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Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
12 reviews
jadonmorgs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Racism, Self harm, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
verinvaldez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you are interested in this book because of the musical be very aware that this is extremely different, it isn't just darker, Fiyero is a side character, Glinda is a minor character, Boq has a larger role and shares only his crush on Glinda with his musical counterpart and Elphaba is no magical prodigy.
If you want a book that explores the mentality of the Wicked Witch of the West, this is for you.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, Police brutality, Sexism, Body shaming, Classism, Grief, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Miscarriage, Racism, Suicide, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
heart_strong500's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Racism, Death, Classism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Gore, Death of parent, and Blood
mrsmower's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Genocide, Infidelity, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Addiction, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
summerb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Kidnapping, and Medical content
susannaobrien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Child death, and Ableism
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Religious bigotry, Slavery, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship
molliepop's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Death of parent, Animal death, and Blood
gayghostprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Colonisation, Dementia, Drug use, Alcohol, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia
I never finished this book when I was younger but I was immediately struck by how vile all the adults in this book are upon rereading it. there are no assault scenes, but people do mention r*pe. the descriptions and implications about specific groups in this people are racist and stereotypical, but not often aggressively malicious. a LOT of the treatment of children in this book is upsetting. content warning for family baggage and child neglect. in addition, late in the book a child is pretty relentlessly bullied by his peers. I added a minor homophobia warning because the way people describe the two obviously gay characters is often homophobic. just coincidentally describing them as simpering or whatever. the equivalent of calling a gay man a fairy, you know? the sex scenes in this book are not detailed or graphic but they are also not well written. take that as you will.itry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Also general depressing tone cus its a tragedy through and through
Toto i don't think we're in kansas anymore
So..... i read the book because i liked thw musical and was like hey ill like this
Welll
I didnt dislike it but i have no idea how the musical became so different from this
As a book it was interesting but the pacing felt a bit off and the time skips werent handled the best
Otherwise as a guilty pleasure, it was enjoyable
Im not gonna read the sequels though because this was depressing holy moly
Read through audiobook
Update: literally had through dissociation forgotten my dislike for the book and the,,,,,,,, y'all know what parts bothered me if y'all have read it and if y'all haven't read it, don't. Disgusting. Worse than attack on titan the mangas one horrifying scene that i try to actively block out of my head but that memory stays lol
Graphic: Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Sexism, Mental illness, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, War, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Pregnancy, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Medical content, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Hate crime, Gore, Gaslighting, Genocide, Classism, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Bullying, Animal death, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Body shaming
Minor: Deportation and Slavery
nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Gregory Maguire's novel introduces Elphaba's parents--a unionist minister and his lustful, unfaithful wife--leading up to the birth of the green, fanged, fearsome infant who grows up with her mother's Nanny and her mother's lover Turtle Heart. As a teenager, Elphaba goes to school at Shiz, where she encounters Galinda, Boq, Fiyero, and a number of other characters who are mostly undistinguishable. Elphaba becomes passionate about the perceived corruption of the Wizard's reign and progresses from Shiz to the Emerald City, a mauntery (something of a nunnery), and the land of the Winkies.
From the outset, the world that Maguire builds is confusing and incomplete, with countless references to deities, histories, and characters that are never clarified or explained. Contributing to the lack of clarity are the time jumps; between each section, Elphaba has aged an unmentioned number of years and become increasingly more reserved and resentful. Her missions against convention (and corruption) are unclear, and the enemy is never clearly defined.
With unlikeable--indeed, unapproachable--characters and such confusion, it was nearly impossible for me to enjoy this book, especially as a high fantasy skeptic to begin with. That someone could have read this novel and written the book for the musical is shocking to me, but I'm certainly grateful for all their work and inspiration.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Slavery, and War