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desaevio95 's review for:
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
by Gregory Maguire
The prologue and first act are marvelous. Maguire plays with dark humor and imbues his cast of fascinating characters with a bitingly perceptive sense of self-awareness. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the events of the first half even though I knew the basic outline from the stage musical. Glinda’s character development and POV chapters were some of the most engaged I’ve ever been in a satirical fantasy novel like this. Wicked has helped me realize that I love stories that are able to self reflect, to have characters question the beliefs and societal structures in place and subsequently, paradoxically make their own universe seem both real and less real. It’s really fascinating material and Maguire is in top form for this portion of the novel.
Unfortunately, the second half is not only considerably less exciting but also much, much weaker for the strong characters who populated the first act with so much energy, humor, and thoughtfulness. I get that part of the theme of this book is how long years of decay and complacency can result in people unconsciously or consciously falling into evil, but the weak character interactions and the isolation of everybody just doesn’t make for a compelling finale. The lead in to the events of the MGM Wizard of Oz feels weak and unearned, because we are not given a clear lead in into why that series of events takes place apart from the ideological representations that Dorothy’s arrival presents. But to me, it didn’t really match up to the twisted characterizations Maguire established in the first half. It’s too bad the ending was disappointing, because I really, really loved most of this book. Maguire just didn’t stick the landing.
Unfortunately, the second half is not only considerably less exciting but also much, much weaker for the strong characters who populated the first act with so much energy, humor, and thoughtfulness. I get that part of the theme of this book is how long years of decay and complacency can result in people unconsciously or consciously falling into evil, but the weak character interactions and the isolation of everybody just doesn’t make for a compelling finale. The lead in to the events of the MGM Wizard of Oz feels weak and unearned, because we are not given a clear lead in into why that series of events takes place apart from the ideological representations that Dorothy’s arrival presents. But to me, it didn’t really match up to the twisted characterizations Maguire established in the first half. It’s too bad the ending was disappointing, because I really, really loved most of this book. Maguire just didn’t stick the landing.