Unfortunately this book just doesn't do it for me and I am Dnf'ing at the 30% mark. Though beautiful, the poetic style of writing is too flowery for my liking. I've tried so hard to get into this book after reading Gregory Maguire's other books in this series, but for me the writing style of this one is just impossible to get my head around.

Also - where is the storyline? I feel like everything and nothing is happening all at once but with no real end goal? Too many characters, and not as much 'Elphie' as I would have liked.

However I do feel that people who enjoy this style of writing will thoroughly enjoy this new adventure in the land of OZ.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. Firstly, I haven’t read Wicked and thought with Elphie coming out I’d start here. There were some good insights into parts of her childhood that were touched on in the film / theatre show but also this book was quite slow moving. Enjoyable, if it’s your thing, I’m not sure it’s mine but grateful to have read it nonetheless

I really wanted to love this book, but wow did I not love it.

It is the story of Elphaba's childhood, except story is a generous word. I spent most of this book waiting for the actual plotline to start - and then realised there wasn't going to be one. The writing style is really not to my taste. I am absolutely certain there are people who will love it, but I am not one of them. Lots of flowery words and elaborate sentences to hide an utter lack of depth, like a university student aiming for a good grade despite not understanding any of the material.
And the characters. Oh, the characters. After reading 288 pages about her life I still don't feel I know Elphaba any better. I couldn't put my finger exactly on what made me uneasy in the descriptions of children until the author wrote an oddly sexual paragraph specifying that a young child knocking over tomato plants was enjoying the violence in a non-sexual way because he's too young to enjoy it in that way. That really helped narrow it down.

Many parts of this book I think were meant to be clever and funny and like interesting social commentary - and for those who appreciate Maguire's writing style, it might read that way. It just didn't work out that way for me. The animals were alright though. That's all I got. I'm sorry, I really tried.

Many thanks to Headline and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this title in exchange for a honest review.