GREEN EDGES.

Is it normal that it makes me so excited? One week later, maybe the green edges set too high expectations. I may or may not have skimmed through the last 150 pages (out of 520). And now I really don't know what to say about this.

The writing is very rich, substantial, and the story seems, initially, to absorb such qualities itself. However, right after you close the book, you just know that, actually, it left you nothing. While I know - I experienced - that this story is anything but flimsy, I wonder what went wrong. It's not even that I found it boring as many reviews say. It just told me nothing.

I think I will pick this up again in the future. But this time around, it uninterested me so much that I am speechless. For the wrong reasons. It's as if the book had so much potential with its beautiful writing, but somehow failed to deliver a truly meaningful and engaging experience. I'm left feeling disappointed and a bit困惑, wondering if I missed something or if the book simply didn't live up to its promise.

“Wicked” by Gregory Maguire appears to be never-ending in numerous aspects. There are unnecessary characters galore, discussions that seem to go on and on, digressions and developments related to “evil” that feel overly elaborate. The personal afflictions of the characters are presented in a way that can be tiresome, and the magic affectations come across as a bit forced. The weird reveals, strange meetings, and murders add to the overall sense of chaos. It truly seems as if the author is trying too hard.

I did, however, basically admire the writing and the author's imagination in reworking “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” into a modern YA fantasy. But as I delved deeper, I couldn't help but feel that the plot was nothing more than a jumble of mismatched yarns, a combination of wool and fairy tales. It essentially just kept treading and plodding over the same philosophical ground, repeatedly rephrasing the question “what is evil?” with the same circular non-answers and late-night conversations that are all too familiar to young adults everywhere. This novel, despite having elements of murders and villains, is really just a lengthy domestic fiction masquerading as a literary novel.

In the end, I simply couldn't finish it. Maybe it improved as it went along, but I really don't know.

DNF…for now or for good, only time will tell.

I was once obsessed with the movie adaptation of this story. However, as I delved into the book, things took a drastic turn. By the time I was only 16% into it, I found myself loathing every single character.

The story seemed to drag on and on, and I couldn't help but feel that it was incredibly boring.

Maybe it's because my expectations were set too high by the movie, or perhaps the book's writing style just didn't resonate with me.

But whatever the reason, I'm left with a sense of disappointment.

Will I pick up the book again and try to push through? Or will I simply DNF it for good?

Only time will tell.

For now, I'll have to weigh my options and decide if it's worth continuing or if I should just move on to something else.

DNF at 57%

As a huge fan of the musical and the girl power it portrays, I was extremely disappointed when I realized that this book was written by a man.

The musical had always been a source of inspiration for me, with its strong female characters and empowering messages. I had high hopes that the book would capture the same essence and take me on an even deeper journey.

However, as I delved further into the story, I couldn't help but feel a disconnect. The writing seemed to lack the authenticity and understanding that I expected from a female author. The male perspective just didn't quite capture the nuances and emotions that are so central to the girl power theme.

Perhaps it's unfair to judge a book solely based on the gender of its author, but in this case, it really made a difference for me. I found myself losing interest and ultimately decided to DNF at 57%. It's a shame, really, because I was so looking forward to loving this book as much as I love the musical. But sometimes, expectations just don't match reality.

Welcome to the longest Goodreads review I have ever written! Oh, this book--I wanted to live in its pages forever!

I can clearly see that this book may not be everyone's favorite. It doesn't have a fast-paced, action-packed, plot-driven narrative. The writing style is very literary, as readers are immersed in the world of Oz and learn about its cultures, religions, and politics through the life story of one woman. However, the writing is also absurd and humorous at times, making me laugh unexpectedly. The five parts of the story follow different eras of Elphaba's life, with each section taking place several years after the previous one. Through her life story, we face questions of morality, faith, and philosophy. Although it fell apart a bit at the end for me and left me with many questions, I loved every minute of my time spent in Maguire's Oz! (To be clear, I definitely would not want to LITERALLY spend time there.)

In Part I, Munchkinlanders, we meet Elphaba's parents: Frex, the unionist minister, and Melena, who is often left alone at their remote cottage to console herself with mind-altering substances. Frex is on a mission to preach against tiktokism and the pleasure faith that is becoming more popular when Melena gives birth to their first child, who is shockingly green-skinned and has razor-sharp teeth. (And because the author seems to be rather fixated on male genitalia in this first part of the book, she is born with "a bit of organic effluvia" or something in her groin that makes the midwives initially argue over whether the infant is a boy or a girl.) She also avoids water at all costs, as it seems to cause her pain. Frex and Melena believe this child is a punishment for them, or perhaps that she is possessed by some devil.

When Melena is expecting again, she faithfully takes capsules provided by Yackle, a crone at an alchemy shop, to try to prevent a recurrence of the defects of her first child. (Instead, little Nessarose is born without arms.) In the reading of tea leaves, Yackle predicts greatness for Melena's children, two sisters.

In this part of the story, we are also introduced to the Quadlings of southern Oz, as Frex and Melena befriend a foreigner named Turtle Heart. Quadlings seem to be seers of some sort and are the only residents of Oz who are aware of our/Dorothy's world. Quadling Country is a swampy land where the people build their homes in the trees, connected by platforms secured with ropes. Workers from the Emerald City have begun to build dikes and divide the land into parcels that will no longer be self-sustainable, and then they discover that the land is rich in rubies. The Quadlings have foreseen a cruel and mighty stranger king arriving in Oz via hot air balloon, exterminating them in order to pillage their land for its riches. Frex decides that this means the population down south is more in need of his ministrations, and he sets off with his pregnant wife, toddler daughter, and Quadling friend in tow.

In Part II, Gillikin, 17-year-old Elphaba is off to university. She winds up befriending her pretty roommate, Galinda, which is a big surprise to both of them. Galinda does not understand why Elphaba spends so much time reading old sermons about the nature of good and evil. Pagans of yore believed that evil originated with the vacuum created when the Fairy Queen Lurline, who they considered to be the creator of Oz, left them. But the early unionists argued that evil was an invisible pocket of corruption floating around.

During her time at this institution of higher learning, Elphaba becomes aware of the growing discrimination against Animals (anthropomorphized, sentient, and speaking versions of lower case A animals) encouraged by the laws passed by the Wizard of Oz. One of their professors, Doctor Dillamond, is a Goat researching the biological basis for what makes an animal different from an Animal and from a human to disprove that Animals are lesser and stop the inhumane treatment of those who had been considered equal members of society. This part of the story includes a murder and a bid to recruit Elphaba, Glinda (who has changed her name for reasons I can't explain without spoilers), and Nessarose into the service of the despotic Wizard. His Oz is described as a seething volcano threatening to erupt and burn them in its own poisonous pus, with communities on edge and ethnic groups against one another. The one attempting the recruiting assures Elphaba that she can harness her spirit and that she "needn't live a life of unfulfilled rage".

Also, an old woman named Yackle works selling tickets at some questionable sex club.

In Part III, City of Emeralds, we see Elphaba's time as a secret agent and an underground activist. It is also when she has a romance with Fiyero. I have never seen the Wicked musical, but I'm confused by the casting of Fiyero as a white dude in the upcoming version, as the character is described as a dark-skinned man with blue diamond tribal tattoos over his entire body. He is also kind of the worst, as he patently disregards and disrespects all of Elphaba's clearly expressed wishes. However, he does allow for conversations with Elphaba about the ethics of her righteous campaign and the eschewing of personal responsibility for any collateral damage. This is also when we first hear about Elphaba questioning the existence of souls and that she doesn't believe she herself has one.

After some more murder, we find ourselves in Part IV, In the Vinkus. At the end of the previous section, Elphaba arrives at a mauntery in a state of "dreamless, sleepless grief" and is welcomed by a decrepit old woman, mad Mother Yackle. Seven years later, it is time for Elphaba to leave the mauntery "to conduct an exercise in expiation". She joins a caravan headed into the Vinkus accompanied by Liir, a young boy raised among the orphans at the Cloister of Saint Glinda. They travel to Kiamo Ko, the seat of the royal family of the Arjiki, where Elphaba plans to seek forgiveness from Fiyero's wife, Sarima. But Sarima will not hear of it. There is more talk of evil and good, and the question of who Liir's parents are or were. But Elphaba will not leave Kiamo Ko without being forgiven, and so she and Liir become part of the household and family over time. During this time, Munchkinland secedes from Oz.

In Part V, The Murder and its Afterlife, things have not been going well for Elphaba. Now her sister has been killed by a house falling from a tornado, and some foreign girl has the magic shoes that Nessarose had promised would be Elphaba's if she were to predecease her. The Wizard and Elphaba each have something the other wants. There is more talk of Yackle, the Kumbric Witch of legend, the Clock of the Time Dragon, the Other Land, souls, good and evil, and parentage. Who is in thrall to whom? And it all comes to a head in an ending we are familiar with from The Wizard of Oz, albeit through a different perspective than that told by the victor of the story.

What I didn't love about this last part was that Elphaba hardly seemed recognizable as the Elphaba in the rest of the book. I couldn't really understand her motivations here. Some reviewers describe it as her descent into madness, so I guess that could explain it. But I really enjoyed the journey getting to this point, and I think this book presented me with things I will be thinking about for a long time. I think I MUST read the sequel at some point, since people seem to say it answers some of the questions left by this book. I look forward to it!

People who hated this book seem to have picked it up either believing it would be like the Broadway musical (which it isn't) or thinking it was a children's book because the source material it is reimagining was for children. So be aware: the musical based on this book takes liberties and does not follow it precisely; and this story about Elphaba's journey to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West is most definitely not for children.

Maguire's writing is truly wonderful. I found myself completely enthralled by whole chunks of this story. The way he weaves words together is simply captivating. However, unfortunately, there were also sections that seemed to drag on for me. I really had to put in a lot of effort to get through those parts. This is really a book that had me at 5 stars for much of it. The story was so original and engaging, and there were moments when it was truly amazing. But then, there were those other sections that just did nothing for me, and I found myself losing interest. I am being a bit of a wimp here by giving it 3 stars, but I really don't know what else to do. It's a book with great writing and an original story that was often amazing, but it also had some flaws that made for some less than enjoyable reading.

My own unique fixation on The Wizard of Oz, in both its literary and cinematic manifestations, presented both an advantage and, at times, a minor drawback when it came to reading this book. Given that our culture's two main references for the Oz story are so vastly different, Mr Maguire faced a captivating conundrum in his attempt to craft a narrative that respects both while also offering something novel. He accomplishes this brilliantly, reimagining the characters, settings, and circumstances of the movie and the books (particularly the second one, The Land of Oz, in addition to The Wizard of Oz) into something truly remarkable, with careful (yet thankfully not overly slavish) loyalty to the source material. The outcome is not only a highly engaging story with well-developed characters but also a special delight for those of us who recognize some of Baum's lesser-known characters when Maguire reintroduces them (such as Boq and Professor Nikidik) and leaves our imaginations to fill in the missing links that connect this story to the one we already know.

My sole issue lay in reconciling the numerous differences between the two versions of the story. Maguire clearly confronted similar challenges and did an outstanding job of selecting, choosing, and combining details to suit his purposes. However, it kept me slightly detached from the story, a little on edge, until I made a simple realization: if we assume Wicked is the true account of these individuals, it becomes easy to view Baum's book as a considered literary version by a man accustomed to retelling and reimagining popular fairy tales for children. Similarly, it is straightforward to see the MGM version as Hollywood's Technicolor extravaganza retelling of the story, in which the colors are more vivid and good and evil are never muddled. Once I settled into the willing suspension of disbelief that allowed Wicked to be the "truth," I could read this excellent book without getting caught up in my thoughts. And I was handsomely rewarded.

I read Wicked long before the play became a huge hit and before all the excessive hype surrounding it. I have to admit that I truly liked the book. The story had a certain charm and allure that kept me engaged from the very beginning. However, towards the end, I couldn't help but feel that Maquire seemed to have just given up. It was as if all the momentum and excitement that had been building up throughout the book suddenly vanished, and the author lost all the wind in his sails. You could almost say that the author melted away when it came time to wrap up the story. Nevertheless, despite this slight disappointment at the end, I still loved the book. It had its flaws, but overall, it was a captivating and enjoyable read that left a lasting impression on me.

Reading this book was like reuniting with an old acquaintance. It was penned in the style of the Oz books that I relished as a child, yet now, it incorporated X-RATED COMICAL PASSAGES! How exciting!

I bring this up because I notice many people posting that they are offended by the sexual nature of some passages. I believe the author aimed to depict Oz as an "other world" loosely modeled after the European Renaissance (not entirely, of course, as details like train travel emerged later). In my understanding, Shakespearean plays and other forms of entertainment during that era were quite risqué. So, I thought the sexual scenes (such as in that strange traveling peep show) fit well with the book's tone, providing an ominous backdrop for parts of the plot. L. Frank Baum's books lacked sexually explicit passages as he was writing more for a general audience, including children. This book, however, is written for adults, and I firmly believe the sexual scenes enhanced the story's chilling nature.

Many people have commented that the book was dull, but my experience was the exact opposite. I couldn't tear myself away from it! I was captivated by the character of Elphaba and all the events unfolding in Oz around her.

One aspect I don't understand is how the author is promoting "Son of a Witch" (oh, so cute), which is apparently centered around the character of Liir. The author portrays Liir as a big, bland, and uninteresting doughboy. This makes no sense considering the author is simultaneously trying to persuade us to purchase his next book, which is all about this very doughboy. It's quite strange. But oh well.

An unexpected element of this book was Elphaba's loyalty towards animals and animal rights. At school, she speaks out against a professor who has taken a lion cub from its mother for biological experiments. (In the book, there are regular animals and Animals, with a capital A, that can speak and think like humans.) Elphaba deems it cruel to eat Animals and scolds both her lover and sister for consuming meat that might have come from an Animal rather than a regular animal. From what the book mentions about Elphaba's diet, she seems to be vegetarian. However, Elphaba does eat cheese, perhaps unaware that it is just as harmful to Cows as it is to regular cows. Interestingly, the cruelty of milk and cheese production is pointed out in the book when a Cow tells Elphaba about the pain of her life in the dairy industry. Kudos to the author for that!

ALL IN ALL, WICKED was an extremely enjoyable and captivating read.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book, yet not for the reasons that I initially presumed.

I delved into this book (after already having witnessed the musical) with the anticipation of something highly fantastical and predominantly positive. However, what I actually encountered was a succession of predominantly unhappy events that befell our main character. This was then followed by an ending that left a plethora of unanswered questions.

But, upon reflection, I believe that is precisely the whole point. It is a fairy tale that does not come with the neatly wrapped package at the conclusion. Instead, it serves as a profound discussion encompassing various aspects such as education, friendships, religion, love, and politics. And it is not meant to be overly pretty or sugar-coated. It presents a more realistic and complex view of life and the human experience, making it a thought-provoking and engaging read.

I was pleasantly surprised after enjoying the movie version, so I decided to give the book a try.

Although fantasy is not my usual reading material, I was once again pleasantly surprised.

It is very different from the family-friendly film. It was the storytelling that won me over. The idea of taking the original story of The Wizard of Oz and telling it from the side of the Wicked Witch is quite unique.

It won't appeal to everyone, and some fans of the musical may find it too different.

I liked the political and theological tracts in it. The underlying question - what is evil? - made this not only thought-provoking but also clever entertainment.

It made me think deeply about the nature of good and evil and how our perception of them can be influenced by different perspectives.

The author did a great job of presenting a new and interesting take on a classic story.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something different and thought-provoking to read.

2024 reread: 4.75 stars shut up StoryGraph lets me do it

This truly does get better each time I read it. It’s not the musical, and heaven knows it’s not the 1939 film, but how fun to return to this and see the bits and pieces that it took from the original book AND the film, what Maguire did with them, and know that the musical was then able to also do something different.

The story is a rich tapestry that weaves together elements from multiple sources, creating a unique and engaging narrative. Maguire's exploration of the characters and their motives is both thought-provoking and entertaining.

And what a beautiful audiobook performance by John McDonough. I loved hearing his tone shift across the telling; there’s definitely a bit of Margaret Hamilton in the final section.

I love these characters. I love the ideas and concepts Maguire puts forth. For the first time I’m looking forward to continuing the series and seeing what else is in store (and there’s a spin-off trilogy after that!).

2015 reread:
I feel like this is a book that gets better the older you get and the more life experience you have. When I read this as a sixteen-year-old, I had no interest in politics (still don't), but beyond that, I didn't see the world the way I see it now, ten years later.

I hadn't been to college yet and I didn't pay attention to current events like I do now. The numerous injustices we've seen in the last year alone, particularly of the racial variety, show up in my mind as a huge parallel to the plight of the Animals in this book.

That said, holy CRAP is this a wordy book. I'm not trying to fault Maguire, but this could easily have been trimmed down by about fifty pages. Still not as bad as Tolkien though ;) And I realized exactly HOW different the book is from the musical.

In the book, the characters seem to become quite disconnected after they all leave college -- which happens to all of us, doesn't it? Some of my best college friends are people I haven't seen in years. It's depressing, but we all get pulled in different directions because our lives are our own.

And now I want to see the musical. Again. For what would be the third time. As I was reading, I kept thinking about how they kept certain things but changed others and usually, in my humble reader's and theatre-goer's opinion, I liked the changes a bit more.

As far as the other characters -- I was interested in Yackle and the dwarf, in particular. I liked Nor but I couldn't find myself really caring about Liir, possibly because Elphie seemed apathetic toward him. Manek was an ass but Irji was okay. Sarima and her sisters were a bit odd. Dotty, you know. And selfish.

At the end of the day, 8/10 would recommend.