Wicked is everywhere right now. It’s one of the most successful Broadway musicals—now in its 22nd season, making it the fourth-longest running show—and that’s not even mentioning Jon M. Chu’s two-part blockbuster. Wicked: Part 1 racked up ten Academy Award nominations and, at $758 million, was the fourth-highest grossing film of 2024. With Wicked: For Good having just hit theaters, I, an avid reader, decided to dive into the book that inspired it all. Would it be just as smashing as the pop culture phenomena it spawned? Here’s my review.
‘Wicked’ Rules the Stage and Screen, But Is the Original Book Just as Good?
A mixed bag, TBH
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Published Nov 20, 2025
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A Fascinating Peek into the Land of Oz
As both a reader and writer who doesn’t typically gravitate towards fantasy or fantastical worlds, I always have a deep appreciation for the authors who do. This is author Gregory Maguire’s biggest strength. The land of Oz is crafted with nuance and precision, with people, religion, politics and a landscape that feels pressing and real.
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Like the Film, It Hits on Pertinent Issues
The book and film most intersect in their portrayals of Oz. Notably, the political strife and ostracization of the Animals, though the novel gives the beloved Dr. Dillamond a much more tragic fate. Oz is a land plagued by drought and political instability. The reigning Ozma family is deposed by the Wizard; anthropomorphic Animals (denoted with the capital “A”) are slowly losing their rights, relegated to second-class status. Rubies have been discovered in the poor backwoods, where the locals are exploited for the jewels. And in the middle of it all is Elphaba, green as a pea and fiery as ever.
But the Most Touching Relationships Take a Backseat
What I appreciated about the Wicked adaptations was Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship. Their relationship is front and center, and one of the main driving points of the story. Two friends on the opposite sides of history, with a truth only they will know.
When it came to the novel, the pair’s relationship was so muted that it was nearly lost in the many other details and plot points. There wasn’t much growth between the characters so much as the narrator telling me what had happened, past tense. I would have liked to see more of their relationship unfolding in real time.
That said, Elphaba’s relationship with Nessarose is better in the book. Rather than being pitted solely against each other, Maguire shows the siblings’ complex relationship and Elphaba’s often conflicting feelings about being her sister’s protector.
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The Pacing and Structure Are Uneven
Normally, I’ll side with a book over its adaptations. In the case of Wicked, I was surprised to find myself doing the opposite. Across platforms, Maguire’s tale has a solid 4-star rating, but I found myself agreeing more with the unfavorable reviews. Chief among them was that the pacing was often slow. To that, I’ll add that the structure was rather confusing. The prose weaved between different characters’ points of view, but never really seems to get to the heart of what they were thinking. Additionally, though Elphaba is supposedly the main character, much of the story is told from the perspectives of others, like Glinda, Boq and Fiyero—the last of whom is totally different from the movie.
The Characters Are Hit-or-Miss
Another gripe that both I and fellow readers had was that many of the characters felt half-baked. There’s a much wider swath of them than in the movie, and for once, Hollywood was right to cut. I’ve often read that Maguire wanted Wicked to be a meditation on good and evil, and that it is. The book explores many themes that grapple with this question, but the characters don’t feel like they have completed their arc by the time page 456 rolls around.
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While I was left wanting more from Elphaba, Fiyero and Boq, Glinda proved to be the real surprise, in a good way. She has a depth that the movie and play mostly erase in favor of caricature, and I wish that this part of her had been preserved.
TL;DR
If you’re a superfan, Wicked is a fun read, if only to see the source material and get a different glimpse and perspective on some of the characters. Otherwise, for the first time in my life I’m going to say…stick with the movie.
