Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

20 reviews

g_umnut's review against another edition

reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Murder

Minor: Rape and Death

jadonmorgs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

Let me start this review by saying that I love and adore the Broadway musical. This book is nothing like the Broadway musical but I'm not opposed to it being more grim and less light hearted. I actually prefer the much more darker themes that's in this book, but I feel like the book did not really deliver on the character of Elphaba she just did not feel fleshed out enough. I couldn't really immerse myself in the story and it's characters even though I really wanted to.

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Content Warnings

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

susannahnah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I read this book a year after its release - I was way, way too young. But I finished it and was super intrigued. I revisited the book again a few years later and loved it. When the news came out they were making it a musical, the first word to cross my mind was,”…how???”  The book and the musical are nothing alike. If you’re reading this expecting it to be like the musical, stop now. Unless you like dark, macabre, conspiracy-driven gothic fairytales of a fundamentally flawed heroine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

verinvaldez's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

Extremely different to the musical Wicked! the tone of this is much darker with murder and unnecessary sexual content. Far too many time skips, at least 4 major time skips spanning years of Elphaba's life. The plot of the Wizard of Oz makes an appearance, but the portrayal of Dorothy here doesn't quite fit this darker story. I think the Shiz portion is when the book is at its best both character wise and regarding the political, religious and moral themes. Elphaba is a very fascinating main character but she is incredibly unlikeable outside of her passion about her beliefs about Animal rights. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

mikilah's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time and I regret it. It was perverse and strange. Long and grueling. I enjoyed a few sections but so much more just felt like I was grinding it out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Murder

lilawsahar's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

I can’t say if I liked it or not… it had interesting questions about politics, religion, and general existence. I liked the story enough to keep going but I was always as confused as the narrator. I didn’t get the purpose of the grimoire, why is Yackle after WWW, what is the significance of the wizard being WWW’s father, what’s the purpose of the other world, and why was the time dragon telling WWW’s tale? Was time to repeat itself for the Kubala witch, WWW, then Dorothy? I am so confused. 

I liked the dark humor throughout the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Colonisation, Classism, Animal death, Murder, and Death

rosalind's review

adventurous lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Animal death, and Body shaming

mrsmower's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

perryz's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, and Animal death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Torture

Minor: Rape

tinygoldfox's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.5

I seriously struggled to finish this book. Even reading a few pages felt like a huge slog.

The pacing is so grindingly slow and there some heavy political commentary that I just kept bouncing of it. I didn't feel like any of the characters earned any of their development either. Not my cup of tea :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder