Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

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

30 reviews

savage_book_review's review against another edition

I saw the musical 'Wicked' a couple of months ago and, while I did enjoy it, I wanted a little more depth of story so I did have half a mind to read the book. It was therefore a no brainer to add to my Audible library when I spotted it was included with my membership. At this point, I am incredibly glad I didn't pay for it! I will give credit to the people who wrote the musical... how they managed to extract their inspiration from this is something I will never understand! 

First and foremost, my goodness is this slow going! It takes 3 hours for the book to do what the musical does in, oh, 10 minutes max and actually get Elpheba and Galinda to their first day at university. And in the 8 hours I listened to, I couldn't really tell you about any major plot points that happened - they were just heading off to the Emerald City when I gave up. It's like the author kept getting distracted and going off on unnecessary tangents; in fact, his writing reminds me of the dull professors he talks about! There was just NOTHING to keep you engaged as a reader/listener.

I also found the tone of the writing very odd. Now, I'll admit that I haven't read the original Wizard of Oz books, so my thoughts here could be a result of the gap in my knowledge. But I couldn't get my head around the semi-frequent swearing, allusions to sex and various instances of more 'adult' material, all of which feels completely at odds with some elements which feel very childish and simplistic. I was expecting more on the YA end of the spectrum, if I'm honest, so while I'm by no means a pearl-clutcher, the grown up stuff just threw me for a loop! It's like the author couldn't pick his audience, so we've got a random mashup of everything.

I also remember being slightly disconcerted by the seemingly racist, sexist and trasphobic undertones, all of which made an appearance within the first hour. There are also questionable depictions of disability (physical and mental), and I got really bored with the repeated assaults of thinly veiled religious theology. It's not a new book, I know, but it was still published within my lifetime and so with each instance it just felt less and less comfortable.

The characters were all pretty bland too. Galinda is your mean girl with her back up b*tches, Boq is the geek in love with the popular kid, Fiero has apparently been given one hell of a glow up in the musical, and Elpheba is actually quite unlikeable. There was just no character I felt a connection with or able to root for. 

While the narrator was fairly easy to listen to and had plenty of animation in his voice, I just felt that it would have been better if the story had been narrated by a woman. I felt like I might have been able to connect with the main characters more if I could hear their voice, rather that (in my head at least) the Wizard speaking on their behalf. I'd also say that the sound quality was not the greatest (lots of swallowing, loud breathing etc), and his timing was really odd in places, with large pauses where there was no need, and no pauses where there should have been.

All of this ties up in the moment I decided to DNF. The gang of secondary characters have just held a wake for a minor character and decide that the most appropriate thing to do thereafter is go to a sex club. After drinking and dancing, they get taken into a 'special room', where one of their number is pulled onto the stage with a sentient Tiger and a woman on her honeymoon. The woman is tied up by her hands, our secondary character is wrapped around the Tiger koala style, they're all blindfolded and it's inferred that the evening's entertainment begins with the Tiger performing oral sex on the woman. And then, without a breath, suddenly we're with Elpheba and Galinda on their way to the Emerald City. 

Yup, at that point my brain went 'we're DEFINITELY not in Kansas anymore!'

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

poetry_birb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

It was so much weirder than the musical. I picked this up thinking it was going to be your standard villain origin story and instead I get Wizard of Oz smutty fanfiction. I suppose I should’ve expected that- but still- for this to have been turned into such a popular and well known musical blows my mind with how raunchy the source material is. It was a fine book but… would not read it again. I liked the racial allegory through the Animals and Elpheba’s defiance and perseverance, but man some of that stuff at the beginning was not needed at all. Definitely don’t recommend if you’re under 15. It was kind of wild.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

trashkingmax's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Having been involved in theater growing up, I've been told countless times that I should read Wicked (or "at least watch the musical!!!"). I've been told that it's great and that "it'll change how you see Oz forever!" I have now read it. 

It's not terrible, but it definitely isn't worth the hype. It's a series of tragedies loosely strung together and draped like a shroud over what could otherwise be a strong commentary on the rise of fascism and tyranny and what everyday people might do when they witness the results of that rise. 

I am disappointed.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

There's a lot of intersexist bullshit

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape

hedyharper's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jerrysaywhaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I think overall that I enjoyed this story. It could have been trimmed down a bit and I do wish the whole thing more Elphaba’s story since the book is called The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (the first half of the book is mostly about her mother, Glinda, Boq, and Fiyero).

I think that the musical actually improved on the overall story of Wicked, especially for Boq, the Lion, the Tinman, and the Scarecrow. I can only hope that the new movies take more from the novel to improve on the musical (I would love to see the inclusion of Sarima, her sisters, her children, and Liir). 

Will I read the sequels? Maybe eventually, but this was a struggle to get through at parts. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Excrement, and Dementia

Minor: Death of parent

Beastiality, Child Nudity

alexandra_salisbury's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I want to like it more than I did. This was my second attempt after a DNF. While I'm usually one for closed-door books, I could look past the explicit scenes if it wasn't for the blatant *completely unnecessary* sexualization of children which just made the book really sordid. 

There were very interesting things that happened that would bring you right to the precipice of something happening and then *surprise* - time jump, and it didn't happen. Or maybe it did and you missed it. It was disappointing. Someone needs to write a fan fiction of this fan fiction and do it better- although maybe that's what the musical did 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Dementia, Trafficking, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Sexism

mandi_lea's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Cursing and Fatphobia

dezzella's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

I was excited to read this, as I've heard a lot about the musical and the concept seemed cool. Who wouldn't want to follow the wicked witch's life? I wanted to like this book, and was encouraged by the good reviews/what I heard from others over the years. 

That led to me feeling very disappointed, there were a lot of things that you wouldn't expect going in, and a lot of dark stuff (warnings to those who are curious, child marriage, sexual situations mentioned involving children, lots of urination [so often it was weird], consumption of other sentient beings, misogyny/sexism, lots of mentions of cheating/affairs/unfaithful partners, ableism regarding Alfeba's sister).

I also didn't particularly like how it as written, besides many moment where I went 'um what???' the political plot wasn't very interesting to me and this was a struggle for me to finish.  For those curious, the musical is supposed to be better so you may want to do that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Classism