I think alot of people who don't like this book expected more of an easier read since it is, after all, more of a childrens story in modern day. However, it was a deeply fascinating story that has alot of similarity to the world today, if you face it from that context. I absolutely loved Elphaba and even saw many of my own character traits in her (or in other women I know) so she's very easy to love. Her story does end abruptly but she dies abruptly....that's how life works when you die young...your story has, for all intents and purposes, stop.

The narrator was amazing! Really brought the book to life!!

One of my all time favorites. So unexpected as he twists and turns the classic childhood favorite into a brilliant, unique perspective from the so called wicked witch.

This is a spectacular story I will listed to a second time!

a waste of time and effort to tolerate this book. just terrible.

✅️Musical, ✅️ Book ,✅️ Movie

It's just painful

I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary content that just served to draw out this extremely long book. (Usually a bonus for me…) The narrator was good but I would’ve preferred a feminine voice to bring the characters to life. And most of the unexpected sexual situations were just freaking weird! (Not to put too fine a point on it.) I appreciate the parallels to today’s racial issues, & am glad to see it addressed in a global way. But I’m not really the target audience for this book or the movie, which I also couldn’t wait to see. My unfortunate reaction to it: “Meh.”

Hard to follow, a difficult read. However, it is worth rewinding to get back on track. Intriguing!

the book was hard to get immersed into. found it very hard to focus on what was happening.

Slow and boring book not what I expected at all

The author paints a vivid picture of land and characters and the narrator brings them to life. I enjoyed listening.

that book destroyed the wizard of OZ

A must listen for any fans of the film or musical, it may not be the fastest pace book but it is interesting from start to finish. Filled with complex characters who you can't help but get invested in. It asks challenging questions about how we tell stories, how we frame good and evil and about the world and politics around us. I can see this being a book I return to, for there surely must be things I have missed or lessons I would benefit from returning to. Will definitely be listening to the rest of the series.

Just a lot of things happening at once

The book was shockingly a lot darker and completely different then man the musical and movie! There were a couple of parts where the book lost me but overall I enjoyed listening to the book! The narrator sounded like the guy who narrates animal documentaries!

Very slow, detailed & not what I expected.

This story was so well written. I really enjoyed it, but I kept expecting it to be like the musical/movie, which was distracting. It turns out the musical is loosely based on the book, so putting the movie cover on it is misleading. That aside, the story is fabulous. It was darker and more complex than I expected, which was a satisfying surprise. I'll be listening to this again.

I can't decide if I can recommend this book.The narrator is good, but sometimes makes characters sound older than they are or makes female characters sound like men.About the story: Every part of the book ends very abruptly and for the most parts it is not really explained what happened to the characters or how or why they died. Sometimes it was very frustrating that a lot of characters I liked died or went missing or just weren't part of the story anymore. In the end there are still a lot of unanswered questions that I doubt will be answered in one of the following books.Some parts of the story were lovingly, some funny, some tragic and/or sad. For the most parts it is very well written, I just wished for less open story endings in between.Somehow how Elphaba's life turned out seems like a waste. I don't understand many of her decisions.

I had a really hard time getting in to this book. I didn’t really like the narrator I would have preferred a female narrator.

The book was decent and the narration was good. I appreciated the imagery painted by the author. It was a very clear throwback to the OZ imagery that we are all familiar with. The storyline and plot was good. But I don't feel that the question the author clearly was exploring; are we born evil or is it developed, was never really answered. I have only read this book in the series, so I'm no expert. I just don't think I'll be reading this one again.

I enjoyed this book, and the story is very different from the play and movie of the same name. Warning to parents that this book is R-rated with many sexual scenes and descriptions not appropriate for children. This story is darker in tone and Elphaba's experiences are different than the movie, so listeners must be open-minded to the original plot by this author. There are many surprises in the story, either not depicted in the movie or play, or not yet shown (only Part 1 of the movie has been shown), which make this story special.

this book is so amazing #loveit

Would probably get a lot of flack for this review, but I just couldn’t get into the book. I tried reading this in middle school and reading it now as an adult I understand why I lost interest. I’m sure I didn’t understand most of what was being said or insinuated because I was shocked at a lot of it this go round.

This book is a hard read so tremendous job to the narrator! The book itself is phenomenal! I’m a huge fan of the original series so this just adds to it! There’s always two sides to every story and this just proves it!

Really well done by the reader. A very interesting story that gives humanity to a character much maligned by the movie.