Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

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

6 reviews

susannaobrien's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• 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

Pretty disappointed in this, but I may have been expecting it to be closer to the musical which I love. Fantasy fans may enjoy this more, but I found the meandering plot and many small characters hard to keep track of and quite tedious at times. The commentary on religious fanaticism and the way societal expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies was interesting, but often overworked and written in dense, and at times impenetrable language. I also found Maguire's writing of Nessarosa's disability incredibly ableist, and sex and female desire pretty dated and unnecessarily vulgar. Glad I read as it satisfies a curiosity but ultimately it dragged for me.

---

Content Warnings

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

rebeccafarren's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Ableism, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Animal cruelty

gayghostprince's review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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.

julesmae's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, and Sexual content

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Bullying, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Genocide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, and Death of parent

shaunaxx's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

The beginning and start of the middle was the most dry and boring thing I’ve ever read the only redeeming thing about it is the later middle. The ending was rushed and character development was all over the place. 
None of this is mentioning that it was NOTHING like the musical which is the sole reason I bought it in the first place but I decided to separate the two as different stories all together around 40% of the way through...it would have been a 1 star otherwise...
The writing was very telling not showing and all the questions of religion and morality and of the soul got old within the first 4 pages let alone the other 500....
Overall wouldn’t recommend or at least would recommend WITH THE KNOWLEDGE ITS NOTHING LIKE THE MUSICAL

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, and Religious bigotry

/