Rating: 
Summary: EXELLENT!
Review: I read this in two days! Truly excellent spin on one of my favorite characters from Oz. It begins as the author puts us in the witch's point of view as she swoops down to spy on Dorothy and her crew as they walk through the forest, which immediately lets us know the story we're entering is both a familiar one, but now the walls are coming down and we're going to see all sorts of things we didn't in the movie or even L. Frank Baum's spectacular series of books. I just loved this.
Rating: 
Summary: VILE SWILL - Save Your Money!
Review: After the prologue the author starts in on his fairy tale of how the wicked witch of the west was born. He manages to incorporate some of the most wicked, depraved, evil images I've come across in a long time of reading. If you're into books about the inner emotions of serial killers, devil worshippers, or child molesters, this is the fairy tale for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but flaws prevent it from being classic
Review: I suppose I come to this book opposite of many readers, having read The Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister first. I found that book to be enchanting (although often times a bit obscure with out any good reason to be so). whereas Wicked is just as enchanting, but a weaker novel. Wicked, which looks at the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West from the movie Wizard of Oz, is in many ways an amazing book, but some serious flaws prevent it from being an all time classic. As L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz by Katharine M. Rogers points out, Wicked really draws from the movie and less so from the books. Although in Maguire's defense, he does seem to get the style of names right for those that he makes up. In both the movie and the books, the Wicked Witch of the West (and East for that matter) are little more than props. Maguire fleshes out her story, giving her a background, a life. He does a remarkable job of probing deep into Baum's world without disrupting it. To his credit he does not rely too heavily on the Freudian sense of a doomed childhood forming an evil adult (although he comes close to that and certainly her childhood helped form her as an adult). Instead he focuses on who one's search for a purpose in life often leads us to make "bad" choices, which other perceive as evil. The two main problems with the book are style and characters. Again, I find that Maguire often writes obscurely, as if trying to infuse his writing with a feeling or an artistic style. In a story already so rich in detail this just comes across as overload. I often found myself wishing he would just get on with things rather than trying so hard to make this "literature." Secondly, and this is the biggest problem, the main character comes across as dull and uninteresting. How on earth could a character with as much potential as this be so flat is the crime here. She does not do much and fails to act more than act. I guess this is part of what Maguire is trying to say, but it leaves a big hole in the middle of the book. Not helping matters is the large number of rich characters that come and go in the story. One wishes that perhaps more could have been done with Boc or Prof. Dillard or even Glinda, but perhaps they too are not strong enough to carry the whole story. Still, I recommend this book to most anyone. Yes, you will have to leave reality behind (unlike Confessions, where Maguire was trying to leave fantasy behind to inject realism into the fairytale) but the world he creates in engrossing. Now if Maguire could have just pulled a good novel out of that world...
Rating:
Summary: Very disapointing
Review: I was very intrigued by this book and then very disapointed. I think it was a great idea to explore the life and times of the wicked witch. It was a great idea but I found the characters fell flat. It was a disapointing and painful read.
Rating:
Summary: Elpheba, Galinda and Nessarose-- oh my!
Review: I've long been a huge fan of the Oz books and (to a lesser degree) of the film. I have to admit that despite all the enthusiastic reviews, I was a little bit dubious about reading Wicked. There have been other attempts to retell the Oz books in the past, and none of them have been terribly successful. I have to say that I liked Wicked far more than I had ever expected. I found it rich and full smart, sharp moments. I liked the way that the Baum details shone through and were reworked into this new, more realistic world. It managed to be satirical without hitting the reader over the head and moving without being cheap, at least most of the time. My only real quarrel was that I felt like it started to drag after Nessarose and Elpheba are reunited. I never really bought Elpheba's character changes towards the end, although I understood (I think) why they were necessary. This said, these were pretty minor flaws and should not dissuade the prospective reader.
Rating:
Summary: The movie will never be the same!
