Customer Reviews
Pretentious nonsense...and boring to boot! - By: Steven Chambers, 25 Jun 2008 
I have so many criticisms of this book: Firstly, none of the characters have any charm or interest value. Despite being written about at length, there is no-one I gave a damn about. Secondly, nothing interesting happens throughout the whole book (or rather big, interesting events do happen but they are captured in such a boring way). Thirdly, the book takes itself far too seriously. There is no humour in the book of any description. How many fiction books do not raise a titter throughout 500 pages? I can't think of any. This lack of humour added to the feeling of dryness & boredom I felt throughout reading. Fourthly, there is lots of waffle around big themes: Religion; Consciousness; Adultery; Good vs Evil; Politics. However, it is just filler. The author does not draw these themes together. There is no conclusion. I was expecting - hoping! - that the author was waffling on with these themes for a reason. Perhaps, I thought to myself, he's going to show Oz to be an alllegory for our own world. Alas, no. It was just pretentious twaddle that goes nowhere. Another problem is that the idea of the "Wicked" Witch actuallly being "Good" just doesn't work. The part of the book where Dorothy is present in Oz does not correlate to what we know from the film. I think Maguire thought of "the twist" (i.e. wicked witch isn't wicked) & then he tried to force it to work when it plainly doesn't. Perhaps the book would have been more fun if the Wicked Witch had just been plain wicked throughout the story? If this review stops just 1 person from wasting their time, I have done a "good" thing.
A GOOD LITTLE PAGE TURNER - By: Mrs. T. Wilson, 16 Jun 2008 
I saw the fantastic musical before I read the book & it became apparent very early on that the former is only very loosely based on the book, pretty much around the characters alone. However, I found it to be a good story & not as whimsical as expected. It dealt with quite dark issues; politics, death, rejection, cruelty, anger, loss & alll manner of emotions. I reallly cared what happens to Elphaba. If I have a criticism it is in the way the story moves on quickly on a couple of occasions & you are left with a lot of unanswered questions around her latter childhood & the period around the loss of Fiyero. I have also bought the sequel, Son of a Witch & am hoping that this will fill in some, if not alll of the gaps. If not, there's always the imagination.......
Ingeneous! - By: Philip Thompson, 25 May 2008 What a brilliant idea & an even better book. I loved this book & the characters in it & the difference between this book & the Judy Garland Oz could not be more extreme but alll the better for it. Elphaba is a brilliant character & the Animals & animals is another stroke of geneuous. Am giving 4 stars because the sequel is even better & that deserves 5.
The Wicked Wrench of the West - By: Helen Morris, 16 Jan 2008 
Let's start off by saying how much I was looking forward to reading the book. How much I wanted to see the musical. I was so looking forward to being emerced in the wonderful world of Oz, finding out what made the wicked witch of the west tick that when I closed the book after reading it in two days flat the sense of immense disappointment almost knocked me sideways.
I had read rave reviews & seen alll the press bumpf that accompanied a book that had hit upon a fantastic, yet so delightfully simple idea, to work backwards from such a familiar, popular & well known story that I imagined so much. I had almost dreamt of the way Maguire was going to breathe life into his characters that when I actuallly encountered them the anticipation was not matched by the content.
That is not to say that the book does not work. It obviously has done for so many people but for me it fell a little flat. The idea as stated above was brilliantly thought out & from a literary standpoint well delivered. The style concise, eloquent & well delivered. The imagery subtle & the underlying message of the book clear but often rammed down the reader's throat.
The character of Elphie left me a little cold, I felt that there was so much potential & so much that could be gleaned from her as she grew up. That when the story seemed to change from her being an evil child with a mouth of razorlike teeth who bit the fingers off her midwife to a misunderstood vigilante-esque do-gooder for Oz, to misunderstood witchlike figure didn't sit well with me. It somehow attempted to jutify & downplay the villain that so many children have come to know. As someone who grew up with the Wizard of Oz (and never being a very big fan) the idea of the story of the wicked witch attracted more interest from me than the happy fairytale & insipid character of Dorothy.
I guess my expectations got the better of me. The book I feel relied too much on the concept of evil & wickedness as a construct, a matter of opinion & the constant reference to sexual endeavours took the focus off what the story should have been about.
That said it might be worth another read to check that I am not missing some literary genius that others before me seem to have recognised.
wicked - By: Mrs. Carrie Bylett, 04 Nov 2007 
A good read however a hard book to get into but you still want to know the ending so you can see the reason for the tile wicked
