Rating: 
Summary: Somewhere Over the Rainbow. . . .
Review: I had alreay read Maguire's CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER when I read WICKED (very contrary to my otherwise anal, everything-must-go-in-order personality), and I was greatly looking forward to it. Maguire again takes a relatively familiar storyline and turns it on its ear--and the readers along with it! We oftentimes think we know who and what is evil and sometimes even why. Maguire tampers with the "why" moreso than the who/what, really challenging the idea of the stereotypes and preconceived notions we all have. The "Wicked Witch of the West" from THE WIZARD OF OZ seems hardly the same girl, Elphaba, that we encounter in Maguire's book. In fact, she is the same, but our preconceived notions have clouded Maguire's "reality." I found the whole geographic aspects fascinating. How can she be the WW of the West, when she is really from the East? How can Glinda be the Good Witch of the North, when she is really from the East, too? Why does the Witch want those foolish shoes anyway? Why has Glinda given them to Dorothy? Where is Dorothy? Maguire doesn't even bring her into the story until it is very nearly over. Dorothy is more of an afterthought than the pivotal role she plays in the movie, and Maguire doesn't paint her kindly. . . . Maguire has invented a whole new world with his Oz, complete with detailed map, political strife and corruption, family histories, and fantastic elements. I can't wait to see THE WIZARD OF OZ now and watch it from Maguire's alternative perspective. It must be even better than Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON experiment! The only times he lost me at all were when he stayed in that fantasy realm too long. I struggled momentarily with the lack of human beings and "reality" (whatever that is), unlike UGLY STEPSISTER, which has real people and real places throughout. That is hardly his fault, but that's why I gave UGLY STEPSISTER five stars and WICKED only four. Maguire is Tolkein meets C. S. Lewis meets L'Engle meets Jakob Grimm meets Ray Bradbury. . . . I don't know if he can continue this torrid pace of writing specatacularly creative, inventive, challenging, unique, and heady books, but I can't wait to find out!! (New one's out!!)
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully Done!
Review: I've owned this book for almost 3yrs and now just got around to reading it - and I'm sorry I waited so long. I actually put off finishing the last 50 pages because I did not want it to end. I enjoyed it that much. As others have mentioned (and the subtitle implies), it's the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West (beginning prior to her birth) and her point of view of what was covered in the 'Wizard of Oz'. Admittedly, I know the 'Wizard of Oz' from only the movie and have never read that book. But the way that Maguire weaves little bits of references we know from the movie into his storyline is extremely clever and well done. Though the book covers much detail and touches on religion, politics, class structure, etc - what really is blatant is how there IS more than one side to a story. I'm not sure many people would consider the Wicked Witch of the East a protaganist - but she is, at least in this story...and at least in my opinion. I found the entire book interesting and moving along at a good pace. I have recommended the book to many people as I had been going along with my reading. Though I know they have made a musical play from this book - I believe a movie would have been a better way to go (NOT a musical movie either), but in the vein of how 'Lord of the Rings' was done for film. I have this at the top of all the books I've read in the last few years.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked With of the West
Review: This book is gorgeous! Gregory Macguire takes accepted ideas and explores the origins and consequences of such ideas. Elphabala is the archeotype of evil from everyone's childhood. He explores the origin of what made her evil to the backdrop of a modern industrial society. Anyone who hasn't read the book is missing out on a thought-provoking and intriging look at what our culture percieves to be evil. Anyone who has read the book and didn't enjoy it, I suggest you reread it again and apply the thoughts inside to events that have taken place in the world since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This book is my favorite ever. I've read it over ten times and have owned four copies. If you enjoyed this book, MacGuire also challenges the notion of beauty in "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister". and the ideas of perception and time in "Mirror, Mirror". Unfortunately, I have been unable to enjoy "Lost", so, you might want to avoid that one. But Wicked is a must read for any girl or woman who has ever been told that she is [bad], or anything other than sugar and spice.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible execution of a terrific idea
Review: I chose this book for my book club without having read it first. Biggest mistake EVER! This book is a MESS. The author lacks any real focus. He needed an editor badly. The story needed to be stripped down to its essence and then written in a straight-forward way. I felt no closer to knowing what really made the Wicked Witch of the West who she was. Also, I have to agree with many others that the sexual content was not only completely unnecessary, but overly gratuitous and revolting. I purchased this book and rather than loan it out, or give it away, I am throwing it away (something I have NEVER done before).
Rating: 
Summary: I tried so hard... I really did!