Review: I found this delightful book while holiday shopping. A worker at a popular book store talked me into buying this book and said it was one of her favorites. She told me "Did you realize that Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West used to be best friends?" I thought how interesting, I will give it a shot. And am I happy I did! This book gives you a great spin off to the Wizard of Oz movie. The book starts out with the WWofW flying around looking for Dorothy, her companions and the beloved red rubied slippers (prologue). Then Maquire starts telling you how Elphalba (WW of the West) came into life and what her parents were like. He slowly takes you through the life of Elphalba and all the important people in her life. In the end of the book, you end up with the famous face-off between Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West. How does the book end? Will it be the same as the movie? But what is so important about those slippers? What was her sister like, the Wicked Witch of the East? How did all the "witches" meet and what twisted their destiny so that they all ended up the way they did? Was the Wizard really a powerful wizard or something else? Was Elphalba really wicked or just misunderstood? Did the Wicked Witch of the West have a child? Was she the famous Kumbricia witch? Was she really a powerful, magic weilding witch as portrayed in the movie? And finally...what is up with her green skin and being scared of water? This book will answer all these questions plus leave some questions unanswered. I am thinking about rereading the book to see if I can answer some of my unanswered questions. It's definitely a great read and I will never be able to watch the movie again without thinking about the book.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked Good Book
Review: Gregory Maguire fashioned the name of Elphaba (pronounced EL-fa-ba) from the intiials of the author of The Wizard of Oz, Lyman Frank Baum-- L F B --Elphaba. Wicked derives some of its power from the popularity of its source material. Does meeting up with familiar characters and famous fictional situations require more patience and effort on the part of the reader or less? This is a very good Question. I am thrilled that he did what he did with the name. Mr. Baum is a master of the imagination, and he deserved much credit. For me, it took more patience to read for a few reasons. A. Knowing Oz as well as I feel I do (I am obsessed, so sue me), I have certain ideas about the place and its inhabitants. In order to enjoy this book, I had to give up my fantasy Oz and try to see it as the very modern world type of place Maguire depicted. I have my favorite characters, and some of them were made to do things I wouldn't see them doing. I had to pretend Glinda was different, b/c the later Oz books make her so powerful and perfect. I don't want to see her as the least bit petty, ever. B. I kept trying to guess what was next by following the storyline presented my Baum. However, this story is very different. In order to not get angry about the changes to my favorite world, I had to accept this as another side of the story. --------------------------------------------------- All in all, it was a good read. The story gripped me from beginning to end, and I hated to lay it aside. It brought up very good questions about the definition of evil and what segregation is all about, and it also reminded me that there are two sides to every story (at least 2 sides). I began to think ... "Is it possible the wizard WAS the wicked one?" I especially liked that Nessarose (Wicked Witch of the East) was a religious nut. It is a reminder to watch how we are percieved as Christians. Are we known by our love or our legalism? Do we rationalize our own sin to justify the actions we take and allow those around us to take in our names? The way people looked at Elphaba was also a reminder that we are all made in God's image. We tend to forget that those who are different than us are also made in the image of God. I like tp pick out pieces of people that remind me of the character of God. It is easier to accept others for who they are, when we realize whose image they reflect.
Rating:
Summary: Close to Greatness, Two Thumbs Up
Review: My wife and I would be hard pressed to come up with a title we enjoyed as much SECRET LIFE OF BEES, MY FRACTURED LIFE, or THE DA VINCI CODE. Yet WICKED makes a good run for the money as the story of Oz from the Witch's prospective. My wife and I both agree that the writer shows a great gift for character and uniquely creative prospective on traditional ideas. On a scale of greatness WICKED comes as close to our three standards of greatness without quite making the list.
Rating:
Summary: Gregory MaGuires' "Wicked"
Review: I have read every adult novel written by Gregory MaGuire and this book is easily his best. I first read this book when I was 15 and then told my friends about it. Many liked it and many quit after the first chapter. I had some trouble following this book at first, and often put it down to read a "less thoughtful" novel. Honestly, the reading is slow and action is scarce, but in the end you will come out of it feeling like this book made a difference. This books finds ways to address issues we deal with in every day life disguised in a imaginative land. In the end this book leaves you feeling fulfilled. When the book is finally done you may say "Thank God," But I assure you you will find yourself revisiting this story again and again. Now here is a warning...if you have not read the book you may not want to read the following sentence. Maybe the Wicked Which wasn't all evil, maybe she was just like us.
Rating: 
Summary: If you've seen the play, don't bother with the book.
Review: I got the book after having seen the play while in NYC. Big mistake! The book takes a long time to get rolling reading it took a lot of effort. I love to read, averaging a book a week with a family and a full-time job, but these 400 pages were really tough sledding. The book moves at a slow pace and it lacks energy and drama. I rate it 3 stars because the author does have a very clever premise and does a good job of integrating the story with the key features of the Wizard of Oz. Bottom line: I thought he play was a much better value than the book, even at nearly 10 times the cost of the paperback.
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