Joan’s Reviews > Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West > Status Update

Oh, I know this struggle! This is not an easy read. Not at all! There are a lot of people who love this book but I am not one of them. I have read it twice and each time was a challenge. I first read this book in high school because I loved the musical so much. Needless to say, I was alarmed (harsh word but accurate) by how different the show was from the book. The expectations I had going in were understandably not met, as the narrative and characters were very different in the book. And there were elements and themes I wasn’t expecting to be there. There are some VERY odd things in the book! It all had me so confused, honestly. And I was disappointed by the book itself. Even if I had not seen the musical, I know I still would not like the book. Surprisingly, I recently reread the book because it had been implied that the two movies would be bringing in material from the novel; although, I really do not feel the first film does at all. So I wanted to refresh my memory of everything that goes on in the book— and I wanted to see for myself if some of the crazy things I remembered from almost 2 decades ago were actually in it! Haha I went into the reread open to changing my mind about it. Perhaps this could be one of those books that when I reread it years later I actually found myself enjoying and or understanding it better. But that was not the case with this one. The book may be worse than I remembered. It really put my multiple English degrees to use, as I was able to read it more analytically. There are things I know just as a more seasoned reader in my older age that I was just too young to have known the first time I read this, if that makes sense. Too much of the book felt pointless— like I felt like it knew it wasting my time, too, and that pissed me off. While I still think this book is a huge mess, I’m glad I reread it. As much as I’ve dissed this book so far in my reply, I can admit that there are definitely things that I do think work; however, I don’t think McGuire takes the time to properly explore and develop those things. This is one of those rare cases where I believe the adaptation (the stage show and at least the first film) better serve the story. And I rarely am a “the movie was better” girl, so you know so mean it if I say it. I, however, appreciate how innovative this book was for its time. I think this is one of, if not the first, time we got one of those retellings of a story where we see it through a villain’s perspective and get insights that make them more complex. While I think companies like Disney are over using this idea to the point where it doesn’t even make sense with what characters they are applying it to, I do think this is a very interesting storytelling trope when used with the right character. I think the Wicked Witch of the West IS the right character but maybe McGuire just wasn’t the right writer to do it. Nonetheless, while this is not an enjoyable or easy read, I do think it is worth the read IF you’re invested in the Oz universe, whether it be on the page, screen, or stage. So I encourage you to keep going, even if just out of spite!