Rating: 
Summary: Wicked asks questions and delivers unexpected answers
Review: This book is truly a delight to read. With great character illumination we read the untold side of the "wicked" witch of the West. Be prepared for story lines which bother your intellect and force you to closely examine character as well as the imact that personal choices have on ones life.
Rating: 
Summary: What is the true nature of "evil?"
Review: This book is more than just a revision of the famous Oz story. It is that, and more. One of the most incredible parts of this book is that it made me think about how we define those "grey" areas that could be evil-- political violence, for example...is it justified if in the name of making the world better? I don't know the answer, but the book certainly makes you think about this and other issues.
Rating: 
Summary: How soon we forget
Review: Macquire exercises writers' license in assuming an interpretation totally out of character with L. Frank Baum's original writing. Most others refer to the film of the Wizard of Oz when making a link; few have read the unabridged original writing when making their comparison. Baum's purpose was to write children's fantasy without the nightmarish potions that Macguire stirs up. As another reader said, "This isn't even fit for adults." Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: The Wicked Witch in my Life
Review: No matter what you read, you are always at the mercy of the writer. Be it a history text, a newspaper article, or a biography. There are always veiwpoints withheld, ideas that are highlighted. In this book, a quintessential evil, which we all know from childhood, is reexamined. Who is this woman in black, who rides a broomstick, forced to go through life with green skin? And more in depth (if you really think about it) what really is evil? This book gives a different perspective on a childhood eutopia, and the wickedness that dwells within it. And you can still go away loving Dorothy. Even though, for the record, they weren't her shoes anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This book will change the way you watch "The Wizard of Oz" forever. This is an incredible story about the life of the wicked witch of the west, very interesting. It will make you think and ponder, and you'll forget who you are reading about until the very end of the book. The story's only pitfall- the abrupt ending. It doesn't answer enough questions, but it is definately still a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Embracing the Crone
Review: With all the cross-cultural juxtaposition and social commentary this turns out to be a fine read. I was expecting something more similar to his Stepsister tale, but this was, in my opinion, even better. Although the diamond-patterned prince was pretty hot, I would like to have seen a little more of Elphaba's conscious embracing of her power, proud and unashamed. Can't a girl ever get away with being un-pretty and un-pleasing and un-charming? Perhaps portraying her strength would clash with his hopes of making her a sympathetic character. Also, the author seemed to be thinking out loud about his views on religion...did he ever make up his mind?
Rating: 
Summary: Wicked, while worth reading, does not deliver promises
Review: Wicked is a far better read than most fiction books on the market. It is thought provoking,
reasonably challenging, and good fodder for conversation with all ranges of people. It even
includes discussion questions at the end of the book. In this review, I have tried to keep spoilers
to a minimum and make them as general as possible. Readers who turn to Wicked as a means of understanding Oz will be disappointed, and are better
off reading Baum's classic itself, or what historians have made of it (there is a great deal of
information on the allegories of Oz on the web). The author shifts between the book's Oz (for
example, the charmed slippers are silver, not ruby) and the movie's Oz (the witch has green skin,
and is not completely wart-infested and repulsive) as it suits his convenience. And this read is
certainly not for children. Not only would children not understand the words, but the book is
notable for its raunchy tales of the birds and the bees, and I don't mean the ones the witch sends
after Dorothy and the gang. The book fails to deliver at least one of its promises: to explore the nature of evil. I thought the
book would be about a fundamentally good person corrupted by ostracism and the taunting of
others. Instead, the discrimination against the odd looking woman is surprisingly mild and good
natured. The witch comes across as the humanitarian until the very end of the book, even as she
locks Dorothy into her castle and holds Toto hostage (these are reasonable precautions given that
the wizard sent them to kill her). Glimpses of evil are found in other characters. Glinda is at times a snob and the Wizard is a
mysterious despot. In the original Oz, the Wizard comes across as a good natured man who
merely pretends to be something he is not. In Wicked, the Wizard has elements of Hitler, Stalin,
and Uri Geller combined. He discriminates against various parts of the population, enslaves others, and brainwashes the youth. But the wizard is not really a major character of the book, and
we do not read enough of his thoughts to obtain insight to his evil. I was disappointed in the lack of fantasy in the novel. The witch does not cast spells or obtain
great power over nature until the end. THe author's account of how she obtains this power is
especially superficial. The ascent to sorcery is surely a subject for a good plot, yet the author
bypasses this and simply attributes the witch's powers to a random, and rather silly, event. In
terms of fantasy, the beginning and the end of the book are real page turners, but I found the
