Wicked: The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture (Wicked Years Book 1)

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

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Published Oct 13, 2009

406 pages

Average rating: 6.36

530 RATINGS

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Books And Brews

Books and Brews is a monthly in person book club  who meets at Birdhouse Coffee/CT Valley Brewing in South Windsor CT. All are welcome!

Literary Teas with Monica

Literary Teas with Monica combines her two loves, books and tea! Suggestions for tea and recipes will be shared to fit the theme of the book.

Community Reviews

novelthoughtswithamy
Jun 26, 2025
7/10 stars
I re-read the book to refresh myself for part 2 of the movie release in the fall. Whoa! The book is a lot darker than the movie for sure and there were a lot of other differences to me too. I would recommend reading the physical book vs audio book though because I had to rewind quite a few times during the denser parts of the story.
jhwarren
Mar 24, 2025
7/10 stars
I enjoyed it, the storytelling, character dynamics, and descriptive world building was great. I found that the last part was rushed and chaotic. It didn’t feel wholly organic to the characters that had been built, more a panicked realization that this story needed to be integrated back with the original telling. I’m still happy to have read it and would recommend.
njlbo1
Jul 18, 2023
4/10 stars
I'm really not sure why I continued reading this book or what I got out of it.
sking4
Jan 30, 2026
3/10 stars
I honestly couldn’t get through the book because it was a hard read. I honestly couldn’t even finish jt
kenzellwashington
Jul 02, 2025
4/10 stars
Did I forget the content of this book from when I first read it 20 years ago? Yes. Do I recommend it? Absolutely not. Will I read it again in 20 years? Yeah,
probably.

Still shocked my parents let me read this in elementary school. What a weird book.

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