wizard of Oz that make you have to examine who the real villain actually is. I think that despite some of the weird and extreme and hidden behind a lot of wordy passages at times the book really has a deep message that can be applied to society today. ( )

If you're a fan of the movie or musical, this might not be for you. Significantly darker and more political. A bit traumatic. I still very much enjoyed it but go into it knowing that it will not be full of showtunes. And this book is definitely not for kids ( )

I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it!
I'm pretty familiar with the Wizard of Oz movie, but I am not familiar with the Wicked Broadway musical at all. I figured I would read the novel that Wicked Broadway musical was based on, after seeing all of the press surrounding the movie musical. I'm now guessing the musical is only LOOSELY based on this novel??
I thought the vibe of the musical is a positive vibe? The novel was this weird, sad and metaphysical tome, mean people galore and full of disappointment after disappointment for poor Elphaba, the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. Racism, classism, cruelty towards children, bullying, animal cruelty, and so on.
It was interesting to see well-known characters in a different light, but left me just feeling a bit sad. ( )

Loved this book in audio!!! I found the book hard to read as the language is very choppy and hard to read. What a great take on our childhood fairy tales! I need to read more of his books. ( )

So instead of reviewing this book traditionally as I do with others, I want to make this review a collective log of all things I would change if I could rewrite the book. And honestly, with the way the book was written and the liberties taken with the canon material, Wicked doesn't even feel like an Oz book. In fact, I would go so far to say that this book is a shameless grab of all Oz movie and book fans to entice people to read Maguire's book. And that is really what ruffles my feathers. If Maguire wanted to write a book about a magical land whose two primary plot points are between the ambiguously moral protagonist and the fine print of sapience, then he should have done so, on his own merit.

Whew.

The Log

♦There was a lull between the magic we experienced between the intro to the Clock and Glinda's entry into the magical studies. Maybe I'm the minority, but that part in between made me completely forget that these girls were going to be witches. More consistent mention of magic and inclusion in everyday life.

♦For the importance Madame Morrible had, it didn't feel like she was prominent in the section. Why is she so darn important that she destines the three girls to become section witches? I just... Maguire is not good with following through plot points and making them prominent. This seems like such a handwave. Make Morrible a more fleshed out character and make her interesting.

♦Why should I care about the philosophy club? It served no purpose other than ~being edgy for the sake of being edgy~. I'm sick of shock porn in books. ( )

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

A fantasy story like no other. A re imagined story of the early life of the Wicked Witch, from Birth to adult. With attention to detail, engaging dialog and original characters, some a bit bizarre. Overall I found Wicked enjoyable, and look forward to reading more by Gregory Maguire ( )

It was okay. Had a lot of weird things in the story. I would have originally said two stars, but I gave three because it is based on one of the greatest Broadway plays of all time. ( )

I liked it. It was interesting to think of the whole Oz in a new way. It took me a long time to read and I won't be reading the next books in the series. It was too political for me. ( )

Wow, they REALLY changed things for the musical. What an odd, quirky book. But very cool to have a re-telling of the aspartamic Oz books in a somewhat dark, creative, she's-green-but-she's-human way. Very worthwhile. ( )

i really wanted to love this book so much more, and i will always love the whole oz universe, but this was confusing to follow and missed out some details i really wanted to see. ( )

Been wanting to read this one for a while, because I absolutely loved the Broadway musical, and I'm super excited for the movies to come out, and it was just as good as I thought it would be! An amazing read and I can't wait to read the rest of the series! ( )

I loved the fresh perspective. The book was a bit too political for my preference, but I did enjoy it. Even though I knew Elphaba would die in the end, it was still devastating. She was so *interesting*. ( )

Read on audio. After seeing the trailer for the new Wicked movie coming out, I thought I'd pick this up for a reread. Its a good take on what the lives of the Witches of Oz (North, East and West) were like before what we know from the original. I had forgotten how much this overlaps with Dorothy and the original Wizard of Oz. Its a very good read. I'll probably get to the other 3 in the series, eventually. ( )

I first read this book a number of years ago, and I didn't like it. I wanted more Dorothy and less Oz Politics. Than I forgot most of the plot, including Elphaba's little sister, Nessarose.