middle to be slow and heavy going. The witch retires into a rather secluded life for part of the
book, and by this time has fewer magical powers than Harry Potter before Hogwarts. The book
suddenly skips seven years and then the house drops on her sister. Surely, those seven years
could be developed into an interesting plot. The Witch could have worked with her sister at plots
to liberate her part of the kingdom (after all, the Wizard felt quite threatened by both witches in
the original book), practiced more interesting spells, and establish herself as leader of the
"Winkees." At the moment that I would relish most as author of such a book, this author seems
eager to finish and skips right to Dorothy. Maybe this critique reflects my interest in politics, while the author clearly wanted to write a
more introspective work. But the author whetted my appetite for fantasy and politics without
fully satisfying either one.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked, while worth reading, does not deliver promises
Review: Wicked is a far better read than most fiction books on the market. It is thought provoking, reasonably challenging, and good fodder for conversation with all ranges of people. It even includes discussion questions at the end of the book. In this review, I have tried to keep spoilers to a minimum and make them as general as possible. Readers who turn to Wicked as a means of understanding Oz will be disappointed, and are better off reading Baum's classic itself, or what historians have made of it (there is a great deal of information on the allegories of Oz on the web). The author shifts between the book's Oz (for example, the charmed slippers are silver, not ruby) and the movie's Oz (the witch has green skin, and is not completely wart-infested and repulsive) as it suits his convenience. And this read is certainly not for children. Not only would children not understand the words, but the book is notable for its raunchy tales of the birds and the bees, and I don't mean the ones the witch sends after Dorothy and the gang. The book fails to deliver at least one of its promises: to explore the nature of evil. I thought the book would be about a fundamentally good person corrupted by ostracism and the taunting of others. Instead, the discrimination against the odd looking woman is surprisingly mild and good natured. The witch comes across as the humanitarian until the very end of the book, even as she locks Dorothy into her castle and holds Toto hostage (these are reasonable precautions given that the wizard sent them to kill her). Glimpses of evil are found in other characters. Glinda is at times a snob and the Wizard is a mysterious despot. In the original Oz, the Wizard comes across as a good natured man who merely pretends to be something he is not. In Wicked, the Wizard has elements of Hitler, Stalin, and Uri Geller combined. He discriminates against various parts of the population, enslaves others, and brainwashes the youth. But the wizard is not really a major character of the book, and we do not read enough of his thoughts to obtain insight to his evil. I was disappointed in the lack of fantasy in the novel. The witch does not cast spells or obtain great power over nature until the end. THe author's account of how she obtains this power is especially superficial. The ascent to sorcery is surely a subject for a good plot, yet the author bypasses this and simply attributes the witch's powers to a random, and rather silly, event. In terms of fantasy, the beginning and the end of the book are real page turners, but I found the middle to be slow and heavy going. The witch retires into a rather secluded life for part of the book, and by this time has fewer magical powers than Harry Potter before Hogwarts. The book suddenly skips seven years and then the house drops on her sister. Surely, those seven years could be developed into an interesting plot. The Witch could have worked with her sister at plots to liberate her part of the kingdom (after all, the Wizard felt quite threatened by both witches in the original book), practiced more interesting spells, and establish herself as leader of the "Winkees." At the moment that I would relish most as author of such a book, this author seems eager to finish and skips right to Dorothy. Maybe this critique reflects my interest in politics, while the author clearly wanted to write a more introspective work. But the author whetted my appetite for fantasy and politics without fully satisfying either one.
Rating:
Summary: There are always two sides to every story.
Review: This is a great piece of literature. I started reading it with a bit of hesitation, but by the second chapter was not able to put it down.
I kept thinking through the whole book how in the world did the author think this story up. Granted he had a basis for this book, but this story is fully his own.
Good vs evil, feminism and racial prejudice are all covered througout the story till the very end.
At times I would lose the theme but by the end it tied together very well. I highly recommend this book to anyone ready to get out of the mainstream literature rut.
Rating:
Summary: a postcolonial witch
Review: I basically stumbled across this book as a "maybe" for my grad class on postcolonial feminism. Wow! This is a wonderful retelling from the perspective of the 'Other' I have learned about in literary theory classes. Maguire does not need to hit the reader over the head with feminist doctrine or postcolonial criticism -it is all there for the taking. I loved the discussion on "Animals" and the implications. What makes one race better than another? It is nice to know that the witch really was a person and that she was not the fantastic villan we have come to stereotype her as. I really enjoyed this book and have even recommended it to some of my students and fellow english teachers.
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