Wicked Review

'Elphaba is not evil, but a compelling and honest character.' 

This is a very challenging read, if you are expecting the musical think again. It’s a re-working of Baum’s original tale of Oz, telling the story of the life of the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s an incredibly complex tale and deals with many different themes, humanity, religion, politics, family, friendship, good vs evil etc. The beauty of this story is that it teaches us that not everything is as it first appears.

One problem with this book that has been pointed out many times is the jumpiness from theme to theme. As I said before it’s a hard read with a lot of complicated plot lines it’s not the fairy tale Oz we read as a child. Not everything is explained in the book and I know some people need the answers to everything in life and want their books to package everything up in a neat little bow but that’s not how life works. There are times in her life that Elphaba doesn’t remember so we don’t either. We see the world how she sees it. Corrupt, confusing and unfair.

Wicked is an adult read, it’s funny, smart and a little bit dirty.