Okay I know this is coming out around all the hype of the movie but as a die hard musical fan I truly consider the musical to be a completely separate entity from the original story.

The book is so filled with political intrigue and is what I consider to be just an absolute classic fantasy novel.

Now this was interesting, it’s an engaging story and it’s always enjoyable to learn more about your favourite characters or the main characters of stories, but was this book necessary? In my opinion, no. It didn’t add anything to the original story. Yes it’s always interesting to get more backstory and understand what happened in the past to get to where the story originally is but equally you do not need to read this to understand Elphaba’s motivations in the original novel.

*Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing a digital copy to review*

The Wizard of Oz was a movie I remember watching as a child, and of course, I watched Wicked when it came out last year and loved it. So when I saw that there was a book focused on Elphaba’s early years, I was excited. Unfortunately, my excitement was quickly dashed as I started reading.

This book is a whole lot of nothing. Apart from seeing where Elphaba first gets her passion for helping the talking animals, we don’t really learn anything about her. The way this book was written was so confusing. There’s no clear perspective with everything being a whole lot of maybes and what ifs, which made it all feel pointless.

I read a lot of fantasy and am used to made-up words and places, but with this book I was lost. Not only with the ‘Oz’ names and places, but the author uses big fancy words I’ve never even heard of, which just added to the confusing story.

Overall, this adds nothing to the character of Elphaba, especially if you’ve only seen the movie/musical. I knew there were differences, but they feel like completely different characters.

I am a HUGE Wicked fan. When I first saw the stage show twenty years ago I fell in love. Shortly after that I read the book by Gregory Maguire and quickly learnt that it was very different - interesting but not the stage story (and the film is different again but that is for another post). Fast forward to this week and Maguire has a new book being released, ‘Elphie’ the story of the childhood of Elphaba.

Oh, how I wanted to love this book. I should have remembered Maguire’s previous books and his rather unique writing style. Whilst it did have its moments, they were sadly fleeting. It’s not an easy book to read, however, if you have read and enjoyed his previous books you will most likely have more of an affinity with this upcoming title. It is once again quite involved with the politics and social standings of the world, it moves rather slowly and some characters are really unlikeable. I did appreciate certain aspects, Unger the father figure, Elphie’s singing ability and other little nods to the story we know and love.

I appreciated the dedication to Idina Menzel and Cynthia Erivo who will always be Elphaba to me.

💚🧙‍♀️✨ BOOK REVIEW – ELPHIE by Gregory Maguire ✨🧙‍♀️💚

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

A huge thank you to @hachetteaus & @netgalley for the ARC of this Wicked prequel! Elphie takes us back to the very beginning, exploring Elphaba’s early years, her family’s journey into Quadling Country, and the events that shaped her before arriving at Shiz. Having already read The Wicked Years, I was glad to be familiar with Maguire’s intricate writing style, which allowed me to fully appreciate the connections woven throughout the story and how they enrich the larger Oz universe. This was a fascinating, layered read that offers deeper insight into Elphaba’s origins—well worth picking up for fans of the series!

#Elphie #GregoryMaguire #TheWickedYears #FantasyReads #NetGalley

Thank you Hachette Australia & New Zealand for the eARC.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me. I ended up having to DNF it because I found the writing style difficult to follow, which made it hard to grasp the plot. I requested it right after watching Wicked, so in retrospect, I probably should’ve looked into the book’s style a bit more. From what I did read, it seemed to focus heavily on politics, which isn’t something I typically go for. That said, I’m still glad I gave it a shot since it was outside my usual reading comfort zone!

It really pains me to write this. I was genuinely excited at the thought of a prequel to 'Wicked' where
we get to learn more about Elphaba and her childhood prior to her life at Shiz, but unfortunately I just feel that this did not offer anything insightful about Elphie's childhood that we did not already learn in 'Wicked'.

Maguire's writing at times is just really hard to push through and I felt that the book centered more around Elphie's parents (especially her father's career), and politics - while Elphie and her siblings are just along for the ride.

I didn't want to DNF but after pushing through, I was left wondering what I really got out of this book.

Thank you so much to Hachette AUNZ and Netgalley for the eARC copy.

Unfortunately this was just not for me. And I think that’s only because the writing style is not something I am familiar with or completely understand.

I really tried and wanted to love this one but I don’t think I was the target audience. But I also am at the same time because I adore all things Wicked.

The writing has very short sentences and at the same time very flowery which made it difficult to follow along. I was hoping for more of an insight into Elphie but was just shown a lot about the politics and not much about Elphie herself.

Thank you for the copy and letting me give this a try!

I was really looking forward to reading Elphie and learning more about her childhood however quickly found it wasn't for me. In hindsight, I probaby shouldn't have picked up this book as I didn't enjoy Wicked by Gregory Maguire. However, I thought given it was short, I would be able to get into it. I found the writing confusing with short sentences which felt like poetry (which not my thing at all). I DNF the book at 20%.

I think this would be enjoyed by those who have enjoyed the other books in the Wicked Years series, but I couldn't get into it.
Given I think I shouldn't have chosen this book, I won't be reviewing on goodreads or amazon.

Thank you Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing this ARC for free via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I want to state upfront that, unfortunately, I DNF’d this book at 30%. I found that the writing was not for me. It’s very flowery, which made it difficult for me to follow despite the short sentences. I also found the plot moved quite slowly.

Although this book wasn’t for me, I can see the appeal for fans of Wicked who want to learn more about Elphaba’s childhood. If you love creative writing, you’ll likely enjoy Elphie and the opportunity to step back into the magical land of Oz.