Rating: 
Summary: Oh my God!
Review: Oh my God! I haven't read a book this good in the longest time! Maguire really pulls you in with his wonderful imagery and original ideas - I honestly didn't put the book down until I had finished it - at like 4 in the morning! Note to readers: Do not start this book unless you have time to finish it. Go to the bathroom before reading! :)
Rating:
Summary: far from kansas and rooting for the underdog
Review: As a person who has recently become aware of the great variety in fairy tales, I was more than eager to read this book. If you are someone who feels unsettled after reading traditional fairy tales that seem flat and boringly plot based, this book is for you. Like Margaret Atwood does in The Robber Bride and like Ever After does for the movie world, Gregory Maguire puts a backstory and a theme to otherwise lacking fairy tales such as Cinderella and the Wizard of Oz. He shows us the other side of the rainbow, where the Wicked Witch of the West is a real human being with real feelings who is only trying to do the best she can with what she has. Themes such as the true origins and workings of evil and issues such as animal rights and governmental overthrows rework this story into something worth reading and thinking about long after the book has been closed. Although the end of the novel comes fast, tying all the loose ends together without allowing for a lot of reflection and clarification, the book nevertheless creates an unforgettable story where the witch's death is mourned as it should be.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't know HOW I feel about this book...
Review: I just finished "Wicked" for the second time. On one hand, the book was extremely entertaining and interesting. I very much enjoyed it. But... I was left with so many questions! Who was Yakle? What was the significance of the Clock of the Time Dragon? Who was the dwarf? What was Madam Morrible really up to? Why wasn't the scarecrow explained? Why did Elphaba become so evil in the end (throwing Nanny down the stairs)?
I read the book twice (about a year apart) because I DID really like it, but also to see if I had missed anything. I enjoyed the actual READING of it, but I'm left feeling frustrated.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: The author tries to mix a 1920's story with post 70's morality. The book is filled with boredom, fornication, and outright adultery. The story just barely fallows L. Frank Baum's novel and bits of Garland's movie by keeping some of the names and radically twisting events mentioned in the book and movie. The novel portrays that the Wicked Witch of the West's true name is Elphaba. She was the unwanted, bastard child of an adulterous mother and was born with severe birth defects--she possesses green skin, had fangs for baby teeth, and has a strong allergic reaction to water. She is an outcast in her community and has few friends. One of them turns out to be the good witch of the north. She has a sister who was born, presumably by moral standards, without any arms. The sister is the favorite of both parents. Her father gives her a pair of ruby slippers. The Wizard of Oz is portrayed as some sort of tyrannical dictator who no one likes at all. The "Yellow Brick Road" is said to be some sort of government-run construction project.
If you buy this book get as an example of a wonderful idea terribly perverted.
Rating:
Summary: A Wicked Awesome Tale ...
Review: For diehard Oz, Dorothy or Toto fans, this book may not be something you'd enjoy. As stated in the "Reader's Group Guide" at the end of the book, Gregory Maguire has turned the story we all know on its head. It was definitely interesting, and I had a continuous urge to finish the story as soon as possible. Regardless of how much I liked it, it was definitely NOT what I expected.Maguire tells this story from the viewpoint of Elphaba, who in mid-life becomes widely known as the Wicked Witch of the West. She was born in the eastern part of Oz, which we all know as Munchkinland. Her parents were a preacher father, and heiress mother. From the first, her green skin and ferocious attitude caused all around her to react with utter shock and often times, fear. The story follows Elphaba through her early childhood, mainly focusing on her parents and their interaction with the culture and politics of Oz at the time. It then follows her to school in northen Oz, where she becomes a radical based on several experiences there. Interestingly, her roommate is Galinda, who later becomes Glinda, Good Witch of the North. Later, you will read of the experiences which lead to the creation of a home (of sorts) in the West. Ultimately, the novel finishes with the events we all know: the final confrontation with Dorothy. This is not, in my humble opinion, a children's book. Rather, this would really be an excellent book for a course in politics, human rights and equality, or religion. Major issues such as social inequality, discrimination, religion, and governmental control or tyranny are all discussed both openly and behind the scenes. As well, the "Reader's Group Guide" provides a series of questions at the end, which would lend well to discussions of these and other topics. Having said this, I did enjoy the novel. I alternated between laughter, frustration, and even some anger. All indications that I'm either very strange or this book is very interesting. Hopefully, others will agree that the latter is true.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling... I devoured it, yet didn't want it to end.
Review: I am amazed at the depth of this novel. The lands, people and politics were described in such detail. I fell in love with Elphaba, Fabala, Fay, her lover, and her cause. I knew the ending from the classic fairy tale but denied that it could actually happen to someone as "good" as the wicked witch of the west. It will change the way you view that old classic... It will just change you. I LOVED this book!
Rating:
Summary: Rare
Review: This truly is one of those rare books that will keep you dreaming of the characters. I fell in love with the wicked witch of the west.
Rating:
Summary: wicked the life and times of the wicked witch of the wesr
Review: I READ BOTH GOOD AND BAD ABOUT THIS BOOK I BROUGHT THE BOOK
AND I THOUGHT ABOUT SEEING IF MY BOOK CLUB WOULD LIKE TO READ
IT.IF ANY OTHER BOOK CLUB READ THIS BOOK, PLEASE WRITE
AND LET ME KNOW IF IT A GOOD BOOK TO DISCUSS,I DID LOVE THE
COVER,I PUT A FIVE DOWN BECAUSE I HOPE I WILL ENJOY IT
Rating: 
Summary: Boring!!
Review: I could not believe how boring this book was! It was nothing like I thought it would've been. The storyline is very dull, I didn't make much sense out of it, and I thought about throwing it in the dumpster! I am really glad I did not buy this book, luckily i borrowed it from a friend!
You can't imagine how disappointed I was with this book! I thought it would be the coolest thing to find out about Thee Wicked Witch of the West! But it was boring, and I thought most of it didn't revolve around her anyway. The book could've been made so much better.... why wasn't it?
Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to love this one
Review: The premise for this book was so intriguing that I'd expected an in-depth exploration of how Elphaba became "wicked." Instead, I found it tedious and boring - the sort of book where one keeps turning pages waiting for the interesting parts to appear. I could not help but wonder if the author was having the "last laugh" on the reader. Though no ideas were developed in any depth, the teasers, which sparked the hope of real treatment later, seemed just brief mentions of one political issue or another. We do not know what Elphaba's purpose was in being a Sister (or if the Sisters, indeed, were witches) - what this "unionist" religion of which her father was minister was - nor even why, at birth, her appearance was so "demonic" and bizarre. I was longing for fewer references to the Animals! Scenes and settings disappear shortly after their introduction, and supporting characters have no real development. Curiously, barely anyone in this book (other than Elphaba herself!) seems anything but wicked and scheming - yet, since the reader does not know their motives (they appear only in brief vignettes where Elphaba becomes disappointed in them), Oz becomes, not just a normally "fallen" world, but a dark and evil spot, where all bizarre species of creatures dwell. One never knows why Elphaba keeps insisting she is totally different from others, or why she is sure she has no soul. I am sure other readers will think that I merely do not have the sophistication to grasp the deeper points, but it seemed odd that, as a doctor of humanities with certainly some exposure to history, literature, and imaginative thought, if I kept wondering "what is the point?," I cannot be alone. I did read this book avidly, because I kept hoping it would live up to its premise. It does not flesh out the Wicked Witch of the West, because it leaves the reader with unexplained, endless questions raised.
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