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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was listening to the audiobook and I just couldn't follow it; I wasn't interested at all.
Should I have read this book in middle school? Probably not, but it was very interesting, to say the least, as a kid, but now, as an adult, it makes more sense. The story follows the most famous Green Witch of Oz, who unfollows the real wickedness and makes the beloved land seem much darker than the original author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum.
The story shows a lot of points of view of what it means to be wicked, and we, as the reader, follow the wicked witch known as Elphaba Thropp. She was a girl who is an outcast for being odd and of course, being green. I think the author does a great job of illustrating different plots between the acts of the book. I enjoyed the book as it was a great starter into the series of the following books and showed off the inspiration for the Land of Oz from films and materials of known media.
Now, the book has become award-winning and has been split into two parts to dive deep into the stage show adaptation that shares the same name as the books. As someone who loves stage adaptation, I find this book helps create the characters and their purpose more clearly and shares its spirit through musical numbers.
I gave the review a 4 out of 5 stars because there were moments where the story took too long to get through with characters' thoughts or literal questions they would face as the story moved along. However, the author made great choices regarding how the events tie into the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The readers get to visit Oz before and after the events of Dorothy Gale in the land and bring new essential characters to the plot. I would probably re-read this story every now and then, but I have noticed the author is coming out with a graphic novel this year, and I am thrilled to see what it will be like to see the story visually.
The story shows a lot of points of view of what it means to be wicked, and we, as the reader, follow the wicked witch known as Elphaba Thropp. She was a girl who is an outcast for being odd and of course, being green. I think the author does a great job of illustrating different plots between the acts of the book. I enjoyed the book as it was a great starter into the series of the following books and showed off the inspiration for the Land of Oz from films and materials of known media.
Now, the book has become award-winning and has been split into two parts to dive deep into the stage show adaptation that shares the same name as the books. As someone who loves stage adaptation, I find this book helps create the characters and their purpose more clearly and shares its spirit through musical numbers.
I gave the review a 4 out of 5 stars because there were moments where the story took too long to get through with characters' thoughts or literal questions they would face as the story moved along. However, the author made great choices regarding how the events tie into the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The readers get to visit Oz before and after the events of Dorothy Gale in the land and bring new essential characters to the plot. I would probably re-read this story every now and then, but I have noticed the author is coming out with a graphic novel this year, and I am thrilled to see what it will be like to see the story visually.
This book was an interesting read. Having reading some reviews, I found that the musical adaptation of this book is heralded as the better of the two. I have not yet seen the musical, so I wanted to read this book to see how it held up without the experience of the musical.
The concept of this book is really appealing. I like the idea of exploring a character who was merely reduced to a villain in the original text. I thought this concept was executed well, and I enjoyed Elphaba's character. However, I did find this book dragged at points. This happened when Elphaba was not the focus of the narrative, with Maguire focusing instead on side characters. While this in itself sounds like a good thing, I found the book was dragged out unnecessarily as a result. If Maguire removed these elements, the book would be more engaging.
Overall, an interesting read!
The concept of this book is really appealing. I like the idea of exploring a character who was merely reduced to a villain in the original text. I thought this concept was executed well, and I enjoyed Elphaba's character. However, I did find this book dragged at points. This happened when Elphaba was not the focus of the narrative, with Maguire focusing instead on side characters. While this in itself sounds like a good thing, I found the book was dragged out unnecessarily as a result. If Maguire removed these elements, the book would be more engaging.
Overall, an interesting read!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Yes
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half of this book receives 5 stars, the middle receives more like 3. It starts to pull itself back up towards the end before finishing in a downwards spiral of expected events (somehow made more interesting since their arrival is expected from the very first pages to the very last.) I say "downwards spiral" not because the book itself goes downhill in terms of quality but because the characters have lost control of their lives which, in my opinion, redeems the book.