Lost

I'm going to be honest here, this was a bit of a disappointing book. I'm a huge fan of other stories by Gregory Maguire, but this was just not up to what I expect of his writing.

I think my biggest problem with it was that it seemed like there were at least three separate story lines going on simultaneously, but none of them really meshed together. It was also really jumbled. Like you got thrust into the middle of the story and just had to figure out where you were.

The main character, Winnie, is said to be a descendant of the man who had inspired Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickins' A Christmas Carol. But her character in general bothered me. She was both a little whiny and a little scatter-brained. I wanted to like her because she obviously had a story to tell, but I think because she kept getting lost in her own head, I found that I was just annoyed with her.

Hell, none of the characters really made me feel anything but some annoyance or even disdain. Only one made me laugh - a supporting character by the name of Ritzy Ostertag, a medium who Winnie goes to regarding a ghost in her step-cousin's flat. He was the only character that I wanted to know more about.

Even finding out the back story on Winnie (which takes most of the book to really come out), I didn't feel anything for her but a mild annoyance that she couldn't get herself out of her own mind long enough to focus on what was happening.

Like I said, it was just a disappointment after the enjoyment I've found in Maguire's other books.

What the Dickens

Ok. This was just a fun story. I've read other books by Gregory Maguire, and they tend to leave me feeling generally happy. I think it's because he can take stories that we all know and love and make them into something new and different.

In the case of What-the-Dickens, he has transformed the basic idea of the tooth fairy and made it into an almost empowering story of someone different thinking he needs to conform, but discovering that what makes him different is the best thing in the world.

I think I just needed something fun after a bunch of books that are heavy in nature. But What-the-Dickens has just cemented my love for Gregory Maguire's books.

Out of Oz

**Links: Book 1 * Book 2 * Book 3**

I am so sad to see the end of the Wicked Years series. Gregory Maguire's Oz is beautiful and his story telling makes me feel like I'm there.

The fourth and final installment of this series mostly follows Rain, the daughter of Liir and Candle, the granddaughter of Elphaba. It is not solely her story, but she seems to be the primary character who is followed. A girl who doesn't know who she is, doesn't know where she fits in. Someone that I think a lot of kids could relate to, not that I would recommend letting children read this book. But, hell, I was able to relate to her. I think everyone goes through some period of not knowing who they are or where they belong and you can relate to Rain.

A lot of questions are answered. But there is one big question that you will still be left with, although there are some inferences that you can make in regards to it: What happened to Elphaba? Did she really die? It's never answered as to what happened to her and whether she just disappeared or she actually was killed by Dorothy. But the question of what happened to the last Ozma, how each character would evolve, even what the Grimmerie is needed for.

Even though books two and three in this series are kind of subpar, the last book is amazing. It's on a level with Wicked and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves that first book. There are hidden gems in this book. References to classic novels, and even references to the musical. You just have to be paying attention and watch for them.

A Lion Among Men

**Links: Book 1 * Book 2**

Another almost stand alone book in Gregory Maguire's Wicked Years series. A Lion Among Men is the third of this four book series. I'm still super fond of Wicked, and these follow-up books never quite reach the same amazing point.

In this book, you learn a little about The Cowardly Lion's past. But he's not the only person you learn about. You also discover new things about Yackle, the old woman who was always on the sidelines of Elphaba's life. You even learn the reasons behind the Clock of the Time Dragon. It's a very revealing book that cleared up a lot of questions that I was left with at the end of Wicked.

I didn't love this book, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's a great addition to the Wicked Years series and if you love Wicked, you'll at least enjoy this. It takes place about nine years after the conclusion of Son of a Witch, which takes place about 15 years after the conclusion of Wicked. So, these books are covering a lot of time, with a lot of gaps in between.

Son of a Witch

**Link: Book 1**

Son of a Witch is the second book in Gregory Maguire's Wicked Years series. It's a strange book.

Son of a Witch follows Liir, who, it is implied and assumed, is Elphaba's son. It is never proven or disproven, but it is sort of an understood fact. Half of the book is memory. It's told in a flashback state. But through these flashbacks, you learn more about who Liir is. In Wicked, he was a secondary character. He didn't have an importance then. This is his book. You learn his character, which, starting out, isn't really much of anything. He starts off very murky, and you aren't sure who he is as a person. As the story progresses, you do learn that. His character is fleshed out.

I won't say that I absolutely recommend this book, but it has a good story. It's almost a separate story from Wicked, and thus would be a great stand alone book. But, be warned, there is some serious implication of homosexual relations. It's never flat out said, but you come to the conclusion that these two male characters were intimate. So, if you don't like that kind of thing, then you might have problems with a certain section towards the end of the book.

Wicked

I'm seriously in love with Gregory Maguire books. I love the way that he takes classic fairy tales and puts an exciting new twist on them.

Wicked is the first book of a 4 book series called The Wicked Years. I love this book. It's such an exciting retelling of the Wizard of Oz where it focuses on the Wicked Witch of the West and her history. The story that nobody ever thinks to ask about, but I had always wondered. Why did the Wicked Witch of the West become so cruel? Was she always that way, or did something happen to make her that? This book covers that.

Following Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) through her life, growing up as a green girl, being different, you start feeling some manner of sympathy for her. Never really loved by anyone until she was grown. Never understood. She tried to be a voice of a revolution for Animals, animals that have a soul. She wanted to be, if not good, at least appreciated. And she was stuck, being this unwanted green girl. You do feel sorry for her.

Read this book! It is a thousand times better than the musical (although the musical is superb as well). There is so much more in the book than there is in the musical. You cover so many other characters and stories that are so important to the transformation of Elphaba to the Wicked Witch.

Mirror Mirror

Gregory Maguire once again delivered a book I thoroughly enjoyed.

Mirror Mirror is Snow White. That's pretty easy to figure out. But the way that Gregory Maguire re-writes these fairy tales is so fascinating. Snow White is actually Bianca de Nevada. Lucrezia Borgia is the evil queen. The way that Maguire used bits from the Borgia history into this fictionalized story was amazing. Their relationship with the de Nevada family was totally fiction, but he used historical fact in some parts. It was amazing.

He even went with the original Grimm Brothers version of Snow White by using the same methods of murder from that fairy tale: hunter in the forest, poisoned comb, corset tied too tight, and then the apple.

I highly recommend this. Gregory Maguire books are like fairy tales for grown ups.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

I love this book. It's a twist on the normal story of Cinderella. Instead of being told making Cinderella into the main character and this completely pure character, Gregory Maguire has made her character, Clara, so much more human. Margarethe, the stepmother, isn't wicked in the sense that she is in the fairy tale. Instead, she is more misguided in her attempts to better her life and the lives of her daughters. The stepsisters, Iris and Ruth, are never wicked. They're just trapped in the wake of their mother's scheming. Clara is a cruel, confused girl at the beginning of the book and she grows to be this brave woman who wants to just be left alone.

Iris is really seen as the main character of the story, because she is the one that seems to be telling it. The whole book is a memory of this time in the Fisher sisters' lives. It's written in present tense so it really felt like I was part of the story. I could almost see all of the story happening.

I highly recommend this if you like retellings of fairy tales. Even if you think you won't like it, try it out. You just might be surprised.