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![Wicked: [Movie Tie-In]: the Inspiration for the Smash-hit Musical and the Upcoming Major Motion Picture by Gregory Maguire](https://assets.thestorygraph.com/assets/placeholder-cover-a3ae92250eb3301e32dc3eabf8d50576c2f047dda89f6ee7cfa9a859cb1fd746.jpg)
11.1k reviews for:
Wicked: [Movie Tie-In]: the Inspiration for the Smash-hit Musical and the Upcoming Major Motion Picture
Gregory Maguire
3.4 AVERAGE
11.1k reviews for:
Wicked: [Movie Tie-In]: the Inspiration for the Smash-hit Musical and the Upcoming Major Motion Picture
Gregory Maguire
3.4 AVERAGE
Meh, it was hard for me even to rate this one. I knew going in it was different than the play; I actually looked forward to that. However, I wasn't expecting it to drag on and on, with many times, I'm super skimming the page.
I won't recommend it to friends and much preferred the musical version storyline to the book. A reader blasphemy!
I won't recommend it to friends and much preferred the musical version storyline to the book. A reader blasphemy!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very verbose and reminiscent of a rambling, dark, and sexually twisted Charles Dickens. This book was not an enjoyable read, especially when I was expecting the light-heartedness of the musical
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
I am biased because I liked the story of the musical, this story is much darker. Lots and lots of characters
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oooooof. I did not enjoy this book at all. It's overly long, the pacing is quite ridiculous, the characters are really hard to relate to, there's just a lot of mean-spiritedness rippling through it and it's incredibly heavy-handed in the messaging/themes that the author wants to tackle.
I don't have an attachment to the musical that is clearly thinly drawn from this book, so my distaste is not related to that. I just didn't find anything to enjoy here. It takes so long to get going and then often spends very little time on the meaningful moments of the story. I don't entirely understand why Maguire decided this should be a Wizard of Oz prequel as a lot of it feels like it has very little to do with the source material.
On the whole, I just found it an incredibly unpleasant read.
A note on the sexual content: Look, I don't mind sex in books. When it's done well, it can be so much fun. This is badly written sex and there's just so much of it and it so often feels completely unnecessary. It's not sexy and it doesn't add much to the plot. It just keeps popping up...for reasons.
I don't have an attachment to the musical that is clearly thinly drawn from this book, so my distaste is not related to that. I just didn't find anything to enjoy here. It takes so long to get going and then often spends very little time on the meaningful moments of the story. I don't entirely understand why Maguire decided this should be a Wizard of Oz prequel as a lot of it feels like it has very little to do with the source material.
On the whole, I just found it an incredibly unpleasant read.
A note on the sexual content: Look, I don't mind sex in books. When it's done well, it can be so much fun. This is badly written sex and there's just so much of it and it so often feels completely unnecessary. It's not sexy and it doesn't add much to the plot. It just keeps popping up...for reasons.
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I did like this book, I will say the first half was better than the second half (more engaging). I thought Elphaba could be very funny, and the book was way more obviously queer than the movie. I don't know if I was quite sold on her villain arc, particularly in the last bit of the book. Also pretty much every character of color was murdered. I did overall like it though, I recommend it as long as you understand it's VERY different from the movie (I haven't seen the musical yet) and definitely is not kid-friendly, and as long as you understand that while this book is queerer than the movie, it was also published in 1995.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual content
Moderate: Slavery, Murder
Minor: Rape
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced