I read Wicked years ago and I have seen the musical several times now as well as the movie (yes, they are all different and all amazing in their own right). When this book came out, I knew I had to have it. Now, I finally got around to reading and finishing it (I've been at this for about six months now, somehow other books always managed to catch me more). I loved being back in Oz and getting more of Elphaba's story, how she got to Shiz and everything. What bothered me and kept me from reading much was the way this was told. I didn't feel like we were following a story but little episodes and the writing is as peculiar as Elphie herself - fitting but I had a bit of difficulty to get into this book because of it. I don't remember if it was the same for Wicked but I read that in a translation so I'm really curious about rereading that in English in the future.