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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Review: Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

Hardcover, 568 pages
Released: November 1, 2011

Publisher: William Morrow

The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy.
Amid all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now, Rain will take up her broom in an Oz wracked by war.

The stirring, long-awaited conclusion to the extraordinary bestselling series begun with Wicked, Out of Oz is a magical journey rife with revelations and reversals, reprisals and surprises — the hallmarks of the brilliant and unique imagination of Gregory Maguire.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5
My Thoughts:

As someone who absolutely loved Wicked, I HAD to know how Maguire would end it. For me, the first book in this series was so magical. By giving Elphaba a backstory, Maguire made me feel sympathy for a character I had always known to hate, the evil Wicked Witch of the West. Knowing his writing style and the fact the the two previous books in this series did not go over too well, I was hesitant but curiosity got the better of me. For those who have not read the entire series so far, the book begins with a brief refresher of the story so far as well as family charts and maps.

The focus of this book is Rain, the granddaughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, daughter of Lir and Candle. Rain, nor anyone around her, knows who she is as her green skin has been hidden by a charm. It is her journey, along with the protection of the Grimmerie, that we follow and to be honest, it was long and drawn out. Many characters make an appearance, including Glinda (who employed Rain, not realizing she was her best friends daughter), Brrr, Liir, Candle, the Time Clock Dragon, nasty Cherrystone and Dorothy! Oh Dorothy, I really wish her comic relief lasted longer. I wasn't left completely disappointed, with a strong ending the last 50 pages were devoured like there was no tomorrow. There were a few more questions I had hoped to have answered though. Although the entire series didn't win me over, I highly recommend checking out Wicked, a book that still sticks with me years later.

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