A Wickedly Awesome Novel

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Grade: A-

Genre: Book

After growing up watching The Wizard of Oz I find it fascinating to read the story from the “bad guy’s” perspective. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West tells the story of Elphaba, the green girl who ultimately becomes the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. I will just admit right now that I am the biggest fan of the musical Wicked and I did hear that it is nothing like the book. I heard from many people that the book it was based on was just terrible and most people I know who have attempted to read it could not stand to finish it. However, I already wrote this book on my list of books to read before 2011, so I decided to read it anyway.

As I was reading this book it was hard to find the Broadway hit musical in it. In fact, looking for the musical in this book was as useless as trying to find Starbursts in a bag of M&M’s. I could not find the song “The Wizard and I” because Elphaba loathed the Wizard ever since she knew who he was. I could not find the song “Popular” because Galinda did not care too much about Elphaba fitting in even after they became friends. And I could not find the song “Defying Gravity” because Elphaba did not learn to fly a broom till many years after she left Glinda in the Emerald City. In fact, I do not see how Steven Schwartz read this book and saw a musical. Nonetheless, even though the book’s story is not much like the musical’s, it can be given some credit on its own that not even the musical can claim.

The story is told in five different parts, each representing a different stage of Elphaba’s life and each making Ephaba just as mysterious as the one before. The book really drew me in, making me want to read more to find out what would happen next. And there were some chapters that forced me to stay on the edge of my seat. I also found it quite fun to draw connections between the book and historical events.

As I was reading this book I wondered why it took me so long to find it and decide to read it. It was the kind of book I have been looking for to read for years and I have not been this fascinated by a book since Harry Potter. I became very attached to the characters as I read and I could really empathize with Elphaba even though she did not have a great reputation by most people in Oz. The only complaint that I have is that the last few pages seemed to rush to wrap up the story.

I can understand why some people have a hard time reading beyond Part III because it can be what some people would call “smutty”. But I did not find the “smuttiness” to be much worse than what is in the “oh-so-clean” Twilight series. In fact, I think that the best of the book is in Parts IV and V because of all the revelations made and the questions answered, so people are missing out if they refuse to read past Part III. I found the book to be rather satisfying even though it did not quite end the way I wanted it to. I’m thinking I might want to read this book again once I am done with reading my list of 40 books, and maybe continue on to read its sequel.

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