bunnysisyphus 's review for:

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

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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A great critique of systems of oppression, religion and just society as a whole. Admittedly I find that the first half of the book is much stronger, though the second half also has its good moments it ultimately end up being a little bit of a slog towards the end with a few too many moving parts. I was between a 4 or a 3.75, but I just love the first half so much I ended up at a 4. Of course parts of it are weird, but it's a bizarre fantasy world with entirely different rules- it should be weird! I'd hate to see a world like Oz be bound to the rules of ours and I appreciate Maguire's eagerness to engage with the fantasical!

It seems this book has really suffered from people going in thinking it'd be similar to the musical (and now, the movies)- any future readers, please take note that the book is entirely different and should be read for what it is and that you should not be reading this with your kids just because the Wicked musical is PG! Reading this has actually soured me a fair bit on the depiction of Fiyero and Elphaba in the musical, two incredibly complex and fascinating characters who get flattened quite a bit in the adaptations.