You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Initial Thoughts:
I went into this thinking it would be a deep dive into Medusa levels of villain origin story greatness — but for the Wicked Witch of the West. What I got instead was a book that felt more like a commentary on society, politics, religion, and morality than a fully realized character study. Elphaba is meant to be the focus, but she often feels lost in the shuffle.
What Worked for Me:
Elphaba’s character was easily the most interesting part. From outcast to activist to misunderstood recluse, she’s layered, flawed, and sympathetic. I loved how Maguire portrayed her not as inherently wicked, but as someone shaped by grief, trauma, and rejection.- The themes of good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, and what it means to be “monstrous” were thought-provoking.
- Some moments truly shined — the complicated friendship with Glinda, her relationship with Fiyero, and her activism were the emotional heart of the story.
Where It Fell Apart:
The pacing was uneven. Some parts dragged forever; others felt rushed and underdeveloped.- There were so many plot threads introduced and abandoned. Characters would show up, seem important, and then just… disappear.
- The world-building felt surface-level at times. Maguire had big ideas but didn’t always deliver on them.
- The ending was disappointing. Abrupt, lacking closure, and ultimately unsatisfying.
Big Questions, Few Answers:
Maguire raises interesting points about morality, destiny, and societal expectations. But often those questions hang in the air unanswered, which can be frustrating if you’re looking for a clear resolution.
Why is Elphaba green? Why does water kill her? Why is she “wicked”? We never really get satisfying answers. And maybe that’s the point — life isn’t tidy, but for a novel with such grand ideas, I expected more follow-through.
Final Takeaway:
This book is ambitious but messy. I appreciated its attempt to humanize a villain and challenge perceptions of good and evil. But it left too many loose ends dangling and felt more like a collection of half-formed ideas than a fully cohesive narrative.
Read it if you like flawed characters and don’t mind unanswered questions. Skip it if you prefer clear plots and satisfying resolutions.
After seeing the musical (which I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE) and realizing it was based off a book, I naturally wanted to read the book and check out its differences. I can tell you now – do not expect the book and the musical to be the same. At all. Is this a bad thing? No, unless you go into either one expecting the story to have the same tone and same storyline. Then you will probably hate either the musical or the book. I had actually begun reading this book a couple years ago when I was much younger and I never really finished it because I think I was expecting them to be similar. However, I recently picked it up again knowing these differences.
Truthfully, my feelings are mixed on this book. I enjoyed the read, but at the same time I found it somewhat difficult to keep reading at certain parts of the book. I always like creative takes on an existing story and I love that Elphaba truly did want to do good in the world and appeared the take the stance of an Animal activist. However, her personality often left a not-so-lovely impression on most people around her and everything she seemed to do often backfired. Both of these things, coupled with the Wizard’s secret agenda, resulted in her watery death in the end. I do like that the Wizard is actually perceived to be the bad guy in this version of the land of Oz and that Galinda/Glinda (who was always named the Good Witch) turned out to be selfish and full of herself. The takes on all of the characters were interesting and I loved the spin on all of them.
However, the story itself jumped around a lot, in my opinion. Sometimes it was a little hard to follow the direction Maguire was taking and there were definitely a few spots in the book I found slow and slightly boring, for lack of better word. I also felt as though some elements were missing and some details such as the Scarecrow’s backstory and the reason for his feelings toward Elphaba. I know his backstory in the musical, though the ending to that vastly differed from the book, but I wonder if that was the intended backstory for the character or if Maguire had something else in mind. I also would have loved if he had clarified just why Elphaba could not touch water or why she was born green. He alludes to the “Magical Elixir” that Nanny had found in her mother, Melena’s, home at the beginning of the book, but is that truly what turned her green or was it something much deeper than magic and sorcery. Could her green skin, and Nessa’s deformed body, have been due to Melena’s drug use and adultery or is this much deeper? Perhaps it was to represent the sins that Melena committed and this has a more “religious” theme to it than what is explained?
