Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

13 reviews

swhitzel's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

What a useless story. So much character build up, so many possibilities, all for nothing. Pages and pages of rambling nonsense mixed in with small bits of interest and intrigue. Entirely anticlimactic. 

A true waste of time. Genuinely amazed that this was the basis for such a fantastic stage play. It seems the musical pulled out the best pieces of the story. Wish I had left it there and not ventured further into this world. 

A letdown.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Child death, Vomit, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Torture, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, and Death

jerrysaywhaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I think overall that I enjoyed this story. It could have been trimmed down a bit and I do wish the whole thing more Elphaba’s story since the book is called The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (the first half of the book is mostly about her mother, Glinda, Boq, and Fiyero).

I think that the musical actually improved on the overall story of Wicked, especially for Boq, the Lion, the Tinman, and the Scarecrow. I can only hope that the new movies take more from the novel to improve on the musical (I would love to see the inclusion of Sarima, her sisters, her children, and Liir). 

Will I read the sequels? Maybe eventually, but this was a struggle to get through at parts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child death, Dementia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent

Beastiality, Child Nudity

mandi_lea's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, Grief, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, and Death of parent

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Pregnancy, Death, Animal cruelty, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Animal death, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia and Cursing

littleyellowfangirl's review against another edition

Fetishization of inappropriate content

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest, Racism, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Stalking

rosalind's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Animal death, and Body shaming

mrsmower's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Genocide, Infidelity, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Addiction, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty

susannaobrien's review

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Pretty disappointed in this, but I may have been expecting it to be closer to the musical which I love. Fantasy fans may enjoy this more, but I found the meandering plot and many small characters hard to keep track of and quite tedious at times. The commentary on religious fanaticism and the way societal expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies was interesting, but often overworked and written in dense, and at times impenetrable language. I also found Maguire's writing of Nessarosa's disability incredibly ableist, and sex and female desire pretty dated and unnecessarily vulgar. Glad I read as it satisfies a curiosity but ultimately it dragged for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Child death, and Ableism

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Animal death

Minor: Religious bigotry, Slavery, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

rebeccafarren's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Ableism, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Animal cruelty

gayghostprince's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Colonisation, Dementia, Drug use, Alcohol, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

I never finished this book when I was younger but I was immediately struck by how vile all the adults in this book are upon rereading it. there are no assault scenes, but people do mention r*pe. the descriptions and implications about specific groups in this people are racist and stereotypical, but not often aggressively malicious. a LOT of the treatment of children in this book is upsetting. content warning for family baggage and child neglect. in addition, late in the book a child is pretty relentlessly bullied by his peers. I added a minor homophobia warning because the way people describe the two obviously gay characters is often homophobic. just coincidentally describing them as simpering or whatever. the equivalent of calling a gay man a fairy, you know? the sex scenes in this book are not detailed or graphic but they are also not well written. take that as you will.