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Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
2 reviews
lateromantic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book is absolutely not what I was expecting. I don't know the show, only some of the songs from it, and I was not expecting it to be about racism and sedition. I am guessing they will have to change a LOT for the film, but that the undercurrent of racism will still be there... potentially more awkwardly if looking at the cast list is anything to go by (in a world where dwarfs are fully realised characters, you cast a dwarf as... an Animal? not the sexually appealing munchkin?? I get that Peter Dinklage is too old for that part but, like, he is not the only dwarf in the world...) For a 90s book that specifically references the UK as inspiration to give a sympathetic voice to an explicit terrorist freedom fighter is bold, and there's a pretty clear reference to AIDS in one character too, which was pretty brave. I'm assuming the musical questions morality significantly less, and focusses a lot less on worldbuilding.
I feel ill-placed to rate this book, as I don't tend to read this sort of fantasy with invented names and mapped-out worlds, but what I can say is that I was interested in the characters but not the situations they found themselves in - Maguire has created mature people and then made the relationships between them shallow and unbelievable. There is also far too much emphasis on children and the value of conception for my liking. Idk, a strange book, lovely philosophical moments and some fantastic quotes, but much too long and filled with odd choices that perhaps date back to the original LFB texts... and then at the end it just rattles along too quickly, with Elphaba turning mad in, like, 2 pages. I honestly don't know if I'd recommend it or not, and I don't know if I enjoyed it or not. Is one of the other books about Nessarose? I'm curious about how Maguire concieves her.
I feel ill-placed to rate this book, as I don't tend to read this sort of fantasy with invented names and mapped-out worlds, but what I can say is that I was interested in the characters but not the situations they found themselves in - Maguire has created mature people and then made the relationships between them shallow and unbelievable. There is also far too much emphasis on children and the value of conception for my liking. Idk, a strange book, lovely philosophical moments and some fantastic quotes, but much too long and filled with odd choices that perhaps date back to the original LFB texts... and then at the end it just rattles along too quickly, with Elphaba turning mad in, like, 2 pages. I honestly don't know if I'd recommend it or not, and I don't know if I enjoyed it or not. Is one of the other books about Nessarose? I'm curious about how Maguire concieves her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation
itry's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Tw: murder, debauchery, sex, cheating, political intrigue, slavery, torture, pedophelia, rape. The last two being extremely prominent and occuring more than once??? Because why not i guess????
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Slavery and Deportation
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