I also felt the way that Elphaba had given birth to a son without even realizing it was a little farfetched and I wasn’t completely convinced. The only confirmation we had of who’s son Liir actually was was Fiyero’s and there was no doubt that Fiyero and Elphaba had relations many times throughout the book. Elphaba’s theory of being unaware she had given birth to a child while in a drug haze for 9+ months just didn’t seem to sit right with me considering there would still have been changes to her body that she likely would have noticed had she gone through a pregnancy and given birth.
There were a lot of themes to the book such as religion, animal rights, good vs evil, and gender. But in the end, I felt that some of the problems and themes did not have any conclusion. I ended the book having more questions than I would have liked. But in all, I honestly still enjoyed the book to an extent. It left me thinking a little bit, as you could see, about some of the theories posed by the characters and I would like to see what happened to Liir and the other existing characters. It might be some time, but I think I will still finish out this series out of curiosity.
Spoiler
The book has a very dark tone to it, in my opinion, whereas the musical focuses on a more light, uppity tone. There are definitely some adult themes to the book, like sex, and the author briefly mentions that Elphaba was actually born a hermaphrodite, though it appears she was castrated at birth. The whole scene is very vague, however. Her sister, Nessarose, while only confined to a wheelchair and unable to walk in the musical, is actually born without arms in the book. Didn’t I say this was a little dark?Truthfully, my feelings are mixed on this book. I enjoyed the read, but at the same time I found it somewhat difficult to keep reading at certain parts of the book. I always like creative takes on an existing story and I love that Elphaba truly did want to do good in the world and appeared the take the stance of an Animal activist. However, her personality often left a not-so-lovely impression on most people around her and everything she seemed to do often backfired. Both of these things, coupled with the Wizard’s secret agenda, resulted in her watery death in the end. I do like that the Wizard is actually perceived to be the bad guy in this version of the land of Oz and that Galinda/Glinda (who was always named the Good Witch) turned out to be selfish and full of herself. The takes on all of the characters were interesting and I loved the spin on all of them.
However, the story itself jumped around a lot, in my opinion. Sometimes it was a little hard to follow the direction Maguire was taking and there were definitely a few spots in the book I found slow and slightly boring, for lack of better word. I also felt as though some elements were missing and some details such as the Scarecrow’s backstory and the reason for his feelings toward Elphaba. I know his backstory in the musical, though the ending to that vastly differed from the book, but I wonder if that was the intended backstory for the character or if Maguire had something else in mind. I also would have loved if he had clarified just why Elphaba could not touch water or why she was born green. He alludes to the “Magical Elixir” that Nanny had found in her mother, Melena’s, home at the beginning of the book, but is that truly what turned her green or was it something much deeper than magic and sorcery. Could her green skin, and Nessa’s deformed body, have been due to Melena’s drug use and adultery or is this much deeper? Perhaps it was to represent the sins that Melena committed and this has a more “religious” theme to it than what is explained?
I also felt the way that Elphaba had given birth to a son without even realizing it was a little farfetched and I wasn’t completely convinced. The only confirmation we had of who’s son Liir actually was was Fiyero’s and there was no doubt that Fiyero and Elphaba had relations many times throughout the book. Elphaba’s theory of being unaware she had given birth to a child while in a drug haze for 9+ months just didn’t seem to sit right with me considering there would still have been changes to her body that she likely would have noticed had she gone through a pregnancy and given birth.
There were a lot of themes to the book such as religion, animal rights, good vs evil, and gender. But in the end, I felt that some of the problems and themes did not have any conclusion. I ended the book having more questions than I would have liked. But in all, I honestly still enjoyed the book to an extent. It left me thinking a little bit, as you could see, about some of the theories posed by the characters and I would like to see what happened to Liir and the other existing characters. It might be some time, but I think I will still finish out this series out of curiosity.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
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:
No
If anyone asks, this book is the reason why imma be sad for the rest of my life.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
I didn't mind that Maguire wrote a banquet of moral bankruptcy through which he wanted to show, ridicule and ponder about all the things so many of us refuse to or are too ignorant to see (though, there are things that Maguire himself seems to refute, such as the concept of hope). I also don't care about the play or the movie loosely inspired by his book (DO NOT GIVE THIS BOOK TO ANYONE UNDER 18, THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN), now even less than before.
