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lateromantic 's review for:
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
by Gregory Maguire
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is absolutely not what I was expecting. I don't know the show, only some of the songs from it, and I was not expecting it to be about racism and sedition. I am guessing they will have to change a LOT for the film, but that the undercurrent of racism will still be there... potentially more awkwardly if looking at the cast list is anything to go by (in a world where dwarfs are fully realised characters, you cast a dwarf as... an Animal? not the sexually appealing munchkin?? I get that Peter Dinklage is too old for that part but, like, he is not the only dwarf in the world...) For a 90s book that specifically references the UK as inspiration to give a sympathetic voice to an explicit terrorist freedom fighter is bold, and there's a pretty clear reference to AIDS in one character too, which was pretty brave. I'm assuming the musical questions morality significantly less, and focusses a lot less on worldbuilding.
I feel ill-placed to rate this book, as I don't tend to read this sort of fantasy with invented names and mapped-out worlds, but what I can say is that I was interested in the characters but not the situations they found themselves in - Maguire has created mature people and then made the relationships between them shallow and unbelievable. There is also far too much emphasis on children and the value of conception for my liking. Idk, a strange book, lovely philosophical moments and some fantastic quotes, but much too long and filled with odd choices that perhaps date back to the original LFB texts... and then at the end it just rattles along too quickly, with Elphaba turning mad in, like, 2 pages. I honestly don't know if I'd recommend it or not, and I don't know if I enjoyed it or not. Is one of the other books about Nessarose? I'm curious about how Maguire concieves her.
I feel ill-placed to rate this book, as I don't tend to read this sort of fantasy with invented names and mapped-out worlds, but what I can say is that I was interested in the characters but not the situations they found themselves in - Maguire has created mature people and then made the relationships between them shallow and unbelievable. There is also far too much emphasis on children and the value of conception for my liking. Idk, a strange book, lovely philosophical moments and some fantastic quotes, but much too long and filled with odd choices that perhaps date back to the original LFB texts... and then at the end it just rattles along too quickly, with Elphaba turning mad in, like, 2 pages. I honestly don't know if I'd recommend it or not, and I don't know if I enjoyed it or not. Is one of the other books about Nessarose? I'm curious about how Maguire concieves her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation