Thank you! I’ve wanted to read this since I heard it was in the works and I was so mad when it got pushed from October to March. So I am happy to see it on NetGalley. I will say it’s definitely Gregory Maguire's usual style. Same writing style as Wicked where he uses lots of esoteric words, leaves lots of things ambiguous, and doesn’t always quite make sense. But it was fun to get more anecdotes about Elphie’s childhood and (really dysfunctional) family, and it helps explain why she turned out the way she did and is so antisocial. And I thought the section where her mother dies was well done and poignant. I have to say it cracks me up how I feel like 99 percent of people who read this book or Wicked after seeing the movie are going to absolutely hate them. They are so drastically different. But I loved it.

Elphie
By Gregory Maguire

💚🩷 I want to start this by saying that I am definitely the target audience for this book. An elder millennial who grew up 20 miles from the Gershwin theater. An avid reader who read and loved the Wicked novels long before the Broadway play existed. I was a philosophy major who saw the musical the first time and left going “but wait, the book was better”. Now, 20 years later, I have seen the musical on Broadway three times and the movie four times. I am a super fan. This book was for me. Being blessed with the eARC is a dream come true and seeing all these poor reviews are breaking my heart. If you didn’t love this prequel, you’re not a true Wicked fan. I said what I said. 💚🩷

The blurb describes the book as a novel about young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold. Elphie is the coming of age story of a very peculiar and relatable young girl. The book gives fans of Wicked a first person glimpse into Elphaba’s world that in years past were only alluded to. We get to meet promiscuous Melina, pious Fred, annoying Nessarose, and (the wickedest of them all and the character that is most underrated) Shell.

The story follows the life of Elphie, whose life begins in the jungle as the child of a missionary in the middle of war times. We see Elphie grow into a young adult dealing with all of the trials and feelings of a normal preteen - who maybe isn’t so normal. Without spoiling anything, we get to see where her interest in politics first comes from (yes! These novels are political!), as well as her love of academics.

It’s a story of childhood and the age old question of nature vs. nurture. Was Elphie always destined to be Wicked? Or did her circumstances make her that way?

I would recommend this story to anyone who likes strong female characters, political undertones that can relate to today’s current events, morally grey characters, and literature that makes you think. For this elder millennial philosophy nerd who perhaps comes from questionable circumstances herself - it was pure magic.

🌙 🌙 🌙 🌙 🌙

This novel takes you on a journey into Elphabas childhood and gives a great perspective of how she developed into the character we have come to know. There is quite a lot of this book dedicated to seeking out “Turtle Hearts” family on behalf of the father, which in my opinion was over amplified and anti-climactic.
I did love reading about Elphabas development of the animal speech as well as her relationships with her siblings.
A novel as a whole was quite good, but I felt it could have given us more of Elphaba and less about her father’s mission work.

I'm such a huge fan of 'Wicked,' so I was really excited when I learned that Maguire was writing a prequel about Elphaba's childhood. These characters are all so beloved, but unfortunately, this novel just didn't work for me. There wasn't a lot of plot, so much of the pacing felt super slow (even though the book is fairly short). Although I recognize that the novels stand separate from the Broadway show (and the movie now), it was difficult for me to avoid comparing the works. For example, in this book, Nessarose has no arms; instead of being able to appreciate this plot point, I just kept thinking about how that's not the same in the other adaptations. Maguire has a very distinct style of writing (lots of fragmented sentences), so I can see why other readers were critical. I love these characters and this world too much to give anything less than 3 stars, but it was a frustrating reading experience.

I was given this ARC from NetGalley and William Morrow Books, and unfortunately I am DNFing. The book, an interesting concept, is written in short sentences that ultimately make the story hard to understand and follow. I feel so bad because I really wanted to like it, but I can’t force myself to read the rest.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

After watching Wicked, I was extremely excited to read more about Elphie. This was a fun read and I enjoyed the interesting takes on the backstories of various characters, especially Nessa. There were some slow parts to get through but overall a refreshing read.

With the Wicked craze, I have been waiting for this story. Gregory Maguire did it again transporting us into Elphie’s story and Oz. Highly recommend!

Fans of the Wicked years will love this book. In Maguire’s writing style, which i like to describe as classic meets contemporary with a poetic flair, this prequel gives the reader a lot of insight to Oz. Set before part two of Wicked when Elphaba is little, I enjoyed the parallel with the writing style being more short and choppy (much like a kid would tell the story) mixed in with the continued poetic like eloquence of the wicked series.

For example:
“Someone has brought Nanny a something. A dish of threads to repair a bonnet. A bowl of breakfast soup, hot and oily and snaily. Someone has brought Nanny a something. And put it on a camp stool of some sort.”

It adds another layer of this being a prequel and it was entertaining. Even though Elphie isn’t the narrator we still can feel the youth and innocence of the storytelling.

Those who are not familiar with maguires work might not enjoy this book but if you like classic literature this is a book you can enjoy without really having read the wicked years. (You’ll have questions yes, but it is not needed to understand what is transpiring in Elphie)

All in all I am very thankful to have been able to read this ebook and review it. I can’t wait to buy a physical copy to put on my shelf next to my wicked years set.

It's been a true honor to experience this book. I loved the main series, and seeing Elphaba's background is eye opening.

Elphie needs no introduction, but this story provides insight into her background. Overall this just wasn’t for me. The writing was quirky with a very unique style and the overall storyline felt scattered and disconnected to me.

Thank you to Net Galley for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I really couldn’t get into this book. I don’t feel like it had anything new to add to the story. This was a DNF for me.

As a huge Wicked fan, I was really hoping to love this book more than I did. Elphie is a prequel to Wicked, which I thought would explore Elphaba's childhood. Instead this book dove into the politics of Oz as she grew up. I found it difficult to read due to the slow moving plot, interesting writing style, and little character development. If you are a fan of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz, you might want to pick this up - just know what you are getting in to. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read many of Maquire’s books, some I’ve liked better than others, I always struggle with the first few pages until I adjust to his writing style and then it flows. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Maquire and sitting at his lunch table while at a smaller conference. This book provides the backstory of Elphie before her university days and before meeting Galinda. As such, it just wasn’t as captivating for me as Wicked (the book) and seemed a bit perfunctory. Since seeing the play and now the film, the only thing that stands out as really “off” is the physical difference of Nessarose, I prefer the play and movie version.

Elphie is a prequel to the Wicked Series, telling the childhood of Elphaba before her witch powers came to be in the Wicked era. This is the coming-of-age tale of her experiences growing up in an atypical family. Not only does it delve into her and her family dynamics, there is also much to be said about the politics and atmosphere of Oz.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book as I have read and other books in the Wicked series, and generally enjoyed them. This, however, was a very hard book for me to read through due to a slow moving plot and a focus on the politics of the land. I was hoping for more specifically around Elphaba's life and motivations. I also struggled through much of the fantastical language, locations and names. This deterred a bit of my enjoyment of the novel. This was also one of the books that took me the longest to read as I could only read a small amount. I considered not finishing it at several points.

Thank you to William Morrow Books, NetGalley and Gregory Maguire for the eARC in exchange for my honest review of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Williams Morrow for this advance reader copy, in exchange for an honest review. This book dived more into the backstory of Elphaba Thropp, famed character of the Wicked books. I thought this book was okay; it felt true to style of Maguire’s other books but, the story fell a bit flat for me. I struggled to connect with the plot of the story but, the chapters were short which helped move things along. This book felt more like connected vignettes, highlighting various stories during Elphaba’s upbringing, rather than one entire connected, full story.

Overall, fans of Oz should read this book and I’d recommend it to fans of the authors previous works. It’s a quick read and you can easily immerse yourself in the world building so, definitely one to pick up if you’re looking to escape to this world for a bit.

Unfortunately, this felt like a cash grab because of the hype from the Wicked movie. I was so excited going into Elphie; however, this was so bland that I was dreading every page and just wanted it to be over with. Maguire’s writing is as beautiful as always but the story was so hard to follow. The characters felt inconsistent with Wicked (the novel, not movie or musical). I’m not sure what happened here but this is the most disappointing novel from Maguire…I wish I hadn’t read it and tainted my love for the rest of the Wicked series.

I absolutely loved this. I had been wanting to learn and read more about Elphaba and it was amazing.
I truly enjoyed reading this book, and learning kore about this amazing world and characters. Reading this was definitely one of the best things I could have done.
I definitely recommend this to people who would like to know more about this world! I think everyone would enjoy it as much as I did.

Welcome back to Oz! Gregory Maguire’s version of it that is! For fans of the Wicked BOOK, this will be a great return to the world you loved with the same impactful writing we loved from Maguire.

This doesn’t feel like a comprehensive story as much as it does of a beginning, connecting so many dots. Elphie discovering her singing voice, Elphie’s first experience with a crystal ball and how Elphie got the opportunity to attend Shiz.

Somehow Maguire was able to make Elphaba even more relatable in this book. A must read for Wicked novel fans.

It has been many years since I've read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. However, as a lifelong Wizard of Oz fan, when I saw that a prequel to Elphaba's story was being released I knew that it was a must read.

Elphie tells the story of Elphaba's childhood and hit on various stages of that. You see the incredibly dysfunctional family dynamic that exists between the family and especially between her and her parents. While Frex is busy trying to be missionary and dragging his family all around Oz, Elphie is just trying to understand who she is and her place in her fictional world.

With every page of this story, you see how much Elphie's family exploits her and it bears the question that comes straight from the musical adapation of Wicked, Is Wickedness taught? Is it inherent? Does it come from nature or how a person is nurtured? While much can be argued on just how wicked Elphaba is, it's clear from this prequel that her family relationships and how she came to understand the world had a huge impact on who she eventually became.

This is a great story for any fans of the original series that just want to know more. It gives additional context that allows the reader to expanded upon any opinions they may already have on this iconic character.

I didn't think I could love Elphie more than I already did after reading and seeing Wicked on Broadway, but here I sit with so many feels for Elphie. Gregory Maquire hits it out of the park with this novel all about Elphie. Absolutely love the story. Already preordered the book for my collection of Gregory Maguire.