This prequel was a major disappointment. As someone who grew up loving Wicked the Musical and appreciated Maguire’s original novel, I was eager to dive into more of Elphie’s story. Unfortunately, the writing style was choppy and overly flowery, making it difficult to follow and adding little substance to the narrative. Worse, nothing significant happened, leaving the story feeling unnecessary and failing to deepen my connection to Elphie. A prequel should enhance the original experience, but this one fell flat. Two stars. Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advance copy for an honest review.

I loved Wicked but I couldn't finish this one. I made myself read 20% before I gave up hoping it would get better. The writing style was difficult to understand and I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. I hate giving bad reviews, so let me just say this...It isn't a bad book it just wasn't for me and I hope others love it.

What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked? Almost 30 years after the publication of the original novel, for the first time Gregory Maguire reveals the story of prickly young Elphie, the future Wicked Witch of the West—setting the stage for the blockbuster international phenomenon that is The Musical.

As always, Gregory Maguire's writing style is stunning. I appreciated the opportunity to check this out, getting backstory on this character was really enlightening as a person who has never seen the hit Broadway musical. I do think it would be worth the read.

4.0/5.0

I really enjoyed this one! It was interesting to learn even more about Elphaba's back story and the overlap with Nessa's. Thank you for the opportunity to read this one.

This was such a good read! I read this after reading the OG Wicked and it was the perfect combination. Loved reading the wicked witches side of thing, great job!

3 / 5 Stars

Thank you, Harper and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review.

This was supposed to be about Elphie’s childhood and while I DNF’d toward the beginning (10% in), I felt I knew little about her from such a small yet superfluous description.

All I know about her is that she’s curious and thinks about others. Okay? Cool.

The other parts of what I read were about her parents who didn’t have much substance either, especially when they met at the ball. And it was hard to decipher because of the language being utilized.

I’m giving this 3 stars because there is an audience for this and I really want it to be reached. There is something here but that something is not for me. I hope its audience is found, but it’s not with me. Thank you, though.

I appreciated NetGalley providing this ARC for my honest review. As someone who only watched The Wizard of Oz once and never saw the hit Broadway musical Wicked, I was intrigued enough to read a prequel to Wicked. “Elphie: A Wicked Childhood” by Gregory Maguire offers readers a more profound insight into Elphaba’s early life and the events that shaped her character. Maguire’s detailed depictions of Munchkinland and the social elements at play make the world feel immersive and authentic. The narrative examines Elphie’s complex relationships and struggles, making for an emotionally engaging read. Whether you are already a fan of the “Wicked” series or looking for a new, character-driven fantasy to dive into, “Elphie: A Wicked Childhood” has much to offer. This book is projected to be released on March 25, 2025. #Elphie #Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'd give this book 3 stars. I think it's a good story, but I just did not enjoy the writing style. The timeline in this book bridges the gaps between Elphie's childhood and her time at Shiz. This book brings up topics that were only mentioned in Wicked. The pacing of this book feels really slow and it made this book draaaaaag. If you are a fan of the musical, I honestly don't think this book would be for you unless you are really interested in the lore behind everything. This writing style is just so different and it makes the book kind of hard to get into it. If I hadn't wanted to finish the story, I would have DNF'd it early on.

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.