Review: I raved about this book to everyone I met for the first hundred pages or so. After that, I realized my attention span was waning. The characters are so hard to keep straight and the story seemed to drone on forever. Despite my waning interest, I really wanted to finish the book before I saw the Broadway show. Alas, it didn't happen. I realize that life wasn't over and that I enjoyed the play without having finished the book. The idea is phenomenal. How creative. The execution and the actual story, however, is one I could not get into.
Rating:
Summary: Surpassed expectations!
Review: I heard about Wicked from one of my college math professors and decided to pick it up for a summer read. The book pulls you in and wont let you stop reading it. I bought it 4 days ago and I finished all 400 pages already- I couldnt put it down! Wicked is set in the land of Oz that we all know from the movie, but Maguire developed this land so intricately and its peoples so cleverly that you'd almost think it was written before The Wizard of Oz. The review on the back of the book is true- Wicked deserves a space on everyone's shelves between Alice in Wonderland and The Hobbit. It was truly a fantastic read and I think it would be very difficult to be let down by this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wickedly Awesome
Review: I bought this book, when I found out that I was going to New York to see the musical version of it. I found that the ending to the book was very sad and depressing compared to the musical. The book was written very well, and except for the ending, I enjoyed it so much, I went out and bought all the rest of the authors novels. The way that Gregory drew you into Elphie's pain and anguish was unbelievable. It brought you to tears when Dorothy murdered her. I hope that this review was helpful for you.
Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: This book has gotten lots of positive reviews, and in some ways, I do see it's merit. The characters are well developed, and the whole idea of a backstory to the Wicked Witch of the West (and OZ itself) is really fun. But...I can't say that I really enjoyed it. Here's why: First, there were lots of grammatical mistakes. At first, I thought that these were perhaps in correlation with some of the ambiguities in the story...that maybe the grammatical mistakes were being used to enhance that intended feeling of confusion. Later, I decided Maguire had a bad editor. Second, the flow of the story just didn't seem to be smooth (well, not smooth enough to keep my interest for prolonged periods.) This criticism, however, comes from my own personal preferences in reading. I like to be entertained. Sure, I like a little backstory, recurring themes, and (of course) foreshadowing. But in some spots, these elements became too overwhelming, hindering the movement of the story. "Enough, already" became one of my own recurring themes. Third, I thought that the detailed sexual "exploits" of the characters were too overplayed. At first, I thought that Maguire was just using elaborate, and gratuitous explanations to emphasize the natural human (or animal, perhaps?) instincts of the characters, and indeed, the sexual acts described did do this. However, it again became too much to bear, overpowering the story. Too much time was spent on descriptions of the sexual atmosphere, time in which more important details could have been divulged. Fourth, and finally, the philisophical attitude permeating the novel became overpowering itself. It seemed that Maguire wanted his readers to sit back and ponder (or marvel) at every little detail. Everything had some deeper, intense psychological context. By the end of the book this intended "ooh just think about this for a minute, isn't it deep?" tone had battered me over the head. Again, too much! In summation, yeah, the book is ok. It's interesting, some of the details are neat, unexpected little tidbits of OZ gradually unfold, and the idea is really exciting. But, all in all, it just didn't "blow me away."
Rating:
Summary: Ending Leaves Something To Be Desired
Review: This is my first reading of Maguire, and of reading a jilted fairy tale in general, and I must say I am very impressed. The characters are well planned and well developed. Each action is backed up by reasoning of some sort (she acts X way because Y happened to her, etc). Oz is well formed in the reader's mind throughout the book, and made even easier through the occasionally needed map found at the beginning.
However, the last chapter of the book leaves something to be desired. I understand that it must have been hard to conform to the original tale and keep his characters true to what he had created, but the story just seems to drag its feet at the end, and then come to a messy and strange conclusion. I desired more finality to the book, but that isn't to say the ending was horrid.
Some of the best parts of this book are the philosophical questions and occasional answers that are raised. If for nothing else, it is interesting to read the philosophical stand points taken on evil, the human soul, etc.
Overall it was the ending that dropped a star from this book. Otherwise, it was a fantastic read.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant...
Review: I read this book after learning of the broadway show, and while both have completely different plots, both, I believe, are truly spectacular.
Wicked is such marvelous storytelling, with brilliantly sculpted characters and intense questioning of human nature. I loved reading it, and I cried when I finished simply because I had run out of story to read!! Gosh, it was good! ;^) Brilliant!!
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