However, I hate what he did to Oz. In order to make Baum's world fit his narrative, he had to turn it upside down in every single aspect, with the utmost disrespect. Oz is a matriarchal society -> Maguire turned it into a fascist misogynist nightmare. Worse than that, all the female characters are ridiculed in one way or another, even Elphaba, not by and for the purpose of the plot, but by the narrator himself. There's nothing wrong with depicting old, fat, shallow, power hungry or corrupted women, but Maguire's descriptions are so cartoonish, almost grotesque, just for the sake of it. I'm not even getting into the whole Animals rights bs because it's simply a bad allegory (or it isn't? is Maguire literally that mad that the Bible says that animals have no souls? I mean same, but holy s**t, get a grip dude). Also, get this, Oz is, worldbuilding wise, a pagan world. What did Maguire do about that? He colonized it with religion. Religion isn't just there, it's nauseatingly sewed within the very fabric of every single worldbuilding and plot aspect. While I was reading, I couldn't stop asking myself why couldn't he just wrote an original story instead if he had to twist Oz into a such unrecognizable shape - and the reason is, of course, that nobody would have cared if this was an original story. This glorified fanfiction wouldn't have existed if MGM wasn't so cheap and hired one extra actress to play the actual Good Witch of the North, and avoided that major plot hole created by having her merged with Glinda. Because yes - this is a fanfiction of the 1939 movie, not Baum's actual work.
Some kind of credit is due where some kind of credit is due, at least the Wicked Witch is not entirely presented as a misunderstood, poor, poor victim of her upbringing. She is, by all means, worse than Baum's original character. She's a useless rebel. The true Witch was just a tyrant with a proclivity for animal manipulation magic. Maguire's witch is a self-righteous radical. She uses Dr. Dillamond's revolutionary research to artificially create flying monkeys. She sees nothing wrong with the fact that the failures of her little genetic experiments had to be mercy killed. According to her, people who torture others, or choose to use their influence to do bad, deserve to die (even an 11 years old; she, and adult, could've verbally put the brat into his place, but nope, only way you could deal with problem kids is by killing them, apparently). Of course, she fails to see her own faults. Just like Madame Morrible had "a choice", so had she, as the rightful ruler of Munchkinland, the choice to claim her title and actually help the Animals she claimed to care so much about. So, did she do it? Did she do anything that would actually help anyone in any material way? NO. I don't know if Maguire portrayed her the way he did to mock real life tankies, but that is precisely how I choose to see it, because the dots connect too well. As for Nessarose, our very Wicked Witch of the East, there's no character more ridiculous than her. She's a religious fanatic, ok, fine, sure, whatever. But a religious tyrant? Why, where, how? Has Maguire ever heard of the "show, don't tell" rule?
The Philosophy Club scene was just as horrifying as anyone makes it out to be.... and that's why I liked it so much. It's so horrifying that it becomes fascinating. Though I should say, I hate its follow up, or rather, the lack of a proper follow up. Tibbett is graped by and gets AIDS from a Tiger and the story never focuses on him again. He only gets a paragraph summarizing his final moments and that's it. He doesn't get the chance to voice his own experience, not is anyone else ever acknowledging what he's been through. And no, I'm not counting the short handed remarks during conversations of old friends seeing each other again after a long while as proper handling. I don't care that Maguire's depictions of grape survivors are accurate to the 90's, I wanted him to properly explore his characters' victimhood (this includes Melena). He glamorizes his fanfiction as this deep dive into the nature of evil. Well, evil could also be explored through victims of evil acts and the lasting effects of such acts, no?
The only real silver lining of Wicked was Maguire's purple prose, I genuinely enjoyed his writing and was the only thing that kept me hooked. The pacing was awful, though. But yeah, I think I'll stick with Baum's original work.
I would also recommend watching Dominic Noble's two videos on the book, they provide a lot of good insight:
"I Did Not Enjoy Reading Wicked" https://youtu.be/nwcANKtZkTs?si=gpoN_bEuQgoxQs20
"Wicked ~ Lost in Adaptation (The Book)" https://youtu.be/Vp-s5cpxK00?si=WhPRfo4W-xsF5Ilr
I'll end with this quote:
'The more civilized we become, the more horrendous our entertainments,' said Frex.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape