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3.0 

Wicked

By Gregory Maguire
Wicked by Gregory Maguire digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande

With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination. 

Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens.

But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas. 

Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch. 

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19019 Reviews

3.0
“This is the first time EVER in my life I will publicly and without shame say that the movie (which is absolutely nothing like the book so I truly don’t know why Ariana and Cynthia are on the cover) was better than the book🤷🏾‍♀️”
Thinking Face“To me, Wicked was a very entertaining book, but there’s a few things that should be known before reading it. Firstly, the book is really nothing like the musical, so if you’re a fan of the musical, don’t expect it to be just like that. (I’m not at all saying this makes the book worse than the musical btw, I’ve never actually seen the musical.) Wicked really dives into the moral, political, and religious state of Oz and exposes us to a complex and well thought out setting. There are a lot of deep ideologies within Wicked — for example the treatment of Animals, the balance of good and evil, racism, and the complex world of religion. I found it all to be very interesting; however, it was slightly hard to follow. Wicked is one of those books where you have to be really, really devoted to paying attention and understanding everything that’s going on (if that makes sense.) I would also recommend knowing the full story of the Wizard of Oz. I went into Wicked only knowing the general premise of the original work, but once I went back and watched the Wizard of Oz in its entirety, it was very cool to see all of the ways the two intersect and change each other. Finally, I wanted to mention Elphaba. The whole point of Wicked (or one of the major focuses anyway) is challenging the notion of good-versus-evil, and whether evil is a definite thing or how it all depends on perspective, that kind of thing. (Also know I’m generalizing this theme quite a bit bc I don’t know the exact way to word it.) Elphaba was a character that really makes you think, which I always appreciate. Are you supposed to like her? Are you supposed to hate her? Wicked made me think so much about how each of the characters morphed and changed, and all the reasons Elphaba did what she did and whether or not her actions were “justified.” This book will make you think, I promise. In summary: if you enjoy books that will leave an impression on you and make you think about complex topics, I would say to check out Wicked. Just know that it’s a little hard to follow, and it’s not much like the musical at all. :) K, thanks for listening to me yap, byee😘”
Anxious Face with sweat“I read this because I love the musical, but honestly, this book left me way more confused than I expected. The story is super dense, with a lot of politics and random philosophical tangents that made it hard to follow. And why was there a train system in Oz? If they have trains, why didn’t Dorothy just hop on one instead of walking the Yellow Brick Road? Elphaba’s backstory was interesting, and I get that the book tries to make her more complex, but a lot of the scenes felt all over the place. I kept waiting for the parts that would connect to the musical, but instead, I ended up feeling completely lost. I wanted to love it, but it was just too much for me to keep up with, and way too many dark things I frankly didn’t expect, and a lot of day dreaming scenes that were unclear… At least it’s over!:)”

About Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked—the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name and the major motion picture—Son of a WitchA Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. His series Another Day continues the story of Oz with The Brides of Maracoor, The Oracle of Maracoor, and The Witch of Maracoor, and his other novels include A Wild Winter Swan, HiddenseeAfter AliceConfessions of an Ugly StepsisterLost, and Mirror Mirror. Some of his novels for children include Cress Watercress, Leaping Beauty, and Egg & Spoon, winner of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor. He lives in New England and France.

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