Book Review: Wicked

Title: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Author: Gregory Maguire
Published: 1995 Pages: 406
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Weekly Geeks asked participants to list books they have read but not reviewed and then invite others to ask questions about these books. The idea was to help us catch up on our reviews. I listed Wicked as one of those books and four people had questions for me.

Plot Synopsis

Many suggest that Wicked retells the Wizard of Oz story from the Wicked Witches point of view. But it's not that simple. This is not a retelling; this is a complete reworking. Dorothy doesn't even come in to play until the last of the five sections of the book. Wicked is the biography of Elphaba, an intelligent, green-skinned outcast who longs for acceptance and love. It is also the story of Oz, a land troubled by inequalities and power hungry politicians.


Maree, Becky, and Yati all asked how I felt about the book in general.

I loved this book. I found the story fascinating, and I truly enjoyed the new spin on familiar characters and settings. With a complex and heartrending plotline, Maguire really draws the reader in to the world of Oz, which in this book becomes a world unto itself instead of the mirror image of Kansas Oz was in the original story.

Becky also wanted to know who I would recommend it to, and if I have read any of the sequels.

I haven't read the sequels, but I have read Mirror, Mirror and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. While I enjoyed both of those books, they did not appeal to me in the same way Wicked did. I thought Wicked was much more complex and much more mature than the others. I do own Lost, but it's been sitting on my TBR shelf for quite some time.

Becky and softdrink of fizzy thoughts wondered if I thought Maguire has gone too far with the whole rewriting of Oz and other tales.

I can see how some people would be troubled by the revising of such an iconic work. When a person plays around with a story which has permeated a culture, he/she takes a real risk. For me, however, a rewriting of a classic tale can be very powerful, especially when the rewriting is a transitioning process between a children's story and adult literature. Fleshing out a fairy tale and bringing it into the realm of adult lit offers us the possibility of further exploring those worlds we first encountered in our youth - but seeing them as an adult. I love this.

softdrink of fizzy thoughts also was curious as to which genre I would classify the book.

I immediately classified Wicked as a Fantasy novel. Maguire creates a world where magic exists, where animals speak, and little green girls can make monkeys fly. I think it's possible the book could be classified as a political book and possibly even a romance novel, but fantasy suits the book best in my opinion.

My Final Thoughts on Wicked

I have read the book once and have seen the musical twice. I won't even get in to the differences between the two here. Suffice it to say that the musical is made more mainstream to draw a larger audience. Despite that fact, I loved the musical as well as the book, and if you haven't seen the musical, you really should.

Doing this has made me want to read the book again!