So on a reread, I found it a completely different book, a story about trying to do the right thing, but completely screwing up or timing issues, with people dying due to these screw ups. It is a heartbreaking tale, from being used to make a point about religion form a parent, to losing connections to a point of pride.

Elphaba becoming the witch isn't so much about good and evil, its about losing what ones values, not black and white, but grey and grey - its impossible to make good choices when the world you live in is so bleak.

Oddly enough, this is one of those books that explains the real world - using religious intolerance, colonization, fascism, all starting with a years long drought that causes famine and income loss, it is analogy for our world.

Also, I still want more Dorothy....... :) ( )

If I could, I would give this less than 1 star. It was really a disgusting, confusing book. I picked it up because I love the musical; the name is the only thing this has in common with that. The only reason I even finished it (& still have it) because finishing books is a personal rule of mine. I still have my copy because I am totally against trashing or burning books, but it's so disgusting I would never pass it on to anyone else. ( )

Have tried reading this twice now and it's just not grabbing me at all. Probably the transphobia. ( )

I can't decide whether this book is wicked good (it feels brainy -- it has philosophy and politics and some great satire parts) or badly written and pretentious. The jumps in time estranged me as reader from the characters. I'm glad I kept on reading because in the last 50 pages some things became a bit more clear.

I have a huge crush on Turtleheart. ( )

DNF -- so much promise, so much detailed and expansive writing, and yet i'm 85 pages in and almost nothing has happened. i'm still being introduced to someone who is likely the main character, and only just spotted another protagonist... maybe i'll finish later, but i'd like my books to have some reasonable pacing, not act like every little thing and person needs an encyclopaedic backstory... ( )

Disturbing ( )

I read this before I went to see Wicked the musical, and was really relieved to find that the stage version corrected all the things that bothered me about the novel. It just wasn't very fun to read. The idea is great and the writing is top-notch, but halfway through the plot gets bogged down in this really long, depressing section where nothing happens. So my advice would be to read the beginning and then when you start to get bored, just skip to the end. Or just go see the musical. ( )

I really liked the actual story quite a lot. The book as a whole, however, was kind of a slow read at times. There was a lot of explanation of political goings-on, and there were lots of happenings that were just kind of confusing. Some of the things that i was curious about never actually got explained, which was somewhat annoying.

But it was worth reading, probably. It was fun to see the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and it was interesting to see how the author imagined her life might have been. I imagine that the book would make a good movie...or musical. ( )

Horribly boring. I only bothered to finish it because I want to see the musical. ( )

EducatingParents.org rating: Danger - Explicit Content

Booklooks.org -
Summary of Concerns
4/5
This book contains sexual activities; profanity; nudity; mild profanity; and alcohol use.

Alphamom.com -
*Sexual Content: (spoilers included)
– There is a traveling “Clock of the Time Dragon” which claims to be an oracle. It tells stories in villages throughout the book. The entertainment includes puppets having sex, committing adultery and acting out violently.
– In the first section of the book, Melena, Elphalba’s mother, has an affair with a traveling glassblower named Turtle Heart. She ends up bearing his child, Nessarose.
– In the second section, some of the male students go to “The Philosophy Club” where bizarre sexual acts are alluded to as well as described. None are extremely graphic but the implication of a threesome with a tiger exists.
– In the third section, after Elphalba leaves school and becomes an activist on the verge of terrorism, she falls in love with a married man and carries on a sexual affair.

I won't lie, I got caught in the hype. There is a reason I read mostly indie books, because if I read a bestseller or a popular book my expectations are just way too high. It happened with this book. I love the Wizard of Oz movies and books when I was a child and I was always fascinated with the Wicked Witches. I have their dolls on my bookshelf! However this book was nothing like I expected. I just didn't understand the need to completely twist everything about OZ. I know the book is for adults but this is technically still based off a children's book. I got around 35% of the book before I decided not to finish it, which is rare! I did not like any of the characters, even Elphaba, this may have changed the more you read but I honestly did not want to keep reading ( )

I really liked this book. It's so interesting to me to think of things from the other persons point of view :-) ( )